back to where I lay, and I fully expected to receive my
death-wound from some of them, as the fight passed over me, when I felt
myself lifted in the arms of an Indian who I saw was dressed in the
costume of a Peruvian chief; and just as the combatants reached me, he
carried me out of the _melee_, and bore me up the cliff to a spot which
none were likely to reach. As he placed me on the ground, I caught a
sight of his countenance, and recognised the fugitive whom we had
protected, the Indian, Manco Tupac Amaru. Before I had time to utter a
word of thanks, he had again leaped down the cliff and joined in the
combat. Some ten or a dozen of the robbers, who were still on
horseback, and had kept together, were attempting to cut their way along
the road among the mass of Indians who opposed them. Being well
mounted, and with superior weapons, they had a great advantage; but the
Indians were inspired with a courage I little expected to witness. They
rushed in upon them, cut their bridles, and dashed their spears in their
faces; and seizing them by their clothes, hung on them, in spite of the
cuts and thrusts of their swords, till they dragged them from their
saddles. No quarter was given; the instant a robber was unhorsed he was
speared; and before the tide of the fight had rolled on many yards, not
one was left alive. Many of our party had fallen. Indeed I was
surprised to observe, nor could I account for it, that the Indians took
no pains to preserve the lives of the Spanish travellers, though they
did their utmost to protect the Indian guides. The padre and two or
three others alone escaped. The road below me indeed presented a sad
spectacle; for, as far as I could see, it appeared strewed with the
corpses of my late companions--of robbers and Indians, many of whom had
fallen in the last desperate struggle. I looked anxiously for my
father, and my heart beat with joy as I saw him coming along the road,
and evidently looking for me. My preserver, Manco, had observed him;
the recognition was mutual, and they soon approached the spot where I
lay. I need not describe my father's feelings at finding that I was
alive. I endeavoured at first to conceal the pain I suffered, and which
made me fancy that my thigh must have been broken. At length, however,
I could not help giving expression to the anguish I experienced.

"Wait a few minutes," said the Indian chief, "and when I have performed
some duties which are urgent