But his countenance
exhibited neither the fierce passions nor the sagacity which had
been ascribed to him; and, though in his bearing he showed a
gravity and a calm consciousness of authority well becoming a
king, he seemed to discharge all expression from his features,
and to discover only the apathy so characteristic of the American
races. On the present occasion, this must have been in part, at
least, assumed. For it is impossible that the Indian prince
should not have contemplated with curious interest a spectacle so
strange, and, in some respects, appalling, as that of these
mysterious strangers, for which no previous description could
have prepared him.
Hernando Pizarro and Soto, with two or three only of their
followers, slowly rode up in front of the Inca; and the former,
making a respectful obeisance, but without dismounting, informed
Atahuallpa that he came as an ambassador from his brother, the
commander of the white men, to acquaint the monarch with their
arrival in his city of Caxamalca. They were the subjects of a
mighty prince across the waters, and had come, he said, drawn
thither by the report of his great victories, to offer their
services, and to impart to him the doctrines of the true faith
which they professed; and he brought an invitation from the
general to Atahuallpa that the latter would be pleased to visit
the Spaniards in their present quarters. quarter.
To all this the Inca answered not a word; nor did he make even a
sign of acknowledgment that he comprehended it; though it was
translated for him by Felipillo, one of the interpreters already
noticed.
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