Peru At The Time Of The Conquest. — Reign2 Of Huayna Capac. — The Inca Brothers. — Contest For The Empire. — Triumph And Cruelties Of Atahuallpa.
Before accompanying the march of Pizarro and his followers3 into the country of the Incas, it is necessary to make the reader acquainted with the critical situation of the kingdom at that time. For the Spaniards arrived just at the consummation of an important revolution, — at a crisis most favorable to their views of conquest, and but for which, indeed, the conquest, with such a handful of soldiers, could never have been achieved. In the latter part of the fifteenth century died Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one of the most renowned4 of the “Children of the Sun,” who, carrying the Peruvian arms across the burning sands of Atacama, penetrated5 to the remote borders of Chili6, while in the opposite direction he enlarged the limits of the empire by the acquisition of the southern provinces of Quito. The war in this quarter was conducted by his son Huayna Capac, who succeeded his father on the throne, and fully8 equalled him in military daring and in capacity for government.
Under this prince, the whole of the powerful state of Quito, which rivalled that of Peru itself in wealth and refinement9, was brought under the sceptre of the Incas; whose empire received, by this conquest, the most important accession yet made to it since the foundation of the dynasty of Manco Capac. The remaining days of the victorious10 monarch11 were passed in reducing the independent tribes on the remote limits of his territory, and, still more, in cementing his conquests by the introduction of the Peruvian polity. He was actively12 engaged in completing the great works of his father, especially the high-roads which led from Quito to the capital. He perfected the establishment of posts, took great pains to introduce the Quichua dialect throughout the empire, promoted a better system of agriculture, and in fine, encouraged the different branches of domestic industry and the various enlightened plans of his predecessors14 for the improvement of his people. Under his sway, the Peruvian monarchy15 reached its most palmy state; and under both him and his illustrious father it was advancing with such rapid strides in the march of civilization as would soon have carried it to a level with the more refined despotisms of Asia, furnishing the world, perhaps, with higher evidence of the capabilities16 of the American Indian than is elsewhere to be found on the great western continent. — But other and gloomier destinies were in reserve for the Indian races.
The first arrival of the white men on the South American shores of the Pacific was about ten years before the death of Huayna Capac, when Balboa crossed the Gulf17 of St. Michael, and obtained the first clear report of the empire of the Incas. Whether tidings of these adventurers reached the Indian monarch’s ears is doubtful. There is no doubt, however, that he obtained the news of the first expedition under Pizarro and Almagro, when the latter commander penetrated as far as the Rio de San Juan, about the fourth degree north. The accounts which he received made a strong impression on the mind of Huayna Capac. He discerned in the formidable prowess and weapons of the invaders19 proofs of a civilization far superior to that of his own people. He intimated his apprehension20 that they would return, and that at some day, not far distant, perhaps, the throne of the Incas might be shaken by these strangers, endowed with such incomprehensible powers. 1 To the vulgar eye, it was a little speck21 on the verge22 of the horizon; but that of the sagacious monarch seemed to descry23 in it the dark thunder-cloud, that was to spread wider and wider till it burst in fury on his nation!
1 Sarmiento, an honest authority, tells us he had this from some of the Inca lords who heard it, Relacion, Ms., cap. 65.]
