The difficulties of the Spaniards’ march over mountain paths which had been constructed for the passage of no animal of greater burden than the _llama_, may be easily imagined by those who may have travelled in Northern Turkey, Asia Minor, or Persia. To miss one’s footing was in many places to ensure being dashed to pieces over the precipices beneath; and had their progress been opposed, Pizarro’s little band must have been repulsed or annihilated, more especially as there were some strong works of stone commanding angles of the road. As it was, however, the Spaniards and their horses contrived to toil up the steep ascent and at length reached the crest of the _Cordillera_, where the cold was so great that the men were glad of the protection of tents and the warmth of fires. Here Pizarro was rejoined by one of the messengers whom he had sent forward, and who informed him that the road was unguarded, and that an embassy from the _Inca_ was on its way to his camp. The Peruvian envoy renewed the greetings of his master, who again invited Pizarro and his companions to _Caxamalca_, which place he reached on the evening of the 15th of November 1532. [Sidenote: 1532.] Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, Pizarro forthwith despatched his brother Hernando, together with De Soto and a party of horsemen, to the _Inca’s_ camp. They were received with politeness, and Atahualpa deigned to promise a visit to the Spaniards on the morrow, upon which De Soto and his companions returned to give to their comrades such an account of the state and military strength of the Peruvian monarch as filled them with dismay. At this critical moment the master spirit of Pizarro asserted its supremacy. Matters had now arrived at such a pass that all must be staked on the hazard of the die. Going amongst his men, he exhorted them not to be downcast, since from their marvellous successes hitherto they were manifestly under the special protection of the heavenly powers, and hence the numbers against them mattered nothing. He then summoned a council of officers and unfolded to them for the first time his project, which was nothing more or less than to seize the _Inca_. What follows is so far beyond ordinary credulity that it would not be ventured on by a writer of fiction unless he were to suppose supernatural agency.