148 "The D ISCO FE RT and CO N 9 U E ST Book I. 
and yet not in the Senfe in Which they imderftood it ; for 
it was not fo much the Fear of their Arms, as the Dread 
the People had of them on a religious Score, as fuppofing 
them the Offspring of the Sun. 
It feli out unluckily for thefe Embaffadors, that the 
Spaniards had no Interpreter but an Indian of Puna^ 
baptized by the Name of Philips and on the Score of his 
Youth called Philipillo^ i. e. Little Philips a mean, vil- 
lanous Rafcal, born of the Scum of the People, and 
whofe Mind was yet more dirty than his Original : He 
had not Senfe enough to comprehend the Compliment of 
the Inca ^ and therefore, inftead of the true Meaning of 
it, AtYiYte&di Pizarro fomeNonfenfe of his own. After 
the EmbalTador was departed, th.t Spaniards deliberated 
upon his Meffage ; fome fufpeded, that the Inca had bad 
Defigns ; others fwore, that as his Gold was good, they 
had no Reafon to doubt of his Intention : In the End, 
they refolved to continue their March, and they did fo, 
meeting every where with a kind Reception ; and being 
extremely well entertained at the public Expence. In the 
mean time, Atahuallpa employed his Time very indif- 
ferently, endeavouring to fecure the Poffeffion of the 
Empire, by murdering moft of the royal Family, and 
fuch as were moft attached to the Prince his Brother. 
When they came to Caxamalca-^ they found the Inca 
gone, but to a Place not far diftant, whither the General 
fent, as his Embaffadors, his Brother Ferdinand Pizarro, 
and Ferdinand Soto. 
They were received with great Ceremony, and imme- 
diately introduced tc the royal Prefence ; which ftruck the 
Spaniards at once with Reverence and Joy •, for not only 
the Inca himfelf, but all who were near him, glittered 
with Gold and Jewels, and the Embaffadors were ferved 
with perfumed Liquors, by two beautiful Princeffes, in 
Veffcls of Gold fet with Emeralds. Ferdinand Pizarro 
made the Inca a long Compliment ; in which he told 
him, or rather would have told him, of the great Kind- 
nefs done him by the Pope and the King of Spain, who 
had fent them exprefiy, to deliver him and his Subjefts 
from the -Tyranny of the Devil-, but the Interpreter, 
who underftood nothing of this, delivered fuch ftrange 
Stuff of his own, that the Inca could comprehend little 
or nothing of his Meaning. He fhaped however the beft 
Anfwer to this Speech that he could j in which he re- 
commended his Subjedls to their Favour and Proteftion, 
befeeching them, as they were the Children of the Sun, to 
be gracious and beneficent as their Father ; but the Inter- 
preter murdered this Speech too, in fuch a manner, that 
though the Tendernefs of it drew Tears from the OfRcers 
attending upon the Inca, yet neither of the Spanijh 
Captains were able to make any thing of it and there- 
fore all they could fay at their Return to Pizarro, was, 
that they had been very kindly entertained, and that the 
Inca’s Court was fplendid beyond Defcription, and almoft 
beyond Imagination; which raifed the Hopes, and 
ftiarpened the Defires of the Spaniards exceedingly ; and 
they likewife told him, that the very next Day, the Inca 
intended to come in Perfon, and pay him a Vifit in his 
Camp, attended by his Guards and his Nobility. 
12. Francis, Pizarro divided his Cavalry, which 
amounted to no more than fixty Men, into three Troops 
of twenty each, commanded by Ferdinand Pizarro, Fer- 
dinand Soto, and SehajUan Belalcazar, whom he ordered to 
draw his Men up under the Cover of an old Wall, that 
they might not be feen at firft ; and that, difcovering 
themfelves fuddenly, the Indians might be the more fur- 
prized. He put himfelf at the Head of the Foot, which 
confifted but of one hundred Men, and fo waited for the 
Inca in order of Battle. Atahuallpa, on his Side, ad- 
vanced in as regular Order with his Army, which was 
divided into four Battalions, confiding of eight thoufand 
Men each ; and, as foon as they drew near, the Inca 
faid to his Officers, thefe People are Meflengers of the 
Gods, let us be fure to do nothing that may offend them ; 
but, on the contrary, ufe our utmoft Endeavours to gain 
them by repeated Civilities. The Perfon who advanced 
to harangue him from the Spaniards, was Father Vincent 
de Vaherda, who carried in one Hand a Crofs, and in 
the other his Breviary. 
