Sattin and one of them led the Horse by the Bridle the which was performed with the same solemnity as they used in Castile to receive the person of the King. So soon as the Court was sate they began to treat and enter upon business as well relating to Justice as Government and herein he thought to render himself the more popular by favouring the cause of the poor who generally are more pleased with revolutions and changes than the rich And now the Devil who designed the downfall and ruine of this pernicious and evil Vice-king began to disturb and disquiet all the Countrey which was so lately settled after the troubles of an intestine War the first commotion took its rise from an ill understanding between the Vice-king and the Judges and indeed of all the Kingdom for that the Vice-king resolving to carry on his work in putting the new Laws in execution he little regarded the Petitions and Addresses which were presented to him from the City of Los Reyes of Lima and other smaller Corporations Thus far are the words of Fernandez Palentino in the 10th Chapter of his Book And this Authour farther discoursing of the humour of this Vice-king and the shame the Devil owed him for being the cause of all those Commotions which were raised in the Countrey and also that he was the occasion of that discord which ruines Kingdoms and destroyes Empires and which particularly proceeded not onely to a quarrel between the Vice-king and the Conquerours of that Kingdom but also to such a mortal feud between him and the Judges as was not to be reconciled And indeed herein the Judges had much advantage for that they were men of great temper discreet and unbiassed who foreseeing the many inconveniencies which the rumour onely much more the execution of the new regulations would occasion dissuaded those rash proceedings wherein they were the more positive in consideration that this Kingdom which was scarcely appeased and settled since the late Wars and was still in agitation and commotion would never be able to support such extravagant oppressions which would certainly be the cause of the total ruine and destruction of that Empire These plain representations made to the Vice-king with intention and design onely if it had been possible to attemper his angry and froward disposition served to little purpose and effect for that his humour being wholly bent on his own obstinate resolutions he termed all those who concurred not with him in the same opinion rebellious to the King and enemies to himself And farther to widden these breaches he ordered the Judges to remove from his neighbourhood in the palace and to take other lodgings in other quarters for themselves All which and much more so inflamed the minds of both parties that sharp words and reparties frequently intervened between them Howsoever in regard the Judges for better administration of affairs were obliged to keep fair with the Vice-king they so concealed and dissembled their resentments that their passions were not publickly made known But because the resolution of the Vice-king to put in execution the new Laws became daily more and more apparent and manifest the Discontents and Quarrels arose daily to a higher degree and those who were injured and prejudiced thereby became uneasie and impatient And as Diego Fernandez in his 10th Chapter saith that the Judges considering the obstinate and inflexible humour of the Vice-king on one side to execute the new Regulations of the Emperour to whom by reason of the distance of the place no opportune or seasonable applications could be made for a moderation or redress and that on the other side in case they should condescend to be deprived of their Indians it would be very difficult to recover that vassalage again they were by these difficulties reduced to such a kind of Dilemma that they were all distracted and knew not which way to turn or resolve Nor was the people onely confused and unquieted by these thoughts but even the Vice-king found himself reduced to an inquietude and distraction of mind when he found the people mutinous and turmoiled with a thousand fancies and resolved to sacrifice their lives and fortunes rather than to submit tamely to their own destruction As hereafter we shall find by the success And thus far are the words of Palentino which we have extracted â— verbatim from his own Writings CHAP. VI. The secret quarrel concealed between the Vice-king and the Judges breaks out in publick Prince Manco Inca and the Spaniards who were with him write to the Vice-king NOR did the quarrel between the Vice-king and the Judges contain it self within the limits of private resentments but burst forth into the publick Streets and places of common Meetings the which calling into the mind of the Vice-king that Motto or Sentence which he had read in the Inn of Huaura belonging to Antonio Solar and which he believed was either wrote by himself or by his order for which cause as both Carate and Diego Fernandez report sending for him and discoursing with him in private and having given him some very severe terms and reprehensions he gave order to have the gates of the palace shut and calling his Chaplain to confess him with intent to have him hanged on one of the Pilasters of the Court-yard which leads towards the High-street But Antonio Solar refusing to confess his execution was suspended till such time as that his danger and case was divulged through the whole City upon the rumour of which the Arch-bishop and all the persons of quality came to intercede for a pardon or suspension of Justice and after great intercessions all that they could prevail was for one day's reprieve upon which he was committed to close imprisonment But the fury and impetuosity of this choler passing over he considered that it was not convenient to put him to death but rather to detein him in prison and accordingly he kept him under restraint without process of Law Endictment or any Accusation whatsoever for the space of two months untill such time as the Judges going on a Saturday to visit the prisons were desired by some of the friends of Antonio Solar to make their enquiry concerning the state of his affair with which though they were well enough acquainted before yet for form sake they asked him the cause and crime for which he stood committed to which he replied that he knew not any and then calling for the books of the prison to see what actions or process had been made against him and finding none and that the Keeper of the prison could assign no cause against him the Judges on the Monday following made a Report to the Vice-king that having visited the prison they found that Antonio Solar had been there committed and upon examination of the books no crime or cause was entered against him onely that he was there imprisoned by his order Wherefore in case no crime were laid to his charge his imprisonment was
about his Neck Francisco Hernandez at the importunity of so many friends rather than his own inclinations gave him his Pardon This particular passed in the manner before related for afterwards in the time of peace I have heard the Story repeated in my Father's house both in the presence and in the absence of this Pero Hernandez the Loyal whose escape out of the hands of the Rebels unto his Majesty's Camp we shall relate in its due place CHAP. XIX The great Trouble and Disturbance which the News of the loss of the Marshal caused in his Majesty's Camp. The means which the Justices took to repair this Loss The Disputes and Differences amongst the Officers whether the Army ought to march or not to march against the Rebels One of the Captains of the Rebels revolts to the King's Forces THE same rumour which at the Battel of Chuquinca affrighted Antonio de Carrillo Serjeant Major to Francisco Hernandez and Albertos de Ordunna and caused them to fly upon a groundless report that Hernandez was slain and which afterwards was contradicted and the truth divulged of the Victory he had gained the same rumour being spread amongst the Indians was related to the Spaniards who lived in the Countries thereabouts who taking the News upon Hear-say wrote it to the Justices with demands of a reward for their good tydings but it was not long before winged fame brought the true relation of the fatal overthrow of the Marshal and his Forces which raised great consternation and trouble in his Majesty's Army and came to that height that as Palentino saith Chap. 46. a Council was held amongst the three Justices without any reason or cause for it either to put the Justice Santillan to death or to send him Prisoner into Spain upon pretence that this Santillan had caused the loss of the Battel but Doctour Saravia differing from the rest in his opinion nothing was determined against him And indeed we are not to think it strange that men should imagine some foul play in this matter for this Victory of Hernandez was so contrary to the expectation of all men who had any knowledge in the Affairs of Peru that no man would believe but that the Marshal was betrayed and sold by his own people and consequently they pitched upon the persons whom they suspected and imagined to be the Contrivers of it And herein they so confidently stood and believed that if an Angel from Heaven had come and revealed the truth they would not have been persuaded into another belief untill they saw many of those whom they suspected of this Treachery and who were fled from the Battel to come to his Majesty's Camp for refuge showing the Wounds they received and the Marks of their ill treatment and then they were convinced of the Errour they had received and begun to entertain a good opinion of their faithfulness and loyalty so soon as the people were recovered from their amazement the Justices ordered Antonio de Quinnones a Citizen of Cozco with a party of sixty Musquetiers to march to the City of Huamanca for the defence thereof and to receive such as were fled thither from the Battel and to hinder the Enemy from taking any refreshments or succours from thence of which they might stand in need and so it happened accordingly for Hernandez sent Captain Cobo to the City for Provisions and Medicines to cure his wounded men but Cobo having intelligence that Antonio Quinnones was coming thither he retired from Huamanca without doing what he designed At this time two Letters were brought to the Justices from divers parts almost at the same instant one was from the Marshal de Alvarado complaining of his ill fortune and the refractariness of the People who would not obey his Orders nor follow his Directions the other was from Lorenço de Aldana which in very few words gave an account of the ill success of the Battel saying that it was done against the sense and opinion of all the principal Officers of the Army as Palentino writes Chap. 47. in these words Upon Monday last I wrote to your Lordship signifying what I then suspected and feared for I had no sooner concluded my Letter than Lucifer entered into the Marshal and moved him to resolve instantly to assault Hernandez in the Post where he had fortified himself against the sense and opinion of all his Officers and particularly against mine the which was performed with that disadvantage to us that Hernandez shot and killed our people and defeated us without moving out of the covert of his Fortification many of our principal men and persons of Quality are killed the precise number I cannot tell because the Marshal retired before Hernandez sallied out of his Fortification they say the Marshal is wounded but I am sure it was neither with fighting nor giving encouragement to his Souldiers c. Thus far Palentino The News of the loss which the Marshal sustained being now confirmed by all hands the Justices commanded that the Army should march and follow Hernandez and resolved that the Court of Justice should accompany the Army to give greater authority and reputation as Palentino saith to their Cause and Proceedings and to take off the murmurings of the Souldiery who perhaps might complain of the hardships they underwent whilst the Justices were solacing and enjoying themselves at home but Judge Altamirano opposed this resolution alledging that his Majesty having confined the Court of Judicature to Lima the Bench had no power or authority without the Precincts of that Jurisdiction nor ought they to remove from thence without express command from his Majesty But Doctour Saravia earnestly insisting that the Court was in this emergency obliged to move with the Army Altamirano positively declared that he was resolved not to stir for that the King had not given him a Commission to fight but to sit upon his Bench and there to judge such Causes as should be brought before him To which Doctour Saravia replyed that he would suspend him of his Office in case he followed not the Army and that he would send Orders to the Officers of the King's Treasury to stop the payment of his Salary and accordingly the fame was notified though afterwards it was made good by a particular Warrant from his Majesty Thus far Palentino After long Disputes of this kind it was at length determined that the three Justices viz. Doctour Saravia Judge Santillan and Mercado should attend the Royal Army and that Altamirano who had professed himself ignorant and unskilfull of Arms and would wage no other War than civil Pleadings at the Bar should remain in the City of Los Reyes in quality of Lord Chief Justice and that Diego de Mora a Citizen of Truxillo who as we have said brought a good company of Musquetiers to the Army was appointed Governour of the City and his Company given to another Captain called Pedro de Carate Things being ordered and disposed in this manner and a sufficient Guard
their Lord and Sovereign and was to give rather than receive terms and therefore that they should refer all their grievances to his Wisedom who inheriting the justice of the Sun his Father was inclinable of himself to redress their Oppressions and reduce their Enemies to terms of Reason and Justice With this Answer the Ambassadours returned and the day following all the Indians that were retired within the inclosure to the number of above twelve thousand fighting men with their Wives and Children to about thirty thousand souls came forth and in several Divisions presented themselves on their knees before the Inca professed themselves to be his Slaves and Vassals and in testimony thereof offered unto him Gold and Silver and Lead and whatsoever else was the product of their Countrey The Inca receiving them with his accustomed Goodness ordered that meat should be given them to satisfie their present hunger and likewise provisions for their journey that so they might all return to their respective Habitations lest they should faint by the way and want due refreshment and care in their Travel CHAP. XI The Conquest of those of Aymara The Curacas are received to Pardon Marks are set up for boundaries on the Confines THese People being sent home to their respective dwellings the Inca proceeded to another part of the same Province of Aymara called Huaquirca which even to this day contains two thousand Families from thence he dispatched Messengers to summon the Caciques or Lords of Umasuyu to appear before him for that being descended from the Sun he claimed it as his Prerogative to hear and decide the differences between them and their Neighbours of Aymara about the pasturage and places where they feed their Cattle and that residing now in Huaquirca he expected their coming thither so that he might impose Laws and Rules of Reason on them whereby to measure their actions that they might not like brute Beasts destroy one the other for causes of so small import or moment as that of pasturage since it was evident that the Countrey was large and the grounds abounding with Grass sufficient to feed the Flocks both of one and the other People The Curacas or Chiefs of Umasuyu being assembled together to consult of this common concernment gave this general answer That they had no business with the Inca so as to oblige them to repair to his place of Residence but if he had any occasions for them that he should seek them within their own Territories where they were ready to attend and receive him with Arms in their hands whether the Sun were his Father or not they did neither know nor care and if he were yet the Sun was no God of theirs for they had natural Gods of their own whose Protection and goodness they had so well proved as not to change them for any other That the Inca might bestow his Laws and Ordinances on his own Subjects for that they would accept of none which restrained them from a liberty of taking that to which their Arms and Power gave them a right and title and by the same Arms they would defend themselves and their Countrey against any who should dare to disturb them in their Peace and enjoyments This they said was all the answer that they would give and that in case the Inca required any other he should appear in the field and decide the controversie like a valiant Souldier The Inca Capac Yupanqui entering into consultation with his principal Officers upon this answer of those of Umasuyu agreed and concluded that the success of this War depended on dispatch and therefore that they should without delay make an attempt upon them the suddenness of which would so distract and confound them that the surprisal and fear more than the real hurt would affright them into submission for that it being a Law and Maxime of the first Inca Manco Capac and from him derived to all his Royal Posterity to spare the bloud of the Indians and gain them by all arts and contrivances of Gentleness and Invitation and that War and Force were to be the last remedies In consideration of which Capac Yupanqui thought fit to make use of this Strategeme commanding eight thousand select Men of his Army to march day and night into the Province of Umasuyu so that by the speediness of their march they might surprise the Enemy who did not expect the motion of so great a body in less than the space of a whole month but seeing them already in the midst of their Countrey with a flying Army and the gross Body on their march towards them and considering that it was impossible for them to assemble so soon together as to make a head sufficient to resist began to repent of their pertinacious answer and now laying aside the thoughts of War the Curacas with speed and haste assembled together from all parts resolving that the onely expedient in that exigency was to ask pardon and mercy for their late offence so that one after the other as they chanced to come in prostrated themselves before the Inca acknowledging him for a true Child of the Sun and as such they swore and vowed unto him all Faithfulness and Obedience The Inca contrary to the expectation of the Curacas who expected nothing less than death or punishment received them with a gratious Clemency telling them by one of his Captains that when he considered their Barbarity and that they were wholly ignorant of all kind of Morality he did not admire at their refusal to accept his Religion and the lenity of his government being assured that when they shall have once learned and proved those things which conduce to humane Life they will bless the hour in which they were persuaded to forsake those their Idols which were formed in the similitude of Beasts and vile Creatures and capable of nothing but contempt wherefore now he commanded them that in every thing they should resign themselves with implicite Faith and entire Obedience to the Religion Laws and Government which the Inca and his Ministers should impose upon them for such was the pleasure of the Sun his Father The Curacas with most profound humility answered That they did promise and vow to acknowledge no other God than the Sun nor no other King than the Inca whose Laws and Ordinances being founded on Reason and Justice were the best â—â—es whereby to make his Subjects happy The Inca in favour and honour to these his new Subjects settled his Court for a while in the Province of Chirirqui which is the chief and capital Seat of this People at which place informing himself of the situation and position of their pasturages and of the Causes and Original of the differences arising between these People and their Neighbours did after mature consideration determine where the confines of each Countrey should be limitted and in testimony thereof caused heaps of Stones to be thrown up at such places where he thought fit to remain for
