Pizarro and Soto begged leave to retire to their own camp at Caxamarca, and Atahualpa embraced them, and said, that he should soon follow them, to enjoy the company of the children of his God, Viracocha, the messengers of the great Pachacamac. When the two Spaniards had mounted their horses, presents of gold were carried to them by several noble indians, who begged of their divinities to receive those humble marks of their respect and adoration. Pizarro and Soto then repaired to Caxamarca with their rich presents, astonished at the enormous quantities of gold which they had seen at the palace of Atahualpa.
On the following day, Pizarro placed his cavalry, composed of sixty men, on each side of the square of Caxamarca, behind some high walls: in the centre of the square he had built a small breastwork, behind which he placed his two field-pieces, and behind these he stationed his infantry, a hundred men, and thus awaited the arrival of the Inca.
Atahualpa made his appearance on a throne of gold, carried on the shoulders of his courtiers and favourites, with a guard of eight thousand of his soldiers in front, eight thousand on each side, and eight thousand more in the rear, besides an immense number of nobles and attendants. The troops were commanded by Rumiñavi, who advanced in front, and acted as herald. Friar Vicente Valverde stepped forward a short distance in front of the Spanish infantry, holding a cross of palm leaves in his right hand, and waited the arrival of Atahualpa, who was surprized to see a figure so different from the strangers whom he had seen the preceding day; and being informed by Felipe, the interpreter, that Valverde was the captain of words, and the guide to the supreme Pachacamac, and his messenger, Atahualpa approached, when Valverde began his most extraordinary harangue, requesting Felipe to translate it to the Inca as he proceeded to deliver it.
"Know, most famous and most powerful Inca, that it is necessary and requisite that thou and thine be taught the true Catholic faith, and that ye now hear and believe what follows.
"First, that God, trinity in unity, created the heavens and the earth, and all things in and on them; that he will reward the good with life everlasting, and the bad with interminable punishment. This God created man out of the dust of this earth, and gave him a soul, which is the likeness of God himself; so that every man has a body and a soul.
"The first man was called Adam, whose children we all are. This Adam sinned against the commandment of his Creator, and in him all men that have been born, and that shall be born, sinned also; excepting Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, and the Virgin Mary, who came to redeem us from the bondage of sin, and at last died on a cross that we might live. The cross was like unto this which I hold in my hand and show to thee, that thou with all Christians may adore and reverence it.
"Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and after living again on earth the space of forty days, he went up into heaven, and sat himself down on the right hand of his Father; he left on earth his Apostles, who left their successors to teach the true religion, and guide all men to heaven.
"Saint Peter was appointed the prince of the Apostles and the vicar of Christ, and after him his successors the Pontiffs of Rome, whom the Christians call Popes, who have the authority of Christ on earth, and who always have and do preach to, and teach all men the word of God.
"Whereas the Pope who is now living on this earth, knowing that the people of these countries did not serve the true God, but worshipped idols and the likenesses of the devil, hath determined to bring them to the true knowledge of religion, and he hath given the conquest of these countries to Charles V. Emperor of the Romans, the most powerful King of Spain, and Monarch of all the earth, to the end that he, having subjected to himself all these people, their kings and lords, and destroyed all rebels, may reign and govern all these nations alone, and bring them to the knowledge of God and to obey his church. Our most powerful King, although employed in the government of his great kingdoms and provinces, accepted the gift of the Pope, for the sake of the health of these people, and has sent his captains and soldiers to execute his will, as they have done in former times, in the conquest of the great islands and countries of Mexico, having overcome them with his powerful arms, and brought them to the true religion of Jesus Christ, which he was ordered by God to oblige them to embrace.