rgents. Tupac Amaru had made himself master of the
village of Chucuito, and was preparing to advance upon Cuzco, when,
about the end of April, 1781, he, and all his family, were made
prisoners by the Spaniards. He was tried and condemned to death,
together with his wife, two sons, his brother-in-law, and several other
individuals of note among the Indians.

But the execution of Tupac Amaru, which was marked by circumstances of
monstrous barbarity, far from stemming the tide of revolution, served
only to stimulate the vengeance of the insurgents. They once more
mustered their warlike bands, under the command of Casimiro Tupac Amaru,
the brother of the late cacique, his son Andres, and an intrepid Indian
chief, named Nicacatari. The latter, assisted by Andres, burned several
villages of Upper Peru, and murdered all the whites. They next advanced
upon the strongly fortified town of Sorrata, whither the Spaniards of
the surrounding districts had fled for protection. The town was taken by
the insurgents, and the inhabitants, 22,000 in number, inhumanly put to
death, with the exception of eighty-seven priests and monks. The Indians
then advanced westwards, defeating several Spanish corps, and spreading
terror and dismay through the country. But, that which neither the arms
nor the executions of the Spaniards could accomplish, was effected by
their gold. A treacherous Indian, bribed by the promise of a large
reward, conducted a division of Spanish soldiers to the spot where the
chiefs were accustomed to meet, unattended by any guard, to hold their
council. They were surprised, captured, and condemned to death. Once
more deprived of leaders, the Indians disbanded and withdrew, some to
their homes, and others into the forests. Numberless victims paid the
debt of retribution to the Spanish government, which now adopted every
measure that could tend to annihilate the nationality of the native
Indians. Their dances, their music, their dress--all that could revive
the remembrance of their progenitors, was condemned to rigorous
prohibition; they were even forbidden the use of their mother tongue,
the Quichua language. The only beneficial result of these wars, in which
upwards of a hundred thousand lives were sacrificed, was the abolition
of the Repartimientos, which had been the cause of the insurrections.

Peace was now, at least to appearance, restored; and if, occasionally,
symptoms of disturbance arose, they were immediately repr