by knots of thread of divers colours they should be able to distinguish their Laws and reade them with their true sense and signification and so well by this invention to commit them to the knowledge of posterity that since they were established by their first Kings six hundred years are fully elapsed and yet are as faithfully and as lively conserved in the memory of that people as if they had been Laws of later date Such was their Municipal Law which treated of the particular advantage of every Nation and the Privileges and Immunities respective to every people They had their Agrarian Law which determined and measured out the bounds and limits of Provinces which was with singular diligence and rectitude observed for they had their sworn Measurers who meted out their Lands with Cords by Acres which they called Tupu whereby they made a just division to the Neighbourhood assigning to every one his just share and proportion They had also that which they called a Common Law which as they said respected every one unless Old Men and sick and Children and infirm which were exempted but all others were obliged to labour in matters relating to the benefit of the Common-wealth such as in the building of Temples Palaces for the King and the great Lords raising Bridges making and mending High-ways and other matters of like nature They had another Law which they named the Law of Brotherhood which laid an obligation on the people to be aiding and assisting one to the other in plowing and sowing and gathering in the Fruits and in building Houses one for the other without pay or expectation of reward They had another Law which they called Mitachanacuy which was as much as to say a rotation or a turn or circulation of labour which was no more than that in all the work which was performed by publick assistence the like account should be observed and measures taken as was in the division of the Lands that so no Province People Lineage or Person should be obliged to labour beyond their due proportion but that their Lives should have their turns and times mixed with recreation and leisures as well as labours They had also a Sumptuary Law which prohibited all kind of vanity and expence in Cloathing and Adornments of them with Gold or Silver or pretious Stones and especially all profuseness in banquets and delicacies in Diet were forbidden onely the Neighbourhood were enjoined to Dine two or three times a Month together in presence of their Curacas and then afterwards to exercise themselves in feats of Arms or in sports and divertisements which was esteemed a probable means to reconcile Mens affections and conserve them in love and friendship one with the other And this Law was also made in favour to the Shepherds and other Field-labourers that so they might tast some pleasures and recreations They had also a Law in relation to those whom they call Poor which was That such as were blind dumb lame old decrepit and lingering with any long or Chronical disease so as that they were uncapable of work should be cloathed and sed out of the King's Store Likewise it was a Law that out of these Stores all Strangers and Travellers should be provided for whom also Inns and places of refreshment were erected which they called Corpahuaci which is as much as a House of Hospitality in which Men had their charge and expence defrayed by the Publick And in this Law also it was Ordained that twice or thrice a Month they were to invite those which as before mentioned are termed Poor unto their Meetings and publick Feasts that so their miseries might receive some consolation and diversion by the common joy and society Another Law they called the Ordinance of good Husbandry which enjoined and required two things First that no person should remain idle or be exempt from labour for as we have said before even Children of five years of Age were employed in something agreeable to their capacities nor were the lame and infirm altogether excused but some work was given them which they were best able to perform for idleness which was punishable with much dishonour and infamy was not indulged on any pretence but what was of necessity and unavoidable And farther it was Ordained by this Law That the Indians should dine and sup with their Doors open that so the Officers and Ministers of the Judges might have free and open access to them at their pleasure for there were certain Officers appointed to visit the Houses of particular persons as well as the Temples and publick Houses and Edifices whom they called Llactacamayu and these were Monitors or Visitors appointed to oversee and make enquiry into the Houses of particular persons observing the order and regular care and diligence which the Husband and Wife used in their labour and families and what obedience and respect the Children paid unto their Parents the evidence and measures of which they took from the neatness and politeness of their Attire and from the cleanliness of their Utensils and good Housewifery in their Houses such as they found in all things cleanly they praised and commended in publick and such as were slovenly and nasty they punished with stripes whipping them on their Armes and legs or with such other infliction as the Law required by which care and severe inspection every one became laborious and that industry produced such abundance of all things necessary to humane Life that those things were given almost for nothing which now are to be purchased at excessive rates What other Laws and moral Constitutions they observed either relating to Men in a common or a single capacity they were all regulated and squared by the rule of right Reason and which may be known and collected from those particulars which we shall hereafter relate concerning the Lives and Customs of this People And we shall hereafter in the eight and ninth Chapters specifie the cause and manner why and how they came to loose these Laws and Customs which were thus worthy and commendable all which declined and fell with the Government of the Incas And that the barbarity of the Indians is much more savage and their living much less political and greater want of all things necessary in these days amongst them than was in the ancient times when the Incas bore the sway and rule in those Dominions CHAP. XII How they conquered and civilized their new Subjects THE Policy and Arts which the Incas used in their Conquests and the manner and methods they pursued in civilizing the People and reducing them to a course of moral Living is very curious and worthy to be observed For from the first foundation which their Kings laid of Government which served afterwards for an example or pattern to their Successours their Maxime was Never to make War on their Neighbours without just cause or reason so the Barbarity and Ignorance of the People seemed a good and lawfull motive and next
joy and contentment on this occasion But I not well understanding the meaning of this Drollery replied to him and said Uncle why should we rejoice for the Death of Don Francisco since he was our Kinsman and Acquaintance With which turning towards me with great anger and passion and taking the end of his Mantle and biting it with his Teeth as the manner is amongst the Indians when they are in a rage retorted upon me and said What you have a mind to be a Kinsman to an Auca the Son of another Auca which signifies a Tyrant and Traytour who destroyed our Empire and killed our Inca who exhausted our Bloud and extirpated our Family who committed so many outrages unnatural to our Kindred unknown and abhorred by our Forefathers Give me but this dead Rascal into my hand and you shall see me eat him raw without Pepper or Salt. Oh that Traytor his Father was surely no Son of Huayna Capac our Inca but some mean Bastard of an Indian of Quitu with whom his Mother plaid the Whore and abused our King for if he had been an Inca he could never have been guilty of those horrid Cruelties and Abominations he committed nor could such execrable designs have entred into his imagination for considering that it was a fundamental Doctrine of our Ancestours never to doe hurt or damage unto any no not so much as to their Enemies What Monster then of iniquity must this Man be who violating all the Rules of Humanity hath imbrued his hands in the bloud of all his Relations Then do not say that this person can be descended from our Lineage whose disposition was unnatural and different to the temper and constitution of our Forefathers Consider what an injury you doe to them to us nay to your self in styling us the Kinsmen of a most cruel Tyrant who from the degree of Kings reduced those few of us who escaped his outrageous hands to the condition of servitude and slavery All this and much more this Inca uttered with such rage moved by a sensible remembrance of those detestable cruelties which Atahualpa had committed that the satisfaction they received by the Death of Don Francisco was changed into woe and lamentations And indeed this Francisco during the time of his Life was so sensible of the common hatred of Mankind towards him which avoided his conversation flying from him as from the Pestilence that he with shame absconded himself and lived retired within his own doors the like also did his two Sisters who hearing all places resound with Auca which properly signifies Cruelties Tyrannies and Misfortunes were filled with shame and confusion CHAP. XL. What remains survived of the Incan Family A Long time after I had finished this ninth Book I received Advices from Peru out of which I have framed this Chapter concerning the Reliques of the Incan Bloud which being greater than I thought I have added as pertinent to this History For in the year 1603 they all joined in a Letter directed to Don Melchior Carlos Inca Son of Don Alonso de Mesa who lived near Cozco and likewise to my self desiring us that we would intercede in their behalf with his Majesty that he would be pleased to exempt them from Tribute and from those grievous Exactions with which they were charged in common with other Indians for performance of which they delegated all and every of us with full Power and Authority from them particularly named descended from such and such a King and for better proof of their Lineage they sent a Royal Tree of their Pedigree drawn out upon a Yard and half of white Taffity made of the Bark of the China Tree descending from Manco Capac to Huayna Capac and his son Paullu the Chief Incas being all curiously painted in their ancient Habits upon their Heads they wore the coloured Twist or Wreath in their Ears their great Earings with Partesans in their hands in the place of Sceptres being painted from their Breasts upwards The Papers were directed to me which I addressed to Don Melchior Carlos Inca and Don Alonso de Mesa then residing in the Court at Valladolid because my other affairs would not permit me to attend this cause in which I should otherwise have gladly employed both my time and life This Letter which was subscribed by the Incas was wrote by one of them in a very fair Character the phrase or style was partly Indian and in part Castillian they being all now much conformed to the Spanish Mode and it was dated the 16th of April 1603. I did not think fit to insert a Copy thereof here because it is too sad and tragical recounting the dolefull estate into which they were fallen The Address is penn'd with such assurance of his Majesty's favour that as we all believe whensoever his Catholick Majesty shall be informed and made sensible thereof he will not onely ease them of their burthens but bestow such privileges on them as are decent and becoming the Royal Off-spring of Kings The Scheme vvhich they drevv of their Pedigree vvas exactly framed for the Kings vvho vvere Incas vvere painted in their several Figures denoting on each side the descendencies from them vvith this Inscription Capac Ayullu vvhich is the Royal Off-spring and is the Title in common to all signifying thereby hovv all of them vvere derived from the first Inca Manco Capac then the Pedigree of every King hath its particular distinction vvith different Names by vvhich appears hovv every one descended from such and such a King. The Issue or Progeny of Manco Capac they call Chima Panaca from vvhich forty Incas are successively descended That of Sinchi Rocca they call Raurava Panaca from vvhence proceeded sixty four Incas That of Lloque Yupanqui the third Inca they call Hahuaniva Ayllu from whence descended sixty three Incas That of Capac Yupanqui they call Apu Mayta from whence are fifty six That of Mayta Capac the fifth King they call Usca Mayta from whence are thirty five That of Inca Roca they call Vicaquitau from whence are fifty That of Yahuar Huacac the seventh King they call Aylli Panaca from whence are sixty nine The Issue of Inca Pachacutec and his Son Inca Yupanqui being joined together are called Inca Panaca and make up a double number of ninety nine The Off-spring descended from Tupac Inca Yupanqui they call Capac Ayllu which signifies no more than the Royal Progeny which confirms what we have declared before concerning that Title and of this branch there are onely eighteen The Off-spring of Huayna Capac they call Tumipampa in remembrance of that solemn Festival which he instituted in honour of the Sun and celebrated in that wide and open Field which is situate in the Province of Cannaris where he erected Royal Palaces and Store-houses for support and accommodation of the Souldiery together with a Monastery for the Select Virgins and a Temple of the Sun all which were so magnificent and stately and so full of
