He gazed on it with fixed attention for some minutes,
and then exclaimed, with a dejected air, that "a similar sign had been
seen in the skies a short time before the death of his father Huayna
Capac." 23 From this day a sadness seemed to take possession of him,
as he looked with doubt and undefined dread to the future. Thus it is,
that, in seasons of danger, the mind, like the senses, becomes morbidly
acute in its perceptions; and the least departure from the regular course
of nature, that would have passed unheeded in ordinary times, to the
superstitious eye seems pregnant with meaning, as in some way or other
connected with the destiny of the individual.
Book 3
Chapter 7
Immense Amount Of Treasure--Its Division Among The Troops--
Rumors Of A Rising--Trial Of The Inca--His Execution--Reflections
1533
The arrival of Almagro produced a considerable change in Pizarro's
prospects, since it enabled him to resume active operations, and push
forward his conquests in the interior. The only obstacle in his way was
the Inca's ransom, and the Spaniards had patiently waited, till the return
of the emissaries from Cuzco swelled the treasure to a large amount,
though still below the stipulated limit. But now their avarice got the
better of their forbearance, and they called loudly for the immediate
division of the gold.
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