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MANCO BESIEGES CUZCO
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was destroying. Trained lawyers and statesmen came after him, some of whom fully recognised that the Incas were far more able and enlightened governors than their Spanish conquerors, but it was then too late. It is just possible that if such a man as Francisco de Chaves had been in the place of Pizarro, things might have taken a better turn, for the intentions of the councillors in Spain were good; but it is scarcely probable.

As it was, the affairs of Peru went from bad to worse. Pizarro went to found his capital at Lima, his brothers remained at Cuzco, and his colleague Almagro undertook his distant expedition to Chile, accompanied by Prince Paullu, the brother of Manco, and by the Uillac Uma (High Priest of the Sun), another son of the great Inca Huayna Ccapac. Manco, as he advanced in years, found that he was a mere puppet, and that his people were being treated with such cruelty and injustice that they were ready to make an attempt to throw off a yoke which had become unbearable. Manco escaped, and put himself at the head of a great army of Orejones ready to strike one last blow for freedom. The Sacsahuaman fortress was occupied by the patriots, and the Spaniards were closely besieged in the ancient city of the Incas.

The story of the siege of Cuzco has been told by Prescott. It was a final effort. The loss of the fortress deprived the patriots of their last hope. The old Inca chief hurled himself down the precipice rather than surrender. Another such deed is