The Indians, disconcerted
by this decided movement, as they had relied on their watery
defences, took to flight, after letting off an impotent volley of
missiles. Fear gave wings to the fugitives; but the horse and
his rider were swifter, and the victorious pursuers took bloody
vengeance on their enemy for having dared even to meditate
resistance.
Xauxa was a considerable town. It was the place already noticed
as having been visited by Hernando Pizarro. It was seated in the
midst of a verdant valley, fertilized by a thousand little rills,
which the thrifty Indian husbandman drew from the parent river
that rolled sluggishly through the meadows. There were several
capacious buildings of rough stone in the town, and a temple of
some note in the times of the Incas. But the strong arm of
Father Valverde and his countrymen soon tumbled the heathen
deities from their pride of place, and established, in their
stead, the sacred effigies of the Virgin and Child.
Here Pizarro proposed to halt for some days, and to found a
Spanish colony. It was a favorable position, he thought, for
holding the Indian mountaineers in check, while, at the same
time, it afforded an easy communication with the sea-coast.
Meanwhile he determined to send forward De Soto, with a
detachment of sixty horse, to reconnoitre the country in advance,
and to restore the bridges where demolished by the enemy. *11
[Footnote 11: Carta de la Justicia y Regi miento de la Ciudad de
Xauja, Ms - Pedro Pizarro, Descub.
Pages:
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561