There is some ground for believing thus much. But other accounts, which have obtained a popular currency, not content with this, connect the first tidings of the white men with predictions long extant in the country, and with supernatural appearances, which filled the hearts of the whole nation with dismay. Comets were seen flaming athwart the heavens. Earthquakes shook the land; the moon was girdled with rings of fire of many colors; a thunderbolt fell on one of the royal palaces and consumed it to ashes; and an eagle, chased by several hawks24, was seen, screaming in the air, to hover25 above the great square of Cuzco, when, pierced by the talons26 of his tormentors, the king of birds fell lifeless in the presence of many of the Inca nobles, who read in this an augury27 of their own destruction! Huayna Capac himself, calling his great officers around him, as he found he was drawing near his end, announced the subversion28 of his empire by the race of white and bearded strangers, as the consummation predicted by the oracles29 after the reign of the twelfth Inca, and he enjoined30 it on his vassals31 not to resist the decrees of Heaven, but to yield obedience32 to its messengers. 2
2 A minute relation of these supernatural occurrences is given by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega, (Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 9, cap. 14,) whose situation opened to him the very best sources of information, which is more than counterbalanced by the defects in his own character as an historian, — his childish credulity, and his desire to magnify and mystify every thing relating to his own order, and, indeed, his nation. His work is the source of most of the facts — and the falsehoods — that have obtained circulation in respect to the ancient Peruvians. Unfortunately, at this distance of time, it is not always easy to distinguish the one from the other.
Such is the report of the impressions made by the appearance of the Spaniards in the country, reminding one of the similar feelings of superstitious33 terror occasioned by their appearance in Mexico. But the traditions of the latter land rest on much higher authority than those of the Peruvians, which, unsupported by contemporary testimony34, rest almost wholly on the naked assertion of one of their own nation, who thought to find, doubtless, in the inevitable35 decrees of Heaven, the best apology for the supineness of his countrymen.
It is not improbable that rumors36 of the advent18 of a strange and mysterious race should have spread gradually among the Indian tribes along the great table-land of the Cordilleras, and should have shaken the hearts of the stoutest37 warriors38 with feelings of undefined dread39, as of some impending40 calamity41. In this state of mind, it was natural that physical convulsions, to which that volcanic43 country is peculiarly subject, should have made an unwonted impression on their minds; and that the phenomena44, which might have been regarded only as extraordinary, in the usual seasons of political security, should now be interpreted by the superstitious soothsayer as the handwriting on the heavens, by which the God of the Incas proclaimed the approaching downfall of their empire.
Huayna Capac had, as usual with the Peruvian princes, a multitude of concubines, by whom he left a numerous posterity45. The heir to the crown, the son of his lawful46 wife and sister, was named Huascar. 3 At the period of the history at which we are now arrived, he was about thirty years of age. Next to the heir-apparent, by another wife, a cousin of the monarch’s, came Manco Capac, a young prince who will occupy an important place in our subsequent story. But the best-beloved of the Inca’s children was Atahuallpa. His mother was the daughter of the last Scyri of Quito, who had died of grief, it was said, not long after the subversion of his kingdom by Huayna Capac. The princess was beautiful, and the Inca, whether to gratify his passion, or, as the Peruvians say, willing to make amends47 for the ruin of her parents, received her among his concubines. The historians of Quito assert that she was his lawful wife; but this dignity, according to the usages of the empire, was reserved for maidens48 of the Inca blood.
3 Huascar, in the Quichua dialect, signifies “a cable.” The reason of its being given to the heir apparent is remarkable49. Huayna Capac celebrated50 the birth of the prince by a festival, in which he introduced a massive gold chain for the nobles to hold in their hands as they performed their national dances. The chain was seven hundred feet in length, and the links nearly as big round as a man’s wrist! (See Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 14. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 9, cap. 1.) The latter writer had the particulars, he tells us, from his old Inca uncle, — who seems to have dealt largely in the marvellous; not too largely for his audience, however, as the story has been greedily circulated by most of the Castilian writers, both of that and of the succeeding age.
