The War of Quito

by Pedro de Cieza de León

Presently I returned to my lodging, with permission of the Inca, and he sent me, by the governor, a macaw and two baskets of earth nuts. Then the mestizo came with a very small cup of chicha, with a message from the Inca asking me to drink it, that he looked upon me as a friend, and that when I liked, we could treat of the matters about which I had come. I took a sip, and gave the rest to one of the Indians who had come with me. He sent a message by the mestizo that I must rest, that I must be tired, and that another day he would do all that I desired. I sent him four pieces of glass, and a case of comfits, which were the presents the Judge Matienzo had sent, and had mentioned in his letter. I also sent half an arroba of crystals and pearls, and seven bracelets of silver, saying that the glass was sent by Matienzo, because it was a thing held in high estimation and that as the comfits gave a pleasant taste to the tip of the tongue, so I trusted that my words would give satisfaction, and that I wished to be of service as the messenger and ambassador who came to him. He took it all in, and rejoiced greatly. That he might not hesitate to eat the comfits, I said that they were very good, and that he might be sure that they would do him no harm, I wished to eat some in his presence. I did eat with the mestizo and invited him, who ate them also. Then I gave two sheathed knives, a head cloth, and other things to the governor Yamqui Mayta. I distributed presents to all the other captains pointed out to me by the mestizo, embraced them all, and returned to my lodging.

Then the people of the village brought much food and presented it to the Inca, and to those who had come with him. The Inca did not eat on cloths, but on green rushes, and the rest on the ground.

The Inca was a man of forty years of age, of middle height, and with some marks of small-pox on his face. His mien rather severe and manly. He wore a shirt of blue damask, and a mantle of very fine cloth. He is served on silver, and there are also twenty or thirty fairly good-looking women, waiting behind him. He sent for me to eat where he was with his women and his governor. The food consisted of maize, potatoes, small beans, and the other products of the country, except that there was very little meat, and what there was consisted of venison, fowls, macaws, and monkeys, both boiled and roasted. When night came on he asked me whether I had made the acquaintance of his captains. I replied in the affirmative, and he then took leave of me. He went to the house that had been prepared for him, in exactly the same order as when he arrived, with music of silver flutes and trumpets. That night there was a guard of a hundred Indians who were divided into watches, and flutes and drums were played to call each watch. They placed a guard of fifteen Indians over me with their lances, I being in a house outside the village. I calculate that all the Indians who came with the Inca, and those of the village, numbered 450.

In the morning of the 14th of May the Inca sent for me to his house, for it was raining. The greater part of his troops were seated round a large fire. The Inca was seated, dressed in a shirt of crimson velvet, with a mantle of the same. All his captains had taken off the masks they wore on the day before. As I entered I saluted, making many compliments, and taking off my cap. He saluted me in his language. The mestizo was on a seat in front. I presented the Inca with a very good looking glass, two necklaces of coral beads, and a paper book. He was very much pleased with the presents, and ordered my seat to be placed near him, next to the governor and two captains. I understood that the Inca had been told by one of the captains who came with me, respecting what I had said and asked, and that I had expressed discontent at the want of proper respect shown to me by the Indians. Presently he asked for the letter I brought, and what I had come for. I answered that he had already seen the letters, before my arrival, and that he had then read what I now wished to put before him in words. He said that that was true. I then said that what I had to communicate to him was a matter of great importance, both for the salvation of his body and his soul; and that it might be seen that I did not wish to deceive on any point as regards what I had to say, I suggested that he should send for all the wisest men he had with him, that what I had to say might be better understood. At the same time he was himself a man of such sound judgment, his own understanding would be quite sufficient to deal with all that might be submitted to him. He replied that all were there present, and that I might now say what I wanted, as on another day I should have to return to Cuzco with his reply. The Christians, he added, had never given more than one day for audience and another for departure. If they stayed longer his people might kill them from fear and terror, without his permission to kill. I answered that it would occupy more than two days to complete the negotiations, and to make what I had come to say clearly understood. Especially this was the case when I did not wish to cause discontent by being given so short a time, my intention being rather to cause satisfaction and not annoyance. The Inca was pleased and said to me that he and his captains would not answer until I had represented everything, and after that I could make answer to their view of what I had said.

