Garcilasso had read the Commentaries of
Cortes, as he somewhere tells us; and it is probable that that
general's account, well founded, it appears, of a similar
superstition among the Aztecs suggested to the historian the idea
of a corresponding sentiment in the Peruvians, which, while it
flattered the vanity of the Spaniards, in some degree vindicated
his own countrymen from the charge of cowardice, incurred by
their too ready submission; for, however they might be called on
to resist men, it would have been madness to resist the decrees
of Heaven. Yet Garcilasso's romantic version has something in it
so pleasing to the imagination, that it has even found favor with
the majority of readers. The English student might have met with
a sufficient corrective in the criticism of the sagacious and
skeptical Robertson.]
All attempt at resistance now ceased. The fate of the Inca soon
spread over town and country. The charm which might have held
the Peruvians together was dissolved. Every man thought only of
his own safety. Even the soldiery encamped on the adjacent
fields took the alarm, and, learning the fatal tidings, were seen
flying in every direction before their pursuers, who in the heat
of triumph showed no touch of mercy. At length night, more
pitiful than man, threw her friendly mantle over the fugitives,
and the scattered troops of Pizarro rallied once more at the
sound of the trumpet in the bloody square of Caxamalca.
The number of slain is reported, as usual, with great
discrepancy.
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