His countrymen, he says, pretended that the cocks
imported into Peru by the Spaniards, when they crowed, uttered
the name of Atahuallpa; "and I and the other Indian boys," adds
the historian, "when we were at school, used to mimic them." Com.
Real., Parte 1, lib. 9, cap. 23.]
The natural consequences of such a conviction followed. The
beautiful order of the ancient institutions was broken up, as the
authority which controlled it was withdrawn. The Indians broke
out into greater excesses from the uncommon restraint to which
they had been before subjected. Villages were burnt, temples and
palaces were plundered, and the gold they contained was scattered
or secreted. Gold and silver acquired an importance in the eyes
of the Peruvian, when he saw the importance attached to them by
his conquerors. The precious metals, which before served only
for purposes of state or religious decoration, were now hoarded
up and buried in caves and forests. The gold and silver
concealed by the natives were affirmed greatly to exceed in
quantity that which fell into the hands of the Spaniards. *3 The
remote provinces now shook off their allegiance to the Incas.
Their great captains, at the head of distant armies, set up for
themselves. Ruminavi, a commander on the borders of Quito,
sought to detach that kingdom from the Peruvian empire, and to
reassert its ancient independence. The country, in short, was in
that state, in which old things are passing away, and the new
order of things has not yet been established.
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