Presently I said to the mestizo, who was the interpreter, that I requested permission to say something in praise of God and of our holy Christian religion. The Inca gave permission. I then said many things which were the fruits of study in books I had brought, but to avoid prolixity I will not write down my discourse. I have it written in a little book with other things. The Inca and all his captains expressed themselves pleased at having heard it, and enquired whether there were any Christians among the Indians who were there. If so they were ordered to stand up. Twenty or twenty-five among the chiefs did so. I asked each one his name, and every one of them gave me Christian names. So I asked the permission of the Inca to animate and console them, which he was pleased to give. I said to them that they should not turn back but trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, remaining firm in what they had professed when they received baptism. And I told them to serve the Inca as he was their Lord, and also God the creator of all things. I said many other things to them until they began to cry, in presence of all those captains of the Inca, and the Inca himself was moved to anger. He spoke very fiercely to me, saying that no Spaniard who had entered his territory had dared to treat of these things and to praise their Lord Jesus Christ, nor in the time of his father, that it was great insolence on my part, and that he was disposed to order me to be killed. I answered that I came as a man who had to do this, that I had confessed and taken the sacrament as a Christian, and that no time could be better for me to die than the present. I reminded him that what I had said, was said with his permission. Then I delivered a discourse in praise of truth and against what was false, representing that so I must deal with him, being as truthful as if I was on oath. I then spoke of the Judge Matienzo who had given permission for me to come with a letter from him to the Inca. I told him how well fitted I was to manage affairs for the Indians, and I showed them some papers I had brought with me, by which the Inca would be convinced of it. He should not think that I came as a spy, or for a bad object, nor would he believe it when he knew what I had done for him in his absence. They had all thought that the entries into their lands on foot or on horseback had been secret, but we had known of them and they were quite public. For this there was indeed no need of spies, and presently I would tell them all, and how I desired to take up the negotiation from further back.

During this discussion three of their Indians arrived who had been sent as messengers to the President. They brought eight yards of yellow damask, half a dozen masks, and a letter from the President in which he said that if the Inca would come peacefully to Cuzco, he should have a grant of certain villages of Indians with a revenue of over $15,000, which the Treasurer Merlo would show, sending the account in three or four days, and showing what the rents are from those Indians, which would be paid in the name of his Majesty. Merlo also wrote out a translation of what was in the decrees respecting the Indians. Another letter was sent, signed by the President, which was for Merlo. It said that the letter was written by the President and that if the Inca did not wish to accept the grant that was offered to him, he was requested to reply at once, because an officer, on the part of the city of Cuzco was to force an entry and make war. The question should be settled for his word had been given. There were letters saying that the chiefs of Xauxa and of the whole kingdom were arrested, and that the municipalities of Cuzco and Guamanga wished to make war.

The Inca and his captains received the news bravely. The Inca rose up and declared that they were not afraid of the Spaniards. He said, before his assembly, all he could think of in abuse of the Spaniards and in praise of his Indians. Then all the Indians arose and began to worship, and those Indian captains began to make offerings, each one for himself, with daggers of bronze or iron in their hands. Some said they would kill four Spaniards, others five, others six, and others ten. One of them, named Chinchero, said that as I was there, why was he not ordered to kill me, for he wanted to stab me with the dagger in his hand. The Inca kept silence, answering nothing, so the Indian went back to his seat.

As daylight was now appearing, and they had all drunk freely, I asked permission of the Inca to return to my lodging and get something to eat, and that on another day I would state frankly what I had come for. So I departed, leaving them to boast loudly, but all much disturbed in their minds.