believe that you are the Sons of our great God Viracocha and Messengers of the Pachacamac for which cause and in confirmation of what my Father delivered us we have made it a Law and published it in the Schools of Cozco that none shall dare to take up Arms against you or offend you wherefore you may doe with us as you please it being Glory sufficient for us to die by your hands whom we esteem the Divine Messengers of God by whom you must be sent considering the Actions you have already performed Onely I desire to be satisfied in one doubt How comes it to pass as you say that you come to treat of Friendship and a perpetual Peace in the Name of the two before mentioned Princes and yet on the other side without so much as any Summons or sending to treat with us or know our Will or Pleasure towards you you have committed such outrages and slaughters in the Countries through which you have passed I conceive that the two Princes which employed you have given you such Commission to act with such severity against us without any fault of ours and I imagine that the Pachacamac hath so commanded them to proceed wherefore I say again Doe your pleasure with us onely I beseech you to have compassion upon my poor Relations whose Death and Misfortunes will grieve me more than my own The Inca having ended his Speech all his Attendants which stood round about him were so affected with his last Words which declared the loss of the Empire that they shed many Tears with an abundance of Sighs and Groans for what the Inca had now pronounced concerning the Destruction of his Empire he had at other times formerly repeated And whereas his Father Huayna Capac had uttered this Prophecy and mentioned the time to be short and ready to be fulfilled Atahualpa thought of nothing else but concluded the Fate unavoidable and the Decree of the great Pachacamac not to be resisted the which superstitious opinion being fixed and impressed in his Mind was the cause that the Spaniards so easily conquered and subdued his Countrey and debased his Soul and Spirit at the presence of the Spaniards amongst the rest of the Company which was present with the Inca were two Accomptants or Historians who with their Knots made certain Ciphers describing or figuring all the passages of that Audience with the Words of Hernando de Soto and with the Answer of the Inca though all was very ill expressed by the Interpreter The Ambassadours were much astonished to see the Lamentations and hear the Cries of the Lords and Captains there present and yet observed a steaddiness and constancy in the Countenance of the Inca and not knowing the cause and reason of so much sadness were touched with compassion and sorrow for them And here Blas Valera much bewails the want of a good Interpreter that might by a true and faithfull understanding of all that was said have given better satisfaction both to the Indians and to the Spaniards for when the Ambassadours heard talk of the Slaughters and Outrages committed in Puna and Tumpiz they were apprehensive that the Inca had entertained some thoughts of Revenge for the Interpreter neither knew how to render the Words of the Inca nor the Answer of the Ambassadours And now the Ambassadours desired leave of the Inca to depart and return to their Companions which was readily granted them the Inca saying That they might depart in peace and that he would speedily go into Cassamarca to visit the Sons of the God Viracocha and the Messengers from the Pachacamac The Spaniards departing out of the King's Palace could not but again admire the Riches of it and the Adoration and Worship which the people shewed towards them for as they were going to mount their Horses two Curacas with their Servants came to them desiring that they would not disdain to accept a small Present though unworthy the acceptance of such Gods or Godlike Men as they were laying before them Riches of like quality as before though in much more abundance such as Vessels of Gold and Silver with Ingots of Gold and Wedges of Silver unwrought The Spaniards being strangely astonished at this excess of Courtesie began to quit all fears and suspicions of any ill Designs of the Indians towards them blaming again the ignorance of their Interpreter who for want of Expressions had betrayed them to many Errours as he did afterwards to many others as will appear in the sequel of this History CHAP. XXI How the two Spaniards returned again to their Companions and how they prepared themselves to receive the Inca. THE two Ambassadours being returned made a relation of all the Riches and Greatness they had seen in the Palace of the Inca and of the Courtesie they had received which appeared by the Presents of which a share was divided to every Person Notwithstanding all which like good Souldiers and cautious Men they prepared their Horses and Arms not knowing the occasion they might have for them the day following and though they well knew the multitudes which accompanied Atahualpa yet like brave Spaniards they were not in the least dismayed but prepared to receive them wherefore so soon as it was day the Cavalry ranged themselves in three Divisions of twenty in a Troop for they were not in all above sixty in number the Commanders or Captains of them were Hernando Piçarro Hernando de Soto and Sebastian de Betalcaçar who at first concealed themselves under two old Walls that so their sudden Sally might give the greater fear and surprise to the Indians The Governour himself was supported with an hundred Foot-Souldiers which in all exceeded not that number and for their better encouragement he put himself in the Head of them on the side of the Tampu which was like a great field where they placed themselves to expect the coming of the King Atahualpa who soon after appeared being carried in a Chair of Gold on the Shoulders of his People with such pomp and Majesty both of Servants and Courtiers as evidenced his greatness in Power and War before his Chair came great multitudes of People who gathered up the Stones and cleared all the ways of Rubbish or Impediments which might hinder his Chair-Men in the way or cause them to stumble with him also came great Attendants of the Nobility His Guards were divided into four Squadrons consisting of eight thousand Men the first Division which was the Van-guard marched before the King like Scouts or Officers to clear and secure the ways two others marched on each side like the Wings of an Army as Guards of his Person and a fourth marched in the rere The Captain or Commander in Chief of them was called Ruminnavi which signifies an Eye of Stone from a Pearl or Catarack which grew in his Eye In this order Atahualpa marched for the space of a League which was the distance between his Palace and the Quarters of the Spaniards in
I am well assured and I believe ye are all sensible that my Desires to reign and govern are not grounded on Principles of Ambition but that my Kingdoms may recover that Peace and Liberty which they enjoyed under the gentle and easie Government of my Ancestours it being the Duty of every good King to study the Prosperity and Welfare of his People and according to the practice of the Incas to prefer that before any other Consideration whatsoever But I have good reason to suspect and fear that the Designs of these Men whom we call Gods and say they were sent from Heaven are very much different from these Principles Howsoever for my part I cannot but with much Regret and Tenderness towards you seek to gain my point at the cost of your Lives and would rather live in a private manner despoiled of my Empire which is my Inheritance than to recover it at the expence of their Bloud whom I love as dearly as my own Children And now therefore that the Viracochas may not treat you ill for my sake I am resolved to retire my self and to live an Exile from my Countrey that so all Cause of Jealousie and Suspicion being removed by my Absence ye may be received into their good Grace and Favour And now I find the Prophecy of my Father Huayna Capac fully accomplished which was That a Stranger Nation should deprive us of our Empire and destroy our Laws and Religion Had we well considered this before we began the War we should have acquiesced and submitted because my Father the King enjoined us to obey and serve the Viracochas whose Laws as he said were better than ours and their Arms more powerfull than our force Both which things have proved true for so soon as they entred into this Empire Our Oracles became silent which is a sign that they yielded unto theirs And as to their Arms they have had an advantage over ours for though at the beginning we had the fortune to kill some few of them yet at length one hundred and seventy onely which survived were able to deal with us nay as we may say did conquer us seeing that in the end we are forced to retreat The truth is it cannot well be said that they conquered us nor can they boast much of their Victories for setting aside the Miracles which appeared in their Favour they of themselves gained no advantage over us For what can we say to the Fire which burned our own Houses and became extinct so soon as it touched theirs What can we think of that Cavalier who at the Extremity of the Siege appeared with Thunder and Lightning in his Hand and routed and destroyed all before him And then in the Night a most beautiful Princess appeared in the Clouds with an Infant in her Armes which with that astonishing Brightness she darted from her Eyes dismayed and blinded us in such manner that we knew not what we did and even feared to return unto our own Quarters how much less durst we adventure to give Battel to these Viracochas Moreover we have seen and tried how such a handfull of Men have been able to defend themselves against such multitudes of ours without Food Sleep or Rest that when we imagined they were wearied faint and ready to yield they appeared formidable and refreshed with new Vigour All which being considered 't is apparent that the Hand of God is in it and that the Pachacamac who favours them doth discourage and infuse fear into our Minds wherefore let us yield our selves rather than bring so many calamities upon our own Heads For my part I am resolved to retire within the Mountains of Antis and there secure and defend my self better than I am able to doe with all my power and there living quietly and without offence I shall not provoke those Strangers to doe Hurt and Mischief unto you for any Cause or Reason of mine In this my Solitude and Banishment it will be my Comfort to hear that it passeth well with you and that ye live with Liberty and Contentment under this new Government of the Spaniards wherefore instead of my last Will and Testament and in pursuance of that Command left us by my Father I do conjure you to serve and obey them to the utmost of your power so shall ye be well treated and used by them And so farewell and remain in peace and now methinks I am very sorry to leave you in the Hands of Strangers wishing with all my Heart that I were able to take you all with me When the Inca had ended his Speech his People dropped a Floud of Tears with such Groans and Sighs that the fulness of Sorrow stopped the utterance of Words nor durst they dissuade him from this resolution perceiving that he determined so to doe wherefore in the first place he disbanded all his Souldiers that were under Command of their respective Caciques advising them to repair unto their several Provinces and there patiently submit unto and obey and serve the Spaniards but the Inca collecting as many as he could together of his own Bloud and Family both Men and Women fled with them into the wild Mountains of Antis and seated himself at a certain place called Villcapampa where he passed his time as we may imagine in Solitude like a Prince deposed and dispossessed of his Sceptre and there lived untill he was killed by a certain Spaniard to whom he had given Protection and conserved from his Enemies and who most inhumanely sought his Life As we shall see in its due place CHAP. XXX What a certain Author reports of the Incan Kings and their Subjects BLas Valera discoursing of the Wisedom Abilities Prowess and Valour of the Indians of Peru he gives this Character of them as follows which I the rather mention because it conduces much to the matter in hand and will serve to confirm what we have already said and what we shall hereafter report The People of Peru exceed most Nations of the World in quickness of Wit and strength of Judgment the which appears in that they have been able without the help of Letters to attain unto the knowledge of many things which the learning of the Egyptians Caldeans and Greeks could never reach so that if in place of their Knots they had made use of Letters they had surpassed the Romans and Galls and other Nations in all points of Learning whatsoever That rudeness of Manners which appears in them at present is not for want of Natural Parts or Endowments of Mind but for want of practice in the Fashions and Customs of Europe and of Instructours in Liberal Sciences being taught nothing but what relates to Interest and Gain for such of them as have Masters or Teachers and leisure time and liberty to learn nay if they do but see a thing they will imitate it so exactly without being taught that they become better Artists and Mechanicks than the Spaniards themselves and would become
augmented Many of his friends who knew the true state of matters and how ill the Death of Almagro would be resented by the Emperour dissuaded Fernando from this intention especially since Diego de Alvarado was then residing at the Court and ready to accuse him saying That this matter would be better negotiated at a distance than upon the place Howsoever Fernando would not hearken thereunto being of a contrary opinion that he had greatly deserved of the Emperour for his many Services and for having by way of Justice cleared the Countrey of those turbulent Spirits who were Disturbers of the Peace At his departure he advised his Brother Francisco not to repose confidence in any of the Almagrians especially those who were gone into Chili whom he had found to be constant and affectionate to the Memory of Almagro And he farther counselled him not to permit them to Cabal for by experience he had found that five onely of them being together were plotting in what manner to kill him At length being departed he came to Spain and appeared at the Court with a great Equipage and Riches but it was not long before they carried him from Valladolid to the Prison of Medina de Campo from whence as yet he is not freed And herewith Gomara ends that Chapter For the better understanding of which we are to know That though Gonçalo de Mesa had served Hernando Piçarro in Quality of Captain of the Artillery yet he with many others was much discontented because he looked upon himself as ill rewarded for his former Services and that when he expected to have been sent Commander in Chief he was then employed Under-Captain to Pedro de Candia Wherefore finding himself in this manner slighted without any place of Honour or Advantage he began to speak ill of Hernando Piçarro and to threaten that he would set Almagro at liberty whensoever they brought him forth to carry him to los Reyes All which he declared openly and without any consideration of the danger he incurred of his life he assembled his friends and formed a party for Almagro in which he found many that were ready to comply So soon as Hernando Piçarro was informed hereof he immediately with all diligence went to the Collao but Mesa was not then Quartered there being newly returned with Pedro de Candia from the Frontiers and was then at Mussus which lyes Eastward from Collao a Countrey very Mountainous and full of deep Rivers as we have described at large in the Life of the King Inca Yupanqui The Spaniards by reason of these impediments not having been able to make their Conquests were returned from Collao when Hernando met them and put Gonzalo de Mesa to Death and cashiering Pedro de Candia from his Command he bestowed it on a certain Gentleman called Peranzures de Campo Redondo who afterwards made an entrance into that Countrey and did more than any that went before him howsoever the ways and passages were so difficult that all his labours and endeavours proved vain and fruitless Pedro de Candia esteeming himself affronted and agrieved hereby being troubled to be deprived of his Command concealed the anger hereof in his breast untill such time as an opportunity presented that he might declare for the Almagrians the success whereof was fatal to him as we shall see hereafter For Pedro de Candia could not so well dissemble his resentments but that they were visible to Hernando and appeared in his countenance for though the Tongue be silent yet the Face commonly discovers the grief or the delight of the Heart the like dissatisfaction was also apparent in the behaviour of many others Wherefore considering that his endeavours to lessen the numbers of his Enemies served to multiply them he was as it were forced to put Almagro to death which he accordingly executed after his return to Cozco from Collao supposing that when the cause and object of all these Mutinies and Disturbances was removed all things would return to the usual and setled condition of peace and quietness but it happened out quite contrary For by the dolefull Tragedy of the Death of Almagro Hernando Piçarro rendred himself so odious that his condition was much more secure by putting himself into the hands of the Justice of Spain where Diego de Alvarado was ready to accuse him than if he had remained in Peru where the opposite Faction of Almagro watched onely an opportunity to destroy him Hernando Piçarro was a discreet Person and against the opinion and persuasion of all his friends judged it the least evil to make a Voyage into Spain where he imagined that the great Services he had performed in the Conquest of that Empire and the insuperable Labours he had overcome in the Siege vvould justifie his Cause before his Majesty and the Riches vvhich he imported vvith him for the King 's and his ovvn account vvould make his Access easie to the Royal Presence and obtain more mercy for him than he could expect from his Enemies in Peru who onely attended an opportunity to kill him Hernando having on these Considerations left the Indies and escaped out of the hands of his Enemies that hatred which was prepared for him was converted against his Brother the Marquis and proceeded so far as in the end to effect his ruine the which will appear in what is to follow Hernando Piçarro being arrived in Spain Diego de Alvarado brought a severe Indictment against him desiring that the Cause might be tried either by the Civil Law or by a Court-Marshal as his Majesty should direct or otherwise he challenged him to a single Combat offering to prove by force of Arms that he had violated both his Word and Faith and that he himself was guilty of those crimes which he had objected against Almagro Moreover he laid many other things to his charge which for brevity sake we shall pass by Upon these Accusations Hernando was committed to the Prison of Medina del Campo during which time and whilst Alvarado was prosecuting his Suit he complained that many rich Presents both of Gold and Silver and pretious Stones were given with intention to corrupt the minds of certain persons the which being proved was occasion of trouble to some great and considerable Men. But this being a nice point we have onely touched upon it and the rather because in the heat of this prosecution Alvarado died not without suspicion of poison by reason as Gomara saith that his Death was sudden and unexpected Howsoever before that time he had so well grounded his process and proceeded so far that he had obtained several Verdicts against his Adversary Howsoever at length time which accomplishes every thing moderated the severities of his Imprisonment from whence he procured his discharge in the year 1562 after twenty three years that he had remained in custody which he sustained with great equality of mind of which he gave most certain proofs in all the particulars of his adverse fortune which
