Xauxa

“ After he had waited there another day for certain envoys whom the cacique Atabalipa had sent to learn what was going on in Xauxa, one came who told how the warriors were five leagues from Xauxa on the road from Cuzco and were coming to burn the town so that the Christians should not find shelter, and that they intended afterward to return to Cuzco to combine under a captain named Quizquiz who was there with many troops who had come from [37] Quito by command of Atabalipa for the security of the land. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The cacique returned to Cuzco, and the captain sent the governor a letter which his lieutenant wrote from Xauxa in great haste, and which was of the following tenor: "When your excellency drove the enemy from Cuzco, they rallied and came to Xauxa, and before they arrived, it was learned by our men that they were coming in great force, because, from all the places of the region, they were drawing as many men as they could, as much for warriors as to carry the supplies and baggage ”

“ In the province of Xauxa, which is a very important part of these kingdoms of Peru, they sew their dead up in fresh sheep skins, with the face exposed, and thus they are kept in their own houses. The bodies of chiefs and principal men are, at certain seasons of the year, taken out by their sons, and carried to the cultivated fields and homesteads in a litter with great ceremony, and sacrifices of sheep and lambs, and even of women and boys, are offered up. ”

“ North of Xauxa, the valleys and plateaux of the Cordillera were inhabited by the Conchucos, and by the Indians of Huamachuco, Caxamarca, Chachapoyas, and Bracamoras. This brings us to the frontier of Quito. The tribes of northern Peru are also said to have been warlike, and to have been incessantly engaged in feuds with each other. ”

“ Huascar was on the point of marrying her to one of his captains. She cut her hair, put on the dress of one of her servants, painted her face according to the usage of those who go to war, and mixed herself amongst the camp followers of the army of Huascar. The Ynca’s general, named{lviii} Huanca Auqui, had retreated to the valley of Xauxa, where he met the reinforcements from Cuzco, and was superseded by Mayta Yupanqui. The army of Atahualpa, under the command of Quizquiz, advanced to Tarma, and the hostile forces met between Tarma and Xauxa. ”

“ I FIND that the distance from this valley of Xauxa to the city of the victory of Guamanga is thirty leagues. Going by the royal road, the traveller journeys on until certain very ancient edifices, now in ruins, are reached, which are on the summit of the heights above the valley. Further on is the village of Acos, near a morass full of great rushes. Here, also, there were edifices and store-houses of the Yncas, as in all the other towns of this kingdom. The natives of Acos live away from the royal road, in some very rugged mountains to the eastward. ”

“ I swear it by my ancestor, Pedro de la Vega, who gave his life for the True Faith, and was killed by the infidels in the year of grace 1537 at the Battle of Xauxa, in which he received seventeen wounds while fighting at the side of the illustrious Christobal de la Torre! ”

“ He is a writer of sense and observation; and, though he has his share of the national tendency to exaggerate and overcolor, he writes like one who means to be honest, and who has seen what he describes.
At Xauxa, also, the notary Pedro Sancho ends his Relacion, which embraces a much shorter period than the preceding narrative, but which is equally authentic. Coming from the secretary of Pizarro, and countersigned by that general himself, this Relation, indeed, may be regarded as of the very highest authority. And yet large deductions must obviously be made for the source whence it springs ”

“ The mountainous region being the chief part of the country, and being so narrow, as well as being torn by the wars that have been there, settlements of Christians cannot be made there, for it is a very remote region. From the city of Xauxa along the Cuzco road, the country keeps getting more shut in by mountains and the distance from the sea is greater. ”

“ Cieza de Leon mentions a fact relating to the Huancas of the Xauxa valley, which gives us a high estimate of their civilization. The cruelties and robberies of the Spanish conquerors, whose deeds are now outdone by their Chilian imitators, would have led to the complete destruction of the natives if it had not been for the excellent order and concert of their polity. ”

“ The Spaniards profited by the prudent forecast of the Peruvian government. Passing through several hamlets and towns of some note, the principal of which were Guamachucho and Guanuco, Pizarro, after a tedious march, came in sight of the rich valley of Xauxa. The march, though tedious, had been attended with little suffering, except in crossing the bristling crests of the Cordilleras, which occasionally obstructed their path, - a rough setting to the beautiful valleys, that lay scattered like gems along this elevated region. In the mountain passes they found some inconvenience from the cold ”

“ In the rich valleys and on the grassy mountain sides of the Central Peruvian Andes, to the westward of the Quichuas, dwelt three nations which were called by their future conquerors—the Chancas, Pocras, and Huancas. [67] They inhabited the districts now known as Abancay, Andahuaylas, Guamanga, and Xauxa. Little or nothing is known of their history anterior to their absorption into the empire of the Yncas, and if they had a distinct language, it must have been either very barbarous or very closely allied to Quichua, for no vestige of it has survived. ”

“ Then the Governor wrote and sent couriers to the city of Xauxa, giving to all his congratulations and thanking them for the valor they had shown, and especially his lieutenant, asking him to give him information of all that took place in the future. And in the meanwhile, the Governor hastened matters for setting out thence, leaving affairs provided for in the city, founding a colony, [128] and peopling plentifully the said city. He caused all the gold which had been collected to be melted, which was in small pieces, an operation quickly performed by Indians skilled in the process. ”

“ The Spanish captains, having studied the place where these enemies were found as well as the road, along a part of which they journeyed, they determined not to shut themselves up in Xauxa, but to pass onward and attack the main body of the army which was four leagues off before it should receive news of [46] their coming. With this intention, they commanded the soldiers to make ready, but their proposal did not come to pass because they found the horses so weary that they held it to be better council to retire, which they did. ”

