Of the other villages between Llacta-cunga and Riobamba; and of what passed between the Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado and the Marshal Don Diego de Almagro.

AFTER travelling for some distance beyond Llacta-cunga, along the royal road which leads to the great city of Cuzco, the buildings of Muliambato are reached, concerning which I have nothing more to say than that they are inhabited by Indians of the same nation and customs as those of Llacta-cunga. There were ordinary buildings at this station, where stores were deposited according to the orders of the officer delegated by the Ynca, who obeyed the principal superintendent at Llacta-cunga. The chiefs looked to large stations, such as Quito, Tumebamba, Caxamarca, Xauxa, Vilcas, or Paria, and others of the same rank for orders. These stations were like the seat of a bishopric, or the capital of a kingdom, which gave the tone to all the parts, and whence came the officers who administered justice, or formed armies in case of war or insurrection. Nevertheless affairs of great difficulty or importance were not decided upon without a reference to the Kings Yncas. The transmission of these references was arranged with such skill and order, that the post went from Quito to Cuzco in eight days. Every half-league along the road there was a small house, where there were always two Indians with their wives. One of these ran with the news that had to be transmitted, and, before reaching the next house, he called it out to the other runner, who at once set off running the other half-league, and this is done with such swiftness that neither mules nor horses could go over such rocky ground in a shorter time.[282] But, as in the book of the Kings Yncas (which is the one that, with the help of God, will appear after this) I treat fully of these posts, I will not say more here, my present intention being merely to make things clear to the readers’ understanding.

From Muliambato the road leads to the river called Ambato, where there are also buildings which served the same purpose as those already described. Three leagues from this place are the splendid buildings of Mocha, which are so numerous and so grand, that I was astonished at the sight of them; but, now that the Kings Yncas have lost their power, all these palaces and buildings, with other grand works of theirs, have fallen into ruin, so that the vestiges of some of these edifices alone remain. As they are built of very beautiful stone, and as the masonry is excellent, they will endure for ages as memorials, without being entirely destroyed.

Round Mocha there are several villages where the inhabitants and their women all go dressed. Their customs and language are the same as those of the Indians we have left behind.

To the westward are the villages of Indians called Sichos, and to the east are the Pillaros. All these have great store of provisions, because their land is very fertile, and flocks of deer, some sheep of the kind called Peruvian, many rabbits, partridges, doves, and other game. Besides these, the Spaniards have large herds of cattle in all the plains and villages, and they breed extensively by reason of the excellent pasture. There are also goats, the country being well suited for them; and better swine than in any other part of the Indies, and they make as good ham and bacon as in the Sierra Morena.

Leaving Mocha, the great buildings of Riobamba are reached, which are not less worthy to be seen than those of Mocha. They are in the province of the Puruaes, in the midst of beautiful plains, very similar to those of Spain in climate, in the flowers and grasses, and in other things, as every one knows who has travelled over them.

For some days the city of Quito was established at Riobamba, before it was removed to its present site. But the buildings at Riobamba are more memorable for another event. The Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado, formerly governor of the province of Guatemala, which borders on the great kingdom of New Spain, set out with a fleet of ships filled with many knights (concerning whom I shall treat fully in the third part of this work), and landed on the coast, where the fame of Quito reached the Spaniards. They marched inland by difficult and rugged forests, where they suffered from hunger and other hardships. I cannot and ought not to pass on without saying something concerning the evils and miseries which these Spaniards, and all others, suffered in the discovery of these Indies, because I hold it for very certain that no nation that has ever been in the world has passed through so much. It is a thing well worthy of note that, in less than sixty years, a navigation so long, and a land so vast and so full of different tribes should have been discovered, the way leading through dense and dismal forests, and over deserts without roads; and that these countries should have been conquered, and more than two hundred cities founded in them. Surely those who have done this deserve great praise and everlasting fame, far more than my memory knows how to imagine, nor my weak hand to write. One thing is very certain, that the followers of Alvarado suffered so much on this road from hunger and fatigue, that many of them cast aside gold and precious emeralds, from want of strength to carry them. As soon as the arrival of the Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado was known in Cuzco, through evidence brought by Gabriel de Rojas,[283] the governor, Don Francisco Pizarro, although he was occupied in peopling that city with Christians, set out to take possession of the coasts of the South Sea; while he ordered his companion, the marshal Don Diego de Almago, to march in all haste to the province of Quito, place himself at the head of the troops then under the orders of his lieutenant, the captain Sebastian de Belalcazar, and take every necessary precaution. By hasty marches the diligent marshal arrived in the province of Quito, and took command of the troops that he found there, speaking sharply to the captain Belalcazar for having left Tangaraca without orders from the governor.

The Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado, accompanied by Don Diego de Alvarado, Gomez de Alvarado, Alonzo de Alvarado, who is now marshal of Peru,[284] the captain Garcilasso de la Vega,[285] Juan de Saavedra,[286] and other knights of high rank, arrived in the neighbourhood of the camp of the marshal Don Diego de Almagro. There was some danger of a rupture between them; but at last, by the intervention of the licentiate Caldera and other prudent persons, it was agreed that the Adelantado should leave the fleet of ships he had brought, with the arms and troops, in Peru, and that, in consideration of the expenses of the expedition, he should receive one hundred thousand castellanos.[287] This capitulation having been agreed to, the marshal took the troops into his service, and the Adelantado proceeded to the City of the Kings, where the governor Don Francisco Pizarro received him with the distinction that was due to so valorous a captain as Don Pedro de Alvarado. He received the one hundred thousand castellanos, and returned to his government of Guatemala. The agreement and capitulation above-mentioned was made and agreed to in the buildings of Riobamba, concerning which I am now treating. It was also here that the captain Belalcazar, who was afterwards governor of the province of Popayan, fought a battle with the Indians, in which, after many of them had been killed, the victory remained with the Christians.