ceived tidings that every day parties of men were advancing against
him. In order both to ascertain the truth of these reports, and to hurry
the arrival of the gold, the Governor ordered me to set out with twenty
horsemen and ten or twelve foot-soldiers for a place called Guamachuco,
which is twenty leagues from Cajamarca. This was the place where it was
reported that armed men were collecting together. I advanced to that
town, and found a quantity of gold and silver, which I sent thence to
Cajamarca. Some Indians, who were tortured, told us that the captains
and armed men were at a place six leagues from Guamachuco; and, though I
had no instructions from the Governor to advance beyond that point, I
resolved to push forward with fourteen horsemen and nine foot-soldiers,
in order that the Indians might not take heart at the notion that we had
retreated. The rest of my party were sent to guard the gold, because
their horses were lame. Next morning I arrived at that town, and did not
find any armed men there, and it turned out that the Indians had told
lies, perhaps to frighten us and induce us to return.

At this village I received permission from the Governor to go to a
mosque of which we had intelligence, which was a hundred leagues away on
the sea-coast, in a town called Pachacamac. It took us twenty-two days
to reach it. The road over the mountains is a thing worth seeing,
because, though the ground is so rugged, such beautiful roads could not
in truth be found throughout Christendom. The greater part of them is
paved. There is a bridge of stone or wood over every stream. We found
bridges of network over a very large and powerful river, which we
crossed twice, which was a marvellous thing to see. The horses crossed
over by them. At each passage they have two bridges, the one by which
the common people go over, and the other for the lords of the land and
their captains. The approaches are always kept closed, with Indians to
guard them. These Indians exact transit dues from all passengers. The
chiefs and people of the mountains are more intelligent than those of
the coast. The country is populous. There are mines in many parts of it.
It is a cold climate, it snows, and there is much rain. There are no
swamps. Fuel is scarce. Atahualpa has placed governors in all the
principal towns, and his predecessors had also appointed governors. In
all these towns there were houses of imprisoned women, with guards at
the doors, and t