“ It has a beautiful and fine fortress; there are many well built houses of stone, and it is half-way by road from Xauxa to Cuzco. And on the next day the Governor encamped on the other side of the river, four leagues from Bilcas, and although the day's march was short, it was nevertheless toilsome because it was entirely a descent almost all composed of stone steps, and the troops waded the river with much fatigue because it was very full, and he set up his camp on the other bank among some groves. ”

“ The more limited the means, even, the greater may be the science shown in the use of them; until, forgetting the poverty of the materials, we fix our attention on the conduct of the actors, and the greatness of the results. While at Xauxa, Vaca de Castro received an embassy from Gonzalo Pizarro, returned from his expedition from the "Land of Cinnamon," in which that chief made an offer of his services in the approaching contest. ”

“ So widely has the news spread of the benefits he has conferred and is still conferring, that the wild warlike Indians in many contiguous provinces, holding themselves to be secure under his word and safe conduct, have come to see and communicate with him, and have promised obedience spontaneously to your Majesty. This has happened in the Andes of Xauxa, near Pilcocanti, and among the Mañaries and Chunchos to the east of Cuzco. ”

“ But after Xauxa and Father Tendilla—what next?"
"Either refuge in some remote province of Tavantinsuyu, or Panama. We could harbor in some village near San Miguel until a ship came in; then get aboard in secret. Only one thought goeth against my conscience, and that is of the peril and hardship to which Rava would be again exposed. Ah, Madre! I know not, Pedro—I hesitate. This flight would be not only from Pizarro's men, but perhaps from the Inca as well. I doubt not that she could find faithful supporters in the venture—but it would be a struggle ”

“ There were letters saying that the chiefs of Xauxa and of the whole kingdom were arrested, and that the municipalities of Cuzco and Guamanga wished to make war.
The Inca and his captains received the news bravely. The Inca rose up and declared that they were not afraid of the Spaniards. He said, before his assembly, all he could think of in abuse of the Spaniards and in praise of his Indians. Then all the Indians arose and began to worship, and those Indian captains began to make offerings, each one for himself, with daggers of bronze or iron in their hands. ”

“ When this was learned by the Governor, he caused to be made ready seventy-five light horse, and with twenty peones who guarded Chilichuchima, and without the impediment of baggage, he set out for Xauxa, leaving behind the treasurer with the other troops who were guarding the camp baggage and the gold of H. M., and of the company. ”

“ While leading a new colony of Spaniards to settle in Xauxa, they receive news of the death of Guaritico, [13] brother of Atahualpa. Afterwards they passed through the land of Guamachucho, [14] Adalmach, [15] Guaiglia, [16] Puerto Nevado, and Capo Tombo, [17] and they hear that in Tarma many Indian warriors are waiting to attack them, on account of which they take Calichuchima prisoner, and then proceed intrepidly on their journey to Cachamarca, [18] where they find much gold. ”

“ In the valley of Xauxa the invaders came upon the army of the Huanca, on which they inflicted a final defeat. The Inca spared and liberated the prisoners of war, who were numerous. Once more, at Tarma, were the Huanca beaten, after which all resistance appears to have been overcome. The city-state of Cuzco was now the dominant power throughout the whole of Central Peru, a territory 300 miles in length, whilst it exercised a kind of suzerainty over a district of equal extent toward the south-east, which it shortly converted into actual dominion. ”

“ The horses were in ill shape for so hard a march; for their shoes had been entirely worn out in the tedious journey, and how to shoe them was a puzzle: there was no iron in Peru. But Hernando met the difficulty with a startling expedient. If there was no iron, there was plenty of silver; and in a short time the Spanish horses were shod with that precious metal, and ready for the march to Xauxa. It was an arduous journey, but well worth making. Chalicuchima voluntarily decided to go with the Spaniards to Caxamarca to consult with his superior, Atahualpa. ”

“ IT is well known to many natives of these parts that Huayna Capac entered the country which we call Bracamoros, and that he returned flying before the fury of the men who dwell there. They had chosen leaders, and assembled to defend themselves against any one who should attack them. This is stated, not only by the Orejones, but also by the Lord of Chincha, and some principal men of the Collao and of Xauxa. ”

“ After this they say that great sacrifices were offered up in Pachacamac by Tupac Inca Yupanqui, and great festivals were celebrated. The Inca then returned to Cuzco by a road which he made, crossing the snowy range of Pariacaca, [221] and coming out in the valley of Xauxa. It is no small sight to behold the grandeur of that range, and what great terraces it has, and to this day men pass by that snow-covered region. ”

“ Putting their women and children, with the property they could collect, on a lake [196] which is near their abode, they waited for what might happen. The Inca Captains, when they had arranged the affairs at Xauxa, set out and advanced as far as Bonbon, but as the people had taken refuge on the lake, they were unable to do other harm than eat their provisions. They then passed onwards and came to Tarama, where they found the people in arms. There was a battle, in which many of the people of Tarama were killed and taken prisoners, and those of Cuzco remained victors. ”

“ Mocho bowed. "I would better like an honor more dearly gained, Sapa Inca. The place is but feebly garrisoned."
The Inca smiled. "Thou'lt have opportunity, presently, for others less easily won, my lord; do not fear it. The fortress may not be so easily held as taken, for if I mistake not the Viracochas will not be slow to learn its importance. Thou wilt garrison it strongly, therefore, and see it amply supplied." He turned to the senior general. "My Lord Quehuar, thou wilt send a chasqui to Xauxa to-night——"
He was interrupted by commotion and an excited voice in the antechamber. ”