*23 There were some few, and among
others Hernando de Soto, who supported him in these views, and
who regarded such measures as not at all justified by the
evidence of Atahuallpa's guilt. In this state of things, the
Spanish commander determined to send a small detachment to
Guamachucho, to reconnoitre the country and ascertain what ground
there was for the rumors of an insurrection. De Soto was placed
at the head of the expedition, which, as the distance was not
great, would occupy but a few days.
[Footnote 23: "Aunque contra voluntad del dicho Gobernador, que
nunca estubo bien en ello." Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms. -
So also Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Ped. Sancho, Rel.,
ap Ramusio, ubi supra.]
After that cavalier's departure, the agitation among the
soldiers, instead of diminishing, increased to such a degree,
that Pizarro, unable to resist their importunities, consented to
bring Atahuallpa to instant trial. It was but decent, and
certainly safer, to have the forms of a trial. A court was
organized, over which the two captains, Pizarro and Almagro, were
to preside as judges. An attorney-general was named to prosecute
for the Crown, and counsel was assigned to the prisoner.
The charges preferred against the Inca, drawn up in the form of
interrogatories, were twelve in number. The most important were,
that he had usurped the crown and assassinated his brother
Huascar; that he had squandered the public revenues since the
conquest of the country by the Spaniards, and lavished them on
his kindred and his minions, that he was guilty of idolatry, and
of adulterous practices, indulging openly in a plurality of
wives; finally, that he had attempted to excite an insurrection
against the Spaniards.
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