Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/118

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DEATH OF UIRA-COCHA

sole lord and sovereign in the lifetime of his father. Most of the Orejones who had fled with Uira-cocha returned to Cuzco. Soon after his accession the news reached Pachacuti that Urco had assembled forces in the valley, whether with or without the connivance of his father is uncertain. The Inca, with his brother Rocca, at once marched against the insurgents. Urco received a blow on the neck from a stone hurled by his brother Rocca. He fell into the river and was carried down to a rock called Chupillusca, a league below Ollantay-tampu, where he tried to land, but was killed by his brothers.[1] They then sought an interview with their father, who refused to see the Inca, but Rocca forced his way into the old man's presence and upbraided him. Uira-cocha continued to live in his stronghold of Caquia Saquis-ahuana, where he died and was buried. In his prime he loved gorgeous display, and we are told that he was the inventor of a kind of rich cloth or brocade called Tocapu. The name of his stronghold may have reference to this, for Ahuana means a loom. Caquia may be rendered 'my possession' or 'property.'[2]

  1. Urco is actually made to succeed by Cieza de Leon, Herrera, Fernandez, and Salcamayhua. Herrera gives his portrait among the Incas which form a border to his frontispiece.
  2. Haquis, the Xaquix of other writers, might mean 'left behind,' but the word is doubtful. Xaquixaguana is the name applied by some writers to the great plain of Suriti or Ychupampa. This must surely be a mistake. The refuge to which Uira-cocha fled could not possibly be the site of the battlefield from which he fled.