" Conq. i Pob del Piru,
Ms.]
[Footnote 2: Ibid., ubi supra.]
Yet the Inca Manco was a man of a lofty spirit and a courageous
heart; such a one as might have challenged comparison with the
bravest of his ancestors in the prouder days of the empire.
Stung to the quick by the humiliations to which he was exposed,
he repeatedly urged Pizarro to restore him to the real exercise
of power, as well as to the show of it. But Pizarro evaded a
request so incompatible with his own ambitious schemes, or,
indeed, with the policy of Spain, and the young Inca and his
nobles were left to brood over their injuries in secret, and
await patiently the hour of vengeance.
The dissensions among the Spaniards themselves seemed to afford a
favorable opportunity for this. The Peruvian chiefs held many
conferences together on the subject, and the high-priest Villac
Umu urged the necessity of a rising so soon as Almagro had
withdrawn his forces from the city. It would then be
comparatively easy, by assaulting the invaders on their several
posts, scattered as they were over the country, to overpower them
by superior numbers, and shake off their detested yoke before the
arrival of fresh reinforcements should rivet it for ever on the
necks of his countrymen. A plan for a general rising was formed,
and it was in conformity to it that the priest was selected by
the Inca to bear Almagro company on the march, that he might
secure the cooperation of the natives in the country, and then
secretly return - as in fact he did - to take a part in the
insurrection.
Pages:
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625