The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon; part 2Cieza de León, Pedro de
History
The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon; part 2
Cieza de León, Pedro de
Incas; Peru -- History -- To 1548
They relate that, when his captains arrived with reinforcements, he took
the field, but the battle was long doubtful. At length, those of Cuzco,
by a stratagem, killed a great number of the enemy, and those who
remained turned and fled. The tyrannical king was so enraged against
them for having taken up arms to defend their country from conquest,
that he ordered his soldiers to seek them all out, and with great
diligence they searched for and captured them all. Very few were able to
hide themselves. Near the banks of a lake, he ordered them all to be
beheaded in his presence, and their bodies to be thrown into the water.
The blood of those who were killed was in such quantity that the water
lost its colour, and nothing could be seen but a thick mass of blood.
Having perpetrated this cruelty, and most evil deed, Huayna Capac
ordered the sons of the dead men to be brought before him, and, looking
at them, he said, “Campa manan pucula tucuy huambracuna”, which means,
“_You will not make war upon me, for you are all boys now._”[243] From
that time the conquered people were called “Huambra-cuna (_Huayna-cuna_)
to this day, and they were very valiant. The lake received the name it
still bears, which is _Yahuar-cocha_, or ‘the lake of blood’.” In this
country governors and _mitimaes_ were stationed, as in all other
parts.[244]
After he had re-organised the country, the Inca passed onwards with
great renown from his past victory, and proceeded with his discoveries
until he reached the river Ancasmayu, which was the northern limit of
the empire. He learnt from the natives that further on there were many
tribes who went naked without any shame, and that all fed on human
flesh. He made some defensive works in the district of Pasto, and
ordered the principal men to pay tribute. They replied that they had
nothing to give; so he issued his command that each house should be
obliged to give, every month, a rather large basket full of lice, as
tribute. At first they laughed at this order; but afterwards,
notwithstanding the quantity of lice they had, they could not fill so
many baskets. They bred from the sheep which the Inca ordered to be
given to them, and paid tribute from the increase, as well as of the
food and roots of that country. For certain reasons which influenced
him, Huayna Capac returned to Quito, ordering that there should be a
temple of the Sun and a garrison, with a captain-general and governor in
Caranque, to guard the frontier.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
_How the King Huayna Capac returned to Quito, and how he knew of the
arrival of Spaniards on the coast, and of his death._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account