CHAPTER LXXXV.
In which the road is described from Xauxa to the city of Guamanga, and what there is worthy of note on this road.
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 have nothing more to say of them, except that they go dressed in woollen clothes, and that their houses are of stone thatched with straw. The road goes from Acos to the buildings at Pico, then over a hill, the descent from which is rugged and would seem difficult, yet the road continues to be so broad and smooth, that it almost seems to be passing over level ground. Thus it descends to the river which passes by Xauxa, where there is a bridge, and the pass is called Angoyaco. Near this bridge there is a certain white ravine, whence comes a spring of wholesome water. In this pass of Angoyaco there was an edifice of the Yncas, where there was a bath of water that was naturally warm and convenient for bathing, on account of which all the Lords Yncas valued it. Even the Indians of these parts used to wash and bathe in it every day, both men and women. In the part where the river flows the valley is small, and there are many molle[420] and other trees. Further on is the valley of Picoy, but first another small river is crossed, where there is also a bridge, for in winter time this river washes down with much fury.
From Picoy the road leads to the buildings of Parcos, erected on the top of a hill. The Indians have their abodes in very lofty and rugged mountains on either side of these buildings. Before reaching Parcos there is a place called Pucara (which in our language means a strong thing[421]) in a small wilderness, where, in ancient times, as the Indians declare, there was a palace of the Yncas and a temple of the sun. Many provinces sent their usual tribute to this Pucara, and delivered it to the overseer who had charge of the stores, and whose duty it was to collect the tribute. In this place there is such a quantity of dressed stones that, from a distance, it truly appears like some city or towered castle, from which it may be judged that the Indians gave it an appropriate name. Among the rocks there is one, near a small river, which is so large that its size is wonderful to behold. I saw it, and slept one night under it, and it appeared to me that it had a height of two hundred cubits, and a circuit of more than two hundred paces. If it was on any dangerous frontier, it might easily be turned into an impregnable fortress. This great rock has another notable thing connected with it, which is that there are so many caves in it that more than a hundred men and some horses might get into them. In this, as in other things, our God shows his mighty power. All these roads are full of caves, where men and animals can take shelter from the wet and snow. The natives of this district have their villages on lofty mountains, as I have already said. Their summits are covered with snow during most parts of the year. The Indians sow their crops in sheltered spots, like valleys, between the mountains. In many parts of these mountains there are great veins of silver. The road descends a mountain from Parcos, till it reaches a river bearing the same name, where there is a bridge built over great blocks of stone. This mountain of Parcos is the place where the battle took place between the Indians and the captain Morgovejo de Quiñones, and where Gonzalo Pizarro ordered the captain Gaspar Rodriguez de Campo-redondo[422] to be killed, as I shall relate in another part of my work. Beyond this river of Parcos is the station of Asangaro, now the repartimiento of Diego Gavilan,[423] whence the royal road passes on till it reaches the city of San Juan de la Victoria de Guamanga.
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Which treats of the reason why the city of Guamanga was founded, its provinces having been at first partly under the jurisdiction of Cuzco, and partly under that of the City of the Kings.
AFTER the war at Cuzco between the Indians and the Spaniards, the King Manco Ynca, seeing that he could not recover the city of Cuzco, determined to retire into the provinces of Viticos, which are in the most retired part of these regions, beyond the great Cordillera of the Andes; after having first led the captain Rodrigo Orgoñez a long chase, who liberated Ruy Diaz, a captain whom the Ynca had had in his power for some days. When it was known that Manco Ynca entertained this intention, many of the Orejones of Cuzco (the nobility of that city) wished to follow him. Having reached Viticos with a great quantity of treasure, collected from various parts, together with his women and retinue, the King Manco Ynca established himself in the strongest place he could find, whence he sallied forth many times, and in many directions, to disturb those parts which were quiet, and to do what harm he could to the Spaniards, whom he considered as cruel enemies. They had, indeed, seized his inheritance, forcing him to leave his native land, and to live in banishment. These and other things were published by Manco Ynca and his followers, in the places to which they came for the purpose of robbing and doing mischief. As in these provinces no Spanish city had been built; the natives were given in encomienda, some to citizens of Cuzco; and others to those of the City of the Kings. Thus the Indians of Manco Ynca were able to do much harm to the Spaniards and to the friendly Indians, killing and robbing many of them.
These things rose to such a height that the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro sent captains against Manco Ynca. The factor Yllan Suarez de Carbajal,[424] by order of the Marquis, set out from Cuzco and sent the captain Villa-diego to reconnoitre with a force of Spaniards, for there was news that the Ynca was not far distant from the place where he was encamped. Notwithstanding that they were without horses (which is the most important arm against these Indians), they pressed on because they were confident in their strength, and desired to enjoy the spoils of the Ynca, thinking that he had his women and treasure with him. They reached the summit of a mountain, fatigued and exhausted, when the Ynca, with little more than eighty Indians, attacked the Christians, who numbered twenty-eight or thirty, and killed the captain Villa-diego, and all his men, except two or three, who escaped with the aid of the friendly Indians. These fugitives presented themselves to the factor, who deeply felt the misfortune. When the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro heard it, he hastily set out from the city of Cuzco with a body of men, who had orders to pursue Manco Ynca. But this attempt also failed, for the Ynca retreated to his settlement at Viticos, with the heads of the Christians.[425] Afterwards the captain Gonzalo Pizarro undertook the pursuit of the Ynca, and occupied some of his passes and bridges. At last, as the evils done by the Indians had been great, the governor Don Francisco Pizarro, with the assent of the royal officers who were with him, determined to form a settlement between Cuzco and Lima (which is the City of the Kings), so as to make the road secure for travellers. This city was called “San Juan de la Frontera,” until the licentiate Christoval Vaca de Castro, Pizarro’s successor in the government of the country, called it “De la Victoria,” after the victory which he gained over the men of Chile, on the heights of Chupas.[426] All the villages and provinces from the Andes to the South Sea were under the jurisdiction either of the city of Cuzco or of that of the Kings, and the Indians were granted in encomienda to the citizens of one or other of these cities. When, therefore, the governor Don Francisco Pizarro determined to build this new city, he ordered that some citizens from each of the two cities should come to live in it, so that they might not lose their claim to the encomienda of the Indians in that part. The province of Xauxa then became the limit of Lima, and Andahuaylas that of Cuzco. The new city was founded in the following manner.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
Of the founding of the city of Guamanga, and who was its founder.