Soon afterwards they sent me a sheep of Castille, many fowls and partridges, and the other food which their country produces. To those who brought them I gave some trinkets, needles, and other Spanish things. Presently the Inca sent for me. I went there, and was there until night, without a word being spoken, when I returned to my lodging. The reason for this appeared to be that too much chicha had been drunk.

Next day, the 15th of May, the Inca came out in the morning with all his people in the same order as before. He sent for me in the open space. When I came I found them at breakfast, and they gave me, and my Indian attendants, plenty to eat. Afterwards I asked permission to state what I had come for. I said, through the mestizo interpreter, that the President and Judges of the Royal Audience took great pains to favour the Indians, and for that reason I had come with instructions to offer many advantages, wishing to establish peace, not to make war, not that the Indians should make incursions into the land of peace. The President had been strictly charged by his Majesty to grant many favours to the Inca and his captains, and the Judge Matienzo had sent me to ascertain the Inca’s wishes and intentions. To this it was replied that news had now arrived of the desire to make war both from Cuzco and Guamanga, and that threatening movements had been made at other places. In consequence of this, incursions had been made into the land of peace. Further they knew that Hurtado[86] had asked leave to attack them in the time of the Count[87], and had made incursions from Guamanga and in Amaibamba. I replied that the invasion was given up to avoid damage and evil, and not from fear of the Inca’s people, also because the Archbishops, friars, and clerics had intervened to prevent war. The Inca said that this was true, that so he had been informed, and that now, as then, the clergy would be against war. I told him that the face of things was altered. The reason was that his people had entered the land of peace, burnt the churches, pulled down the images, and destroyed the crosses: also that the Indians who were there had been made to worship the sun, though they were Christians. For these reasons the Archbishop, friars, and clergy could not show them favour. The Inca denied it, saying that he had not given such an order; and the first instruction he had given to his people, whenever they made a raid, was not to touch either the churches or the crosses. I then said that I had many witnesses to the facts, who had seen him and the mestizo take the images and burn the churches. He then admitted that he had taken the images and that he had them well guarded and could show them, but that he had never burnt the church. I told him that in Amaibamba I had seen the bits of the cross, and that they had cooked a sheep with it. He replied that he had not gone personally on that raid, that the Indians had done it, and that he regretted it much. He also said that none of the friars, clerics, or soldiers in Peru could complain that he had killed one of them, though he might have done so many times. He could easily have killed two Augustine friars and two other Spaniards who were shut up in a house at Curahuasi, and many others at many times and in many places, but he would not do such a thing, and he had ordered his people not to kill them. Nor had he killed the Indians that I had brought, and that the Indians had more liberty in his land than the Spaniards. He only took Indians who had belonged to his ancestors. To this I replied that here in Peru it was said that he was not the heir of the Incas of this kingdom, but the sons of Atahualpâ, because the Spaniards found him in possession of the kingdom when they arrived. He answered that Atahualpâ was a usurper and a bastard who had murdered Huascar Inca the legitimate heir, and that after him came his father Manco Inca. I then observed that the report was that he was an illegitimate son. He then told me that among them, when there was no legitimate son, the custom was that a bastard succeeded. He was, therefore, high priest in what we call spiritual things. This was in default of another brother, at least one who was older than himself. He thus inherited the temporal lordship. He was in possession and was recognized by the other Incas. They all obeyed him, and if he had not the right they would not obey him. For the rest the question had better be settled by arms and not by talking. All who come try to deceive him. He told me I might go next day. He would write to the Judge Matienzo that he had given me plenty to eat, and let me go in peace. He said he was surprised that I should have shown such prejudice against him in my conversation. In this way he took leave of me, and I went back to my lodging where I remained all that day. From the top of a rising ground I saw the festivities made for the Inca, and heard the songs. The dances were war dances with spears in their hands, throwing them from one to the other. I believe that they did such things by reason of the quantity of chicha they had drunk.