He withdrew into the fastnesses
of his native mountains, whence sallying forth as occasion
offered, he fell on the caravan of the traveller, or on some
scattered party of the military; and, in the event of a civil
war, was sure to throw his own weight into the weaker scale, thus
prolonging the contest of his enemies, and feeding his revenge by
the sight of their calamities. Moving lightly from spot to spot,
he eluded pursuit amidst the wilds of the Cordilleras; and,
hovering in the neighbourhood of the towns, or lying in ambush on
the great thoroughfares of the country, the Inca Manco made his
name a terror to the Spaniards. Often did they hold out to him
terms of accommodation; and every succeeding ruler down to Blasco
Nunez, bore instructions from the Crown to employ every art to
conciliate the formidable warrior. But Manco did not trust the
promises of the white man; and he chose rather to maintain his
savage independence in the mountains with the few brave spirits
around him, than to live a slave in the land which had once owned
the sway of his ancestors.
The death of the Inca removed one of the great pretexts for
Gonzalo Pizarro's military preparations, but it had little
influence on him, as may be readily imagined. He was much more
sensible to the desertion of some of his followers, which took
place early on the march. Several of the cavaliers of Cuzco,
startled by his unceremonious appropriation of the public moneys,
and by the belligerent aspect of affairs, now for the first time
seemed to realize that they were in the path of rebellion.
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