M. para en los casos ocantes a la
guerra, i me encargo todo el exercito, i le puso baxo de mi mano
rogando i pidiendo por merced de su parte a todos aquellos
caballeros capitanes e gente de guerra, i de la de V. M.
mandandoles me obedesciesen en todo lo que les mandase acerca de
la guerra, i cumpliesen mis mandamientos como los suyos." (Carta
de Valdivia, Ms.) But other authorities state it, with more
probability, as given in the text. Valdivia, it must be
confessed, loses nothing from modesty. The whole of his letter to
the emperor is written in a strain of self-glorification, rarely
matched even by a Castilian hidalgo.]
The first obstacle to his progress was the river Abancay, the
bridge over which had been broken down by the enemy. But as
there was no force to annoy them on the opposite bank, the army
was not long in preparing a new bridge, and throwing it across
the stream, which in this place had nothing formidable in its
character. The road now struck into the heart of a mountain
region, where woods, precipices, and ravines were mingled
together in a sort of chaotic confusion, with here and there a
green and sheltered valley, glittering like an island of verdure
amidst the wild breakers of a troubled ocean! The bold peaks of
the Andes, rising far above the clouds, were enveloped in snow,
which descending far down their sides, gave a piercing coldness
to the winds that swept over their surface, until men and horses
were benumbed and stiffened under their influence.
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