[Footnote 26: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
197. - Nanarro Relacion Sumaria, Ms]
He then summoned a council of his officers, to consider the plan
of operations, or rather to propose to them the extraordinary
plan on which he had himself decided. This was to lay an
ambuscade for the Inca, and take him prisoner in the face of his
whole army! It was a project full of peril, - bordering, as it
might well seem, on desperation. But the circumstances of the
Spaniards were desperate. Whichever way they turned, they were
menaced by the most appalling dangers; and better was it bravely
to confront the danger, than weakly to shrink from it, when there
was no avenue for escape.
To fly was now too late. Whither could they fly? At the first
signal of retreat, the whole army of the Inca would be upon them.
Their movements would be anticipated by a foe far better
acquainted with the intricacies of the sierra than themselves;
the passes would be occupied, and they would be hemmed in on all
sides; while the mere fact of this retrograde movement would
diminish the confidence and with it the effective strength of his
own men, while it doubled that of his enemy.
Yet to remain long inactive in his present position seemed almost
equally perilous. Even supposing that Atahuallpa should
entertain friendly feelings towards the Christians, they could
not confide in the continuance of such feelings. Familiarity
with the white men would soon destroy the idea of any thing
supernatural, or even superior, in their natures.
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