excerpt
de Caracas, another kind of coalition was being formed, one to bring
don Don Diego de Losada.
Francisco Infante had always liked to hear himself talk, and I had
heard him on more than one occasion whispering words of
discontent into disloyal ears. It seems he thought himself
ill-rewarded in the customary partition of land and Indians when
the city was founded, and he convinced others of the same. I thought
Losada to be a man of honour and never believed these accusations
against him. Nevertheless, the city suffered from diminished
supplies thanks to the indolence of the Indians. As God would have
it, Losada had sent Pedro Alonso Galeas with sixty men on that very
day before dawn to the land of the Tarmas to help themselves to the
natives’ crops.
Teques and Tarmas met in the mountains and together marched
at the double toward Caracas, through rain and mud. In a twisted
turn of fate, around eight o’clock in the morning, Paramaconi,
Urimaure, Parnamacay and Guacaipuro ran into Pedro Alonso
Galeas and his party of sixty.
Pedro Alonso Galeas was a formidable enemy. He had participated
in the annihilation of the Inca Empirewith Pizarro and had fought with
and then fooled the legendary López de Aguirre, also known as the
Tirano Aguirre, who had betrayed the king and sown seeds of terror
throughout the province of Venezuela for some years.
Galeas must have been as surprised as the Indians. Not knowing
what was afoot, and wisely judging the possibilities against such a
large contingent, he chose to block their way without engaging in battle
proper. He charged and skirmished, then regrouped and waited.
At Maracapana, the remainder of the caciques could not
understand Guacaipuro’s failure to appear. By midday, they had
begun debating their next course of action, but the caciques were not
of one mind. It had taken much effort to organize the attack, and
now, inexplicably, their general commander was absent. Some
wanted to sound the charge; others thought it best to wait longer;
still others believed the opportunity was lost and favoured a retreat.
Many Tarmas and Teques died, shot through by the powerful…
Mayanaam
vequinox
Manolis 