[10] _The golden mask shall never cover thy face_] The faces of the royal mummies were covered with a golden mask moulded to the features. [11] It is said that more than 700 members of Huayna-Capac’s Household sacrificed themselves in various places on his death, but some authorities hold that this savage custom had been abolished by the later and more enlightened Incas. [12] It was said that nearly 40,000 inhabitants of the Valley of Quito perished in the earthquake which occurred about this time. It is, of course, a matter of history that Atahuallpa escaped. [13] According to one who took some share in this hideous day’s work, this was absolutely the only wound inflicted on a Spaniard. [14] The Spanish chroniclers have recorded that Atahuallpa felt the, to him, unspeakable dishonour of this proposal even more keenly than his own captivity and all the indignities that it entailed. [15] _roaring torrent of the “Great Speaker”_] The Apu-Rimac, one of the head-waters of the Amazon. It flows through this gorge with a constant dull roar. [16] _I baptize thee, Juan de Atahuallpa_] It was the evening of the Feast of St. John. Hence the new “convert’s” name. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES Frontispiece by Stanley L. Wood. Minor spelling inconsistencies (_e.g._ conquerers/conquerors, spearmen/spear-men, war-beasts/war beasts, etc.) have been preserved. Plain text edition only: note markers are given in [square] brackets. Alterations to the text: Convert footnotes to endnotes. Punctuation: fix a few quotation mark pairings and a missing period. [Book I/Chapter III] Change “and he looked up to see what new _horrow_ was coming” to _horror_. [Book I/Chapter IV] “A _wierd_, low sound of song seemed to rise from” to _weird_. [Book I/Chapter V] “Yet not a _murmer_ of pity or sorrow came from a single” to _murmur_. “from a single breast in all the vast, silent, throng” delete comma after _silent_. “Manco replied in a low, steady _vaice_” to _voice_. [Book I/Chapter VI] “the last of them had died away in a long, wailing, scream.” delete the comma after _wailing_. [Book II/Chapter I] “than when we started. _and_ as for that green yonder” to _And_. “Atahuallpa, by all accounts, is a base-born _ursurper_ and ruthless” to _usurper_. [Book II/Chapter IV] “I feel as though I were hanging _‘twixt_ Heaven and earth” to _’twixt_. [Book II/Chapter V] “_Cajarmarca_ was, for the time being, a city of the dead” to _Cajamarca_. [Book IV/Chapter VI] “We rode on, hoping to gain some _knowlege_ of the position” to _knowledge_. “exchange for those of his mother and and his betrothed” delete one _and_. [Book IV/Chapter XII] “the Spanish long-bows and _arbalasts_ were almost as deadly” to _arbalests_. [End of text]