many Debates that new Laws and Constitutions ought to be established with peculiar reference and respect to the Governments of Mexico and Peru. The person who most warmly and earnestly insisted on this point was a certain Friar called Bartholomew de las Casas who some years past being a Secular Priest had travelled over the Islands of Barlovento and had been at Mexico and in the parts adjacent and having taken a religious Habit on him he proposed divers matters which he alledged were for the good of the Indians and tended to the propagation of the Catholick Faith and increase of the Royal Revenue but what effect and success his Councils had Francis Lopez de Gomara Chaplain to his Imperial Majesty relates in Chapter 152 and the same is confirmed by Carate Accountant-General of the Royal Exchequer in the first Chapter of his fifth Book The same is also related by a new Historian called Diego Fernando a Citizen of Palencia who recites the many disturbances which the new Laws and Constitutions caused both in Mexico and Peru this Authour begins his History from those Revolutions and differs very little from the substance of those particulars mentioned by the two others Wherefore we shall repeat singly what each Authour writes for considering the aversion I naturally have to all relations of fatal and dolefull passages I unwillingly recount any thing of that nature but being forced thereunto for declaration of the Truth and for continuation of the History I judge it convenient to fortifie my discourses with the testimony of the three foregoing Authours that so I may not seem of my own head to have framed matters which have produced sad and evil consequences to the whole Empire and which have proved ruinous to the several parties and factions of those Countries And left in the Quotation of these Authours or citing them by Notes in the Margent I should be taxed of mistakes or of having added any thing of my own I have rather chosen to follow my former method by repetition of their words verbatim in those particulars which contain matter of reflexion or blame on any person though in other things my discourses shall not be confined to their very words but rather serve for a Comment enlarging on many passages and adding to what they have omitted all which shall be performed with great respect to truth founded on the testimony of those who having been Eye-witnesses and Actors in those Revolutions have delivered undoubted Narratives thereof unto me without partiality or prejudice to any Wherefore now to proceed after this preamble we say That when the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez Vela arrived in Peru I was then about four years of Age and afterwards in my riper years I was acquainted with several of those who are named in this following History In the first place therefore we will relate the many troubles which the new Constitutions caused in Mexico and the good effects which in the end were produced by the prudent and wise management of the Judge who was employed to put them in execution After which we will return to Peru and relate the many misfortunes slaughters and other miseries which attended them caused by the severity rigour and imprudence of that Vice-king who was Commissionated to execute those Laws and govern that Empire And though the History of Mexico is foreign to our discourse yet I have thought fit to compare the successes of one and of the other Kingdom which had various and almost contrary effects arising notwithstanding on the same causes That so Kings and Princes may by the examples and precedents of History learn and observe how dangerous it is to establish Laws which are rigorous and cause them to be executed by severe Judges who for want of moderation incline the Subjects and Vassals to a detestation of their Government whereby they lose that respect duty and allegiance which is due thereunto And indeed all Histories both Divine and Humane hath from all antiquity averred the truth hereof and the experience of these Modern times have given us to understand that never was any Rebellion commenced against Kings who were gentle and kind to their Subjects but when cruelty tyranny and oppression by taxes and heavy impositions prevailed then all things ran to misery and confusion CHAP. XX. Of the New Laws and Constitutions made in the Court of Spain for the better Government of the two Empires Mexico and Peru. WE must understand that in the year 1539 a certain Friar called Bartholomew de las Casas came from New Spain to Madrid where the Court resided at that time shewing himself in all his Sermons and familiar Discourses extremely zealous for the good of the Indians and a great Favourer and Protectour of them In evidence of which he propounded many things and maintained them to be very reasonable and which in themselves outwardly appeared holy and good yet in the execution thereof they proved rigorous cruel and difficult to be put into practice The proposals notwithstanding of this Friar were offered and laid before the Supreme Council of the Indies where they were ill approved and rejected by the prudence and understanding of Don Garcia de Loaysa the good Cardinal of Seville who was made of that Council in regard that for several years he had been Governour of the Indies and had more knowledge and experience of the affairs of those parts than any of those who had been Conquerours and Inhabitants thereof Wherefore dissenting from the opinion of the Friar his Proposals were not entertained but suspended untill the year 1542 when the Emperour Charles the Fifth returned into Spain after a long Journey he had made through France Flanders and Germany His Majesty who was endued with great zeal and devotion for propagation of the Christian Faith was easily persuaded to hearken to the gentle propositions of the Friar which he insinuated under the specious colour of Conscience and with the guise of Religion offered several new Laws and Constitutions to be enacted and put in force for the greater good and benefit of the Indians After his Imperial Majesty had duly heard and considered all that the Frier had to offer he assembled his great Council to which he farther added several grave and learned persons both Prelates and Lawyers and having laid before them the particular Laws and new Establishments they were approved and passed by the major part of the Assembly notwithstanding many being of a different opinion dissented from the Majority and declared their Votes to the contrary amongst which were the Cardinal aforementioned President of the Council the Bishop of Lugo Don John Suarez de Carvajal with whom I was once acquainted Francisco de los Covos Secretary to his Majesty Don Sabastian Ramirez Bishop of Cuenca and President of Valladolid who formerly had been President in St. Domingo and Mexico Don Garcia Manrique Count of Osorno and President of Ordenes who as Gomara saith had for a long time been Super-Intendent over the
obeyed laying a Tax or Imposition on the People according to the numbers of those Indians they held and taking them away from others caused them all to be held as of the King. In this manner he passed through Piura and Truxillo proclaiming the new Laws as he went and causing them to be executed without admitting any Petition or Argument thereupon And though the Inhabitants alledged that this method of proceeding was not justifiable without hearing the Objections they had to produce unto the contrary and that the Laws were not to be enforced without knowledge of the Cause or publication of his Power or Commission in a Court of Judicature it being expresly signified by his Majesty that those new Laws were to be published in Court in presence of the Vice-king and four Judges Howsoever the Vice-king unmoved by any reasons or persuasions proceeded resolutely to execute them threatning those who refused to obey them the which struck great terrour and confusion into the minds of the People considering that the Laws were general and comprehensive of all sort of People without any qualification or restriction And herein this Vice-king was so positive that so soon as he was landed on the Coast of Peru he dispatched his Emissaries before him to the City of Los Reyes and to Cozco giving them to understand that he being arrived within those Dominions the whole power and authority as Vice-king devolved upon him and that thereupon the Commission and Command of Vaca de Castro was superseded Some few days before these advices were brought to the City of Los Reyes the whole tenure of the new Regulations dispatched from the King by Blasco Nunnez Vela were made known by the Copies which were dispersed in all places so that the Corporation of Los Reyes dispatched away the Advices thereof to Antonio de Ribera and John Alonso Palomino desiring them to make Vaca de Castro acquainted therewith but he was not ignorant before of all that passed for his Servant in Spain called James de Aller being informed of the new Statutes and Regulations speedily posted with them to his Master in Cozco so that he was informed of every particular before the Vice-king arrived Thus far is reported by the Writings of Fernandez de Palentino and generally all the Historians agree with him in the same Relation CHAP. II. Judge Vaca de Castro goes to the City of Los Reyes and discharges those who went with him upon the way The great noise and disturbance which the Execution of the new Laws occasioned and the mutinous words which the People uttered thereupon THE Governour Vaca de Castro having received information of the approach of the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez Vela and of the tenure of the Laws which he brought with him and that he put them in execution with all the vigour imaginable without hearing any man speak or admitting any Petition to the contrary he thought fit to secure his own interest and party by a due compliance with him in order whereunto he went to the City of Los Reyes there to receive him for Vice-king And though the Corporation of the City of Rimac sent their Emissaries Antonio de Ribera and John Alonso Palamino to him and also others from the City of Cozco and other parts persuading him not to goe in person to the Vice-king but rather to send a Message to him in the name of all the People desiring him to suspend the execution of the new Laws And whereas this Vice-king by reason of his rough and obstinate humour had rendred himself uncapable of Office by not giving ear to the complaints and aggrievances which his Majesty's good Subjects offered to him shewing nothing but fierceness in the execution of matters of the smallest moment they were generally of opinion that he should be rejected and not admitted to the Government and that in case Vaca de Castro would not concurr with them herein they did not doubt but to fix upon another person who should join with them in the opposition which they intended to make By this obstinacy and fierceness of the Vice-king all Peru was put into a flame and the humours of the people into a fermentation there was now no other talk or discourse over all Peru than of the new Laws the contents of which the Messengers of the Vice-king whom he had sent before to take up his quarters had openly divulged in all places and thereunto the rumour of the people as is common in such cases had aggravated the severity thereof the more to provoke and incense the people Hereupon Vaca de Castro prepared himself for his Journey to Los Reyes and being upon his departure from Cozco he was accompanied with a numerous Train of Citizens and Souldiers for being a person well beloved there would not have remained so much as one person in the City if he would have accepted of their attendance and being on his way he was met by Messengers from the Vice-king giving him to understand that his Commission for the Government was now superseded by his arrival in those parts and that he was to receive and acknowledge him for the chief Governour of that Countrey to all which Vaca de Castro chearfully submitted and desisted from exercising the power of his Office but before that time by a Writing under his hand he had bestowed and settled several Plantations of Indians on certain persons who had by their services and sufferings well deserved the favour and reward of his Majesty being such of whose merits he had been an eye-witness or at least had received sufficient Testimonials of their loyalty and good services before he came to the administration of the Government The Messengers which the Vice-king sent before to provide for his entertainment gave a relation in all places in what manner the new Laws were put in practice and how enforced how he had freed the Indians in Panama from their duty and vassalage to the Spaniards against whose will and in despight of whom he had embarked and sent them away to Peru how he had in Tumpiz St. Michael's and Truxillo laid a Tax upon some Lands and freed others and settled them all in Capite to be held of the King according to the rules prescribed by the new Laws without any consideration of difference or distinction of cases but made all things equal without admitting of provisoes or reservations or hearing what any man had to alledge but with an unshaken resolution pretended that so was his Majesty's pleasure The which so much enraged the people who accompanied Vaca de Castro that most of them returned back to Cozco without so much as taking their leave of the Governour pretending that they could not appear before a man so fierce and arbitrary without danger of being by him condemned to the Gallows Howsoever they gave out that when the Auditours and Justices came they would then appear to give in their plea and reasons against such proceedings yet in the
Vice-king began to reflect with reason upon what he had done in his passion it is most certain that he repented of this rash act and bewailed it with tears from his eyes Howsoever so soon as the death of the Agent was made publick in the Town the Vice-king sent to call the principal Citizens to him telling them in excuse for what he had done that the insolent words of the Agent had drawn his death upon himself adding that none ought to take offence thereat for whether he had done well or ill he was accountable to none but God and the King which words more angred and displeased the people that before so that after the revolt of the several men before-mentioned which was followed by this bloudy Tragedy which cannot be excused from the imputation of arbitrary Tyranny without any ground or foundation for it a resolution was taken to imprison the Vice-king though it is most certain that he much lamented this unhappy fate saying that the remembrance of the death of Yllen Suarez made him often distracted and therefore cursed his Brother Vela Nunnez calling him fool and beast for that knowing his choler and passion he had yet brought him to his presence at a time when he knew that he was raving and inflamed therewith for had he been said he a man of discretion he would have deferred the execution of those commands and not have suffered Suarez to appear untill he had seen his anger pacified Thus far Diego Fernandez to which Gomara adds and says That the Agent going to justifie himself the Vice-king stabb'd him twice crying out with a loud voice kill him kill him upon which his Servants came in and dispatched him though some of them threw Clothes upon him to keep off the blows which are the words of Gomara in Chap. 159. with which he concludes and says that the death of the Agent who was a principal person and of great esteem caused great commotions and heart-burnings in those parts and such fear and apprehensions that the Citizens of Lima were afraid to lie in their Houses at night and Blasco Nunnez himself confessed to the Judges that he had committed a great errour in that Fact and that he believed it would be an occasion of his ruine c. And so indeed it proved to be the down-fall of the Vice-king for his very Friends and such as were really of his Party did hereby conceive such fear and dread of his passionate and violent humour that they fled and hid themselves not daring to appear in his presence at which his Enemies took great advantage and courage to maintain their cause against him CHAP. XIV The various resolutions which the Vice-king took upon the news he received of the march of Gonçalo Piçarro towards Los Reyes and how the Judges openly opposed the Vice-king GOnçalo Piçarro being thus reinforced by the coming in of Pedro de Puelles and others who were revolted to him from the Vice-king procceded forward with greater assurances than formerly though very slowly and with short marches by reason of the great incumbrance of the Cannon which being carried on the shoulders of the Indians and over rocky and sharp ways it was not possible to make greater haste The Vice-King in the mean time being alarm'd by the nearer approach daily of his Enemy and considering how much his own people were