ed forces from all parts of the country, both
those of his, own tribe and from all the tribes around. Having concluded
an extensive confederacy and begun his preparations for war, he sent a
friendly message to Alvarado to lull him into security, advising all his
confederates to do the same. The general gave them all favourable
answers, yet kept himself carefully on his guard. _Quiqualtanqui_
invited Anilco to join in the confederacy, instead of which he gave
notice of it to the Spaniards. It was not known how Guachacoya stood
affected on this occasion, but he was suspected of having hostile
intentions, as he made no communication of the conspiracy. The
confederates continued to send frequent messages and presents to the
Spaniards to discover what they were doing; and though repeatedly warned
not to come to their quarters under night they took no notice of it. One
night that Gonzalo Silvestre happened to stand centinel in the second
watch, the moon shining very bright, he observed two armed Indians in
their plumes of feathers, passing over the ditch on a tree that lay
across instead of a bridge. These men came to a postern which they
entered without asking leave, on which Silvestre gave one of them a cut
on the forehead, on which he immediately fled. The other Indian, without
waiting for his wounded companion, got into the canoe on the river and
gave the alarm to his party. The wounded man, missing the tree across
the ditch, swam over and cried out for assistance when he came to the
river, on which some of his friends came and carried him off. At
sunrise, Quiqualtanqui sent four messengers demanding that Alvarado
should punish the centinel for having been guilty of a breach of the
peace, more especially, as the wounded man was a chief. Four other
messengers arrived at mid-day on a similar errand, saying that the
wounded chief was at the point of death; and four more came in the
afternoon affirming that he was dead, and insisted that the centinel
should be publicly punished, since the action he had committed was an
affront to all the Indians of the confederacy. Alvarado boldly answered,
that they had been previously and repeatedly warned never to come to the
Spanish quarters under night, being always welcome and honourably
treated through the day. He added that though sincerely sorry for what
had happened, he could not possibly punish the centinel who had only
done his duty according to military discipline, neither would hi