History of the Conquest of Peru: With a Preliminary View of the Civilization of the IncasPrescott, William Hickling
History
History of the Conquest of Peru: With a Preliminary View of the Civilization of the Incas
Prescott, William Hickling
Incas; Peru -- History -- Conquest, 1522-1548
[Footnote 32: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
203.]
Pizarro paid every attention to his royal captive, and
endeavoured to lighten, if he could not dispel, the gloom which,
in spite of his assumed equanimity, hung over the monarch's brow.
He besought him not to be case down by his reverses, for his lot
had only been that of every prince who had resisted the white
men. They had come into the country to proclaim the gospel, the
religion of Jesus Christ; and it was no wonder they had
prevailed, when his shield was over them. Heaven had permitted
that Atahuallpa's pride should be humbled, because of his hostile
intentions towards the Spaniards, and the insults he had offered
to the sacred volume. But he bade the Inca take courage and
confide in him, for the Spaniards were a generous race, warring
only against those who made war on them, and showing grace to all
who submitted! *33 - Atahuallpa may have thought the massacre of
that day an indifferent commentary on this vaunted lenity.
[Footnote 33: "Nosotros vsamos de piedad con nuestros Enemigos
vencidos, i no hacemos Guerra, sino a los que nos la hacen, i
pudiendolos destruir no lo hacemos, antes los perdona mos."
Ibid., tom. III. p. 199.]
Before retiring for the night, Pizarro briefly addressed his
troops on their present situation. When he had ascertained that
not a man was wounded, he bade them offer up thanksgivings to
Providence for so great a miracle; without its care, they could
never have prevailed so easily over the host of their enemies;
and he trusted their lives had been reserved for still greater
things. But if they would succeed, they had much to do for
themselves. They were in the heart of a powerful kingdom,
encompassed by foes deeply attached to their own sovereign. They
must be ever on their guard, therefore, and be prepared at any
hour to be roused from their slumbers by the call of the trumpet.
*34 - Having then posted his sentinels, placed a strong guard
over the apartment of Atahuallpa, and taken all the precautions
of a careful commander, Pizarro withdrew to repose; and, if he
could really feel, that, in the bloody scenes of the past day, he
had been fighting only the good fight of the Cross, he doubtless
slept sounder than on the night preceding the seizure of the
Inca.
[Footnote 34: Ibid., ubi supra. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. i.
Conq., Ms.]
On the following morning, the first commands of the Spanish chief
were to have the city cleansed of its impurities; and the
prisoners, of whom there were many in the camp, were employed to
remove the dead, and give them decent burial. His next care was
to despatch a body of about thirty horse to the quarters lately
occupied by Atahuallpa at the baths, to take possession of the
spoil, and disperse the remnant of the Peruvian forces which
still hung about the place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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