This is the version given by Garcilasso de la Vega of the war between Huascar and Atahualpa. As a descendant of the Yncas he was of course strongly prejudiced in favour of his maternal ancestors, and his account of Atahualpa’s cruelties after his victory, are probably much exaggerated. At the same time no one could have had better opportunities of obtaining authentic information, and doubtless the principal facts are correct.
Velasco defends the conduct of Atahualpa through thick and thin. As a native of the province of Quito, he naturally takes the part of the last sovereign of his own country, whose subsequent misfortunes throw a veil over his cruelties and treason to the Yncas of Cuzco. Hist. de Quito, ii, p. 76.
[398] Melchor Verdugo was a native of the town of Avila, in Spain. He distinguished himself in the battle of Chupas, fighting against the younger Almago, and, receiving the district of Caxamarca in encomienda, settled himself at Truxillo. As a townsman and partizan of the ill-fated viceroy Blasco Nuñez, he was in bad odour with the party of Gonzalo Pizarro, and was seized by Carbajal, but evaded pursuit, and was concealed by his Indians at Caxamarca until he thought it safe to return to Truxillo. He escaped from Peru by an act of unsurpassed audacity. A vessel arrived at the port of Truxillo, from Callao, and Verdugo resolved to seize her. He, therefore, collected about twenty armed men, upon whom he could depend, and concealed them in his house. He, then, sent for the master and pilot, saying that he wanted to ship some merchandise for Panama, and as soon as he got them into his house he locked them up. Presently the alcaldes of the town walked down the street with a notary, and Verdugo, throwing open a window, called out to them to come in, as he wanted them to witness a deed, and could not come out to them, owing to a disease in his legs. They entered, without suspecting anything, and were immediately put in irons and locked up with the master and pilot of the ship. Returning to his window, Verdugo continued to call up people he saw passing, saying he had something to say to them, until he had more than twenty of the principal people of the town, of Gonzalo Pizarro’s party, safely locked up. He then told them that he would take them all in the ship with him, unless they paid a ransom, and, after thus collecting a large sum of money in gold and silver, he went on board, and sailed for Nicaragua; where his ship was seized by Palomino, an officer serving under Hinojosa, Gonzalo Pizarro’s admiral at Panama. Verdugo then collected three small vessels in the lake of Nicaragua, and, descending the river, entered the sea and sailed to Nombre de Dios, and thence to Carthagena. After the arrival of the president Gasca at Panama, Verdugo returned to Spain, and received the habit of Santiago from the Emperor. Eventually he returned to his estates in Peru. Zarate, lib. vi, cap. vi, etc.
[399] Chachapoyas was a district to the eastward of Caxamarca, inhabited by brave men and beautiful women, according to Garcilasso de la Vega. Their chief god was the condor, and they also worshipped snakes. These Indians were attacked by the Ynca Tupac Yupanqui, and a fierce war ensued. They defended themselves in fortresses perched on inaccessible heights, and were only dislodged after a prolonged resistance. After the death of their conqueror, they rebelled against his son Huayna Ccapac, but were again subdued and pardoned. The modern town of Chachapoyas gives its name to a bishopric, with a diocese extending over that part of the vast forest-covered region of the Amazon and its tributaries which lies within the boundaries of Peru.
[400] Alonzo de Alvarado, a brother of Cortes’s famous companion, was detached by Pizarro with orders to conquer Chachapoyas; but he was so constantly engaged in the civil wars, until his death, that he had little time to spare in conquering and settling this province; which duty devolved upon his second son.
[401] The Huancas were the inhabitants of the valley of Xauxa, or more properly Sausa. They are described by Garcilasso as living in small villages strongly fortified, and worshipping dogs. The Huancas mentioned by Cieza de Leon, were probably Mitimaes sent into the Chachapoyas district by the Yncas.
[402] Moyobamba is now the chief town of the modern province of Loreto, which includes all the course of the Amazon and its tributaries within the boundaries of Peru. It contains about fourteen thousand inhabitants, and is built near the river Mayo, an affluent of the Huallaga. The ground consists of sandstone, which is easily washed away by the heavy rains, and deep ravines have been formed in the course of time, some of them thirty and forty yards deep, which intersect and break up the town. The inhabitants are employed in making straw hats, which are exported to Brazil. Apuntes, &ca., por Antonio Raimondy, p. 60.
[403] The Chanca Indians originally inhabited the valley of Andahuaylas, between Cuzco and Guamanga. They were invaded by the Ynca Rocca, sixth in descent from Manco Ccapac, and obliged to submit to his yoke. But soon after the accession of Rocca’s son Yahuar-huaccac, the Chancas rose in rebellion under their chief Anco-huallu, a youth of twenty-six years of age. The pusillanimous Ynca not only neglected to march against him, but even abandoned Cuzco, and retreated in an opposite direction. His son Huira-ccocha, however, was a man of different metal. He led an army against the insurgents, and utterly defeated them in a bloody and well-contested battle on the Yahuar-pampa, or “plain of blood.” Anco-huallu received a full pardon, and for ten years he continued to reside in his native valley as a tributary chief. But this dependent position was distasteful to him, and eventually he emigrated with eight thousand followers, and settled in the forests of the Moyobamba district. Garcilasso tells us that the exact position of his new settlement was never exactly known, the report merely stating that he descended a great river, and established his people on the banks of a beautiful lake. Mr. Spruce has suggested that Anco-huallu and his Chancas conquered Moyobamba, and drove the original inhabitants out, who, descending the Huallaga and Amazon, settled between the rivers Ucayali, Marañon, and Yavari, and were the progenitors of the fierce and untameable modern tribe of Mayorunas (Mayu, a river, and runa, a man in Quichua). G. de la Vega, i, lib. v, cap. 26.
[404] The word for gold in Quichua is ccuri. In the Tupi language, which was prevalent among the Indians of the river Amazon, the word curí means coloured earths, much used in plastering huts, and for other purposes. It is very probable that Spaniards from Peru who descended into the valley of the Amazon, asked for ccuri (gold), and were told there was plenty of curí (coloured earth); and that from this mistake the fame of the wealth of Omagua and El Dorado arose.
[405] For an account of this remarkable emigration of Indians from Brazil, see my Introduction to the Expedition of Pedro de Ursua (“Search for El Dorado.” Hakluyt Society’s volume for 1861, p. xxviii, and p. 2 of the text.) Their chief, named Viraratu, was sent to Lima, and it was his report that led to the organisation of the expedition in search of El Dorado and Omagua, which descended the Amazon in 1559, under Pedro de Ursua, and met with so tragic a fate.