An Inca Account of the Conquest of Peru (17 page)

Further, they may order you to worship what they themselves worship, namely some sort of painted rags that they claim to be Viracocha. Even though they are just mere rags, they will demand that you pray to these rags as you would pray to our huacas.
⁶¹
Don't do it but keep with what we have, for, as you can see, the
villcas
⁶²
speak to us; we can see the sun and the moon with our own eyes, but we can't see whatever it is that they are talking about. Now and then, I suppose, they will get you to worship what they worship through force and deceit. By all means, go through with it while they are present if you can't help it. But never forget our own ceremonies. If they were to order you to bring forth your huacas in order to have them destroyed, show them only what you have to but hide the rest. This way you will make me very happy.”

After all of these and many other things, my father said farewell to the Indians and on this occasion put me in front of them, saying that I was his son and that they would have to regard me as their master after his death. Then, when he rose to his feet, all broke into such loud cries that one had the impression that they would pierce the mountains. In their anxiety the people wanted to follow him, but my father would not allow it except in those
cases where absolutely nothing could hold them back. He asked those who wanted to follow him with such persistence how they could leave their fields, their houses, their wives, and children, as well as their
uyawas,
or animals, in order to follow him.
⁶³
He told them to control themselves and that he would come to visit them very soon or send word about what they were to do. Thus, he departed from all of them for the town of Vitcos.

The Inca's Arrival at Vitcos

After our arrival at Vitcos, a town thirty leagues away from Cuzco, we and the people who had accompanied my father took a break with the intention of staying and resting there for a few days. My father had a house built for his sleeping quarters, for the houses that were already there belonged to my ancestors Pachacuti Inca, Topa Inca Yupanqui, Huayna Capac, and others, whose bodies we had put there,
⁶⁴
because we didn't dare to leave them in Cuzco or in Tambo. A little while later, when my father had regained his calm and composure and was no longer suspicious that somebody might intrude into this country, he followed the invitation of the Anti and the other peoples of this country and wanted to hold a very solemn celebration. When the celebration had reached its climax, they suddenly, and without comprehending what was happening, saw themselves surrounded by Spaniards. Because the Indians were feeling very heavy with drink and had left their weapons at home, they were surprised and unable to defend themselves against Don Diego de Almagro, the Captain Diego Ordoñez,
⁶⁵
Gonzalo Pizarro, and the many others, who are too many to enumerate here. They took as many Indians, men and women, as they could, as well as the mummies of my ancestors, whose names were the following: Vanacauri, Viracocha Inca, Pachacuti Inca, Topa Inca Yupanqui, and Huayna Capac, as well as many mummies of women and jewelry and
ornaments, which were being displayed during this festivity. Also, fifty thousand head of choice livestock, the best that was to be had in that country, from the estate of my ancestors and my father. Also, they kidnapped as well several coyas. My father and several others barely eluded them, and the Spaniards returned very contented with their booty, and me, to Cuzco.
⁶⁶
After our arrival at Cuzco, a so-and-so Oñate took me into his house, where he treated me very well and took care of me.
⁶⁷
When my father found out about this, he sent a messenger to Oñate in order to thank him and to officially put me and my two sisters into his care, asking him to look after me and them and promising that he would show his gratitude. During the time after the celebration while I was staying with the said Oñate, my father left Vitcos because some generals from the Chachapoya people had offered to accompany him to a city called Rabanto,
⁶⁸
for there was a good fortress where they could defend themselves against all their enemies. After thinking about their offer, he accepted it. On the way to Rabanto he rested a few days in a town called Oroncoy, because the inhabitants wanted to hold a celebration in his honor. While he was still there, he sent scouts in order to find out whether there were any Spaniards or other people who might stand in his way in the area. It is reported that after he had sent them, around dawn more than two hundred heavily armed Spaniards appeared on horse in the village of Oroncoy in search of my father. They had captured the guards on the bridges that were there and had tortured them with ropes in order to extort information about the whereabouts of my father. They [the guards] told them that he was at the village called Oroncoy. The Spaniards left the guards behind and galloped at full speed, one behind the other, up the hill in the hope that they would catch my father in his sleep or at least before he was able to make preparations for his defense. But my aunt Cura Oclo, my father's sister, spotted the approaching troops from afar after hearing the thumping noises of the horses. With great alarm,
she rushed into my father's sleeping quarters in order to warn him that the enemies were approaching and to tell him to rise and attack them. When my father saw her so terrified, he rose in a hurry without taking care of anything else in order to find out if what his sister was saying was true. From his elevated point of view, he could immediately see that she was right. He hurried back to his house and ordered the bit to be put on his horse, for he wanted to gather his people immediately and just as he was, so that the enemies would not fall upon them before they were ready to fight. As soon as his horse was for ready for battle, he had it saddled, for his enemies were already close.
⁶⁹
He positioned a great number of women on top of the hill, all armed with lances in order to evoke the impression that they were men. After that, he swiftly jumped on his horse, his lance in hand. He shielded all of his men all by himself, so that the enemies would not be able to hurt them as long as the scouts, who were surveying the country, had not returned. They [the scouts] arrived on top of the hill almost at the same time as the Spaniards, while my father was fighting them off by himself. When they arrived there, they were exhausted by their ascent. But when they saw my father fight so bravely, they found new encouragement to fight their enemies, who were still farther downhill. They courageously fell upon them in a throng with their lances and shields and pushed them down the hill. After they had dealt them this blow, they took a rest in order to catch their breath. When the Spaniards noticed that they had sat down to take a drink, they assumed that they were exhausted and boldly resumed their attack up the hill. Our men, however, had been on the watch and had reinforced themselves with people who had come to their aid from various places. As soon as they saw their enemies approach with such resolve, they fell upon them and drove them apart in one blow, throwing them over the cliffs and rocks into the abyss. The helpless Spaniards had been so exhausted from the weight of their armor and from the
heat, that they weren't able to resist and to avert their collective destruction. Not a single horse nor man escaped with his life, except for two men: one by swimming across the river and the other by grabbing hold of one of the ropes of the bridge.

