Many of these passes afforded obvious points of defence; and the
Spaniards, as they entered the rocky defiles, looked with apprehension
lest they might rouse some foe from his ambush. This apprehension was
heightened, as, at the summit of a steep and narrow gorge, in which they
were engaged, they beheld a strong work, rising like a fortress, and
frowning, as it were, in gloomy defiance on the invaders. As they drew
near this building, which was of solid stone, commanding an angle of the
road, they almost expected to see the dusky forms of the warriors rise
over the battlements, and to receive their tempest of missiles on their
bucklers; for it was in so strong a position, that a few resolute men might
easily have held there an army at bay. But they had the satisfaction to
find the place untenanted, and their spirits were greatly raised by the
conviction that the Indian monarch did not intend to dispute their
passage, when it would have been easy to do so with success.
Pizarro now sent orders to his brother to follow without delay; and, after
refreshing his men, continued his toilsome ascent, and before nightfall
reached an eminence crowned by another fortress, of even greater
strength than the preceding. It was built of solid masonry, the lower part
excavated from the living rock, and the whole work executed with skill
not inferior to that of the European architect.
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