dissatisfied and that those who outwardly seemed most affected to him proceeded faintly and coldly in his service and that the general dissarisfaction of the people was now plain and evident and that his condition every day became worse than other he resolved though too late to change his Counsels and to publish at length a suspension of the new Laws untill his Majesty's pleasure should be farther known thereupon hoping that upon such a Declaration the minds of the people would be quieted and that Gonçalo Piçarro having no farther subject of complaint his Army would consequently disband and every one return peaceably to his own home Now let us hear what Gomara says Chap. 158. Blasco Nunnez says he was much troubled to understand that Piçarro was so well provided with Arms Cannon and Souldiers so well affected to his cause and interest wherefore seeing no other remedy he declared that he would suspend the execution of the new Laws for two years untill they should receive other Orders from the Emperour though at the same time he made his Protest against it and noted it in his Table-book that he was compelled to that suspension by force and that so soon as the Countrey was again in quietness he would reassume the old pretensions and put them in practice as before all which served to inflame that hatred which the people conceived against him He also proclaimed Piçarro a Traitour and those also who were with him and of his Party promising to those that should kill him or them to bestow their Houses Lands Riches and Estates on them for a reward at which Declaration those of Cozco took great offence as did also those of Lima and in the mean time he actually confiscated the Estates of those who had revolted to Piçarro Thus far Gomara Though this suspension of the Laws came late howsoever it would have had some good effect towards pacifying and quieting the minds of the people and have opened such overtures towards an accommodation but that unluckily at same time that the Suspension was published the News was that the Vice-king had made his Protest against it as an Act to which he was compelled and that he would again return to the execution of the new Laws so soon as the Countrey was appeased and the disturbances allayed which more incensed the minds of the people than ever and confirmed them in a belief that the Vice-king was obstinate and a person inexorable and not to be treated with whence so much mischief ensued as by the sequel will appear and which served to confirm the people in their pretensions and resolutions either to dye or obtain their desires The Vice-king seeing that the means he used to pacifie the people inflamed them the more and that his own people became greatly discouraged and many of them inclined to favour Gonçalo Piçarro for the Gallantry they observed in him who had so freely sacrificed himself for the publick good he thereby measuring the weakness of his force thought it not safe to meet Piçarro in the field but to defend himself within the Walls of the City In pursuance of this design he fortified the City set up Posts and Chains in every Street made loop-holes on the Walls for small shot and laid in provisions for a siege but News coming daily of the great force with which Piçarro marched against them and the resolved mind of his Souldiers the Vice-king thought it not safe to confine himself within the Walls of Los Reyes but to retreat to Truxillo which is about eighty Leagues distant from thence And contriving how to dispose of
Marquis had performed to the Crown as also for other Causes which they alledged in favour and honour of Gonçalo Piçarro himself For now fortune being of his side the people began to speak favourably of him and he carrying himself with pretences of restoring to them their Liberty was generally cryed up and beloved of all and especially succeeding the Vice-king who was hated and detested by all mankind Thus far are the words of Diego Fernandez After which Carate in the thirteenth Chapter of his Book proceeds and says The Instrument for constituting Piçarro Governour being passed he made his Entry into the City in State and triumph In the first place Captain Bachicao led the Van-guard with two and twenty Pieces of Cannon made for the field which were carried on the Shoulders of six thousand Indians as we have mentioned before with all the other train of Artillery and Ammunition thereunto belonging and as they marched they fired the Cannon in the Streets and for Guard to the Artillery thirty Musquetiers and fifty Gunners were appointed After which followed the Company under command of Captain Diego Gumiel which consisted of two hundred Pique-men after which followed Captain Guevara with a hundred and fifty Musquetiers and then came the Company of Pedro Cermenno consisting of two hundred Harquebusiers immediately after which followed Gonçalo Picarro himself with three Companies of Foot attending like Foot-men by his side and he mounted on a very fine Horse and cloathed with a Coat of Mail over which he wore a thin Coat of cloth of gold after him marched three Captains with their Troops of Horse in midst of which Don Pedro Porto Carrero supported the Royal Standard on his right hand Antonio Altamirano carried the Ensign of Cozco and on the left Pedro de Puelles carried the Colours in which the Arms of Piçarro were painted after which all the Cavalry followed armed in form and point of War. And in this order they marched to the house of Licenciado Carate where the other Judges were assembled which was a default on Carate's side for he ought rather to have received him in the place of publick Judicature but here Piçarro leaving his Forces drawn up in the open Market-place went up into the Chamber where the Judges attended and received him with due order and respect and having taken the Oath and given the Security which is usual he went to the Town-house where the Mayor Sheriffs and other Officers received him with the accustomary Solemnities and thence he went to his own Lodgings and in the mean time the Officers quartered the Souldiers both Horse and Foot in the private houses of the Citizens giving order that they should entertain them upon Free-quarter This entry of Piçarro into the City and his reception there happened towards the end of the month of October 1544 being forty days after the imprisonment of the Vice-king and from that time forward Piçarro attended wholly to the management of his martial Affairs and to matters relating thereunto leaving all civil Causes and proceedings in Law to the Judges who held their Courts in the House of the Treasurer Alonso Riquelme And then he sent to Cozco for his Deputy Alonso de Toro to Arequepa for Pedro de Tuentes to the Villa de Plata for Francisco de Almendras and to other Cities for the principal Governours thereof Thus far are the words of Augustine Carate To which Fernandez Palentino in the sixteenth Chapter of his Book adds and says That Diego Centeno having accompanied Gonçalo Piçarro in quality of Procuratour for the Town of Plate as far as Los Reyes he there found that Piçarro had preferred his great Friend Francisco de Almendras to be Captain and chief Justiciary of that Town and therefore he desired him to move Piçarro that he might be dismissed and go along with him to the Villa de la Plata because his House and Estate was in those parts which license being obtained they travelled together to the Charcas where some time afterwards when Diego Centeno declared for the King he surprised and killed him and though in excuse hereof it may be alledged that it was done for the King's service yet he can never wipe off that blot of Ingratitude for during the time of the Conquest when Diego Centeno came very young into the Countrey he was supported and provided for in all his necessities and in the time of his sickness by Francisco de Almendras who was a rich and a principal person of quality in those days and took the same care of him as if he had been his Son the which benefits and kindnesses Diego Centeno publickly owned and when they were in private he called him Father as Almendras called him Son and therefore he ought for ever to be branded with Ingratitude unless the publick concernment for his Prince be able to untie and abolish all other private obligations and endearments whatsoever Gonçalo Piçarro finding himself now invested in his Power and Government which he held both by virtue of the Royal Grant given to his Brother the Marquis in whose right he pretended thereunto and now by the consent and election of the Judges began to give out his own Commission to Officers both Military and Civil and to sit and hear Causes which he dispatched with great readiness administring Justice with Reputation and Authority to the contentment and satisfaction of the whole City but these smooth and chearfull proceedings were mixed with their troubles and misfortunes For Captain Diego Gumiel who untill this time had always shewed himself zealous and passionate in the cause of Piçarro began to alter his humour and speak against him because he had refused to grant him a piece of Land with a Command over Indians which he asked of him in behalf of a certain Friend of his and with that occasion he railed against the Judges saying that they had unjustly taken away the Government from the Son of Marquis Francisco Piçarro to whom it appertained by lawfull inheritance descended from his Father in virtue of a Grant from his Majesty to confer it upon one who had no right nor title thereunto and for that reason he declared that he would use his utmost endeavours that the Son of the Marquis might recover his own Inheritance Gumiel frankly discoursing at this rate without regard to the place where or the person to whom he vented his passion at length the reports thereof coming to the ears of Piçarro he gave his immediate Orders to his Major-General that he should examine this matter and take such course as might restrain the licentious Tongue of that Captain for the future It is certain that the meaning of Piçarro was not to put Gumiel to death though Carvajal put that interpretation upon it and having asked some questions about the matter and hearing them confirmed went directly to Gumiel's Lodgings where without more to doe he strangled him and drew his Body into the Market-place saying give way Gentlemen for
precincts of their Jurisdiction To which Bachicao made answer That in case he came attended with his Souldiers it was onely with intent to guard himself from the attempts of the Vice-king without other design to the damage or prejudice of their Countrey for that his Commission was onely to transport Doctour Texada one of his Majesty's Justices into Spain who by Instructions received from the Courts of Judicature was sent to render an account to his Majesty of all Matters which had passed of late in Peru and that he would onely set him on shoar there to refresh himself for a while and make such Provisions as were necessary for his Voyage Upon this assurance admission was given him into the City but so soon as he arrived two Ships which were then in the Port made sail into the Sea but one of them was chased by the Brigantine and being taken was brought back and both the Master and his Mate hanged at the Yard-arm which much offended the Town and put them into a great consternation but it was now too late to defend themselves or repent of their folly in trusting their estates and lives to the mercy of Bachicao who was now entered the City and there being no hopes of timely relief from Captain John Guzman who was raising men for assistance of the Vice-king which men afterwards revolted to Bachicao who also seized on the Cannon which Vaca de Castro had brought thither with the Ship on which he made his escape Thus did Bachicao tyrannize over the people seizing their estates with an arbitrary power for none durst to assert a right and title to what he possessed in contradiction to his will and pleasure and during the time of his aboad here he publickly put two of his Captains to death who conspired against him and moreover he acted other pieces of like severity by virtue of his own absolute authority causing the Cryers to proclaim openly before those whom he put to death So is the will and command of Captain Hernando Bachicao At this time Vaca de Castro was at Panama where having intelligence that Bachicao was coming he fled to Nombre de Dios and embarked for Spain in the North-sea as did also Diego Alvarez Cueto and Jeronimo Curbano who were Ambassadours from the Vice-king likewise at the same Port Doctour Texada and Francisco Maldonado took shipping for Spain and sailed friendly together though of three several Factions Doctour Texada dyed in the Voyage in the Chanel of Bahama but Francisco Maldonado and Diego Alvarez arrived safe in Spain and immediately took post for Germany to render an account to his Majesty respectively of the Affairs committed to their charge Vaca de Castro touched at the Isles of Terçeras and thence sailed to Lisbon from whence he travailed to the Court for he thought it not safe to goe by the way of Seville where the Brothers and Relations of John Tello de Guzman lived whom as we said before he had caused to be put to death after the overthrow of Diego Almagro the younger being arrived at the Court he was by Order of the Council of the Indies confined to his House and an Accusation brought against him after which he was imprisoned in the Fort of Arevalo for the space of five years during which time his cause was depending After which they appointed him a House in Simancas and thence as the Court removed they assigned him the Village of Pinto and the bounds thereof for his confinement untill his business was fully determined Thus far are the words of the Accountant General Augustine de Carate And here he breaks off without telling us farther what sentence was given in his case because he had ended his History before that time And indeed by reason of the malicious informations and calumnies of his Enemies which were all false the determination of his cause was protracted for a long time at which he was not much troubled because he knew that at length he should come off with the honour and reputation of a good Minister and Governour of that Empire which accordingly succeeded for he was restored to his former place in the Royal Council of Castile from which he was so long kept out that when he came to be restored he was then the most ancient Member of all that Council and in this condition I found him when I was at the Court of Madrid in the year 1561. And besides this favour of his restauration he had other rewards given him in recompence for his hard usages and services performed in Peru in conservation of the Imperial Authority and to his Son Don Antonio Vaca de Castro who also was a Knight of the Habit of St. Jago as his Father was there was a Rent given him of twenty thousand pieces of Eight out of such Lots or Divisions as he should chuse and esteem of that value I remember to have seen this Gentleman at Nombre de Dios as he passed in the Retinue of the Count de Nieva who was sent for Vice-king of that Kingdom in the year 1560. and went then to take possession of that Estate which was the reward of his Father who to speak without flattery or partiality was generally reputed to have been the best Governour that ever had passed into those parts as is agreed by all the three Historians in the characters which they give of him there being not one ill action for which they blame him And now let us return again to Peru and relate what the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez was contriving all this time The Vice-king being retired as Carate reports in the sixteenth Chapter of his Book with about an hundred and fifty men at the time that Bachicao surprised the Ships in Tumbez he marched with them as far as the City of Quitu where he was chearfully received and his Souldiers re-inforced to the number of about two hundred men resolving to remain in that Countrey which yielded plenty of provisions for the subsistence of his men untill such time as he received farther Orders and Instructions from his Majesty And taking good information of all things that passed from Diego Alvarez de Cuero he kept strong Guards and Spies on all the high Roads to inform himself of all the actions that Gonçalo Piçarro was doing though it is three hundred leagues distant from Los Reyes to Quitu during which time four Souldiers who were dissatisfied upon some occasion with Piçarro stoal a Boat and coasted all along the shore from Los Reyes by the help of their Oars untill they came to a shore which was the nearest Sea to Quitu where being arrived they informed the Vice-king of all passages how the People of Los Reyes and other places were discontented with the Government of Piçarro and with the tyranny which he used towards them ejecting some out of their Houses and Estates imposing Souldiers on free-quarter upon them and other burthens which they were not able to support of which they
