and sovereign.  That although he had taken Huascar prisoner, he not only had no intention of using him ill in his person, but did not even mean to deprive him of the kingdom:  his sole object being to oblige him to give up the possession of the kingdom of Quito, according to the last will of their father, Huana Capac; who had made a conquest of that country, which was beyond the boundary of the hereditary empire of the incas, and which consequently their father had an undoubted right to dispose of in his favour.”  Pizarro endeavoured to console the pretended affliction of Atahualpa, by assuring him, when peace and good order re-established in the empire, that he would make a strict inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Huascar, and would severely punish all who had participated in the crime.

When Atahualpa found that Pizarro took up this affair with so much coolness and moderation, he resolved to execute his design, and sent immediate orders to his officers who had the custody of Huascar to put him to death.  So promptly were these orders obeyed, that it was difficult to ascertain in the sequel whether the excessive grief of Atahualpa was feigned, and whether it preceded or followed the death of his brother Huascar.  Most of the soldiers blamed Soto and Barco for this unhappy event:  not considering the necessity of every one to obey the orders of their superiors with exactness, according to their instructions, especially in time of war, without assuming the liberty of making any alteration or modification according to circumstances in their own opinion, unless they have express and formal discretionary power.

It was currently reported among the Peruvians, that when Huascar learnt he was to be put to death by order of his brother, he made the following observation:  “I have been only a short while sovereign of this country, but my faithless brother, by whose orders I am to die, will not be longer a king than I have been.”  When the Peruvians soon afterwards saw Atahualpa put to death, conformable to this prediction, they believed Huascar to have been a true son of the sun.  It is reported also, that Huascar should have said, when his father Huana Capac took his last leave of him, he foretold “That white men with long beards would soon come into Peru, and advised him to treat them as friends, as they would become masters of the kingdom.”  Huana Capac may have received some intimation of this future circumstance from the demons; and that the more readily, that Pizarro had been on the coast of Peru before his death, and had even begun to make some conquests.