A number of Indian witnesses were examined, and their testimony,
filtrated through the interpretation of Felipillo, received, it
is said, when necessary, a very different coloring from that of
the original. The examination was soon ended, and "a warm
discussion," as we are assured by one of Pizarro's own
secretaries, "took place in respect to the probable good or evil
that would result from the death of Atahuallpa." *25 It was a
question of expediency He was found guilty, - whether of all the
crime alleged we are not informed, - and he was sentenced to be
burnt alive in the great square of Caxamalca. The sentence was
to be carried into execution that very night. They were not even
to wait for the return of De Soto, when the information he would
bring would go far to establish the truth or the falsehood of the
reports respecting the insurrection of the natives. It was
desirable to obtain the countenance of Father Valverde to these
proceedings, and a copy of the judgment was submitted to the
friar for his signature, which he gave without hesitation,
declaring, that, "in his opinion, the Inca, at all events,
deserved death." *26
[Footnote 25: "Doppo l'essersi molto disputato, et ragionato del
danno et vtile che saria potuto auuenire per il viuere o morire
di Atabalipa, fu risoluto che si facesse giustitia di lui." (Ped.
Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 400.) It is the
language of a writer who may be taken as the mouthpiece of
Pizarro himself.
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