Thus, after their victory had been completed, my father's men went about collecting the spoils from the Spaniards and stripped every one of them that they could get their hands on, taking their clothes and weapons and bringing everything up into the village of Oroncoy. My father and his people were very much elated by the victory that they had accomplished and made a celebration and dance that lasted for five days in order to honor the spoils and the victory. After this celebration, and after all of these things had happened, my father set out with all of his people for a several days' march to the town of Rauantu, which is located in the direction of Quito. As he was crossing the valley of Jauja, in a town called Llacjapalanga he learned that the natives of this land, the Guanca people, had allied themselves with the Spaniards.
⁷⁰
He was very much enraged by this and decided to punish them in a way that would set an example for the entire country. He made it known that, because they had obeyed and submitted to the Spaniards, he would burn them and their houses without permitting anyone to be spared, including their women, daughters, and sons who served a powerful huaca called Guari Villca, whom they worshipped in a certain valley about five leagues from Xaxallaga.

When the Guanca people found out that my father was angry with them and intended to burn them and their idol Guari Villca on account of them having allied themselves with the Spaniards in spite of the fact he [Manco Inca] was their legitimate ruler, they decided to prevent his entry by sending word to the Spaniards and by putting themselves under their protection in order to extricate themselves from their precarious situation. As soon as the Spaniards heard about my father's decision to destroy the Guancas, a hundred of them rushed to their defense.