The latter years of Huayna Capac were passed in his new kingdom of Quito. Atahuallpa was accordingly brought up under his own eye, accompanied him, while in his tender years, in his campaigns, slept in the same tent with his royal father, and ate from the same plate. 4 The vivacity51 of the boy, his courage and generous nature, won the affections of the old monarch to such a degree, that he resolved to depart from the established usages of the realm, and divide his empire between him and his elder brother Huascar. On his death-bed, he called the great officers of the crown around him, and declared it to be his will that the ancient kingdom of Quito should pass to Atahuallpa, who might be considered as having a natural claim on it, as the dominion52 of his ancestors. The rest of the empire he settled on Huascar; and he enjoined it on the two brothers to acquiesce53 in this arrangement, and to live in amity42 with each other. This was the last act of the heroic monarch; doubtless, the most impolitic of his whole life. With his dying breath he subverted54 the fundamental laws of the empire; and, while he recommended harmony between the successors to his authority, he left in this very division of it the seeds of inevitable discord55. 5
4 “Atabalipa era bien quisto de los Capitanes viejos de su Padre y de los Soldados, porque andubo en la guerra en su ninez y porque andubo en la guerra en su niez porque el en vida le mostro tanto amor que no le dejaba comer otra cosa que lo que el le daba de su plato.” Sarmiento, Relacion, Ms., cap. 66.]
5 Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 1, lib. 8, cap. 9. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 12. — Sarmiento, Relacion, Ms., cap. 65. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 201.]
His death took place, as seems probable, at the close of 1525, not quite seven years before Pizarro’s arrival at Puna. 6 The tidings of his decease spread sorrow and consternation56 throughout the land; for, though stern and even inexorable to the rebel and the long-resisting foe57, he was a brave and magnanimous monarch, and legislated58 with the enlarged views of a prince who regarded every part of his dominions59 as equally his concern. The people of Quito, flattered by the proofs which he had given of preference for them by his permanent residence in that country, and his embellishment of their capital, manifested unfeigned sorrow at his loss; and his subjects at Cuzco, proud of the glory which his arms and his abilities had secured for his native land, held him in no less admiration60; 7 while the more thoughtful and the more timid, in both countries, looked with apprehension to the future, when the sceptre of the vast empire, instead of being swayed by an old and experienced hand, was to be consigned61 to rival princes, naturally jealous of one another, and, from their age, necessarily exposed to the unwholesome influence of crafty62 and ambitious counsellors. The people testified their regret by the unwonted honors paid to the memory of the deceased Inca. His heart was retained in Quinto, and his body, embalmed63 after the fashion of the country, was transported to Cuzco, to take its place in the great temple of the Sun, by the side of the remains64 of his royal ancestors. His obsequies were celebrated with sanguinary splendor65 in both the capitals of his far-extended empire; and several thousand of the imperial concubines, with numerous pages and officers of the palace, are said to have proved their sorrow, or their superstition66, by offering up their own lives, that they might accompany their departed lord to the bright mansions67 of the Sun. 8.
6 The precise date of this event, though so near the time of the Conquest, is matter of doubt. Balboa, a contemporary with the Conquerors68, and who wrote at Quito, where the Inca died, fixes it at 1525. (Hist. du Perou, chap. 14.) Velasco, another inhabitant of the same place, after an investigation70 of the different accounts, comes to the like conclusion. (Hist. de Quito, tom. I. p. 232.) Dr. Robertson, after telling us that Huayna Capac died in 1529, speaks again of this event as having happened in 1527. (Conf. America, vol. III. pp. 25, 381.) Any one, who has been bewildered by the chronological71 snarl72 of the ancient chronicles, will not be surprised at meeting occasionally with such inconsistencies in a writer who is obliged to take them as his guides.]
7 One cannot doubt this monarch’s popularity with the female part of his subjects, at least, if, as the historian of the Incas tells us, “he was never known to refuse a woman, of whatever age or degree she might be, any favor that she asked of him”! Com. Real. Parte 1, lib. 8, cap. 7.]
