About a league beyond, in the valley, Pizarro could see columns of steam rising to the sky, and showing the position of the famous hot baths of the princes of Peru.
There was also a spectacle far less pleasing to the Spaniards. The lower mountain slopes disappeared under a cloud of white tents, covering an area of several miles. “We were amazed,” wrote one of the conquerors5, “to find the Indians holding so proud a position, and this sight threw confusion, and even fear, into the staunchest hearts. But it was too late to turn, or to show the slightest weakness, and after carefully exploring the ground, we put on the best faces that we could, and prepared to enter Caxamarxa.”
Flowing over with such memories, and wild with excitement at finding himself in a land which he knew so well by hearsay6, Uncle Francis stood up in his stirrups, and held forth7 interminably on the Cajamarca of his dreams. Instructed by Oviedo Runtu, he showed them the exact spot where Atahualpa and his 50,000 warriors8 had awaited Pizarro. Uncle Francis himself felt no fear of this huge army, massed in the hidden fastnesses of a continent discovered by Christopher Columbus just forty years before Pizarro’s wild venture. He felt like a hero of antiquity9, and was quite ready to give the order to charge.
There was nobody there to tell them, though, what were the feelings of the Peruvian monarch10 when he saw the warlike band of Christians12, banners flying, corselets and morions gleaming, debouch13 from the dark defile14 and advance into the rolling domains15 which until then no white man had ever seen.
Suddenly, Uncle Francis’ mule16 bolted, and a burst of laughter went up from the whole party. Excited by the shouts and cries, the other mules17 followed their leader, helter-skelter down the incline. The obvious dénouement was not long in coming. Uncle Francis’ mount, in a desperate effort to get away from the noise behind, rolled over, and the unfortunate scientist descriRed a neat somersault. He was on his feet again almost at once, and soon set his anxious companions at rest.
“Thus it was,” he laughed, “that Pizarro won his first battle.”
Maria-Teresa and Dick appearing disposed to listen, he explained that in the Conquistador’s first fight with Incas, before he crossed the Andes, the little band of Spaniards, hard pressed, was saved by one hidalgo being unhorsed. The Incas, knowing nothing of horses or horsemanship, were so frightened that they fled, not daring to face this extraordinary animal which became two and still went on fighting.
Naturally, nobody believed him, though he was in no way drawing on his imagination. The whole story of the conquest of Peru is so extraordinary that one must forgive incredulity.
These facts, however, are vouched18 for by well-authenticated documents in the Royal Archives at Madrid, which Uncle Francis had taken care to study before starting for the Americas with his nephew. They were still laughing at his adventure and his story when their cavalcade19 reached the walls of Cajamarca.
It was nightfall as they entered the city. The first thing to arrest their attention was the enormous number of Indians in the streets, and their silence. Cajamarca, with a normal population of between twelve and thirteen thousand, certainly sheltered twice as many souls that night. And still more people were coming.
On the highroad, the Marquis’ party had successively passed file after file of Indians, plodding20 in the direction of their Sacred City. For Cajamarca may be called the necropolis of the Incas, and one can hardly take a step in its streets or avenues without meeting with some reminder21 of the splendor22 of a vanished empire.
It was easy to see, by the manner of the Quichuas crowding the historic roadways, that a religious pilgrimage had brought together this mass.
The amazement23 of the travelers, however, was as nothing to that of the inhabitants themselves, who had never before witnessed such an invasion. In the memory of living man, the Interaymi had never visibly moved the multitude in this manner. Even the great decennial fête had been rather the occasion for a general disappearance24 of Indians than for their appearance.
What did it all mean? The authorities were distinctly ill at ease, and the few troops massed at Cajamarca when the news came in of Garcia’s Indian revolt at the other end of the country had been put under arms. The doors of the city’s eight churches were militarily guarded, for each one of these buildings might have made a fortress25. The rest of the troops had been gathered in the main square, not far from the ruined palace in which stands the stone on which Atahualpa, last King of the Incas, was burned alive.
These ruins were the goal of the Indians’ long pilgrimage over the mountains, the visit to that stone being the religious and outward pretext26 for this mute manifestation27 by a conquered race.
Don Christobal, amazed at what he saw, nervously28 remembered that the great Indian revolt of 1818 had been preceded by just such happenings. Were the Interaymi festivals which began next day really to be the signal for one of those revolts which the governments of Peru had long decided29 were no more to be feared?
As he was putting this question to himself, the Marquis caught sight of the post-office, and immediately dismounted. Dick and Maria-Teresa exchanged a smile. They were at last to know the name of the facetious30 sender of the Golden Sun bracelet31.
They pulled up their mules, and waited with an indifferent air that was perhaps a little affected32. Ten minutes later the Marquis came out.
“I have the name and address,” he said in a puzzled voice.
“And what is the name?” questioned Maria-Teresa.
“Atahualpa,” replied her father, mounting.
“So the jest continues.”—Maria-Teresa’s voice had changed a little.
“Apparently so. The clerk who received the parcel says it was brought in by an Indian, who said his name really was Atahualpa. That, after all, is possible.”
“Well, as you have the address, we might pay him a little call,” suggested Dick.
“Exactly what I was going to say.” And Don Christobal turned his mule. Uncle Francis brought up the rear, vigorously taking notes, with his book resting on the pommel of the saddle.
They crossed a rivulet33 racing34 towards an affluent35 of the upper Maranon, passed San Francisco, the first Christian11 church built in Peru, and, after the Marquis had asked his way several times, finally reached a square teeming36 with Indians.
On one side of this square still stood ancient palace walls. There had been the last home of the last Inca King. There he had lived in splendor, and there he died a martyr37. There had been the home of Atahualpa, and there had the post-office clerk directed Don Christobal de la Torre!
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1
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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irrigated
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| [医]冲洗的 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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7
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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8
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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9
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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11
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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12
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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13
debouch
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| v.流出，进入 | |
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defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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16
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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17
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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18
vouched
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| v.保证( vouch的过去式和过去分词 )；担保；确定；确定地说 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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bracelet
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| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
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32
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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34
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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35
affluent
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| adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的 | |
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36
teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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37
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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