Quizquiz fled to the elevated plains
of Quito, where he still held out with undaunted spirit against a
Spanish force in that quarter, till at length his own soldiers,
wearied by these long and ineffectual hostilities, massacred
their commander in cold blood. *9 Thus fell the last of the two
great officers of Atahuallpa, who, if their nation had been
animated by a spirit equal to their own, might long have
successfully maintained their soil against the invader.
[Footnote 9: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte
3, lib. 8, cap. 20. - Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap Ramusio, tom. III.
fol. 408. - Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.]
Some time before this occurrence, the Spanish governor, while in
Cuzco, received tidings of an event much more alarming to him
than any Indian hostilities. This was the arrival on the coast
of a strong Spanish force, under command of Don Pedro de
Alvarado, the gallant officer who had served under Cortes with
such renown in the war of Mexico. That cavalier, after forming a
brilliant alliance in Spain, to which he was entitled by his
birth and military rank, had returned to his government of
Guatemala, where his avarice had been roused by the magnificent
reports he daily received of Pizarro's conquests. These
conquests, he learned, had been confined to Peru; while the
northern kingdom of Quito, the ancient residence of Atahuallpa,
and, no doubt, the principal depository of his treasures, yet
remained untouched.
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