8 Sarmiento, Relacion, Ms., cap. 65. — Herrera, Hist. General dec. 5, lib. 3, cap. 17.]
For nearly five years after the death of Huayna Capac, the royal brothers reigned73, each over his allotted74 portion of the empire, without distrust of one another, or, at least, without collision. It seemed as if the wish of their father was to be completely realized, and that the two states were to maintain their respective integrity and independence as much as if they had never been united into one. But, with the manifold causes for jealousy75 and discontent, and the swarms76 of courtly sycophants77, who would find their account in fomenting78 these feelings, it was easy to see that this tranquil79 state of things could not long endure. Nor would it have endured so long, bur for the more gentle temper of Huascar, the only party who had ground for complaint. He was four or five years older than his brother, and was possessed80 of courage not to be doubted; but he was a prince of a generous and easy nature, and perhaps, if left to himself, might have acquiesced81 in an arrangement which, however unpalatable, was the will of his deified father. But Atahuallpa was of a different temper. Warlike, ambitious, and daring, he was constantly engaged in enterprises for the enlargement of his own territory, though his crafty policy was scrupulous82 not to aim at extending his acquisitions in the direction of his royal brother. His restless spirit, however, excited some alarm at the court of Cuzco, and Huascar, at length, sent an envoy83 to Atahuallpa, to remonstrate84 with him on his ambitious enterprises, and to require him to render him homage85 for his kingdom of Quito.
This is one statement. Other accounts pretend that the immediate86 cause of rupture87 was a claim instituted by Huascar for the territory of Tumebamba, held by his brother as part of his patrimonial88 inheritance. It matters little what was the ostensible89 ground of collision between persons placed by circumstances in so false a position in regard to one another, that collision must, at some time or other, inevitably90 occur.
The commencement, and, indeed, the whole course, of hostilities91 which soon broke out between the rival brothers are stated with irreconcilable92, and, considering the period was so near to that of the Spanish invasion, with unaccountable discrepancy93. By some it is said, that, in Atahuallpa’s first encounter with the troops of Cuzco, he was defeated and made prisoner near Tumebamba, a favorite residence of his father in the ancient territory of Quito, and in the district of Canaris. From this disaster he recovered by a fortunate escape from confinement94, when, regaining95 his capital, he soon found himself at the head of a numerous army, led by the most able and experienced captains in the empire. The liberal manners of the young Atahuallpa had endeared him to the soldiers, with whom, as we have seen, he served more than one campaign in his father’s lifetime. These troops were the flower of the great army of the Inca, and some of them had grown gray in his long military career, which had left them at the north, where they readily transferred their allegiance to the young sovereign of Quito. They were commanded by two officers of great consideration, both possessed of large experience in military affairs, and high in the confidence of the late Inca. One of them was named Quizquiz; the other, who was the maternal96 uncle of Atahuallpa, was called Chalicuchima.
With these practised warriors to guide him, the young monarch put himself at the head of his martial97 array, and directed his march towards the south. He had not advanced farther than Ambato, about sixty miles distant from his capital, when he fell in with a numerous host, which had been sent against him by his brother, under the command of a distinguished98 chieftain, of the Inca family. A bloody99 battle followed, which lasted the greater part of the day; and the theatre of combat was the skirts of the mighty100 Chimborazo. 9
9 Garcilasso denies that anything but insignificant101 skirmishes took place before the decisive action fought on the plains of Cusco, But the Licentiate Sarmiento, who gathered his accounts of these events, as he tells us, from the actors in them, walked over the field of battle at Ambato, when the ground was still covered with the bones of the slain102. “Yo he pasado por este Pueblo103 y he visto el Lugar donde dicen que esta Batalla se dio y cierto segun hay la osamenta devienon aun de morir mas gente de la que cuentan.” Relacion, Ms., cap. 69.]
