The country was remarkably silent and deserted, until,
as he approached the mountain range that hems in the valley of
Yucay, about six leagues from the city, he was met by the two
Spaniards who had accompanied Manco. They informed Pizarro that
it was only at the point of the sword he could recover the Inca,
for the country was all in arms, and the Peruvian chief at its
head was preparing to march on the capital. Yet he had offered
no violence to their persons, but had allowed them to return in
safety.
The Spanish captain found this story fully confirmed when he
arrived at the river Yucay, on the opposite bank of which were
drawn up the Indian battalions to the number of many thousand
men, who, with their young monarch at their head, prepared to
dispute his passage. It seemed that they could not feel their
position sufficiently strong, without placing a river, as usual,
between them and their enemy. The Spaniards were not checked by
this obstacle. The stream, though deep, was narrow; and plunging
in, they swam their horses boldly across, amidst a tempest of
stones and arrows that rattled thick as hail on their harness,
finding occasionally some crevice or vulnerable point, - although
the wounds thus received only goaded them to more desperate
efforts. The barbarians fell back as the cavaliers made good
their landing; but, without allowing the latter time to form,
they returned with a spirit which they had hitherto seldom
displayed, and enveloped them on all sides with their greatly
superior numbers.
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