Manco, the Peruvian Chief / Or, An Englishman's Adventures in the Country of the Incas

by William Henry Giles Kingston

Several thousand men were employed day and night at this work, while the rest kept the besieged in play. After two weeks’ incessant labour, the works were declared complete, and the whole army prepared for a general assault. I took up my usual post to watch the result, hoping for the sake of humanity that it might fail, but induce the inhabitants to submit. At a given signal the embankments were knocked down, and the water in a vast torrent rushed towards the town, flooding the entrenchments and shaking the walls. They, however, withstood the shock, and the brave defenders again returned to the shattered works from which they had been driven. Once more the sluices were shut, and the inhabitants were left to fancy that the threatened danger had passed by. The next morning, however, the Indians again surrounded the devoted town; in an increased volume the water was made to pass through the ravine, and sweeping onward in a terrific torrent, it rushed down upon the trenches and ramparts, carrying all before it. The defenders fled in dismay from their posts; the signal for advance was given, and the Indians, led on by their fiercest chiefs, dashed through the newly-formed breach and entered the town.

I would willingly draw a veil over the scene of horror which ensued. Little or no opposition was offered; but the spirit of vengeance was aroused, and not a man they encountered escaped. Prayers and entreaties were disregarded—death was dealt on every side. Those who attempted to fly were driven back; and of the twenty thousand persons who in the morning walked alive through the streets, women only and a few priests, and one or two laymen, who had taken refuge within the church, were spared. I had earnestly entreated Manco to do his utmost to save the lives of those who offered no resistance, pointing out to him the policy of so doing; and through his means chiefly those few persons were preserved from destruction. He had claimed some of them as his own property; and for their better protection they were brought to the hut he and I inhabited, on a hill a short distance from the town.

Among them was a man whose deep dejection, and countenance and manners, deeply interested me. Though his dress was soiled and bloody, I at once perceived that he was a gentleman.

“Alas!” he said, “I have been the child of misfortune from my earliest clays. Whenever any bright prospect has appeared before me, it has vanished ere I could enjoy it. I married a wife; she was young and beautiful; but poverty oppressed us, and she had been accustomed to wealth and luxury. A child was born to us, and I trusted it would reconcile her to our lot; but as we were travelling through the country, we were attacked by the Montoneros, and the infant, and the nurse who had charge of him, were carried away to the mountains and slain, for we could never again hear tidings of either of them. For years I toiled on till I amassed a handsome fortune; but scarcely was it obtained, when death deprived me of my wife. I had laid out my money in the purchase of an estate, in the cultivation of which I had resolved to employ myself till heaven should allow me to join my wife and child in another world, when this dreadful outbreak commenced, and reduced me to beggary. By a strange fate, though all my companions have been destroyed, I still am bound to life, which I would gladly have quitted.”

Don Gomez de Castro, I learned, was the prisoner’s name. Our conversation, which had been prolonged till a late hour, for it was now night, was interrupted by a blaze of light, which illuminated the whole sky. Hurrying to the door of the hut, the cause became apparent. The unfortunate town of Sarata was on fire. In every direction the flames were bursting furiously forth, till the entire place became one burning mass. Don Gomez, as he looked at the scene, wrung his hands, and wept bitterly. The fire raged all night; and next morning nothing remained of Sarata but a heap of smouldering ashes. The Indians triumphed, as savages alone may be excused in triumphing, over their fallen enemies. The priests who had been rescued, were, however, treated with respect; which showed the extraordinary influence they had obtained over the minds of the people. Had it been more beneficially exerted, by teaching them the simple truths of pure Christianity, it would assuredly have prevented the horrors of the outbreak; but I fear their aim had rather been to establish their power, for their own selfish advantage, than for the sake of religion. “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

A council of war was now held; when the young General Andres resolved to advance upon the town of La Paz; while Manco, with five thousand men, was to keep the communication open with the north, where he was to rejoin Tupac Amaru.

I rejoiced at this, for I was anxious to see Pedro and Ned Gale again; and I own, from the scenes I had witnessed, I longed to quit the Indian army, and to commence our proposed journey towards Europe. We marched as rapidly as before; the cavalry scouring the country in every direction, and now and then reporting that they had met and destroyed a few of the enemy; but no prisoners were brought in.

I had often expostulated with Manco in vain, on the wanton destruction of human life. His answer was, “We treat the Spaniards as they treated us. I cannot prevent my people from taking vengeance.”

Yet, strange to say, every chief made a point of attaching to himself, as a Christian chaplain, one of the priests who had been saved from the captured towns and villages.

As we approached the neighbourhood of Cuzco, intelligence was brought us that the Spaniards had collected in great force in that city; and that having been joined by a number of Indian tribes from Chili, and further to the south, they were well prepared to give battle to Tupac Amaru. On hearing this, we redoubled our efforts to join the main army. We found them drawn up in the neighbourhood of Tungasuca, in an extensive flat, with a hill on one side, and a river in their rear, prepared to receive the enemy, who were advancing along a valley in their front. A strong body was posted on the hill, where the artillery was likewise stationed. I at once repaired there, in the hopes of finding Ned; but the cacique who had command of it received me very coldly, and informed me that the services of my countryman were no longer required, and that he could not tell where he was. This chief went by the name of Quizquiz, after a famous general of the Inca Atahualpa. I had met him before. I did not like either his countenance or his manners; but the Inca had confidence in him, and listened to his advice. He had become, I suspected, jealous of Ned, and did not like his interference.