OCCASIONAL PAPERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1936, 2 April 1891, Page 34

OCCASIONAL PAPERS.

Bt Liseur.

AN IMPORTANT INCIDENT IN THE

CONQUEST OF PERU.

When Pizarro, after many difficulties and dangers, had effected a landing and secured a base of operations in Peru, he led a small force through the passes of the Andes to Caxamalca, where the Inca Atahuallpa was resting, after his successful campaign against his brother Huascar. Pizarro found the city deserted and took possession of the public buildings in the great square. The Inca was encamped with a large force a short distance from the city in the neighbourhood of the hot springs. Pizarro, weary from his march and somewhat dismayed at his reception and the Inca's force, decided to send a mounted embassy to discover, if possible, the monarch's intentions. The Peruvians had not before seen the horse, and with feelings akin to terror they watched the Spanish cavalcade gallop by with clangour of arms and bla3t of trumpet. A broad but shallow stream flowed in front of the Inca's camp, and disdaining to use the bridge the cavaliers dashed through the water to the opposite bank, where a battalion of warriors was drawn up, though they offered no opposition to the passage. The Inca's quarters, which occupied the centre of a spacious courtyard, were sumptuously furnished and handsomely decorated, and streams led by aqueducts from the springs and river plentifully supplied the imperial baths with hot and cold water.

The Inca wore the crimson borla, the emblem of Peruvian majesty, as he sat sursnrrounded by his nobles to receive the strangers. Hernando Pizarro made a respectful obeisance, and informed the Inca they were subjects of a mighty princa beyond the seas. They had come to offer their services to him, and impart the doctrines of the true faith. His brother and chief would be honoured were the Inca to visit and dine with him in the Spanish quarters, which the Inca consented to do the following evening. The number of the Indian warriors and their splendid equipment made a deep impression on the Spaniards, but Pizarro, whatever his feelings, met their report with a bold bearing.

He had gone too far to retreat, and must either advance or be crushed. He remembered that Cortez had made a prisoner of the Emperor of the Aztecs, and the desperate position in which he found himself decided Pizarro to attempt a similar move with the Inca. The invitation which that prince had accepted would afford a means for effecting his capture with the greatest possible cbance of success. The Inca once in his power, Pizarro knew he would hold the key of the Government of the country, and that there would be little further resistance to any demand he might make.

The sun rose brightly on the following morning — the morning of the most eventful day in the annals of Peru. Pizarro placed his cavalry on two sides of the square, in the spHcious halls whose wide doors opened level with the street. The infantry were posted jin positions to aid the cavalry,

while he reserved some 20 men to act with-, himself. He gave orders that all should' remain at their posts till the discharge of a!] gun gave the signal to rush out and secure the Inca. All preparations being complete, mass was performed with great solemnity. ' The God of battles was invoked to spread his shield over his servants who were fighting for the Cross, and all joined in the chant " Rise, O Lord, and judge thine own cause." One might have supposed them a company of martyrs about to lay down their lives for their faith, instead of a band of licentious \ adventurers, meditating one of the most atrocious acts of perfidy on the record of history.

Late in the forenoon a message arrived from the Peruviam camp that the Inca would come with his warriors fully armed. This was not agreeable news to Pizarro, though he had little right to hope for more favourable terms, as his own embassy bad been fully equipped. At noon the Indian procession was on the march. In front came a body of attendants to sweep every particle of dust from the path of the sacred Inca. Around the imperial palanquin were high nobles of the realm, bedecked with such magnificent jewels that they literally " blazed like tbe sun," and in the fields on either side were massed great bodies of the veteran troops of the empire. Well might Pizarro despair of succeeding in his daring through infamous design.

