Caxamalca

“ He was informed by the first search party met coming from the town, and the squad left him at a gallop.
By the first gray of daybreak the fugitives had gained the crest of a range of foothills. The ridge stretched away to the south with many a rise and dip, finally dropping into a distant valley. In front, almost at their feet, but with two or three smaller ranges between, lay the plain of Caxamalca, half veiled by the morning mist and nearly a thousand feet below. ”

“ At length from the terraced heights above Caxamalca, through the openings of the foliage, the white tents of the Peruvian host are seen stretching for miles along the fertile valley. It is a sight at which the heart of the stoutest cavalier might beat despondingly, and that without prejudice. But these audacious Spaniards halt only to don their brightest armor, and unfurling their banner they march down the mountain. Next day, the 15th of November, Pizarro divides his force into three companies and enters the town about the hour of vespers. ”

“ Every man thought only of his own safety. Even the soldiery encamped on the adjacent fields took the alarm, and, learning the fatal tidings, were seen flying in every direction before their pursuers, who in the heat of triumph showed no touch of mercy. At length night, more pitiful than man, threw her friendly mantle over the fugitives, and the scattered troops of Pizarro rallied once more at the sound of the trumpet in the bloody square of Caxamalca. ”

“ The Peruvian bore, also, the greetings of his master, who wished to know when the Spaniards would arrive at Caxamalca, that he might provide suitable refreshments for them. Pizarro learned that the Inca had left Guamachucho, and was now lying with a small force in the neighbourhood of Caxamalca, at a place celebrated for its natural springs of warm water. The Peruvian was an intelligent person, and the Spanish commander gathered from him many particulars respecting the late contests which had distracted the empire. ”

“ The city was a hundred leagues from Caxamalca, and the way lay across the tableland of the Cordilleras; but after weeks of severe labour the Spaniards reached it, and, breaking into the temple, in spite of the remonstrances of the priests, they dragged forth and destroyed the hideous idol it contained, and secured the greater part of the treasure of gold and jewels, though the priests, having had warning of his approach, had managed to conceal a good deal, some of which the Spaniards afterwards discovered buried in the surrounding land. ”

“ Thou'lt find more than one change on thy return to Caxamalca,—among others, a division of spoil upon which thou 'rt not counting, whereof I see a pearl to which I'll lay claim in Pizarro's ear this very morning.—She cometh this way, now! I'll step out and give her greeting. Curse me! why have I not learned a few words of her heathen tongue? I know but three,—curi, gold; collque, silver; and chicha. Good words, but not suited to the present need. However, no importa—let it pass. Much can be said in dumb show. We'll make it answer. Now, let us see if we cannot be made to forget our Cristoval. ”

“ Learning that the Inca ruler, Atahuallpa, was encamped with his army among the mountains, Pizarro sent an embassy to request a meeting with him. It was agreed that they meet at Caxamalca, a strongly fortified city among the sierras. On arriving at the city, the Spaniards found it evacuated. Soon after taking up their quarters there, Atahuallpa arrived and established his camp a short distance outside the city. ”

“ Aldana named Caxamalca as a place of rendezvous, where they should concentrate their forces, and wait the landing of Gasca. He then continued his voyage towards Lima. No sooner was Pizarro informed of his approach, than, fearful lest it might have a disastrous effect in seducing his followers from their fidelity, he marched them about a league out of the city, and there encamped. He was two leagues from the coast, and he posted a guard on the shore, to intercept all communication with the vessels. ”

“ It was then that from outside the world came one hundred sixty-eight men of an unknown race possessed of ships, horses, armor and muskets—things very marvelous, and useful to have. The emperor invited these strangers to cross the Andes, intending, when they came, to take such blessings as the Sun might send him. The city of Caxamalca was cleared of its people, and the buildings enclosing the market place were furnished for the reception of the Spaniards. ”