Tile Figure of this Cvdan furprized the Emperor very 
much ; however, he ordered him a Chair, and then the 
revel end Father began a long wretched Diicourle, which 
was to be delivered again by a more wn^tched Interpreter. 
This Harangue of his was divided into two Parts ; the 
fiift confided of an Account of ail the Myfteries of the 
Chriftian Faith, the^Miffion of Jefus Chnfi, and his Miffion 
of the Apoftles, or whom he told him St. Peter was the 
firft and Head. In the fecond Part of his Difcourfe he 
held forth the Power of the Pope as the Succeffor of St. 
Peter, and talked likewife miuch of the univerfal Mo- 
narchy of the Emperor Charles, to which it was neceffary 
that the Inca fhould fubmit; for otherwife God would 
harden his Heart as he did PharaoFs, and then the Spa- 
niards were to inflidt upon him all the Plagues of Egypt. 
We may eafily guels what ftrange Stuff this mud be, 
when palling through the Canal of fuch a Fellow as Phi 
lipillo, who delivered it fo ladly, that the Inca himfelf 
perceived his Ignorance, and therefore delivered his An- 
fwer not in the Court Language as he would otherwife 
have done, but in the vulgar Tongue ; which, however, 
did not hinder Philipillo from murdering it fo effedlually, 
that the Pried knew no more of the Emperor’s Meaning, 
than the Emperor did of his. 
Thus the whole was a ftrange Scene of Confufion, 
which, however, ended much worfe than it began ; for 
the Spaniards obferving an Indian Idol upon a Tower 
exceffively adorned with Silver, Gold, and precious 
Stones, their Avarice would not differ them to wait any 
longer, fo that they fell to pillaging it as fad as they 
could ; in which the Indians were going to oppofe them, 
but the Inca commanded them not to refift, let the Spa-' 
niards do what they would. Father Vincent hearing 
this Noife, turned about, rofe from his Chair, and run- 
ning to appeafe the Spaniards, threw afide his Crofs and 
dropped his Breviary, which greatly increafed the Con-* 
fufion ; the Spaniards pretending that they apprehend- 
ed the Indian Monarch had infulted the Crofs ; but with- 
out doubt the Infult was on their Side, who thus fcanda- 
loufly betrayed and prophaned their Religion, and made 
the Gofpel of Peace a Pretence for perpetrating the moft 
barbarous, the moft perfidious, and moft inhuman Cruel- 
ties, by flaughtering thoufands of poor Creatures, fo obe- 
dient to their Prince, that they did not move a Hand in 
their own Defence. 
13. There is fome Doubt whether Pizarro engaged 
himfelf at the Beginning, but it is certain, that when this 
Confufion rofe to fuch a Height, he caufed his Horfe- 
to pour in, and advanced in Perfon to feize Atahuallpa.^ 
of whofe Robe he laid hold ; and, falling down himfelf^ 
dragged the Inca after him from his Chair, at which time 
one of the Spaniards ftriking at him with his Sword, 
wounded Pizarro, who was the only Spaniard that loft 
any Blood in this difhonourable Fray ; for certainly it 
could not be called a Battle, fince the Indians fell like 
Sheep, without offering the: leaf!; Refiftance. The Spa- 
nijh Writers differ widely from each other in their Ac- 
counts of this Tranfadtion, at which we need not wonder ; 
for, being naturally proud, and unwilling to injure the 
Reputation of their Countrymen, they endeavour all they 
can to difguife the Truth, and to hinder their Readers 
from feeing a Series of Fafts utterly inexcufable. The 
Defire of impofing Falftioods will always beget Confu- 
fion ; for let the Parts or Abilities of Men be what they 
will, there is no giving Confiftence or Connedlion to a 
Bundle of Lies. 
Herrera informs us, that Pizarro, before Atahuallpa 
and his Indians entered the Square, commanded his Muf- 
keteers to take Poft, and that, upon a Signal given them, the 
Captains Ferdinand Pizarro, Ferdinand de Soto, SehajUan 
de Belalcazar, and Chrijiopher de Alena, who commanded 
the Cavalry, fhould fall upon the Indians, and the Foot 
fiiould do the like ; and diredled them before the Execu- 
tion began, that they Ihould permit a certain Number of 
the Enemy to enter the Gates, which they fhould after- 
wards take fpecial Care to fhut and fecure : That Fa- 
ther Vincent having made his Speech to the Inca, told 
Pizarro he was treated with Contempt, and that the 
Tyrant demanded Reftitution of the Gold and Silver the 
