ABSTRACT
Father de Valverde celebrated mass for the dead and all the Spaniards surrounded the catafalque in full uniform. It was a grandiose affair, to do honour simultaneously to the last Inca emperor and to the new convert. The ramparts of Avila could be completely contained within the shadow of the cyclopean walls that surrounded Cuzco. While Pizarro was taking stock of his victory, surprising news reached the Spanish camp. Ecuador is a staircase rising from the Pacific Ocean towards the summits of the Andes, that project like peninsulas into the sky. Almagro had scarcely arrived at Cuzco when he learned of Alvarado’s presence sixty miles from Quito. Hernando Pizarro was determined to do everything to break the Indian encirclement of Cuzco. It was indeed a duel that was fought between Hernando Pizarro’s Spaniards and those of Almagro. The Marquis learned of Almagro’s execution with profound distress.