“ Close by this city the Inca, Atahualpa, lay encamped with an army, for a civil war between him and his brother Huascar had just ended in the defeat and imprisonment of the latter.
Desperate was the situation of the small body of Spanish soldiers, when, in the late afternoon of the 15th of November, 1532, they marched into Caxamalca, which they found empty of inhabitants. About one hundred more men, with arms and horses, had joined them, but in a military sense they were but a handful still, and they had every reason to dread the consequences of their rash enterprise. ”

“ Whichever statement we receive, the sum, combined with that obtained at Caxamalca, might well have satisfied the cravings of the most avaricious. The sudden influx of so much wealth, and that, too, in so transferable a form, among a party of reckless adventures little accustomed to the possession of money, had its natural effect. It supplied them with the means of gaming, so strong and common a passion with the Spaniards, that it may be considered a national vice. Fortunes were lost and won in a single day, sufficient to render the proprietors independent for life ”

“ At this juncture Hernando Pizarro rides up and joins in the parley. When informed that a brother of the Spanish captain has arrived, Atahualpa raises his eyes and speaks: "Say to your commander that to-day I fast, but to-morrow I will visit him at Caxamalca." 24 Hereupon the ambassadors turn to depart; but the inca, slow to speak, is slower still to cease speaking, and the Spaniards are motioned to pause. "My cacique Mayzabilica informs me," continues Atahualpa, "that the Christians are cowards, and not invincible as they would make us believe ”

“ It was given out publicly that the captain Calichuchima had caused his death because he desired that the land should remain with the people of Quito and not with either those of Cuzco or with [53] the Spaniards, and if that cacique ["Atabalipa"] had lived, he [Calichuchima] would not have been able to succeed in what he desired to do. At once, the Governor had Calichuchima and Tizas [30] and a brother of the cacique and other leading chiefs and caciques who had come from Caxamalca summoned to him ”

“ Xauxa was a large and populous place; though we shall hardly credit the assertion of the Conquerors, that a hundred thousand persons assembled habitually in the great square of the city.14 The Peruvian commander was encamped, it was said, with an army of five-and-thirty thousand men at only a few miles' distance from the town. With some difficulty he was persuaded to an interview with Pizarro. The latter addressed him courteously, and urged his return with him to the Castilian quarters in Caxamalca, representing it as the command of the Inca. ”

“ He made his way towards Xauxa, where he was later joined by reinforcements from all quarters. On his arrival there the war was, in point of fact, to all appearance terminated, for he found advices to the effect that Gonzalo Pizarro was hemmed in on every side. In reply to the offers of service which he received, he had given a general rendezvous of Caxamalca, to which place he despatched Hinojosa with the soldiers at his disposal, with orders to take command of the levies and to join him at Xauxa. He then proceeded towards the same place by way of Truxillo. ”

“ But when with one more bound the horse would be upon the monarch, the rider reins back the animal to a dead stop. Not the twitching of a muscle is discernible in the features of the inca; though for their cowardice in the presence of strangers, we are told that the nobles next day suffered death. The cavaliers decline food, saying that they, too, are holding a fast; but chicha, or wine of maize, being offered 25 them in golden goblets by dark-eyed beauties, and Atahualpa brooking no refusal, the Spaniards without dismounting drink it off, and then slowly ride back to Caxamalca. ”

“ The people, as I have said, are very polished and intelligent, and go always clad and shod; they eat maize both cooked and raw, [151] and drink much chicha, which is a beverage made from maize after the fashion of beer. The people are very tractable and very obedient and yet warlike. They have many arms of diverse sorts, as has been told in the relation of the imprisonment of Atabalipa which was sent from Caxamalca, as was said above. [103]
[153]
CHAPTER XVII
Description of the city of Cuzco and of its wonderful fortress, and of the customs of its inhabitants. ”

“ This document the Governor caused to be proclaimed publicly and to the sound of trumpets in the plaza of that city of Caxamalca, making it known, at the same time, to the said Atabalipa by means of an interpreter, [13] and also he [the Governor] declared in the same proclamation, that, because it suited the service of H. M. and the security of the land, he wished to maintain the cacique as a prisoner with good guard, until more Spaniards should arrive who should give added security ”