soever he should employ them And to keep this matter the more secret care was taken to intercept all correspondences and intelligence which might pass by the way to Cozco untill such time as he had made his full recruit of Men Horse Powder and other ammunition for War and yet notwithstanding all this care and caution it was impossible to hinder or obstruct the intelligence which by means of the Indian Messengers was dispatched to Cozco and a hundred Leagues farther to the Northward toward Los Reyes though Alonso de Toro who was an Officer belonging to Gonçalo Piçarro did all that he was able to intercept Advices and to that end had sent a hundred Men to possess the pass and obstruct all intelligence and the passage of the Vice-king towards Cozco And here it was that Alonso de Toro received the first news of the Insurrection of Diego Centeno and the death of Francisco de Almendras together with the number of Men and Horse and Ammunition and all other matters which untill that time had passed which the Indians in a particular manner related to him So soon as Alonso de Toro received these informations he immediately repaired to Cozco where having levied Men he persuaded the Citizens and Governours of the City to engage themselves in the Cause of Piçarro against Diego Centeno telling them that with the help and assistence of those Souldiers Horse and Arms which were then in the City he intended to go forth and fight him And moreover to justifie the righteousness of his Cause he told them that this Diego Centeno was a mere Impostor who had no right nor title nor authority on his side and that being moved onely by his own interest and private advantage with colour and pretence of his Majesty's service had inveigled many people to follow his Colours whenas in reality Gonçalo Piçarro was the onely true and lawfull Governour of those Kingdoms intending to keep them in quietness and peace and safety untill such time onely as that his Majesty should declare his sense and pleasure in these matters and therefore that the Insurrection made by Diego Centeno was not to be justified but rather opposed by all good men who wished well to the publick peace and security of the people And moreover◠to justifie the Cause of Piçarro he admonished them to call to mind the Merits of Gonçalo Piçarro and the good Services he had done for all the people and Souldiers of the Empire by rescuing them from the execution of those new Laws and Regulations which would have proved their ruine to perform which he had adventured and exposed his person to the greatest dangers for no other reason than for the publick benefit and welfare of the people For it was manifest to all the World that if the late new Statutes and Regulations had taken place no Inhabitant could have enjoyed any Estate and so have been disabled from quartering Souldiers and consequently they could never have subsisted so that both one and the other had obligations on them to favour the Cause and Interest of Piçarro for as to what concerned himself he had never opposed his Majesty's Laws and Commands but in way of a Supplicant went with his Petition to the Vice-king but before he could come to him finding him to be imprisoned and banished by processes from the Court of Judicature he conceived he might justly set up his own title to be Governour during that vacancy And in case he did at any time act against the Vice-king it was by order and warrant from the Royal Court of Justice an evidence whereof they might see before their eyes if they were pleased to cast them on Licenciado Cepeda then present with Piçarro and was the most ancient Judge of that Court. Nor ought there to be any question whether the Judges as the case then stood were able to confer this Power upon him or not and if the matter be doubtfull men ought to expect his Majesty's determination therein and in the mean time acquiesce in the Government of Piçarro who hath given sufficient proofs of his great abilities to support the burthen of so important a Charge which he may justly challenge upon the score and merit of his brothers and himself who have gained the Empire with great labours and hazards of their lives and indeed none seems more fit and proper for that emploiment than himself who is acquainted with the Merits of all the Adventurers with him in the Conquest and accordingly knows in what manner to reward and gratifie every man according to his deserts which is impossible for others to doe who are Strangers and newly come from Spain With this and such kind of reasoning delivered in his fierce and angry manner of expression he caused himself to be obeyed for none daring to oppose or contradict him they all inclined to join with him against Diego Centeno Thus did Alonso de Toro raise Forces and appoint Captains over them and to mount his Men he took all the Horses in the City which belonged to persons that were aged and infirm so that in a short time he had gathered almost three hundred Men indifferently well armed and with them marched about six Leagues from Cozco towards the Southward where he remained for the space of twenty days for want of Intelligence of the Enemy's motion at length being impatient and fearing that he lost his time he marched forwards and came within twelve leagues of the place where Diego Centeno was quartered who having divided his Forces into two parts made a retreat howsoever Messengers with Propositions and Articles of peace passed between both Parties with intention if possible to bring matters to an accommodation but it soon appeared how great the difference was and what little hopes of composition by the peaceable way to Treaty Wherefore Alonso de Toro proceeded with intent to give battel to the Enemy but Diego Centeno and his Officers thought it not prudence to adventure so considerable a stake and a matter of that high moment wherein his Majesty's service was concerned to be decided by such a doubtfull event for if they were worsted they should be irrecoverably lost wherefore making a retreat and marching away they laded whole droves of Sheep with provisions of the Countrey and taking with them the Curacas or Lords of the Countrey they left all parts behind them desolate and without provisions or inhabitants for the distance of above fourty leagues round Howsoever Alonso de Toro pursued after them as far as to the City of Plate which is distant at least a hundred and eight leagues from Cozco but finding the Countries entirely dispeopled without sustenance or food by reason that the Curacas had caused all their Subjects to attend them on the part of Centeno and not being able to sustain themselves longer they resolved to return back again to Cozco in which march Alonso de Toro was to lead the Van with fifty Horse and Alonso de Mendoça was
so went to Piçarro and informed him of the design of Vela Nunnez to make his escape for which they cut off his Head and hanged and quartered another concerned in the same Plot howsoever it was the common talk that this piece of cruelty was acted at the persuasion onely of Licençiado Carvajal for Piçarro had a kindness for Vela Nunnez whom he loved for his good nature and sweet disposition and never inclined to put him to death And this was the fate of this poor Gentleman by the false accusation of a treacherous fellow who was a Villain of the highest nature Francisco de Carvajal having some days before received intelligence of Piçarro's march to Los Reyes and his orders to meet him there he came to the Charcas with intention to joyn his Forces with him at the City it self Piçarro upon the news of his approach went a great way to meet him and caused a triumphal reception to be made for him as due to a Captain of his merit who had defeated so many Enemies and gained so many Victories Carvajal left Alonso de Mendoça for Governour of the City of Plate under Gonçalo Piçarro and brought with him about a million of pieces of Eight which he had digged from the Mines of Potocsi and from the Indians who are free and not under subjection of any Lord so that Piçarro was now furnished with plenty of money and then Carvajal took his opportunity to press him farther upon the Subject of making himself King repeating the same arguments which he had used in his Letter And here let us leave them their Officers and their Friends and particularly the inhabitants of the several Cities of that Empire employed in keeping all things peaceable and in quiet condition to the security and protection as well of Indians as Spaniards and to the increase and propagation of the Holy Catholick Faith by catechising and preaching to the Natives and to the advantage of Trade and of every private man's concernment which was so diminished and impoverished by the late Wars and Revolutions that no man durst pretend to an Estate for fear that it should be taken away either by the violent force of Tyrants who bare-faced plundred and pillaged all they could seise and lay their hands on or else by those who pretended to borrow it for the service of his Majesty And now as the Proverb is That it is good fishing upon turn of the Tide let us pass over into Spain and let us see what his Imperial Majesty is there designing for reducing to obedience the Rebels in Peru and to set at liberty the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez The End of the Fourth Book Royal Commentaries BOOK V. CHAP. I. Licençiado Pedro de la Gasca is chosen by the Emperour Charles the Fifth to reduce Peru. WHilst matters were transacted in Peru in the manner before related Diego Albarez Cueto and Francisco Maldonado arrived in Spain in Quality of Ambassadours the first of which was sent from the Vice-king and the latter from Gonçalo Piçarro and both went to Valladolid where the Court then resided under the Government of the Prince Don Philip who ruled that Kingdom in the absence of the Emperour his Father who like a Catholick Prince was at that time actually employed in the Wars in Germany against the Lutherans labouring to reduce them to the obedience of the Holy Mother the Church of Rome These Ambassadours did severally inform the Prince's Highness and the Royal Council of the Indies in the best manner they were able of all the transactions and successes which had happened in Peru untill the time of their departure from thence for then the Vice-king was still living The ill news of these great revolutions and troubles of that Kingdom caused many thoughts in the mind of the Prince for remedy of which his Highness summoned a Council of the most wise and grave persons and of most experience then residing at the Court which were the Cardinal Don John Tavera Archbishop of Toledo Cardinal Don Fray Garcia de Loaysa Archbishop of Seville Don Francisco de Baldes President of the Royal Council and Bishop of Ciguença the Duke of Alva the Count of Osorno Francisco de Los Cobos Lord Lieutenant of Leon Don John Cunniga Lord Lieutenant of Castile Ramirez Bishop of Cuenca and President of the King's Bench in Valladolid all the Judges of the Royal Council of the Indies besides several other persons of great Quality all which as well as the Court in general did admire that those Laws and Ordinances which were made and designed for the universal good as well of the Indians as of the Spaniards of Peru should have such a different effect and prove the cause of the destruction both of one and of the other and so to endanger the Kingdom as even to put it in hazard of being alienated from the Crown of the Emperour To prevent which many consultations were held and great debates did arise thereupon some were of opinion that it was to be done onely by force of Arms and that immediately Souldiers were to be sent thither under the command of several experienced Captains but this opinion was opposed by the difficulty of such an enterprise for that the charge of shipping Souldiers Arms Ammunition Horses and Provision would be very great the Voyage was long the Navigation difficult and subject to a thousand hazards being to pass two Seas Other Counsels there were of the more moderate and grave sort of men who were of opinion that since all those disturbances were caused by the rigour of the new Laws and the severe and indiscreet manner of putting them in execution by the Vice-king the remedy thereof ought to be by contrary applications which was that the new Laws should be absolutely abrogated and declared invalid and that to declare and publish them for such a person should be sent of a mild gentle and affable temper◠and one of experience of the world of prudence and capable of Government in the times of Peace and yet a Souldier knowing how to manage a War if occasion should require The Person elected for this employment was Licençiado Pedro de la Gasca a Presbyter of the Church and a Member of the General Council of the Inquisition and one in whom all the fore-mentioned qualities did concurr and being thus elected he was offered to his Majesty for his approbation upon receipt of these Letters of recommendation Orders were given in such manner as Gomara writes in the 175th Chapter of his Book which I have thought fit to repeat word for word because he seems to be more plain and clear herein than any other Authour whatsoever When the Emperour saith he had received the news of the great disturbances in Peru and of the imprisonment of Blasco Nunnez he highly resented the insolence of the Judges who durst attempt so daring a piece of injustice against their allegiance and also condemned the proceedings of Gonçalo Piçarro as not tending
the Marquis hath done for Us and which shall ever be remembred to the advantage of his Sons and Brothers Given at Venloe the 16th day of the Month of February 1546. I the KING By command of his Majesty Francisco de Erato The Letter which the President wrote to Gonçalo Piçarro was to this effect Illustrious Sir SUpposing that my stay would not have been so long in this Countrey I deteined the Emperour's Letter by me intending to deliver it with my own hand nor did I think fit in the mean time to acquaint you of my arrival out of respect to his Majesty's Letter which ought to have come first unto your hands before mine But considering that the Affairs of his Majesty would require my presence here for some time and hearing that you had convened an Assembly of the People to meet you at the City of Lima to consider of Affairs which depend on things already past I judged it necessary to employ an express Messenger with his Majesty's Letter and with the same occasion also to send you mine the bearer whereof named Hernandez Paniagua is a Person of Quality and one considerable in your Countrey and very much your Friend and humble Servant What I have now to say to you farther is to acquaint you That in Spain there have been great Consultations concerning the manner how the commotions and disturbances which have been raised in Peru since the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez whom God forgive came into those parts were to be taken and resented And after his Majesty had well weighed and considered the several Debates and Opinions thereupon there hath no cause appeared hitherto to believe that the same did proceed from any motive of disobedience or dis-service to his Majesty but merely from a principle of self-preservation which induced them to oppose that severity which the Vice-king used in the execution of the new Laws against the privileges and rights of that Countrey And farther his Majesty hath considered the obstinacy of the Vice-king who would admit of no Petition or Appeal or suspension of the new Laws untill such time as his Majesty was acquainted with the inconveniences thereof all which appears at large in your Letter to his Majesty and which gives a farther relation that you had taken upon you the Government at the instance and desire of the Court of Justice and which they had delivered unto youâ— by Commission under his Majesty's Broad Seal in virtue whereof you promise to serve his Majesty and profess that to have refused the Government at that time would have been a disservice to his Majesty and that you accepted it on no other terms than such as became a good and a loyal Subject and with intention to resign it at the command and will of his Majesty All which being thus understood by his Majesty he hath sent me to quiet the minds of the People by a revocation of those Laws according to the prayer of your Petition with power to publish a general Pardon for all Faults Crimes and Misdemeanours already committed and lastly to take the opinion and direction of the People of this Countrey concerning the methods which are to be used for the advancement and promotion of the service of God and for the common goâ—d and welfare of the Inhabitants And in regard there are many Spaniards in those parts who are unemployed and have no possessions it is thought fit that they should be provided out of new discoveries which is the onely way for them to gain honour and riches according to the example of the ancient Conquerours wherefore I heartily desire you to consider these matters with the understanding of a good Christian and the worthy mind and intention of a Gentleman and of a wise and prudent Person and with that affection and good will which you have alway shewed to the happiness and welfare of this Countrey and charity towards the Inhabitants thereof giving God and our Lady thanks to whom you are a zealous Votary that this great and important Affair in which you have so deeply concerned your self hath been so favourably interpreted by his Majesty and by the Grandees of Spain who were pleased to acquit your actions of rebellion and disloyalty and to style them with the more soft terms of defending his Majesty's Justice to which his Subjects were denied access or to be heard by way of Petition And now in regard your King who is a Catholick and a just Prince hath restored you and every person to the enjoyment of his own Estate and Possessions in as full and as ample a manner as they desired in their Petition It is but reason that you deal as sincerely and justly with your King by yielding due obedience to him and compliance with all his commands the which is a duty incumbent on us not onely by the Laws of Nature which oblige every Subject to be loyal to his King but also by the Laws of Scripture and Grace which injoyn us on the penalty of eternal damnation to render unto every man his due and especially obedience unto Kings And since you Ancestours have made themselves illustrious by their loyalty and by their services to the Crown which have gained them the Title of Nobles it will now be your part to Copy out this lesson in the largest characters rather than to degenerate from their lineage and cast a blemish on all their atchievements by your demerits and defection from their vertues The greatest concernment we have in this world next to the salvation of our Souls is our honour which is most resplendent in persons who move in your high sphere in which you are capable to brighten the lustre of your Ancestour's glories or otherwise by irregular actions to cast a blemish and an eternal obscurity upon them For whosoever falls from God by infidelity or from his King by treason and disloyalty doth not onely dishonour himself but likewise casts a blemish and infamy on his whole Family wherefore let me advise you to reflect hereupon with a wise and a prudent spirit weighing well the power of your King whose Forces you are very unable to withstand but lest your want of knowledge and experience in his Court not having viewed his Armies or fathomed the depth of his Counsels should betray you to an over-weening opinion of your own strength be pleased to figure unto your self the mighty power and puissance of the Great Turk who marched in Person at the head of above three hundred thousand fighting men which he brought into the Field against him besides Pioniers and other attendants on the Camp notwithstanding which when he met his Majesty near Vienna he durst not adventure to joyn Battel with him but rather endeavoured a retreat facing the Enemy with his Horse whilst the Infantry marched away and made their escape c. This Letter is writ more at large by divers Authours which we have thought fit to abbreviate because it relates the many Victories which the
