CHAPTER XII
The new cacique[72] goes with an army to drive Quizquiz from the state of Quito. He has some encounters with the Indians, and, because of the roughness of the roads, they return, and they later go thither again with a company of Spaniards, and before they set out, the cacique pays his obedience to the emperor.
As soon as this was done, he [the Governor] gave orders to the new cacique to assemble many warriors in order to go and vanquish Quizquiz and drive from the land those of Quito, and he [the Governor] said to the Inca that it was not regular that, when he was lord, another should remain in his land against his will, and [the Governor] said many other words to him upon this subject in the presence of all in order that they might see the favor which he did him [Manco] and the fondness which he showed him, and this not for the sake of advantages that might result from it, but for his own [Manco's] sake.[73] The cacique had great pleasure in receiving this order, and in the space of four days he assembled more than five thousand Indians, all in readiness with their arms, and the Governor sent with them a captain of his own and fifty cavalrymen; he himself remained guarding the city with the rest of the troops. When ten days had gone by, the captain returned and related to the Governor what had happened, saying that at nightfall he had arrived with his troops at the camp of Quizquiz five leagues from there, because he had gone by a roundabout road through which the cacique guided him.[74] But, before arriving at enemy's camp, he encountered two hundred Indians posted in a hollow, and because the land was rough he was not able to take their fort away from them and to overpower them so that they could not give notice of his coming, which they did do. But, although this company [of Indians] was in a strong place, it was not so bold as to wait for his attack and it withdrew to the other side of a bridge to cross which was impossible [for the Spaniards] because, from a mountain which dominated it, to which the Indians had retired, they hurled so many stones that no one was permitted to cross, and, because the land was the roughest and most inaccessible that had been seen, they [the Spaniards] turned back. [The captain] said that two hundred Indians had been killed, and that the cacique was much pleased at what [the captain] had done, and, on their return to the city had guided them through another and shorter road on which, in many places, the captain found great quantities of stones piled up for defense against the Christians, and he found, among other passes, one so bad and difficult that he, with all his troops, suffered great trials and could not follow it further. At that place it became apparent that the cacique had true, and not feigned, friendship for the Governor and Christians, for he led them out of that road from which not one Spaniard could have escaped [alone]. [The captain] said that after he left the city, he did not go over as much as a cross-bow shot of flat land, and that all the country was mountainous, stony and very difficult to traverse and [he added] that if it had not been for the fact that it was the first time that the cacique was travelling with him and might impute it to fear, he would have turned back. The Governor would have liked him to follow the enemy until he drove them from the place where they were, but when he heard the nature of the place, he remained content with what had been done. The cacique said that he had sent his soldiers after the enemy, and that he thought they would do them some damage; and accordingly within four days news came that they had killed a thousand Indians. The Governor once more charged the cacique to cause more warriors to be assembled, and he himself wished to send with them some of his cavalry in order that they might not desist until they had driven the enemy from the land. When he returned from [the first] trip, the cacique went to fast in a house which was on a mountain, a dwelling which his father had built in another day; there he stayed three days, after which he came to the plaza where the men of that land gave him obedience according to their usage, recognizing him as their lord and offering him the white plume, just as they had to the cacique Atabalipa in Caxamalcha. When this was done, he caused all the caciques and lords who were there to assemble, and, having spoken to them concerning the harm that the men of Quito were doing in his land and about the good that would result to all if a stop were put to it, he commanded them to call and prepare warriors who should go against those of Quito and drive them from the place in which they had posted themselves. This the captains did at once, and they so managed to raise troops that, in the period of eight days, ten thousand warriors were in that city, all, picked men, and the Governor caused to be prepared fifty light horsemen with a captain in order that they might set out on the last day of the feast of the Nativity. The Governor, before that journey was made, wishing to re-affirm peace and friendship with that cacique and his people, when mass had been said on Christmas day by the religious,[75] went out to the plaza with many of the soldiers of his company, and into the presence of the cacique and of the lords of the land and of the warriors who were seated along with his Spaniards, the cacique on a stool and his men on the ground around him. The Governor made them an address, as he was wont to do on such occasions, and by me, his secretary and the scrivener of the army, was read the demand and requirement which H. M. had sent, and its contents were declared to them by an interpreter; all understood it and replied [in a friendly manner]. It was required of them that they should be and should call themselves vassals of H. M., and the Governor received [their obedience] with the same ceremony as was used the other time, namely, of twice raising the royal standard, and in testimony [of the friendship] the Governor embraced them to the sound of trumpets, observing other solemnities which I do not write in order to avoid prolixity. This done, the cacique stood up and, in a vase of gold, gave drink to the Governor and the Spaniards with his own hands, and then all went off to eat, it being already evening.
