An Inca Account of the Conquest of Peru (18 page)

In the midst of these events, still before they were completely over, a few Spaniards came to the place where my father was. When he saw them approach and realized that there was no escape, he decided to jump into the water and to swim across the river. Having arrived on the opposite bank, he exclaimed loudly, “I am Manco Inca, I am Manco Inca!” When the Spaniards realized that they would not be able to catch him, they decided to return to Cuzco and drove before them Cura Oclo and Cusi Rimache, another one of my father's brothers whom he had with him, among other things. They arrived with my aunt at the town of Pampaconac, where they tried to rape her. But she did not want to let this happen and defended herself bravely to the bitter end, even covering her body with stinking and filthy things in order to disgust those who wanted to touch her. Thusly she defended herself innumerable times until they arrived at the town of Tambo, where the Spaniards, who were very angry because my aunt would not permit what they desired and because she was my father's sister, shot her with arrows. For the sake of
chastity, she endured it all and, while the others shot arrows at her, exclaimed, “Will you take revenge on a woman for your annoyance? What would another woman do in my place? Hurry up and kill me, so that your appetite may be satisfied!” Thus, they murdered her while she covered her eyes with a piece of cloth.

When Vila Oma, my father's former commanding general, as well as Ticoc, Taipi, Tanquihualpa, Orco Varanca, Atoc Suyru, and many other former generals of my father saw that the Spaniards had captured and abused the coya in this manner,
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they were very upset. This was not lost on the Spaniards, who took them and said, “Surely, you will revert to your old love of the Inca and ally yourself with him. But we won't let it happen, for you will die here along with your mistress.” They defended themselves against these accusations and said that they did not intend to do this, that they wanted to stay with the Spaniards and serve them. The Spaniards, however, who did not believe them and thought that their protestations were feigned, had them all burnt to death. After they had been burnt and the coya killed, they went on to Yucay, where they burned Ozcollo, Coriatao, and many others in order to prevent them from joining my father and in order to cover their backs. After all these things related here had passed and many more that I have omitted for brevity's sake, my father returned to Vilcabamba, the capital of this province, and lived there in peace for a few days. Because he missed me, he sent me several messengers from that town to Cuzco, where I had been staying since my abduction from Vitcos at the house of the aforementioned Oñate. The messengers, however, abducted me and my mother and secretly brought us from Cuzco to the town of Vitcos, where my father was staying in order to refresh himself, for it was located in a cool region. There my father and I spent many days. During this time, seven Spaniards appeared there, each of whom arrived on a different day. They claimed that they were on the run for some crimes they
had committed, and they protested their willingness to serve my father to the best of their abilities for the duration of their entire lives.
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They begged for permission to stay in his land for the remainder of their days. Although my father would hardly have been prejudiced in favor of the Spaniards by then, when he saw that they had come with good intentions, he ordered his captains not to harm them, for he wanted to protect them in his land as though they were his own offspring. They were even to be given houses in which they could live. Although my father's captains would have preferred to finish them off then and there, they obeyed his orders. My father hosted them for days, even years, treating them very well and supplying them with everything they needed. He even ordered his own women to prepare food and drink for them. Not enough, he had them accompany him, treating them and enjoying himself with them as though they were his brothers.

After some days and years while the said Spaniards were in my father's company in his own house in Vitcos, my father, they, and I were enjoying ourselves by playing a game of
herrón.
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My father, being unsuspecting, gave no credit to an Indian woman who was in the service of one of the Spaniards named Barba and who had reported a few days earlier that the Spaniards wanted to kill him. But my father, without suspecting anything in this or any other regard, was enjoying himself with them as he had before. When, in the course of the game, my father went to pick up the iron with which they were playing, they all fell upon him with daggers, knives, and some swords. Feeling his injuries, my father attempted to defend himself on all sides, invigorated by the fury with which approaching death inspired him. He being alone, however, and there being seven of them and because he did not have any weapons, they threw his wounded body to the ground several times and left him there for dead. When I, still being very young, saw them treat my father this way, I tried to rush to his aid, but they angrily turned on me and threw at me
my father's personal lance, which happened to be there, thus almost killing me as well. Frightened and terrified by this, I ran down some wooded slopes, so that they wouldn't find me if they came after me. They left my father, who was on his last gasps, and went out the door in good spirits, saying, “Don't worry; we've already killed the Inca.” But several Antis, who were just arriving, as well as the Captain Rimache Yupanqui, surrounded them and, before they could get away, cut off their escape route, threw them off their horses, and dragged them away in order to sacrifice them. They killed all of them in a cruel manner, even burning some of them alive. Before my father died,
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he summoned all of his captains, as well as me, in order to talk to us. He addressed his captains with the following words.

The Inca's Dying Speech to his Captains

He said, “My sons, here you see how I fared because I was too trusting toward these Spanish people, especially those seven whom you have gotten to know here. I treated them like sons, and after I had protected them for such a long time, they have reciprocated my hospitality in this manner. I don't believe I will emerge from this alive. But, on your lives, remember how I have warned you again and again—in Cuzco, in Tambo, and in all the other towns where you gathered following my call, as well as in the places to which you have followed me. Because I know well that you have committed all of this to your memory, I don't want to reiterate it. Neither do my pains permit it, nor is there any reason to torture you even more with it. I leave my son Titu Cusi Yupanqui in your care. Look after him, for you know that he is the apple of my eye and that I used to treat him more like a brother than a son, owing to his intelligence. I have also instructed him to take care of all of you and all my children, to look after them as I would have done. I ask that you treat him like you
treated me; and I am convinced that he will appreciate it very much and repay you accordingly. Therefore, call him, so I can give him my blessings and tell him what to do.”