Emperour gained upon the Turk from whence he frames divers Arguments to prove how unable Gonçalo Piçarro was to contend with so formidable a Force but that rather he should incline his mind to submission and obedience but what his consultations and reflexions were on this Letter we shall declare in the following Chapter CHAP. V. Of the Consultations and Opinions concerning the Revocation of the New Laws and of the General Pardon of all faults and crimes past What private Instructions had been given to Paniagua and Piçarro's Answer thereunto THESE Letters having at the first consultation been read three or four times in presence of Gonçalo Piçarro and of Licenciado Cepeda and Francisco de Carvajal Piçarro demanded their opinion thereof Cepeda desired Carvajal because he was the oldest man of the company that he would first speak to the matter in question and though there were some little Replies between them each desiring the other to begin first yet at length Carvajal gave his opinion as followeth These are Sir in reality great offers Let us not neglect to accept these fair Conditions What fair Conditions answered Cepeda What good or benefit can they bring to us Why said Carvajal they are Sir both good and cheap for they propose a revocation of the late Ordinances which gave us so much cause of discontent together with a General Pardon for all that is past And that for other matters a general Assembly shall be held consisting of Members of the several Cities by whose Votes and Directions Rules shall be given to order all matters tending to the service of God to the wellfare of the Countrey and benefit of the Inhabitants and Planters thereof which is as much as we ever desired or can possibly expect for by annulling or revoking those new Ordinances we secure our Indians our properties in which was the chief cause which moved us to take up Arms and to adventure our lives in the defence thereof The General Pardon exempts us from all future Reckonings for what is past and still we conserve the Government in our own hands since that all the Laws and Rules which are to be made are to proceed and to be enacted from and by the respective Corporations of Cities of which we are principal members Wherefore upon the whole matter my opinion is that we should accept of these gracious Offers and in answer thereunto return Ambassadours to the President signifying our acceptance of the terms proposed and to engratiate our selves with him let him be invited to this place and carried on mens shoulders into the City let his way hither be paved with Plates of Silver and Ingots of Gold and treated in the most magnificent manner imaginable for having been the Messenger of so general a good to us let us find some farther way to oblige him to deal with us as Friends and treat in confidence with us I do not doubt but since he hath begun thus generously to open himself but that he hath yet a larger Commission and a power to confer on you the Government of this Empire but let the matter go how it will I am of opinion that he should be brought to this place and if afterwards his proceedings do not please us it will remain still in our hands to dispose of him as we shall think fit Cepeda was absolutely of another opinion and opposed all that Carvajal had declared saying that these fair promises were words without security which powerfull men could easily avoid as they saw occasion That if the President were once admitted in he would so draw the hearts of all people to him as to order and dispose every thing according to his own will and pleasure that the person who was sent with these Letters was not one of that plain and simple sort as was pretended but a man of great subtlety and understanding and full of Intrigues and Policies to delude and affect the minds of the People and in sum his conclusion was that they ought not to receive the President amongst them for that his admittance would prove the ruine and destruction of them all This was in short the opinion of these two Councellours though the reasons Pro and Con were more large and though Piçarro did not declare himself at that time either one way or other yet in his own thoughts he inclined more to the opinion of Cepeda than to the sense of Carvajal believing that so soon as he assented thereunto he immediately devested him of all the power and authority which he had in that Countrey Cepeda also blinded with his own ambition and interest stiffly adhered to his own opinion well knowing that in case the President were received his authority would fail and that he should lose his Seal and perhaps his life for his crimes were of a deep stain he had once been an Officer and Minister of the King 's whose Laws and Ordinances he ought to have sustained and instead thereof he had opposed the execution of them and born Arms in that Battel where the Vice-king was slain Howsoever Piçarro not being fully resolved what course to take summoned a general Assembly of all the principal Inhabitants of the City of the Captains Nobility and of the most knowing persons in those parts to deliberate upon the Answer which was to be given to the Letters from his Majesty and the President which being of common concernment would best suit with the general authority and consent of the whole Countrey The Assembly being met consisted of eighty persons amongst whom were many strange and different opinions Some were delivered with great gravity and prudence tending to the common good of the Indians and Spaniards and to the advancement of God's glory and service others were of a different strain every one speaking according to his own fancy and talent and as it is usual where many are there are different imaginations and fancies according to the Proverb So many men so many minds men of the most solid judgments did concur in opinion with Francisco de Carvajal but ambition and the desire of rule thwarted all to the other side Howsoever Francisco de Carvajal boldly declared in publick that the Offers were satisfactory and ought not to be refused to which Cepeda presently reply'd that the Major General was afraid the like was said by other rash and desperate men which Carvajal hearing cryed out aloud Gentlemen I am as affectionate a Servant to my Lord the Governour as any man living and as much desire his prosperity quiet and increase of honour and as such I deliver my opinion sincerely and really as I believe to be best and most convenient for him and from the abundance of my heart and affection I speak it You may if you please follow other Counsels which lead you into misfortunes for my part it cannot much concern me who have already lived many years in the World and have as long a neck for a halter as any of your Worships Fernandez
mentioned to have been assigned in the Charcas in Arequepa and in Cozco did in the total amount unto five hundred and forty thousand pieces of Eight coined which make Ducats of Castile near six hundred and fifty thousand So soon as the Archbishop Loaysa and the Secretary Pero Lopez de Caçalla came to Cozco they published the lots and distributions which were made and read the President 's Letter to those unhappy men for whom no provision was found and the Father Provincial made a Sermon persuading them to patience which operated little upon them for they flew out in oaths curses and opprobrious speeches against the Government as all Authours confirm admiring at the wonderfull profuseness and prodigality which was used towards those men who in reality deserved nothing for it is most certain that amongst those to whom distributions were made of forty or fifty thousand pieces of Eight of yearly rent there were some who being conscious of their engagement on Piçarro's side and their evil actions in denying the Vice-king Blasco Vela Nunnez against whom they raised Arms persecuted him to the death and afterwards fixed his head upon the Gallows these men I say and others as Histories record who having impiously rebelled against his Imperial Majesty expected death or at least banishment would have been sufficiently contented and thought it a mercy to enjoy onely the benefit of the general Pardon without other rewards or provisions made for them an example whereof may be given of Martin de Robles who when he understood what allotment was made him was suprised with the excess of such abundant favour and in sense thereof said to those who stood by 'T is well ' t is ' well but so much good is no good meaning that it was not good for those who deserved so little to be rewarded so much Some few months afterwards this Martin de Robles was fined by Sentence of the chief Justices in the sum of twelve hundred Ducats for having been accessory to the imprisonment of the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez Vela and engaged in the cause of Gonçalo Piçarro the which Fine was adjudged to be given to Diego Alvarez Cueto who was brother-in-Brother-in-law to the Vice-king and who prosecuted de Robles and others of Piçarro's Party And when this Sentence was notified to him What said he no more I that was the man who took the Vice-king No said the Clerk your Fine is no more Well answered he I could have been contented with ten times as much And thus presumptuous and boasting they were of the exploits they had done that they valued themselves much upon them and adventured to utter these and many other bold Sayings on this matter in presence of the President himself of which we shall specifie some few particulars hereafter and omit others which are not fit to be here mentioned CHAP. IV. Francisco Hernandez Giron without any reason shews himself greatly displeased for the division which was allotted to him a Commission is given him to make a new Conquest The punishment of Francisco de Espinosa and Diego de Carvajal NOtwithstanding these rich and large distributions of above two millions and a half of yearly Revenue which one Authour says was but a million and another a million and forty odd thousand pieces of Eight yet the Pretenders were not satisfied and generally complained some because they had no share allotted and others were scandalized to see those rewarded with such excess of prodigality who never had been concerned in the Conquest of the Countrey nor rendred other service to his Majesty than onely to rise in Rebellion against him to kill his Vice-king and afterwards to fell and betray the Tyrant unto the President whom before they had fostred and maintained but he who appeared publickly the most discontented of any was Francisco Hernandez Giron who having not served formerly in Peru but in Pasto onely where as Palentino saith he never had more than an Estate of six hundred pieces of Eight a year And now there being a proportion set out to him of about ten thousand pieces of Eight a year called Sacsahuana which was in Cozco and formerly belonged to Gonçalo Piçarro this Gentleman so disdained the meanness of it that he could not forbear publickly to express his dislike and conceiving a high esteem of his own merit he grew angry that any man should be preferred or rewarded above himself and to that excess and disorder did his passion lead him and transport to those indecent expressions that his words were esteemed seditious and not less than savouring of Treason in this humour he asked leave of the Arch-bishop to goe unto the President and complain of his hard-usage for that he who had served the best of any and therefore deserved the best share was turned off with the meanest allotment The Arch-bishop reproved him for his insolent language and denyed him leave But Francisco Hernandez made bold to take that which was refused him giving out abroad that he was going to the City of Los Reyes to make his complaints unto him who ought to consider them which being made known to Licenciado Cianca who was by joint Commission with the Arch-bishop made Governour and chief Justiciary of Cozco he wrote him a Latter advising him to return and not augment the Troubles and Mutinies which were in the Kingdom and which were apt to be inflamed by the Discontents of many persons who had much more reason to complain than himself that he would doe well to consider and take care how he forfeited all other his former Services by such mutinous practices as this which would render him odious to all his Majesty's Officers and Ministers The Messenger who carried this Letter overtook him in Sacsahuana being about four leagues distant from the City which when Hernandez had read he made this Answer That he thought fit to be absent in that conjuncture not to be concerned in the Mutinies and Troubles which he saw were coming for he knew that the Souldiers would press him to be their Leader and Commander in chief and moreover that he was going to communicate many other matters unto the President for his Majesty's Services to which he added divers other impertinences displeasing to Cianca at which the Judge being greatly moved he presently dispatched Letters to Captain Lope Martin whom Palentino calls Alonso de Mendoça and who as we said before was sent to the Charcas to suppress Insurrections that with half a dozen of his most faithfull Souldiers he should intercept Hernandez in his journey or cause him to return back again to Cozco The day following Lope Martin with his six Souldiers accordingly set out and taking the ordinary journeys of four or five leagues a day he overtook Hernandez in Curampa about twenty leagues from the City who intended now to play a double game for on one side he was willing to shew his readiness to serve his Majesty and on the other side he designed to give contentment
