THE INCA'S RANSOM In 1532 the native monarch of Peru, the Inca Atahuallpa, was captured by the Spanish soldier Pizarro. In return for freedom he promised "not merely to cover the floor but to fill the room with gold as high as he could reach; and, standing on tiptoe, he stretched out his hand against the wall. An adjoining room was to be filled with silver twice over." The offer was accepted, and gold treasures from the royal palaces and temples were collected and melted down by goldsmiths who worked day and night for a month. The historian Prescott, in 1847, estimated the value of the treasure at ?.5 million sterling. The Inca, however, was publicly executed a few months later.