The battle ended favorably for Atahuallpa, and the Peruvians were routed with great slaughter104, and the loss of their commander. The prince of Quito availed himself of his advantage to push forward his march until he arrived before the gates of Tumebamba, which city, as well as the whole district of Canaris, though an ancient dependency of Quito, had sided with his rival in the contest. Entering the captive city like a conqueror69, he put the inhabitants to the sword, and razed105 it with all its stately edifices106, some of which had been reared by his own father, to the ground. He carried on the same war of extermination107, as he marched through the offending district of Canaris. In some places, it is said, the women and children came out, with green branches in their hands, in melancholy108 procession, to deprecate his wrath109; but the vindictive110 conqueror, deaf to their entreaties111, laid the country waste with fire and sword, sparing no man capable of bearing arms who fell into his hands. 10
10 “Cuentan muchos Indios a quien yo lo oi, que por amansar su ira, mandaron a un escuadron grande de ninos y a otro de hombres de toda edad, que saliesen hasta las ricas andas donde venia con1 gran pompa, llevando en las manos ramos verdes y ojas de palma, y que le pidiesen la gracia y amistad suya para el pueblo, sin mirar la injuria pasada, y que en tantos clamores se lo suplicaron, y con tanta humildad, que bastara quebrantar corazones de piedra, mas poca impresion hicieron en el cruel de Atabalipa, porque dicen que mando a sus capitanes y gentes que matasen a todos aquellos que habian venido, lo cual fue hecho, no perdonando sino a algunos ninos y a las mugeres sagradas del Templo.” Sarmiento, Relacion Ms. cap. 70.
The fate of Canaris struck terror into the hearts of his enemies, and one place after another opened its gates to the victor, who held on his triumphant112 march towards the Peruvian capital. His arms experienced a temporary check before the island of Puna, whose bold warriors maintained the cause of his brother. After some days lost before this place, Atahuallpa left the contest to their old enemies, the people of Tumbez, who had early given in their adhesion to him, while he resumed his march and advanced as far as Caxamalca, about seven degrees south. Here he halted with a detachment of the army, sending forward the main body under the command of his two generals, with orders to move straight upon Cuzco. He preferred not to trust himself farther in the enemy’s country, where a defeat might be fatal. By establishing his quarters at Caxamalca, he would be able to support his generals, in case of a reverse, or, at worst, to secure his retreat on Quito, until he was again in condition to renew hostilities. The two commanders, advancing by rapid marches, at length crossed the Apurimac river, and arrived within a short distance of the Peruvian capital. — Meanwhile, Huascar had not been idle. On receiving tidings of the discomfiture113 of his army at Ambato, he made every exertion114 to raise levies115 throughout the country. By the advice, it is said, of his priests — the most incompetent116 advisers117 in times of danger — he chose to await the approach of the enemy in his own capital; and it was not till the latter had arrived within a few leagues of Cuzco, that the Inca, taking counsel of the same ghostly monitors, sallied forth118 to give him battle.
The two armies met on the plains of Quipaypan, in the neighbourhood of the Indian metropolis119. Their numbers are stated with the usual discrepancy; but Atahuallpa’s troops had considerably120 the advantage in discipline and experience, for many of Huascar’s levies had been drawn121 hastily together from the surrounding country. Both fought, however, with the desperation of men who felt that everything was at stake. It was no longer a contest for a province, but for the possession of an empire. Atahuallpa’s troops, flushed with recent success, fought with the confidence of those who relied on their superior prowess; while the loyal vassals of the Inca displayed all the self-devotion of men who held their own lives cheap in the service of their master.
The fight raged with the greatest obstinacy122 from sunrise to sunset; and the ground was covered with heaps of the dying and the dead, whose bones lay bleaching123 on the battle-field long after the conquest by the Spaniards. At length, fortune declared in favor of Atahuallpa; or rather, the usual result of superior discipline and military practice followed. The ranks of the Inca were thrown into irretrievable disorder124, and gave way in all directions. The conquerors followed close on the heels of the flying. Huascar himself, among the latter, endeavoured to make his escape with about a thousand men who remained round his person. But the royal fugitive125 was discovered before he had left the field; his little party was enveloped126 by clouds of the enemy, and nearly every one of the devoted127 band perished in defence of their Inca. Huascar was made prisoner, and the victorious chiefs marched at once on his capital, which they occupied in the name of their sovereign. 11
11 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 77. — Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 9. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 202. — Zarate. Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 12. — Sarmiento, Relacion, Ms., cap. 70. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
These events occurred in the spring of 1532, a few months before the landing of the Spaniards. The tidings of the success of his arms and the capture of his unfortunate brother reached Atahuallpa at Caxamalca. He instantly gave orders that Huascar should be treated with the respect due to his rank, but that he should be removed to the strong fortress128 of Xauxa, and held there in strict confinement. His orders did not stop here, — if we are to receive the accounts of Garcilasso de la Vega, himself of the Inca race, and by his mother’s side nephew of the great Huayna Capac.