have enough for a person of your quality for I have heard that you are the Son of in your own Countrey naming his Father's Trade The Captain for so I call him presently replyed He lyes who told your Lordship so and so doth he who believes him and therewith he presently went out of the room fearing lest some body should lay hands upon him for his saucy Speeches but the President patiently endured all these affronts saying he was to suffer and sustain much more for the service of the King his Master besides which gentleness he used the Souldiers with much civility and entertained them with hopes and assurance to provide for them hereafter As Diego Hernandez confirms in the first Book of the second Part of his History Chap. 3. in these words We are to observe says he that during all the time that the President remained in Lima being about seventeen months great numbers of People flocked thither to demand relief for supply of their necessities and reward of their services for as hath been said many of the King's servants who were left out in the first division greatly complained of their hard usage About this time several Estates fell to the King by the death of Diego Centeno Gabriel de Rojas Licenciado Carvajal and others and consequently there was some more matter and substance wherewith to answer the expectation of some Pretenders but this not being a full supply served onely to increase the troubles of the President who by his gentle and civil Answers gave a general satisfaction to all people Some of the Pretenders kept a secret correspondence with the Under-clerks to give them information how Estates were distributed and those communicated all to the Captains and Souldiers with whom they had friendship and some had a sight of the Books themselves wherein they saw to whom such Lands were given and to whom such a Command and Lordship and it is now commonly believed that those Books were falsified and that the President himself who was a subtile understanding person did connive thereat and give permission to have the particulars secretly exposed so that every one might be the better satisfied with his Lot especially when they saw themselves nominated and designed to such an Estate and it is certain that there are some men who to this day are of opinion that they are deprived of the Lot and Portion which the President appointed for them and one person so entertained the thought thereof in his head that he became mad when he found himself disappointed But the President Gasca's great care and incumbence was to carry with him a good sum of Gold and Silver to the Emperour of which he had already amassed a million and a half of Castellano's which being reduced to Spanish Crowns of three hundred and fifty Maravedis to the Crown made two millions and a hundred thousand Crowns besides the Treasure which had been expended in the late War. And now the time for the President 's departure growing near which was a happiness greatly desired by him he hastned with all expedition possible to be gone lest some dispatch should arrive to detein him longer in the Kingdom And having finished and completed the remaining part of the Divisions he folded and sealed them up with order that they should not be opened and published untill eight days after he had set sail from the coast and that the Arch-bishop should confirm the Divisions he had made by Act and Deed from himself After this upon the twenty fifth day of January the President went from Lima to Collao a Port about two leagues distant from the City and upon Sunday following before he had set sail he received a Pacquet from his Majesty which seasonably came to his hands and therein his Majesty's Royal Signature to take off the personal Services And now whereas he was very sensible that the Countrey was much unquiet and discontented and full of ill affected men by reason of the Divisions made of Guaynarima and because many of the King 's true and faithfull Servants were left destitute and unrewarded whilst those who had taken part with Gonçalo Piçarro had shared amongst themselves the richest and best of all the Countrey And being now resolved upon his departure he published a Proclamation whereby he suspended the execution of his Majesty's Royal Signet for taking off personal services untill he had rendered a relation to his Majesty of the true state of that Countrey and of what else he conceived appertaining to his Majesty's service alledging his power so to doe in regard his Commission and Authority did not cease untill he had personally appeared in the presence of his Majesty and given him a verbal account of his Affairs and received his pleasure therein And so on Monday following he made sail carrying all the Gold and Silver with him which he had been able to gather Thus far Palentino who therewith concludes the Chapter CHAP. VIII The cause of the Stirrs and Insurrections in Peru. Some Persons condemned to the Gallies are entrusted to Rodrigo Ninno to conduct them into Spain His great discretion and wit whereby he freed himself from a Pyrate NOW as to what this Authour mentions touching the suspension which the President made of that Act whereby his Majesty takes off the personal services that is the services which Indians perform to the Spaniards It is clear and apparent that those late Ordinances executed with the rigour and ill nature of the Vice-king Blasco Nunnez Vela were the cause of all those Commotions which harassed the Empire and took away the life of the Vice-king and had been the destruction of so many Spaniards and Indians as have been related in this History And whereas the President himself brought the revocation of these Ordinances and by means thereof and by his wise and discreet management the Empire was again recovered and restored to the obedience of his Majesty It neither seemed just nor decent for his Imperial Majesty nor agreeable to the particular honour of the President to introduce those new Laws and Statutes again which were formerly rejected and made void especially that of freeing the Indians from personal services towards their Lords which was the chief cause of all the complaints and troubles amongst them for which reason the President often said to several of his friends that he was resolved not to put that Law in execution untill he had first by word of mouth discoursed with his Majesty of the inconvenience thereof well knowing by experience that that Law would never be digested by the people but always prove a Scandal and Offence and perhaps put all things again into confusion and embroile whensoever the same were but moved or intreaty onely to be put in execution But the Devil as we have before mentioned designing to interrupt the peace of that Countrey that thereby he might hinder the propagation of the Gospel and the increase of Christianity contrived all means to unsettle and
saw him at Cozco where he was received with great solemnity under triumphal Arches with Dances and appearance of the Gentlemen who in several Troops road before him to the great Church and thence conducted him to the Lodgings provided for him eight days after he had been there they provided for him a Feast of Bulls and of darting Canes on Horseback which was the most magnificent of any that ever had been before or since in that City for the Liveries were all of Velvet of divers colours and most of them embroidered I remember that the Liveries of my Father and his Companions were made of black Velvet and upon the upper Cassock were two borders of yellow Velvet about a span distance from each other with this Motto between Plus Ultra and adjoining hereunto were three Pillars with Crowns upon them made of yellow Velvet as were the Borders and all interwoven with a twist of Gold and blue Silk which looked very handsomely Other Liveries there were very rich and chargeable which I cannot remember so well as to describe them but these of my Fathers having been made in the House remain still in my memory The attendants of John Julio de Hogeda and Thomas Vasquez and John de Pancorvo and Francisco Rodriguez de Villa-fuerte who were all four Conquerours in the first Adventure were clothed in Liveries of black Velvet striped with divers flowers and leaves made of crimson and white Velvet On their Heads they wore Turbants embroidered with Pearls and Esmerods and other pretious Stones valued at three hundred thousand pieces of Eight which amount to above three hundred and seventy thousand Ducats of Castile and all the other Liveries were rich like these Don Francisco beheld this Gallantry and Sports from a Balcony belonging to my Father's House where I had opportunity to take notice of his person from hence he proceeded to the Cities of La Paz and La Plata and to Potocsi where he received a full relation of those Mines of Silver and of all other matters which were worthy his Majesty's information In his return he came by the City of Arequepa and along the Sea-coast as far as the City of Los Reyes in all which progress he travelled above six hundred and fifty leagues and brought with him the Mountain of Potocsi delineated and exactly drawn and painted with the Mines of Silver as also other Mountains Valleys and immense Cavities which are found in that Countrey of a strange form and figure Being returned to the City of Los reyes his Father dispatched him away for Spain with these Draughts of the Countrey and a true relation of the state of affairs there He departed from Los Reyes as Palentino saith in May 1552. where we will leave him to recount a particular accident which happened at that time in Cozco when Alonso de Alvarado was Mayor or chief Governour thereof and known to be a bold man and an impartial Justiciary the matter was this About four years before this time a party of Souldiers consisting of two hundred men marched out of the City of Potocsi towards the Kingdom of Tucman which the Spaniards call Tucuman most of which contrary to the positive Orders of the Justices were served by Indians to carry their burthens and baggage for them The chief Governour of that place called Licençiado Esquivel with whom I was acquainted went out of the Town to view the several Companies of Souldiers as they marched and having suffered all of them to pass with the Indians who carried their luggage he seised on the last man called Aguire because he had two Indians laden with his goods and for this fault some few days afterwards he sentenced him to receive two hundred stripes because he had neither Gold nor Silver to redeem the penalty laid on him by his Sentence Hereupon Aguire made all the Friends he could to the Governour to have his punishment remitted but being not able to prevail he desired that he might rather be hanged than whipped saying that though he were a Gentleman and might stand upon that privilege yet he would wave that also howsoever he thought fit to let him know that he was the Brother of a Gentleman who in his Countrey had an Estate with Vassalage of Indians But all this availed little with the Judge for though being out of Office he was a man of an easie temper and a tractable disposition yet oftentimes Honours and places of Power change the humour of some men and so it did with this Judge who became more severe by these applications so that he immediately commanded the Executioner to bring the Ass and execute the Sentence which accordingly was done and Aguire mounted thereupon The principal men of the Town considering the unreasonable severity of the Judge went and intreated him to remit or suspend the Sentence and prevailed on him rather by importunity than argument to deferr the execution for eight days But when they came to the Prison with this Warrant they found Aguire already stript and mounted on his Ass who when he understood that the Sentence was onely suspended for eight days he rejected the favour and said All my endeavours have been to keep my self from mounting this Beast and from the shame of being seen naked but since things are come thus far let the Sentence proceed which will be less than the fears and apprehensions I shall have in these eight days ensuing besides I shall not need to give farther trouble to Friends to intercede in my behalf which is likely to be as ineffectual as what hath already passed And having said this the Ass was whipped forward and he ran the gantlet according to the Sentence to the great displeasure and regret both of Spaniards and Indians who were troubled to see a Gentleman on so slight a cause dishonoured by a punishment not agreeing to his Quality howsoever he avenged himself afterwards according to the Law of Honour practised in this World. CHAP. XVIII The revenge which Aguire took for this affront The diligence used by the Governour of Cozco to take Aguire the manner how he made his escape AFter this Aguire could not be persuaded to pursue his design of the Conquest though the Inhabitants of Potocsi offered to have assisted him with all things necessary thereunto but he excused himself saying That after such a shame as this death was his onely remedy and consolation which he would endeavour to obtain as soon as possible under this melancholy he remained in Peru untill the time in which the Office of Esquivel expired and then he always like a desperate man pursued and followed him watching an opportunity to kill him and wipe off the shame of the late affront Esquivel being informed of this desperate resolution by his Friends endeavoured to avoid his Enemy and took a journey of three or four hundred leagues from him supposing that Aguire would not pursue him at such a distance but the farther Esquivel fled the more
with him for the safety of his life and freedom telling him that he was obliged to return thanks to Almighty God for this great deliverance to which the Souldier made answer and said that he rendred thanks to his Divine Majesty and to St. Peter and to St. Paul and to St. Francisco Hernandez Giron by whose merits and means he had been saved and that he could not doe less in acknowledgment thereof than to go and serve him the which he accordingly did as we shall see hereafter Besides this Souldier above forty more were delivered out of prison most of which would have been sentenced to dye and others at least condemned to row in the Gallies which was the best they could expect but those Citizens and Souldiers who were not so deeply concerned as others the Marshal was pleased to set at Liberty without any farther process but these prisoners refused to accept thereof but to be brought to their Tryal as Palentino saith Chapter the fortieth in these words Some of the Prisoners understanding that they were to be set at liberty without tryal refused to accept thereof without a sentence in their cause because they became liable thereby to be taken up again and punished when the Judges or their Enemies were desirous to accuse them wherefore to make dispatch in this matter he fined Gomez de Solis in five hundred pieces of Eight to be paid as Fees to his Keeper and Guards Martin de Almendras had the like Fine as also Martin de Robles others were condemned in two hundred a hundred fifty and twenty pieces of Eight proportioning the Fine according to the ability of the person rather than to the degree and quality of his Crime Thus far Diego Hernandez Moreover the Marshal gave order to provide Arms and to make Pikes in those Provinces where wood was plenty and to make Powder in case necessity should require Some few days afterwards came two Commands from the Justices the one suspending the execution of the Decrees formerly made for freeing the Indians from their personal services which was to last for the space of two years and to take off many other things which caused great Commotions and Disturbances amongst the Inhabitants and Souldiers of that Empire and had been as the Governours well knew the spring and original of those rebellions mutinies and factions which raged in the minds of the people the other Command was a Commission constituting the Marshal Captain General of the Forces raised against Francisco Hernandez and with an unlimited power to expend his Majesty's Treasure in this War as far as occasion should require and to borrow or take up money in case the Exchequer should fail By virtue hereof the Marshal appointed Captains both of Horse and Foot besides other Officers whom we shall name hereafter He designed to make Gomez de Alvarado his Lieutenant General but he refused it because another Gentleman who was brother to the Marshal's Wife pretended thereunto called Don Martin de Avendanno for whom the Wife made great instance and as it were compelled her Husband much against his own inclinations to conser it upon him and though he was a young man and of little or no experience he condescended thereunto rather than to raise War in his own Family He also dispatched Warrants and Orders to the Curacas to gather what provisions they were able and to appoint eight or nine thousand Indians to carry the baggage of the Army He sent also into several parts to raise Men Horse and Arms and to take up all the Slaves they could find And here we will leave them in these Preparations to see what becomes of Francisco Hernandez and what he is acting and carry on the business of both Parties as the method of History requires Whilst these things were in agitation in the City of Los Reyes and Potocsi Hernandez was not negligent of what concerned his interest but ordered Thomas Vazquez with a squadron of about fifty Souldiers well armed to march to the City of Arequepa and in his name to take the possession thereof and to treat peaceably with the Citizens letting them know that the Corporation of Cozco had made choice of him to be Captain General and chief Justiciary of all the Kingdom In like manner he sent Francisco Nunnez a Citizen of Cozco to Huamanca whom he had enticed by fair and flattering promises and with the Command of a Troop of Horse to be of his Party though in truth fear rather than all his favours induced him thereunto and with him John Gavilan was sent with fourty other Souldiers whose Orders and Instructions were the same with those of Thomas Vazquez and that moreover they should tell the City that though they had assured him already by their Ambassadours that they would join and correspond with him in all his designs yet for farther confirmation thereof he required them to call a Court to ratify their former engagement and to own and acknowledge him in that Sphere and Station wherein he acted The truth is Hernandez sent and employed these two Captains out of a design to give reputation to his cause by the specious colour of union between him and two Cities rather than from any expectation he had of bringing them over to his side and party for he was not ignorant that they had already retracted their former assurances and repented of the Offers they formerly made him Besides the Commissions and Instructions given to these Captains he delivered letters to them for particular persons who were men of power and interest in their Countrey also Letters from himself and from the City of Cozco to the Corporations of those Cities desiring them to join with them in this cause which was for the common good and welfare of the whole Empire He also caused the City of Cozco to write unto the City of Plate in the same manner and to the same effect as to the other Cities and Hernandez himself wrote Letters to many Planters in the Charcas and to the Marshal Alonso de Alvarado and to his Wife Donna Anna de Velasco the substance and Contents of which was so ridiculous as served onely for sport and laughter and were not thought worthy of an Answer He that hath the Curiosity to reade them may find them in the History of Diego de Hernandez Chap. 27. CHAP. VII The Justices nominate Officers for the War. The several Pretenders to the Command of Captain General Francisco Hernandez leaves Cozco and marches against the Justices NEWS coming to Los Reyes that Francisco Hernandez increased daily in men reputation and authority the Justices thought it time to appoint their Captains and Officers for the War. Paulo de Meneses was named for Lieutenant General and Don Antonio de Ribera Diego de Mora Melchior Verdugo a Knight of the habit of St. James and Don Pedro de Cabrera were made Captains of Horse but the two last refused this Preserment as too mean for men who had so