CHAPTER XIII
They suspect that the cacique wishes to rebel. It turns out to be unfounded. Many Spaniards go with him and twenty thousand Indians against Quizquiz, and of what happens to them they give news in a letter to the Governor.
And when the Spanish captain with the Indians and the cacique were about to depart within two days in order to go against the enemy ...[76] the Governor was informed by some Spaniards, some Indian friends and some allied natives of the country that among some of the cacique's chief men, it was being talked of that they should join with the warriors of Quito, and they [the informers] accused him of other things. Because of this, there arose some suspicion, and, in order to make sure as to whether the friendship of the cacique for the Christians who loved him so was faithful and true, wishing to know truth of the matter, [the Governor] caused the cacique and some of his chief men to be called, on the next day, to his room. And he told them what was being said about them; after investigation had been made and torture had been given to some Indians, it came out that the cacique and the chiefs were without any blame, and it was certified that, neither by word nor deed, had they done anything to the hurt of the Spaniards, but that two chiefs had said that because their ancestors had never been subject to anyone neither they nor the cacique ought to submit themselves [to the Spaniards]. But notwithstanding this, by what was known then and afterwards, it was believed that the Indians always loved the Spaniards and that their friendship with them was not feigned.[77] The troops did not set out on their journey because the rigor of winter [was at its height] and it rained a great deal every day, so it was determined to allow the height of the rainy season go by, principally because of the fact that many bridges had been ill-treated and broken, to mend which was essential. When the season in which the rains ceased arrived, the Governor had the fifty cavalrymen, the cacique the men he had and make ready. All of these, with the captain whom he gave them, put themselves on the march for Xauxa by way of the city of Bilcas,[78] where, it was understood, the enemy were because the roads were cut up by the many winter rains and the rivers were swollen; although there was no bridge over many of them, the Spaniards crossed on their horses with great trouble, and one of them was drowned. Arrived by [long] marches at the river which is four leagues from Bilcas, it was learned that the enemy had gone on to Xauxa. And the river being swollen and furious, and the bridge burned, it was necessary for them to stop and build it anew, for, without it, it would have been impossible to cross the river, either in those boats which are called balsas or by swimming or in any other way. Twenty days the camp was here in order to mend the bridge, for the officers [maestros] had much to do, because the water was high and kept breaking down the osier ropes which were put in place. And if the cacique had not had so great a number of men to build the bridge and to cross over by it and pull over the ropes of osiers, it would not have been possible to build it. But having twenty-four thousand warriors, and by crossing [the stream] again and again to attempt [to set in place the ropes] making use of cords and balsas, at last they succeeded in placing the osier ropes and when they had been passed across [the river], the bridge was built in a very short space of time. [It was] so good and well built that another like it is not to be found in that land, for it is three hundred and seventy-odd feet long, and broad enough to allow two horses to cross at once without any risk. Then, having crossed that bridge and having arrived at Bilcas, the Spaniards found quarters in the city, from which they sent to the Governor a report on how affairs were progressing. Here the camp stopped for some days, resting, in order that they might have news of the place in which the enemy were, of which they learned no more than that they had set out for Xauxa, and that they were thinking of attacking the Spaniards who had remained there as garrison. When he learned this, the captain at once set out with the Spaniards to aid [the garrison], taking with him a brother of the cacique and four thousand warriors. The cacique returned to Cuzco, and the captain sent the governor a letter which his lieutenant wrote from Xauxa in great haste, and which was of the following tenor: "When your excellency drove the enemy from Cuzco, they rallied and came to Xauxa, and before they arrived, it was learned by our men that they were coming in great force, because, from all the places of the region, they were drawing as many men as they could, as much for warriors as to carry the supplies and baggage; when this was learned by the treasurer Alfonso [in Xauxa], he sent four light horsemen to a bridge which is twelve leagues from the city of Xauxa where the enemy were on the other side, in a very important province. When they had returned, the treasurer used his best efforts, as much in guarding the city and in treating well the caciques who were there with him as in informing himself stealthily of all