According to this authority, Atahuallpa invited the Inca nobles throughout the country to assemble at Cuzco, in order to deliberate on the best means of partitioning the empire between him and his brother. When they had met in the capital, they were surrounded by the soldiery of Quito, and butchered without mercy. The motive129 for this perfidious130 act was to exterminate131 the whole of the royal family, who might each one of them show a better title to the crown than the illegitimate Atahuallpa. But the massacre133 did not end here. The illegitimate offspring, like himself, half-brothers of the monster, ali, in short, who had any of the Inca blood in their veins134, were involved in it; and with an appetite for carnage unparalleled in the annals of the Roman Empire or of the French Republic, Atahuallpa ordered all the females of the blood royal, his aunts, nieces, and cousins, to be put to death, and that, too, with the most refined and lingering tortures. To give greater zest135 to his revenge, many of the executions took place in the presence of Huascar himself, who was thus compelled to witness the butchery of his own wives and sisters, while, in the extremity136 of anguish137, they in vain called on him to protect them! 12
12 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 9, cap. 35 — 39.
“A las Mugeres, Hermanas, Tias, Sobrinas, Primas Hermanas, y Madrastras de Atahuallpa, colgavan de los Arboles, y de muchas Horcas mui altas que hicieron: a unas colgaron de los cabellos, a otras por debajo de los bracos, y a otras de otras maneras feas, que por la honestidad se callan: davanles sus hijuelos, que los tuviesen en bracos, tenianlos hasta que se les caian, y se aporreavan” (Ibid., cap. 37.) The variety of torture shows some invention in the writer, or, more probably, in the writer’s uncle, the ancient Inca, the raconteur138 of these Blue beard butcheries.]
Such is the tale told by the historian of the Incas, and received by him, as he assures us, from his mother and uncle, who, being children at the time, were so fortunate as to be among the few that escaped the massacre of their house. 13 And such is the account repeated by many a Castilian writer since, without any symptom of distrust. But a tissue of unprovoked atrocities139 like these is too repugnant to the principles of human nature, — and, indeed, to common sense, to warrant our belief in them on ordinary testimony.
13 “Las crueldades, que Atahuallpa en los de la Sangre Real hico, dire7 de Relacion de mi Madre, y de un Hermano suio, que se llamo Don Fernando Huallpa Tupac Inca Yupanqui, que entonces eran Ninos de menos de diez Anos.” Ibid., Parte 1, lib. 9, cap. 14.]
