sailors jumped ship to avoid capture, but Ruíz seized three men, who
subsequently learned Spanish and served as interpreters on Pizarro’s third
voyage and invasion of Tahuantinsuyu. Armed with the report of the balsa raft
and its riches, Pizarro sailed to Spain where he convinced the Spanish sovereign
to name him governor and captain-general of a follow-up expedition to the as
yet-to-be-discovered Peru.
Sámano’s account is one of the first reports of Spanish exploration along the
west coast of South America. Although the authorship is disputed (it was
originally attributed to Francisco de Xerez), the consensus among scholars today
is that it was written by someone aboard Ruíz’s ship. No matter who wrote the
account, the narrative it contains is a testament to the skill of the Pre-Columbian
navigators who sailed with Native craft technology off the west coast of South
America, trading goods as far north as Mexico. The communities of coastal
Ecuador that controlled the balsa raft trade may even have provided their
seafaring expertise to the Incas, supplying the empire with the coveted
Spondylus shell, harvested in the deep, warm waters off the coast of Ecuador
(see Seafaring).
While the Native sailors encountered on Pizarro’s second voyage were
probably not Inca subjects, they were nonetheless aware of the existence of the
Incas and the information they gave Pizarro fired his imagination, leading to
further exploration and, ultimately, the conquest of Tahuantinsuyu.
Further Reading
Morlion, Magali. “Sámano Account (ca. 1527–1528).” In Guide to Documentary Sources for Andean
Studies, 1530–1900, edited by Joanne Pillsbury, vol. 3, 627–29. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
2008.
■ADRIANA VON HAGEN
SAPA INCA
Sapa Inca was an acclamation used to hail the Andean emperor, as he passed,
carried high on the shoulders of his litter bearers. The phrase translates from the
Quechua as sole, unique, or only Inca or Inca priest whose brilliant figure is
visible to all. It was one of many names used to address the ruler of a vast
jurisdictional empire made up of scores of ethnic groups who occupied the
coastal plains, intermontane valleys, high plateaus, and eastern upper jungle
reaches in what is today southern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and
northwestern Argentina. Because the given personal names of rulers were
considered too sacred to utter aloud, each Inca also had titles and praise names,