“ The Inca, however, satisfied by the message of Pizarro, was prepared to repose unbounded confidence in his expected visiter. The Spaniards were allowed to cross the desert, where they might have been easily checked on their march, and to pass in safety through the defiles of the mountains, which were so narrow and difficult of entrance, that a few men might have maintained their ground against a large force. They also took possession of a fortress erected there for the defence of the country, and then advanced to Caxamalca. ”

“ Et questo dissono per dar animo alla gente, perche erano piu di ottanta mila, e dissono ancora quello che li haueua detto il cacique.' Relatione d'vn Capitano Spagnvolo, in Ramusio, iii. 373.
[I‐8] The story is told in as many ways as there are historians. Some say that the inca entered Caxamalca as a conqueror, others as falling into the trap of the Spaniards. All are partially correct. Undoubtedly he would capture the Spaniards if he could, while they would prevent it by securing him if they were able. ”

“ CAJAMARCA, or Caxamarca, a city of northern Peru, capital of a department and province of the same name, 90 m. E. by N. of Pacasmayo, its port on the Pacific coast. Pop. (1906, estimate) of the department, 333,310; of the city, 9000. The city is situated in an elevated valley between the Central and Western Cordilleras, 9400 ft. above sea level, and on the Eriznejas, a small tributary of the Marañon. The streets are wide and cross at right angles; the houses are generally low and built of clay. ”

“ Wherefore such dolorous looks, young Casca? I am in the highest spirits. What think you? I am chosen for the race to-morrow, and I will win, too. Your pardon, fair Hyacintha. I did not perceive you in the shadow of the curtain. What ails you, Casca?”
[27] “Weariness of myself and life, that is all,” the boy said; “you are in its full zest and enjoyment, while I——”
“Pish! what folly! The best time is coming. Why, as soon as you wear the toga virilis you will feel the man. ”

“ Lakes that had shone encircled with gardens now spread out dull and stagnant over the neglected fields. A few ragged fragments of grey clay walls still rose from the green plain of Cacha, where I had last seen, in all its glory of gold and rainbow colours, the holy Temple of Viracocha; and the great guardian fortress of Piquillacta, which I had seen stretching its impregnable length and rearing its unscalable height from mountain to mountain across the entrance to the once lovely valley of Cuzco, lay, a huge ragged mass of towering ruins, splendid even in decay. ”

“ The plain bears a resemblance to that of Bogota, and like it is probably the bed of an ancient lake; but in Caxamarca there is wanting the myth of the miracle-working Botchia, or Idacanzas, the High Priest of Iraca, who opened a passage for the waters through the rocks of Tequendama. Caxamarca lies 640 feet higher than Santa Fé de Bogota, and consequently its elevation is equal to that of the city of Quito; but being sheltered by surrounding mountains, its climate is much more mild and agreeable. The soil of 408Caxamarca is extraordinarily fertile. ”

“ Fourteen miles from the town of Caxamarca is an isolated mountain called the Cerro de San Fernando de Gualgayoc, traversed by numberless veins of silver. At its summit rise a number of pyramidal pinnacles. Its steep sides are pierced by several hundred galleries formed for the extraction of the ore, as well as by numerous natural openings, while in all directions are seen the huts of the labourers, sticking like the nests of birds, wherever a ledge has enabled them to be constructed. ”

“ Hyacintha turned quickly from her contemplation of the water, and said, brightly—
“Nay, but Casca, there are brave and courageous ones who follow the old faith; you forget that everyone is not sad, and——”
“A coward like me”—Casca finished the sentence. “A coward like me! Well, little sister, you have courage enough for both. I hate bloodshed.”
“Oh, Casca! Think you that I love to see it? When my mother made me sit with her, when the wild boars and bulls were let loose on those poor slaves in the arena at Verulam, I hid my eyes. It is not that sort of courage I mean. ”