A little while
before sunset Juan Pizarro left the city with a picked corps of
horsemen, and took a direction opposite to that of the fortress,
that the besieging army might suppose the object was a foraging
expedition. But secretly countermarching in the night, he
fortunately found the passes unprotected, and arrived before the
outer wall of the fortress, without giving the alarm to the
garrison. *19
[Footnote 19: Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]
The entrance was through a narrow opening in the centre of the
rampart; but this was now closed up with heavy stones, that
seemed to form one solid work with the rest of the masonry. It
was an affair of time to dislodge these huge masses, in such a
manner as not to rouse the garrison. The Indian nations, who
rarely attacked in the night, were not sufficiently acquainted
with the art of war even to provide against surprise by posting
sentinels. When the task was accomplished, Juan Pizarro and his
gallant troop rode through the gateway, and advanced towards the
second parapet.
But their movements had not been conducted so secretly as to
escape notice, and they now found the interior court swarming
with warriors, who, as the Spaniards drew near, let off clouds of
missiles that compelled them to come to a halt. Juan Pizarro,
aware that no time was to be lost, ordered one half of his corps
to dismount, and, putting himself at their head, prepared to make
a breach as before in the fortifications.
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