With these practised warriors to guide him, the young monarch put
himself at the head of his martial array, and directed his march towards
the south. He had not advanced farther than Ambato, about sixty miles
distant from his capital, when he fell in with a numerous host, which had
been sent against him by his brother, under the command of a
distinguished chieftain, of the Inca family. A bloody battle followed,
which lasted the greater part of the day; and the theatre of combat was
the skirts of the mighty Chimborazo.9
The battle ended favorably for Atahuallpa, and the Peruvians were
routed with great slaughter, and the loss of their commander. The prince
of Quito availed himself of his advantage to push forward his march until
he arrived before the gates of Tumebamba, which city, as well as the
whole district of Canaris, though an ancient dependency of Quito, had
sided with his rival in the contest. Entering the captive city like a
conqueror, he put the inhabitants to the sword, and razed it with all its
stately edifices, some of which had been reared by his own father, to the
ground. He carried on the same war of extermination, as he marched
through the offending district of Canaris. In some places, it is said, the
women and children came out, with green branches in their hands, in
melancholy procession, to deprecate his wrath; but the vindictive
conqueror, deaf to their entreaties, laid the country waste with fire and
sword, sparing no man capable of bearing arms who fell into his
hands.
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