All that he could urge was of no avail, as his death was absolutely resolved upon, although he offered to place hostages of the highest consideration in the hands of the Spaniards, whose lives should be answerable for any of the Christians who might be slain or ill treated by his subjects. Besides the suspicions already mentioned, which were alleged against Atahualpa, it is said that he was accused of the death of his brother Huascar. He was condemned to die, and his sentence was executed without delay. In his distress, he was continually repeating the name of Ferdinand Pizarro; saying, if he had been present, he would not have allowed him to be thus unjustly put to death. Shortly before his death, he was persuaded by Pizarro and Valverde to submit to the ceremony of baptism167.
"While Almagro and his followers openly demanded the life of Atahualpa, and Philippillo laboured to ruin him by private machinations, that unhappy prince inadvertently contributed to hasten his own fate. During his confinement he had attached himself with peculiar affection to Ferdinand Pizarro and Hernando Soto; who, as they were persons of birth and education superior to the rough adventurers with whom they served, were accustomed to behave with more decency and attention to the captive monarch. Soothed with this respect from persons of such high rank, he delighted in their society. But in the presence of the governor he was always uneasy and overawed. This dread soon came to be mingled with contempt. Among all the European arts, that which he most admired, was reading and writing; and he long deliberated with himself, whether he should regard it as a natural or acquired talent. In order to determine this, he desired one of the soldiers who guarded him, to write the name of God on the nail of his thumb. This he shewed successively to several Spaniards, asking its meaning; and, to his amazement, they all, without hesitation, gave the same answer. At length Pizarro entered; and on presenting it to him, he blushed, and with some confusion was obliged to acknowledge his ignorance. From that moment, Atahualpa considered him as a mean person, less instructed than his own soldiers; and he had not address enough to conceal the sentiments with which this discovery inspired him. To be the object of scorn to a barbarian, not only mortified the pride of Pizarro; but excited such resentment in his breast, as added force to all the other considerations which prompted him to put the Inca to death."
"But in order to give some colour of justice to this violent action, and that he himself might be exempted from standing singly responsible for the commission of it, Pizarro resolved to try the Inca with all the formalities observed in the criminal courts of Spain. Pizarro himself and Almagro, with two assistants, were appointed judges, with full power to acquit or condemn; an attorney-general was named to carry on the prosecution in the king's name; counsellors were chosen to assist the prisoner in his defence; and clerks were ordained to record the proceedings of court. Before this strange tribunal, a charge was exhibited still more amazing. It consisted of various articles: That Atahualpa, though a bastard, had dispossessed the rightful owner of the throne, and usurped the regal power; that he had put his brother and lawful sovereign to death; that he was an idolater, and had not only permitted, but commanded the offering of human sacrifices; that he had a great number of concubines; that since his imprisonment he had wasted and embezzled the royal treasures, which now belonged of right to the conquerors; that he had incited his subjects to take arms against the Spaniards. On these heads of accusation, some of which are so ludicrous, and others so absurd, that the effrontery of Pizarro, in making them the subject of a serious procedure, is not less surprizing than his injustice, did this strange court go on to try the sovereign of a great empire, over whom it had no jurisdiction. With respect to each of the articles, witnesses were examined; but as they delivered their evidence in their native tongue, Philippillo had it in his power to give their words whatever turn best suited his malevolent intentions. To judges pre-determined in their opinion, this evidence appeared sufficient. They pronounced Atahualpa guilty, and condemned him to be burnt alive. Friar Valverde prostituted the authority of his sacred function to confirm this sentence, and by his signature warranted it to be just. Astonished at his fate, Atahualpa endeavoured to avert it by tears, by promises, and by entreaties that he might be sent to Spain, where a monarch would be the arbiter of his lot. But pity never touched the unfeeling heart of Pizarro. He ordered him to be led instantly to execution; and, what added to the bitterness of his last moments, the same monk who had just ratified his doom, offered to console, and attempted to convert him. The most powerful argument Valverde employed to prevail with him to embrace the Christian faith, was a promise of mitigation in his punishment. The dread of a cruel death extorted from the trembling victim a desire of receiving baptism. The ceremony was performed; and Atahualpa, instead of being burnt alive, was strangled at the stake."
