Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/295

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MANCO IN VILCAPAMPA
257

sufferance in the old palace overlooking the city of Cuzco, while the other gallantly maintained his independence in the fastnesses of Vilcapampa.

Manco was surrounded by numerous relations and followers, and lived in some state. Buildings were erected to take the places of the temple of the sun and the palace of Cuzco, and all the approaches were watched and guarded. Though very mountainous, the region between the Apurimac and Vilcamayu, called Vilcapampa, is not unproductive. There are pastures and terraced ravines, while to the north there, are tropical forests inhabited by the friendly tribe of Mañaris. Vilcapampa, with a width of forty miles, is a knot of mountains between the rivers Apurimac on the west and Vilcamayu on the east side, and with a bend of the latter river also bounding it to the north. Pizarro tried to come to terms with the Inca, but Manco had a profound distrust of Spanish promises. He therefore refused to negotiate, and Pizarro, in revenge, having taken one of Manco's wives prisoner with other Indians, stripped and flogged her, and then shot her to death with arrows. This forced Manco to make reprisals on Spaniards surprised on the roads leading to Cuzco.

After the final defeat of young Almagro by the Governor Cristoval Vaca de Castro, the lad himself and ten of his followers were executed, and many others were imprisoned at Cuzco. Two of the latter, named Gomez Perez and Diego Mendez, with six followers, escaped and

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