It would serve as a sample of the ingenuity of the natives,
and would show him the value of his conquests. A number of the most
beautiful articles was selected, to the amount of a hundred thousand
ducats, and Hernando Pizarro was appointed to be the bearer of them to
Spain.
The doom of the Inca was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in the great
square of Caxamalca; and, two hours after sunset, the Spanish soldiery
assembled by torch-light in the _plaza_ to witness the execution of the
sentence. It was on the twenty-ninth of August, 1533. Atahuallpa was led
out chained hand and foot,--for he had been kept in irons ever since the
great excitement had prevailed in the army respecting an assault. Father
Vicente de Valverde was at his side, striving to administer consolation,
and, if possible, to persuade him at this last hour to abjure his
superstition and embrace the religion of his Conquerors. He was willing
to save the soul of his victim from the terrible expiation in the next
world, to which he had so cheerfully consigned his mortal part in this.
During Atahuallpa's confinement the friar had repeatedly expounded to
him the Christian doctrines, and the Indian monarch discovered much
acuteness in apprehending the discourse of his teacher.
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