Ruminagui, one of the captains under Atahualpa, who had fled with five thousand men from Caxamarca, as already related, having arrived in the kingdom of Quito, seized the children of Atahualpa, and made himself master of that country as if he had been the lawful sovereign. A short time before his death, Atahualpa had sent his brother Illescas into the kingdom of Quito, with orders to bring his children from thence; but Ruminagui not only refused to deliver them up, but even put them all to death. After the death of Atahualpa, some of his principal officers, according to his dying commands, carried his body to Quito that it might be interred beside the remains of his father Huana capac. Ruminagui received them in the most honourable manner, with every outward mark of affection and respect, and caused the body of Atahualpa to be buried with much pomp and solemnity, according to the custom of the country. After the ceremony, he gave a grand entertainment to the officers of the late unfortunate monarch, at which, when they were intoxicated, he caused them all to be put to death, together with Illescas the brother of Atahualpa. He caused this person to be flead alive, and had a drum covered with his skin, inclosing his head in the inside of the drum.
After the governor Pizarro had made a repartition of all the gold and silver which was found in Caxamarca, he learned that one of the officers of Atahualpa, named Quizquiz, had assembled some troops in the province of Xauxa168, and endeavoured to excite an insurrection in the country. Pizarro therefore marched against him, but Quizquiz durst not wait for him in Xauxa, and retreated to a greater distance. Pizarro pursued, causing Hernando de Soto to lead the van with a party of horse, while he led the rear or main body himself. While advancing in this order into the province of Vilcacinga169, Soto was unexpectedly attacked by a vast body of Peruvians, and in great danger of being totally defeated, five or six of his men being slain; but on the approach of night, the Peruvians retreated to a mountain, and the governor sent on Almagro with a reinforcement of cavalry to Soto. Early next morning the fight was resumed, and the Spaniards endeavoured to draw the Peruvians into the plain, by pretending to retreat, that they might not be exposed to the prodigious quantity of stones which the Indians hurled down upon them from the mountain. The Peruvians seemed aware of this stratagem, as they continued to defend their position on the mountain; though they were not apprized of the reinforcement which Soto had received, as the morning was thick and misty. Being unable to induce their enemies to descend from their advantageous situation, the Spaniards assailed the Peruvians with so much resolution, that they drove them from their position with considerable slaughter, and forced them to take to flight.
At this place, a brother of the late Incas, Huascar and Atahualpa, named Paul Inca170, came to Pizarro under pretence of entering into terms of peace and submission. After the death of his brothers, this prince had been recognised as king of Peru, and had been invested with the fringed fillet, which answered among the Peruvians as the crown or emblem of supreme rule. The Inca told the governor that he had a very considerable force of warriors in Cuzco, all of whom only waited his arrival to submit to his orders. Pizarro accordingly marched towards that city, and arrived within sight of it after several days march. So thick a smoke was seen to arise from the city, that Pizarro suspected the Peruvians had set it on fire, and immediately sent on a detachment of cavalry to endeavour if possible to prevent the destruction of the city. On their arrival near Cuzco, a vast body of Peruvians issued from the city and attacked them with great violence, with stones, darts, and other arms; insomuch that the Spaniards were forced to retreat above a league to rejoin the main body of the army which was commanded by Pizarro in person. He immediately detached the greater part of his cavalry under the command of his brothers Juan and Gonzalo, who attacked the enemy with so much courage and impetuosity, that they were soon defeated and many Peruvians were slain in the pursuit. On the approach of night, Pizarro reassembled all his army, which he ordered to lie on their arms; and marched next morning with every precaution to Cuzco, which he entered without opposition.
167
Of this tragical event, the illustrious Historian of America, gives a somewhat different account, II. 310, from Herrera and Garcilasso de la Vega; which, as much too long for a note, is subjoined in the text to the narrative of Zarate, and distinguished by inverted commas. –E.
168
Probably the district now called Jauja: as the x and j have nearly the same sound in Spanish with the aspirated Greek xi. –E.
170
This name of