The annals of semi-civilized nations unhappily show that there have been instances of similar attempts to extinguish the whole of a noxious140 race, which had become the object of a tyrant141’s jealousy; though such an attempt is about as chimerical142 as it would be to extirpate143 any particular species of plant, the seeds of which had been borne on every wind over the country. But, if the attempt to exterminate the Inca race was actually made by Atahuallpa, how comes it that so many of the pure descendants of the blood royal — nearly six hundred in number — are admitted by the historian to have been in existence seventy years after the imputed144 massacre? 14 Why was the massacre, instead of being limited to the legitimate132 members of the royal stock, who could show a better title to the crown than the usurper145, extended to all, however remotely, or in whatever way, connected with the race? Why were aged13 women and young maidens involved in the proscription146, and why were they subjected to such refined and superfluous147 tortures, when it is obvious that beings so impotent could have done nothing to provoke the jealousy of the tyrant? Why, when so many were sacrificed from some vague apprehension of distant danger, was his rival Huascar, together with his younger brother Manco Capac, the two men from whom the conqueror had most to fear, suffered to live? Why, in short, is the wonderful tale not recorded by others before the time of Garcilasso, and nearer by half a century to the events themselves? 15
14 This appears from a petition for certain immunities148, forwarded to Spain in 1603, and signed by five hundred and sixty-seven Indians of the royal Inca race. (Ibid., Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 40.) Oviedo says that Huayna Capac left a hundred sons and daughters, and that most of them were alive at the time of his writing. “Tubo cien hijos y hijas, y la mayor parte de ellos son vivos.” Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 9.]
15 I have looked in vain for some confirmation149 of this story in Oviedo, Sarmiento, Xerez, Cieza de Leon, Zarate, Pedro Pizarro, Gomara, — all living at the time, and having access to the best sources of information; and all, it may be added, disposed to do stern justice to the evil qualities of the Indian monarch.]
That Atahuallpa may have been guilty of excesses, and abused the rights of conquest by some gratuitous150 acts of cruelty, may be readily believed; for no one, who calls to mind his treatment of the Canaris, — which his own apologists do not affect to deny, 16 — will doubt that he had a full measure of the vindictive temper which belongs to
“Those souls of fire, and Children of the Sun,
With whom revenge was virtue151.”
But there is a wide difference between this and the monstrous152 and most unprovoked atrocities imputed to him; implying a diabolical153 nature not to be admitted on the evidence of an Indian partisan154, the sworn foe of his house, and repeated by Castilian chroniclers, who may naturally seek, by blazoning155 the enormities of Atahuallpa, to find some apology for the cruelty of their countrymen towards him.
16 No one of the apologists of Atahuallpa goes quite so far as Father Velasco, who, in the over-flowings of his loyalty156 for a Quito monarch, regards his massacre of the Canares as a very fair retribution for their offences. “Si les auteurs dont je viens de parler sietaient trouves dans les memes circonstances qu’Atahuallpa et avaient eprouve autant d’offenses graves et de trahisons, je ne croirai jamais qu’ils eussent agi autrement”! Hist. de Quito, tom. I p. 253.]
The news of the great victory was borne on the wings of the wind to Caxamalca; and loud and long was the rejoicing, not only in the camp of Atahuallpa, but in the town and surrounding country; for all now came in, eager to offer their congratulations to the victor, and do him homage. The prince of Quito no longer hesitated to assume the scarlet157 borla, the diadem158 of the Incas. His triumph was complete. He had beaten his enemies on their own ground; had taken their capital; had set his foot on the neck of his rival, and won for himself the ancient sceptre of the Children of the Sun. But the hour of triumph was destined159 to be that of his deepest humiliation160. Atahuallpa was not one of those to whom, in the language of the Grecian bard161, “the Gods are willing to reveal themselves.” 17 He had not read the handwriting on the heavens. The small speck, which the clear-sighted eye of his father had discerned on the distant verge of the horizon, though little noticed by Atahuallpa, intent on the deadly strife162 with his brother, had now risen high towards the zenith, spreading wider and wider, till it wrapped the skies in darkness, and was ready to burst in thunders on the devoted nation.
17 v. 161.]
