ixty men. De Soto began to find ominous signs at once. Villages had
been burned and bridges destroyed, so that the crossing of those awful
_quebradas_ was most difficult. Wherever possible, too, the road had
been blocked with logs and rocks, so that the passage of the cavalry was
greatly impeded. Near Bilcas he had a sharp brush with the Indians; and
though the Spaniards were victorious, they lost several men. De Soto,
however, resolutely pushed on. Just as the wearied little troop was
toiling up the steep and winding defile of the Vilcaconga, the wild
whoop of the Indians rang out, and a host of warriors sprang from their
hiding-places behind rock and tree, and fell with fury upon the
Spaniards. The trail was steep and narrow, the horses could barely keep
their footing; and under the crash of this dusky avalanche rider and
horse went rolling down the steep. The Indians fairly swarmed upon the
Spaniards like bees, trying to drag the soldiers from their saddles,
even clinging desperately to the horses' legs, and dealing blows with
agile strength. Farther up the rocky pathway was a level space; and De
Soto saw that unless he could gain this, all was lost. By a supreme
effort of muscle and will, he brought his little band to the top against
such heavy odds; and after a brief rest, he made a charge upon the
Indians, but could not break that grim, dark mass. Night came on, and
the worn and bleeding Spaniards--for few men or horses had escaped
without wounds from that desperate melee, and several of both had been
killed--rested as best they might with weapons in their hands. The
Indians were fully confident of finishing them on the morrow, and the
Spaniards themselves had little room for hope to the contrary. But far
in the night they suddenly heard Spanish bugles in the pass below, and a
little later were embracing their unexpected countrymen, and thanking
God for their deliverance. Pizarro, learning of the earlier dangers of
their march, had hurriedly despatched Almagro with a considerable force
of cavalry to help De Soto; and the reinforcement by forced marches
arrived just in the nick of time. The Peruvians, seeing in the morning
that the enemy was reinforced, pressed the fight no further, and
retreated into the mountains. The Spaniards, moving on to a securer
place, camped to await Pizarro.

He soon came up, having left the treasure at Xauxa, with forty men to
guard it. But he was greatly troubled by the aspect of affairs