When within half a mile of the city the procession halted, and proceeded to pitch tents. A message being despatched to Pizarro that the Inca would not visit him till the following morning. This did not suit the plans of the Spaniard. His troops had been under arms since daylight, and nothing Pizarro well knew was so trying to the soldier as prolonged suspense. He feared lest their ardour should evaporate in the presence of such a mighty host as would be encamped that night before the city. Pizarro therefore informed the Inca, that everything was prepared for his reception, and he expected to sup with him that evening. This message turned Atahuallpa from his purpose. He resolved to enter the city with only a few unarmed attendants, and remain there during the night, thus proving he had no thought of foul play on the Spaniards' part. Pizarro was delighted . It seemed as though the Inca were desirous of rushing into the snare prepared for him, and the fanatical cavaliers were not slow to discern the finger of Providence in this. The Inca was of a bold, resolute character, and it is hard to account for this wavering conduct; but he undoubtedly made the visit in good faith, though perhaps his aimable disposition rested on a very precarious foundation. A half-hour before sunset the van of the Peruvians entered the city gates, singing songs of triumph, followed by bodies of liveried attendants. Some were dressed in checkered red and white, and others carried masses of gold and silver ; while those in the immediate service of their prince wore an azure-coloursd livery with a profusion of gay ornaments, the golden pendants in their ears denoting Peruvian nobility of the highest rank. The palanquin of the Inca was beautifully decorated with the plumes of tropical birds, and inlaid with gold and silver and precious stones. He sat on a throne of gold, and was carried high above the beads of his vassals by the chief lords of the empire. Round the monarch's neck hung a necklace of emeralds of large size and brilliancy, and his hair was adorned with golden beads, Thus with pomp and splendour the last of the " Children of the Sun " marched into tbe "snare laid by his enemy.

Hot a Spaniard was to be seen. In the centre of the square, the Inca commanded a halt and asked where were the strangers. Then a friar advanced with a Bible and crucifix. He had come by instruction of his master to instruct his Majesty in the doctrines of the true faith, for which purpose the Spaniards had visited the country. He explained briefly the doctrine of the Trinity ; gave an account of the creation of man, his fall and redemption, the crucifixion and the ascension ; told how the Saviour had left the Apostle Peter vicegerent on earth ; how this power had been bestowed upon the Pope ; how Pizarro had been commissioned to conquer and convert the natives of the western hemisphere ; and concluded by beseeching the Inca to abjure the errors of his. own faith and embrace Christianity. The Indian monarch's eyes flashed as he comprehended tbe meaning of this discourse. He would be no man's tributary, neither would he abjure his faith. He demanded the friar's authority for these doctrines, who pointed to the Bible he held. Atabuallpa took the book, looked it through, and dashed it to the ground, exclaiming that the Spaniards should not leave the city till they had paid dearly for their insults. The holy man picked up the sacred volume, denounced the Inca as a child of the devil, and rushing to his chief demanded that the signal for the onslaught should be given. With their battle cry of " St. Jago, and at them 1 " the Spaniards then charged the unarmed multitude. ' Taken by surprise, bewildered by the unfamiliar report and smoke of the firearms, and the charge of the dreaded cavalry, they knew not where to fly, and they were cut and trampled down by scores. The entrance to the city was soon choked with dead, crushed in their frantic attempts to reach the open county, while those behind still struggled forward. At last the pressure of the maddened wretches became so great that the city wall for 100 paces fell, and over the ruins they poured, pursued by the relentless Spaniards. But the massacre was thickest round the Inca, the capture of whose person was the object of the assault. His faithful nobles drew closely round him, and endeavoured, by tearing his assailants from their saddles, to save him. As one was cut down another took his place. The wounded hung on the horses' legs, hoping to bring them and their riders to the ground. Not before the flower of his nobility had fallen was the Inca reached. T>izarro bad commanded that no harm should be done him, but it was only by the Spanish chief's personal efforts that the unfortunate monarch was saved from injury. The stubborn resistance of the bearers was only overcome by cutting them down, and tbe palanquin narrowly escaped destruction in the struggle. At last the Spaniards secured the Inca, aud safely lodged him in one of the neighbouring buildings under a strong guard. All resistance then ceased. The tidings of the

■capture spread rapidly, and every man 'thought only of his own safety. Soon jthe camp was deserted by the soldiery, who were pursued and killed without mercy by the Spanish cavalry. Darkness fortunately put a stop to the slaughter and drove the victors back to the city. No armed resistance had been offered in the assault, even the soldiery being seized with panic, so sudden and unexpected was tbe attack of the Spaniards. The number killed was variously estimated from 2000 to 10,000, though the massacre lasted but hah? an hour — the twilight of a tropical evening.

Thus by one bold stroke by a band of adventurers was the benevolent despotism of the Incas — the sacred children of the sun — overthrown. Their happy and prosperous country, where poverty and vice were unkno.wn, where no one was expected to work beyond his strength, and where everyone had more than sufficient for his needs in sickness and old age, was soon distracted by the quarrels of its conquerors, and their subjects doomed to slavery or to wander homeless outcasts through the mountain solitudes of the mighty Andes,