ending word back to his brother to bring up the remainder of
the force without delay. Another toilful day brought him to the crest of
the Cordillera, a bleak tract where the only vegetation was a dry,
yellow grass which grew up to the snow-line. Here he was met by one of
his Indian messengers, who reported that the path was clear, and an
envoy from the Inca was on his way to the Castilian camp. Very soon the
Peruvians appeared, bringing a welcome present of llamas and a message
from their master, who desired to know when the Spaniards would reach
Caxamalca, that he might provide suitably for their reception. The
ambassador vaunted the power and the triumphs of Atahuallpa; but Pizarro
was not to be outdone, and did not hesitate to declare that the Inca was
as much inferior to the King of Spain as the petty chiefs of the country
were to the Inca. After another march of two days the Spaniards began
the descent of the eastern side of the Cordillera, meeting by the way
another and more important envoy, and seven days later the valley of
Caxamalca lay before them, the vapour of its hot springs rising in the
still air, and the slope of the further hillside white with the tents of
the Inca's encampment for a space of several miles--a sight which filled
the Spaniards with a dismay they could hardly conceal. Putting on a bold
front they marched into the town, which was quite deserted, but seemed
large enough to hold ten thousand people, and then Pizarro despatched an
embassy consisting of his brother Hernando, another cavalier, and
thirty-five horsemen, to the camp of Atahuallpa. The party galloped
along the causeway, and, fording a shallow stream, made their way
through a guard of Indians to the open courtyard in the midst of which
the Inca's pavilion stood. The buildings were covered with a shining
plaster, both white and coloured, and there was a spacious stone
reservoir in the courtyard, which remains to this day, and is called
'The Inca's Bath.' The Court was filled with Indian nobles, and
Atahuallpa himself sat upon a low stool, distinguished from the rest by
the crimson fringe upon his forehead, which he had worn since the defeat
of his brother Huascar. Hernando Pizarro rode up to him and, addressing
him ceremoniously, informed him by the aid of Felipillo that he came as
an ambassador from his brother to acquaint the Inca with the arrival of
the white men in Caxamalca, and to explain that they were the subjects
of a mighty p