When my father found out about this, he changed his course and fought many battles against the Guancas in several places, spreading death and destruction and calling out, “May your masters help you now!” Thus, after a march that lasted several days, he arrived at a place called Jauja la Grande. There he was engaged in a bigger battle with the Spaniards and the Guancas that lasted two days. Finally, my father emerged victorious, thanks to the large number of people and to his skill. They killed fifty Spaniards and put the others to flight in full gallop. Some of our men went after them for awhile, but when they saw how fast they were running away, they returned to my father, who was swinging his lance high on his horse on which he had fought the Spaniards so valiantly. After the battle had ended, my father, somewhat tired from the fighting, descended from his horse and sat down to rest with his people, who were all very exhausted from the battle and many of them injured. The next day, when the people were somewhat refreshed, they took a break from all the marching at a town called Vayocache,
⁷¹
which is not far from the place of the idol called Guari Villca. While he was staying there, my father ordered the idol to be excavated from where it had been buried up to the shoulders. After it had been excavated on all sides, he had the entire treasure that had been placed there as an offering brought before him, as well as the
yanaconas
, the male and female servants,
⁷²
who had been left in charge of the keeping of this idol, in which the inhabitants of this country had much faith. Then he ordered all of them killed in order to demonstrate that he alone was the ruler. Also, they placed a rope around the idol's neck and dragged it for the entire journey of twenty leagues over hills and rocks, swamps and mud, heaping great insults upon it and saying, “Just think about the faith that those Guancas placed in this idol, even believing it to be Viracocha, and now look how it's ended up, as well as their masters, the Spaniards.” As they were thus proceeding with their journey, they arrived at a town called Acostambo,
⁷³
where they stayed
for one year. There they built houses and cultivated fields, which are now owned by Spaniards and are now called Viñaca, for there is much Castilian wine to be seen there. The huaca, or idol, called Guari Villca was, upon order of my father, thrown into a large river.
⁷⁴

After this, my father went to a region and town called Pillcorumi.
⁷⁵
He went there upon the request of some Anti leaders, who kept begging him to come. There he was once more engaged in battle by a group of Spaniards who had come in search of him; but he beat and dispersed them. It would lead too far astray here if I were to recount all the details; suffice it to note that in the process a great amount of artillery, harquebuses, lances, crossbows, and other weapons fell into his hands. After he had fought another battle with the Spaniards at Yeñupay, he stayed there for another year. Thereafter, he returned to Vitcos, and from there made his way back to Vilcabamba, stopping on the way in several towns that I will omit here for brevity's sake. Having arrived, he rested and recovered for a few days and built his houses and lodgings in order to settle down there, for it seemed to him like a good site for his capital seat.

After a few days of rest, when he was just starting to think that the Spaniards would leave him alone, he had word from the scouts whom he had positioned along the way that Gonzalo Pizarro and Captain Diego Maldonado and Ordónez,
⁷⁶
as well as many others, were approaching and that they were accompanied by his three brothers, who were Don Pablo,
⁷⁷
Ynguill, and Huaspar. The Spaniards made them go first, for they maintained that they intended to ally themselves with my father against the Spaniards. My father went out in order to intercept them at a fortress that he had in his control about three leagues away. He intended to defend himself against them there and not to let them take this bastion. When he arrived there, he faced a great number of Spaniards. (I am not sure how many exactly, as they were difficult to count because of the dense forest.) They battled
each other fiercely from the opposite banks of a river—the one on one side and the other on the other side. After ten days, the battle still had not ended, for the Spaniards fought in shifts against my father's hordes and against him. But they fared poorly throughout because we held the fortress. The situation became even more precarious when a brother of my aunt Cura Oclo by the name of Huaipar turned up there. This would later cost him his life, for my father was extremely enraged that he had dared to go against him. When my father, beside himself with rage, wanted to kill him, Cura Oclo tried to prevent him from it, because she loved him [Huaipar] very much. But my father was not inclined to grant her request and beheaded him and his other brother Ynguill, exclaiming, “It is more just that their heads be cut off than to let them take mine.” My aunt, who was very upset about the death of her brother, did not ever want to move from the spot where their bodies were laid.