It is certain, however, that Pizarro was satisfied
of the existence of a conspiracy; and, without further
hesitation, he abandoned his wretched prisoners, ten or twelve in
number, to the tender mercies of their rivals of Tumbez, who
instantly massacred them before his eyes. *25
[Footnote 24: Xeres, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
183.]
[Footnote 25: "Y el marques don Francisco Picarro, por tenellos
por amigos y estuviesen de paz quando alla passasen, les dio
algunos principales los quales ellos matavan en presencia de los
espanoles, cortandoles las cavezas por el cogote." Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
Maddened by this outrage, the people of Puna sprang to arms, and
threw themselves at once, with fearful yells and the wildest
menaces of despair, on the Spanish camp. The odds of numbers
were greatly in their favor, for they mustered several thousand
warriors. But the more decisive odds of arms and discipline were
on the side of their antagonists; and, as the Indians rushed
forward in a confused mass to the assault, the Castilians coolly
received them on their long pikes, or swept them down by the
volleys of their musketry. Their ill-protected bodies were easily
cut to pieces by the sharp sword of the Spaniard; and Hernando
Pizarro, putting himself at the head of the cavalry, charged
boldly into the midst, and scattered them far and wide over the
field, until, panic-struck by the terrible array of steel-clad
horsemen, and the stunning reports and the flash of fire-arms,
the fugitives sought shelter in the depths of their forests.
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