the doings of the enemy. And the greatest suspicions which he had were of the Indians who were in the town and in the region and who were very numerous, because almost all were in agreement with the enemy to come and attack the Spaniards on four sides. With this agreement, the Indians of Quito crossed [the bridge before mentioned] with the intention that a captain with five hundred of their men should come from the direction of a [certain] mountain and cross a river which is a quarter of a league from the city and place himself on the highest part of the mountain [near Xauxa] in order to assault the city on the day agreed upon between them. The captain Quizquiz and Incurabaliba,[79] who were their chief leaders, were to come by the plains with a greater force of warriors. This was speedily learned from an Indian to whom torture was given. The captain who was to cross the river and attack the city from the mountain travelled rapidly and arrived a day before the rest of the warriors. And one morning at dawn news came to the city of how many enemies had crossed the bridge, from which was born a great disaffection among the natives of Xauxa who [formerly] served the Christians loyally, from which it was supposed that the whole land had risen in arms, as has been said. First of all, the treasurer arranged that all the gold of H. M. and of the men which was in the city should be placed in a large house, and he set a guard of the feeblest and sickest Spaniards, ordering that the rest should be prepared to fight; and he ordered ten light horsemen to go out to see how large a number of the enemy had crossed the river in order to take the mountain, and he himself, with the rest of the soldiers, waited on the plaza in case the greater number of the enemy should come by way of the plain. The Spanish scouts attacked the Indians who had crossed the bridge; they retired, and the Spaniards had to cross the bridge after them some peon cross-bowmen whom the treasurer had sent them, so that the Indians turned and fled with great loss. The great blow of the others, who came by the plain, did not take place at the time agreed upon with the others for assaulting the city, and in waiting for it, they lost time. That night and the [following] day the city was vigilant, and the soldiers were always armed and their horses saddled, all being together in the plaza, thinking that on the following night the Indians would come to attack the city and burn it, as it was said that they intended to do. When [the first] two quarters of the night were passed, seeing that the enemy did not appear, the treasurer took with him a light-armed horseman and went to see in what place the enemy had camped and how many of them had approached the city, [for the Indians who gave news of all this did not know where they were, and likewise because the enemy took roads of which no one could give information], with the result that at daybreak the treasurer found himself four leagues from the city, and, having seen the place where the Indians were and the nature of the site, he returned to the city at which he arrived a little after noon. When it was seen by the hostile Indians that the Spaniards had discovered them, they were in great fear, and got up from that site and went towards the city, and in the night they came and took up a position a quarter of a league from the city beside a small river which entered the large one. When this was known by the Spaniards, they spent that night with the greatest caution, and on the following day, after hearing mass, the treasurer took twenty light horse and twenty peons with two thousand friendly Indians, leaving as many more Spanish cavalry and some foot soldiers in the city with the understanding that they were to give a signal whenever the enemy should attack them so that the other [Spaniards] might come to aid them. Having gone out from the city with the lieutenant, the Spaniards saw that the Indians of Quito had crossed the little river with their squadrons in which there might be some six thousand of them, and, seeing the Spaniards, they turned and crossed to the other bank. Then, the treasurer and the Spaniards perceiving that if they did not attack the Indians that day, the following night the latter would come to sack and set fire to the city, so that there would be greater trouble if night was awaited, he [the treasurer] determined to cross the river and fight with the enemy. A sharp skirmish was held [on the other side], as much with cross-bows and arrows as with stones, and the treasurer, who was going in advance of the rest down the stream, received a stone on the crown of his head which threw him from his horse into the midst of the river, and, stunned, he was borne along quite a distance, so that he would have been drowned had not some Spanish cross-bowmen who were there helped him and pulled him from the water with much trouble. [The Indians] also gave his horse their favor. With this victory the Indian friends were as much pleased as if they alone had won it. The Indians of Quito re-assembled once more in a place called Tarma five leagues from Xauxa, whence, likewise, they were driven because they did much harm in the neighboring lands."