The city of Cuzco is the head and principal province of all the others, and from here to the beach of San Mateo and, in the other direction, to beyond the province of Collao, which is entirely a land of arrow-using savages, all is subject to one single lord who was Atabalipa, and, before him, to the other by-gone lords, and at present the lord of all is this son of Guarnacaba. This Guarnacaba, who was so renowned and feared, and is so even to this day, although he is dead, was very much beloved by his vassals, and subjected great provinces, and made them his tributaries. He was well obeyed and almost worshipped, and his body is in the city of Cuzco, quite whole, enveloped in rich cloths and lacking only the tip of the nose. There are other images of plaster of clay which have only the hair and nails which were cut off in life and the clothes that were worn, and these images are as much venerated by those people as if they were their gods. Frequently they take the [body] out into the plaza with music and dancing, and they always stay close to it, day and night, driving away the flies. When some important lords come to see the cacique, they go first to salute these figures, and they then go to the cacique and hold, with him, so many ceremonies that it would be a great prolixity to describe them. So many people assemble at these feasts, which are held in that plaza, that their number exceeds one hundred thousand souls. It turned out to be fortunate that they [the Spaniards] had made that son of Guarnacaba lord, because all the caciques and lords of the land and of remote provinces came to serve him and, out of respect for him, to yield obedience to the Emperor. The conquerors passed through great trials, because all the land is the most mountainous and roughest that can be traversed on horseback, and it may be believed that, had it not been for the discord which existed between the people of Quito and those of Cuzco and its neighbourhood, the Spaniards would never have entered Cuzco, nor would there have been enough of them to get beyond Xauxa, and in order to enter they would have had to go in a force of five hundred, and, to maintain themselves, they would have needed many more, because the land is so large and so rough that there are mountains and passes that ten men could defend against ten thousand. And the Governor never thought of being able to go with less than five hundred Christians to conquer, pacify, and make a tributary of it. But as he learned of the great disunion that existed between the people of that land [Cuzco] and those of Quito, it was proposed that he should go with the few Christians that he had to deliver them from subjection and servitude, and to put a stop to the mischief and wrongs that those of Quito were doing in that land, and Our Lord saw fit to favor him [in it]. Nor would the Governor ever have ventured to make so long and toilsome a journey in this great undertaking had it not been for the great confidence which he had in all the Spaniards of his company through having tried them out and having learned that they were dextrous and skilled in so many conquests and accustomed to these lands and to the toils of war. All of this they showed themselves to be in this journey through rains and snows, in swimming across many rivers, in crossing great mountain chains and in sleeping many nights in the open air without water to drink and without anything on which to feed, and always, day and night, having to be armed and on guard, in going, at the end of the war, to reduce many caciques and lands which had rebelled, and in going from Xauxa to Cuzco, on which journey they suffered, with their governor, so many trials and on which they so often placed their lives in peril in rivers and mountains where many horses were killed by falling headlong. This son of Guarnacaba has much friendship and concord with the Christians, and for this reason, in order to preserve him in the lordship, the Spaniards put themselves to infinite pains and likewise bore themselves in all these undertakings so valorously, and suffered so much, just as other Spaniards have been able to do in the service of the Emperor, that, as a result, the very Spaniards who have found themselves in this undertaking, marvel at what they have done when once more they set themselves to think upon it, and they do not know how they come to be alive as they have been able to suffer so many trials and such prolonged hunger. But they hold that all [their troubles] were put to a good use, and they would again offer themselves, were it necessary, to enter upon the greatest wearinesses for the conversion of those people and the exaltation of our holy catholic faith. Of the greatness and situation of the aforesaid land, I omit to speak, and it only remains to give thanks and praises to Our Lord because, so obviously, he has wished to guide with his hand the affairs of H. M. and of these kingdoms which, by his divine providence, have been illumined and directed upon the true road of salvation. May he bend his infinite goodness so that henceforth the [kingdoms] may go from good to better by the intercession of his blessed Mother, the advocate of all our steps who directs them to a good end.

This relation was finished in the city of Xauxa on the 15th day of the month of July, 1534. And I, Pero Sancho, Scrivener general of these kingdoms of New Castile and secretary of the governor Francisco Pizarro, by his order and that of the officials of H. M. wrote it just as things happened, and when it was finished I read it in the presence of the governor and of the officials of H. M., and, as it was all true, they said governor and officials of H. M. sign it with their hand.

Francisco Pizarro
Alvaro Riquelme.Antonio Navarro.
Garcia de Salcedo

By order of the Governor and Officials.Sancho