The End of an Empire
The Machiavellian Pizzaro held the captured Atahualpa for ransom. He was 
adamant for receiving a room filled with gold to the height of a man's shoulder.
It was taken as an hyperbole at first, but he knew that the Incas would be 
munificent when it came to rescuing their sacred ruler. They didn't procrastinate, 
and a frenetic collection of gold took place. Pizzaro, to whom the prevarication
was natural in dealing with the Incas, had no qualms about executing their ruler
as soon as he had the gold. The Inca empire was moribund, but the charisma that
surrounded Atahualpa was such that, after his death, the Incas fight on 
tenaciously in his name for several years. Eventually, the superior weapons
quelled all oppositions. A policy of genocide was adopted by the Spanish
conqueror; and about two million of these proud people died in the carnage which
followed. The saga of an ancient civilization thus came to an end.



to throw cold water--to discourage a plan or idea.
I was going to pull up stakes and move out lock, stock and barrel, but
my wife threw cold water on the whole thing.