收听单词发音 |
1
con
|
|
| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
followers
|
|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
renowned
|
|
| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
penetrated
|
|
| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
chili
|
|
| n.辣椒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
dire
|
|
| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
refinement
|
|
| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
victorious
|
|
| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
actively
|
|
| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
predecessors
|
|
| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
monarchy
|
|
| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
capabilities
|
|
| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
gulf
|
|
| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
advent
|
|
| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
invaders
|
|
| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
speck
|
|
| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
verge
|
|
| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
descry
|
|
| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
hawks
|
|
| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
hover
|
|
| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
talons
|
|
| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
augury
|
|
| n.预言，征兆，占卦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
subversion
|
|
| n.颠覆，破坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
oracles
|
|
| 神示所( oracle的名词复数 )； 神谕； 圣贤； 哲人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
enjoined
|
|
| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
vassals
|
|
| n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 )；（封建时代）诸侯；从属者；下属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
obedience
|
|
| n.服从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
superstitious
|
|
| adj.迷信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
rumors
|
|
| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
stoutest
|
|
| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
impending
|
|
| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
calamity
|
|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
amity
|
|
| n.友好关系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
volcanic
|
|
| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
phenomena
|
|
| n.现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
posterity
|
|
| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
lawful
|
|
| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
amends
|
|
| n. 赔偿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
maidens
|
|
| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
vivacity
|
|
| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
dominion
|
|
| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
acquiesce
|
|
| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
subverted
|
|
| v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
discord
|
|
| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
consternation
|
|
| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
foe
|
|
| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
legislated
|
|
| v.立法，制定法律( legislate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
dominions
|
|
| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
consigned
|
|
| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
crafty
|
|
| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
embalmed
|
|
| adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
splendor
|
|
| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
superstition
|
|
| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
mansions
|
|
| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
conquerors
|
|
| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
conqueror
|
|
| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
chronological
|
|
| adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
snarl
|
|
| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
allotted
|
|
| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
swarms
|
|
| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
sycophants
|
|
| n.谄媚者，拍马屁者( sycophant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
fomenting
|
|
| v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
tranquil
|
|
| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
acquiesced
|
|
| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
scrupulous
|
|
| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
envoy
|
|
| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
remonstrate
|
|
| v.抗议，规劝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
homage
|
|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
rupture
|
|
| n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
patrimonial
|
|
| adj.祖传的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
89
ostensible
|
|
| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
inevitably
|
|
| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
hostilities
|
|
| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
irreconcilable
|
|
| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
discrepancy
|
|
| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
confinement
|
|
| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
regaining
|
|
| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
maternal
|
|
| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
martial
|
|
| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
pueblo
|
|
| n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
slaughter
|
|
| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
razed
|
|
| v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
edifices
|
|
| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
extermination
|
|
| n.消灭，根绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
vindictive
|
|
| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
entreaties
|
|
| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
discomfiture
|
|
| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
exertion
|
|
| n.尽力，努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
levies
|
|
| （部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
incompetent
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
advisers
|
|
| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
metropolis
|
|
| n.首府；大城市 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
obstinacy
|
|
| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
bleaching
|
|
| 漂白法，漂白 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
fugitive
|
|
| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
enveloped
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
fortress
|
|
| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
perfidious
|
|
| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
exterminate
|
|
| v.扑灭，消灭，根绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
legitimate
|
|
| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
massacre
|
|
| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
veins
|
|
| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
zest
|
|
| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
extremity
|
|
| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
raconteur
|
|
| n.善讲故事者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
atrocities
|
|
| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
noxious
|
|
| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
tyrant
|
|
| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
chimerical
|
|
| adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
extirpate
|
|
| v.除尽，灭绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
imputed
|
|
| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
usurper
|
|
| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
proscription
|
|
| n.禁止，剥夺权利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
superfluous
|
|
| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
immunities
|
|
| 免除，豁免( immunity的名词复数 )； 免疫力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
confirmation
|
|
| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
gratuitous
|
|
| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
diabolical
|
|
| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
partisan
|
|
| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
blazoning
|
|
| v.广布( blazon的现在分词 )；宣布；夸示；装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
156
loyalty
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
diadem
|
|
| n.王冠，冕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
humiliation
|
|
| n.羞辱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
bard
|
|
| n.吟游诗人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
strife
|
|
| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |