Hola Diary!
I am now going home a wealthy man! My dreams of acquiring wealth have come true. The last three years have been monumental, as I have faced some of the hardest trials. We met with Atahualpa as planned, even though we believed he wanted to ambush us. We were amazed to learn that he had 50,000 soldiers under his command. Pizarro sensed that Atahualpa was up to something, so he changed the place of the meeting to our own barracks. He arrived with numerous soldiers who were well armed for protection. There was tension immediately as Father Vincent Valverde and he disagreed over Christianity. A fight broke out between his warriors and our soldiers. The result was that eventually, Atahualpa became our hostage. Strangely enough, however, we became friendly with Atahualpa having taught him chess and a little Spanish (I had already astounded Atahualpa with my horsemanship). Eventually, Atahualpa offered a two rooms of silver and one with gold for his freedom. Incas from places all over South America came to fill the rooms. At one point, I went to check on the progress and met Huascar, the deposed ruler, and took him back to Caxamarca with me. He and Atahualpa were enemies, and Atahualpa had Huascar murdered. Our army were split as to what punishment Atahualpa should receive. Half believed he should be burned alive and others thought he should be brought back to Spain for judgement by the King. Valverde intervened saying he had been baptized a Christian and should have the opportunity of being strangled or burned to death. He chose the former. Meanwhile, all the gold and silver was being melted down and all our men were given a fair share, making us all very rich. At last, I am returning home, a rich man!
