Pizarro knew all this very well, and the next morning after his arrival at Caxamalca, when he sent to the Inca's camp to ask if the Spaniards were welcome to Peru, the men he chose were De Soto, and his brother Hernando, and they both rode on powerful milk-white horses, and had with them an escort of forty horsemen, all clad in glittering armor and with brilliant trappings on their steeds. The party rode rapidly along, and as they came to the river that separated them from the Inca's camp, dashed boldly into the stream and came swiftly up to the line of Peruvian warriors that stood waiting to receive them and conduct them to the presence of the emperor. They found the monarch seated on a golden throne, surrounded by richly attired nobles, and attended by the most beautiful women in the court. All the courtiers and attendants stood with bowed heads, for no one might raise his eyes in the presence of the Inca. The Spaniards stood for some moments in silence, and then Hernando Pizarro told the Inca, through an interpreter, that he and his countrymen were the subjects of a mighty monarch across the sea, who had sent them to ask the Inca to be his friend. The Inca did not reply to this speech in person, but one of his nobles came forward and said that the emperor bade them welcome, and the next day would visit the Spanish chief at Caxamalca. The Spaniards had to be content with this, as it soon became evident that the Peruvians had no intention of saying any more. De Soto now thought he would show the Inca some of the good qualities of his horse, for he well knew that the splendid animal had attracted his attention, so he wheeled his horse round and round and put him through many difficult exercises, the horse responding intelligently to all his commands, and finally brought him down close to the Inca's throne. The Peruvians were much impressed by these exercises, as was likewise the Inca, but no one showed it by word or manner; when De Soto had finished, the party of Spaniards were invited to a banquet, where they were served by beautiful women, who brought them fruits on golden dishes and drink in golden goblets studded with emeralds. And then they went back to Caxamalca to report the result of their visit, and when the soldiers heard of the thousands and thousands of Peruvians who lay camping out on the mountain slopes, ready to defend the Inca and their country with their lives, and when they remembered that all over the great empire were other thousands willing to take the places of those who should fall, then, indeed, the conquest of Peru began to look like a very serious matter, and many a Spanish soldier wished himself back in Panama.