necessary before presenting themselves before

him.

When the envoy was gone, De Soto informed his general that on entering, Caxas, he found the inhabitants ready to give battle; but, on assuring them of their peaceful intentions, they received the Spaniards with courtesy.

After sending a messenger to San Miguel with some treasures already collected from the Peruvians, Pizarro acquainted himself with the most direct route to Caxamalca.* The first halt was at the town of Motupa, pleasantly situated in a fruitful valley, among the hills which cluster around the base of the Cordilleras. Here the general halted four days, hoping to be joined by reinforcements from San Miguel.

"Why don't he press on?" asked Nicosia anxiously. "The Inca all this time can be augmenting his forces." He seemed so wise, to know so much about Peru and the Inca, that Estevan, gazing at him, asked:

"Have you not been here before?"

The mysterious youth became confused and answered, "No."

De Soto heard the answer and noted the confusion.

* The name has since been changed to Caxamarca.

"I don't believe him," he said.

"He has a

knowledge of Peru and Peruvians which can only be acquired by personal contact."

As no reinforcements appeared, they continued their march, advancing across a country in which sandy hills were relieved by broad expanses of verdant meadow, watered by natural streams. They were compelled to halt at one stream wider than the others, and Pizarro sent his brother Hernando across with a small detachment. Then they cut down trees from the woods, and made a floating bridge on which the army crossed next morning.

Taking every possible precaution, Pizarro pushed on, and at the end of three days reached the base of the mountain behind which lay the ancient town of Caxamalca. Before them rose the stupendous Andes, rock piled upon rock, their skirts below dark with evergreen forests, varied here and there by terraced patches of cultivated garden, with the peasant's cottage clinging to their shaggy sides, and their crests of snow glittering high in the heavens, presenting altogether such a wild chaos of magnificence and beauty as no other mountain scenery in the world can show. Across this tremendous rampart, through a labyrinth of passes, easily capable of defence by a handful of men against a large army, the troops were now to march. To the right, bordered by friendly shades, ran a road broad enough

for two carriages to go abreast—one of the famous routes to Cuzco. Some of the officers were of the opinion that the army should choose this road, but Pizarro determined to hold to his original course.

"We have every where proclaimed it our intention to visit the Inca in his camp," declared Pizarro in a brief address to his followers. "This purpose has been communicated to the Inca himself, and now to take an opposite direction would draw upon us the charge of cowardice, and would incur Atahualpa's contempt. No alternative remains but to march straight across the Sierra to his quarters. Let every one take heart and go forward like a good soldier, nothing daunted by the poverty of our numbers. In the greatest extremity, God ever favors his own; so doubt not, he will humble the pride of the heathen, and bring him to the knowledge of the true faith, the great end and object of this conquest."

Every campaign-hardened warrior was roused to enthusiasm by this speech.

"Lead on!" they cried. "Lead wherever you think best; we will follow, and you shall see that we can do our duty in the cause of God and the king."

Estevan and Hernando Pizarro were sent in advance with a small party. They followed a road which was conducted in the most skilful manner

round the rugged and precipitous sides of the mountains so as to best avoid the natural impediments of the ground. In places the cavalry were compelled to dismount and lead their horses, which could scarcely climb the rugged steeps. In many places they were crowded by an overhanging crag to the very verge of the precipice, where a single misstep would precipitate horse and rider into the dread. ful abyss below. The wild passes of the Sierra, practicable for the half-naked Indian, or the sure-footed mule, became formidable to the Spaniards and their horses, encumbered with armor and supplies.

In one of these impregnable passes the army came suddenly upon a frowning fortress built of solid masonry, the lower part excavated from the solid rock. The fort was empty; not a Peruvian was in sight, and Pizarro took up his quarters there for the night.

Next morning the army proceeded still deeper into the intricate mountain gorges. From intense heat the climate changed to intense cold. Even vegetation changed, the gorgeous foliage of the tropics giving place to the Alpine plants and herbs of the north, while the dreary wilderness was nearly abandoned by the animal creation. The light-footed vicuña, roaming in its native wilds, might sometimes be seen looking down from some airy cliff, where the foot of the boldest hunter

dared not venture. whose gay plumage sparkled in the deep gloom of the tropical forests, the invaders beheld only that great bird of the Andes, the loathsome condor, which, sailing high above the clouds, followed with doleful cries in the track of the army, as if guided by instinct in the path of blood and carnage.

Instead of the feathered tribes,

The crest of the Cordillera was at last reached, and Estevan, with the shivering Nicosia at his side, stood gazing at the mountains spread out in a bold and bleak expanse with scarce a vestige of vegetation, except dried grass. Below were rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines, for they were approaching the famous mines of Caxamalca. Nicosia was almost frozen. His warm blood was untempered to the rigors of the frigid zone.

The Spaniards pressed persistently on, surmounting every obstacle, and overcoming every difficulty. Envoys were met who tried to detain or turn aside the invaders; yet they pressed on down the eastern descent, until they arrived in the valley of Caxamalca, which, clothed with all the beauties of cultivation, lay like a rich and variegated carpet of verdure, in strong contrast with the dark forms of the Andes which rose on every side. Below, with its white houses glittering in the sun, lay the city of Caxamalca. Columns of vapor, a

league further away, marked the place of the