Manco Inca's Dying Speech to his Son

“My beloved son, you can see well what's happening to me, so I don't need to express in words my pain, which is obvious in the facts. Do not weep, for if there is anyone who has reason to weep, it is me, provided I still could. For I have myself brought about this situation in which I now find myself by trusting people of that sort and by spoiling those who did not deserve it. As you know, they came here on the run from their comrades because of certain crimes they had committed. I took them in and favored them with paternal sympathy. But listen to what I have to say: I order you never to deal with people like these, so you won't end up like me. Don't allow them to enter into your lands, regardless of how much they try to persuade you with words. I was fooled by their sickly sweet words; and the same will happen to you if you trust them.

I entrust to you your brothers and sisters, as well as your mother. Look after them, help and support them, as I have done for you. Look out so that you don't dishonor my bones by maltreating your siblings and your mother, for you know that this would hurt me very much. I also entrust these poor Indians to you. Take care of them as you are supposed to and remember how they gave up their lands and their homes out of love for me and how they have accompanied, guarded, and protected me in the course of all my trials. Don't work them too hard and don't harass them; don't scold or punish them without cause, for this would bring forth the wrath of Viracocha. I have ordered them to respect and revere you in my place as their ruler, for you are my firstborn son and the heir of my kingdom. This is my last will.
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I trust in their benevolence and know that they will accept
and respect you. They will do nothing but what I have told them to do and what you will order them to do.”

After these words, he expired and left me in the town of Vitcos. From there I moved to Vilcabamba, where I remained for more than twenty years until some Indians from Huamachuco disturbed my peace. They had been sent by the court of justice at Cuzco on orders of Gonzalo Pizarro, who was then rebelling against the king.

How I, Don Diego de Castro Titu Cusi Yupanqui, made peace with the Spaniards and subsequently became a Christian, thanks to God, whom we used to call Viracocha

Above I have explained briefly and succinctly why my father Manco Inca Yupanqui was the natural ruler of these kingdoms of Peru, the manner in which the Spaniards intruded into his country, and how and why he resisted them—the reason being their many abuses—as well as the course and end of his life. Here I want to relate how I've fared since his days and of the manner in which I've converted to Christianity and made peace with the Spaniards. It was a blessing of God that the governor licentiate Don Lope García de Castro then ruled and administered these kingdoms of Peru. This is how it happened.

At the time when the Marquis de Cañete was the viceroy of these kingdoms of Peru,
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he sent me a padre from the Dominican order in this land where I live in order to negotiate with me about my removal to Cuzco. The padre announced that the viceroy had orders from the emperor Don Carlos that obligated him to treat me according to my rank if I were to leave my land and convert to Christianity. But then I remembered the treatment that the Spaniards had accorded to my father when they were in Cuzco with him, as well as the orders that he had given us upon his death and I thought that the same could happen to me. For
this reason, I did not want to consent to the proposal that the padre, a certain brother Melchor de los Reyes, who had been sent in this matter, and his companion, a certain Juan Sierra, conveyed on behalf of the viceroy. But in order to see whether what the padre and his companion said was true, I sent a few of my captains along with the said padre to the marquis, so that they could clarify this matter. I conveyed my intention that I would send one of my brothers in my place if what they were saying was true. He would be able to test the Spaniards' way of life and report to me how they were conducting themselves toward him. If their conduct was good, I would follow later.

A year later, the said padre and my captains returned and confirmed everything. When I saw that such a person [as important as the marquis] was begging me so insistently and gave me such credible confirmation that my needs would be taken care of, I sent my brother Saire Topa, after having instructed him on how to conduct himself. As soon as this was done, he went with the said padre to the viceroy, who assigned to him the valley of Yucay and other tracts [repartimientos] for his sustenance, where he died a Christian.
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When I learned of his death, I was very upset, for I thought that the Spaniards had murdered him as they had already murdered my father. I spent several days worrying about this until they sent me the licentiate Polo with Martín de Pando, who has stood by my side as my notary to this day, and Juan de Betanzos from Cuzco with the news that my brother Saire Topa had died a natural death. After I had acknowledged this news, I kept Martín de Pando in my land and let Juan de Betanzos return with my answer.
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I stayed there for several days until I had another visit from several messengers who had been sent on behalf of the Count of Nieva, who had succeeded the Marquis de Cañete as viceroy, with a proposal for peace. This proposal was the same as the one the marquis had sent, and I answered that I was ready to make peace if they returned some of the lands of my father that the
king had appropriated. Thus, the messengers went off with this answer.

I think that the Spaniards' efforts for peace had one of three possible causes: because they knew that I continuously made raiding expeditions into their lands and abducted a great number of the inhabitants; or because the king had ordered what his conscience told him to do, considering what he had obtained from my father; or perhaps because they wanted to have me close by them in their land in order to make sure that I wouldn't cause them any more harm. As I was not indoctrinated with regard to matters concerning the faith, it did not occur to me then as it does to me now that the most important reason may have been their desire to convert me to Christianity. Only now, after the fathers have explained it to me, do I understand that this was one of the reasons and the most important one.

After the said messengers who had come on behalf of the Count of Nieva had left, the treasurer García de Melo came with the same request. He asked me to discontinue hostilities and to refrain from raiding expeditions so that the Spaniards may have peace, saying that the king would compensate me if I allowed missionaries to come to my land in order to preach the word of God. I answered his request—which was to discontinue hostilities, not to harm the Indians, and not to harass the Spaniards—by promising to keep the peace unless they gave me reason to do otherwise and that the proof of it would be in the facts. With regard to his request to allow priests into my land, I answered that I knew nothing of that business, that the first thing was to make peace and that thereafter one could still do what seemed right. This was the answer with which the treasurer Melo left the first time.
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