iv. 573, it is stated that Godoy was in charge, Marin being

second in command.

[XIV‑1] Benzoni spells the word Achla and states that the town was situated at a distance of about two bow-shots from the shore. _Mondo Nuovo_, 77. For a description of its site see _Hist. Cent. Am._, i. 418, this series. Girolamo Benzoni, in 1541, joined the Spaniards in their forays for gold and slaves, and traversed the Central American provinces. Regarded doubtless as an interloper he does not appear to have met with the success he expected, and in 1556 returned to Italy determined to vent his spite by an exposé of Spanish greed and cruelty. In 1565 he published the work entitled _La Historia del Mondo Nuovo_, dedicated to Pius IV., and containing 18 wood-cuts, with his own portrait on the frontispiece. The second edition, somewhat amplified, appeared in 1572, followed by quite a number of reprints and translations, particularly in German and Latin. The well known version by Chauveton, doctor and protestant preacher at Geneva, the _Novæ Novi Orbis Historiæ_, Geneva, 1578, was frequently reissued. The dedication praises Benzoni for exactitude and impartiality, and notes by other writers are added to confirm and explain the text. De Bry gave further value to this version by means of maps and fancy plates. Purchas, among others, treated it with less respect in offering merely 'Briefe extracts translated out of Ierom Benzo.' Amends were made for this slight in 1857, when the only full English version was issued by Admiral Smyth, under the auspices of the Hakluyt Society. The rendering is somewhat faulty, however, and the corrections of Benzoni's uncultured style and misspelled names not always an improvement.

Benzoni had evidently the intention of writing a more imposing general history of the New World, though it dwindled into a short narrative. There is an apparent effort at moderation, particularly with regard to himself, yet the disposition to exaggerate, or to lie, as Thevet intimates, crops out even in his sarcasms, and yielding to credulity he allows a great part of the narrative, on events or phenomena, to become merely the record of jangling and weird rumors current among gossips. This he partly admits by saying: 'In molte cose ho trouato che vna parte non conforma con l'altra, à causa che ogn'uno fauorisce il suo capitano, et più dico, che in questi paesi si trattano poche verità.' lib. iii. fol. 128. 'Lo mas de su narracion sacó de los autores precedentes con bastante fidelidad, pero comunmente sin juicio ni examen. En los principios está lleno de errores.' _Muñoz_, _Hist. Nuevo Mundo_, tom. i. xxi.-ii. Robertson refers to him as a discontented detractor. He does not feel well affected toward Las Casas, despite their common aim, but calls him a vain man, incapable of carrying out his reform promises. Whatever may be said against the work, much of the material is valuable, as it embraces facts glossed over by the chroniclers, and gives the personal observations of a man not imbued with Castilian partiality. Indeed, Pinelo calls him an 'Autor poco afecto à los Españoles,' _Epitome_, tom. ii. 589, and they very naturally have returned the compliment by neglecting him.

A contemporary of Benzoni as traveller and author is the Frenchman André Thevet, who claims to have travelled for 17 years round the world, to acquire a proper knowledge of men and things, and who is credited with having mastered 28 languages. The result of his observations was issued at Paris in 1558 as, _Les singularitez de la France Antarctique, autrement nommée Amerique_, containing philosophic dissertations on natural and moral history in the Levant, Africa, and America, and remarkable chiefly for credulity and want of critique. It attained several editions which are now sought for their rarity, among them, _Historia dell'India America_, di _Andrea Tevet._ Venice, 1561. He also wrote the _Cosmographie universelle_, Paris, 1575, 2 vols. folio, which is even more valueless, and admired only for its wood-cuts; the _Cosmographie du Levant_. Lyon, 1556; and the _Cosmographie moscovite_, published only in Paris 1858; and he left several other pieces in manuscript. De Thou refers to him rather severely as follows: 'Fuit patriâ engolimensis, professione primó Franciscanus, dein, cum vix litteras scìret, abjecto cucullo ex monacho celeberrimus planus religiosis et aliis peregrinationibus primam ætatem contrivit, ex quibus famâ contractâ, animum ad libros seribendos ineptâ ambitione applicavit, quos alieno calamo plerumque exacatos et ex itinerariis vulgaribus atque hujusmodi de plebe Scripturis consarcinatos miseris librariis pro suis venditabat: nam alioqui litterarum, antiquitatis atque omnis temporum rationis supra omnem fidem fuit imperitus, ut fere incerta pro certis, falsa pro veris et absurda semper sciberet.' _Hist._, lib. xi.

[XIV‑2] This epithet they applied to all Christians.

[XIV‑3] For the condition of the native settlements in Honduras, see _Montejo_, _Cartas_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 223-4, 228, 240-1; and _Squier's MSS._, xxii. 24-6.

[XIV‑4] By cédula, dated July 20, 1532, they were exempted from other than a nominal tribute of two reals, _Juarros_, _Guat._, i. 74; ii. 343; but this order was unheeded. In 1547 the survivors drew up a memorial to the emperor representing their past services and sufferings, and petitioning for their rights. The document was written by a friar and referred to the licentiate Cerrato, who was instructed to see that justice was done to them. _Memorial, 1547, MS._, in _Centro América, Extractos Sueltos_, 41-2. An attempt was made at a later date to impose tribute upon their descendants; but the Mexican government confirmed them in their rights in 1564: 'Fueron amparados en posesion de su libertad, y se libró en Tenuctitlan á 6 de noviembre de 1564 real provision, que conservan los naturales de Almolonga en fólios de pergamino encuadernados en forma de libro, empastado con tablas finas, y forrado en terciopelo carmesi,' etc. _Pelaez_, _Mem. Guat._, i. 167.

[XIV‑5] In the time of Alvarado the tribute of cacao was 1,400 xiquipiles, and this was paid until 1542. _Requête d'Atitlan_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i. tom. x. 420-2. A xiquipil was 8,000, and the number of chocolate-beans contributed was therefore 11,200,000.

[XIV‑6] _Regio_, _Ind. Devastat._, 38-40. How populous the country was may be imagined from the fact that Alvarado represented it as exceeding Mexico in the number of its inhabitants. 'Et ipsemet tyrannus scripsit majorem esse in hac provincia populi frequentiam, quám in Regno Mexico, quod & verum est.' _Id._ Las Casas also states that, when the Spaniards first entered the country, the towns and villages were so many and large and so densely populated that those who marched in advance not infrequently returned to the captain demanding a reward for having discovered another city equal in size to Mexico. _Hist. Apolog._, MS., 28.

[XIV‑7] It will be remembered, however, that Alvarado procured relays of Indians from Guatemala to pack his material and supplies from Trujillo to Iztapa. Enough were left, remarks Remesal, upon whom to wreak his vengeance, and the Cakchiquel and Quiché princes, who appeared before him to do him homage, became the first victims. They were reproached with the reforms brought about in their favor, during his absence, as of crimes worthy of capital punishment; for daring to complain to the governor they were accused of rebellion. Nameless adventurers, who had been unable to extort enough gold from them, or take from them their vassals to work in their fields and houses, pretended that the ill-will of these chiefs had caused their ruin, and loudly demanded that the adelantado should grant new repartimientos according to their services. Alvarado, who was wounded to the quick by the appointment of Maldonado, listened to all these complaints, and now displayed his usual brutality. Prince Cook, Ahtzib of the Cakchiquel crown, he ran through with a sword. Tepepul, king of Gumarcaah, or Utatlan, and the Ahpozotzil Cahi Imox, together with a large number of lords, were cast into a prison on some frivolous pretext. When on the point of sailing from Iztapa, Alvarado being requested by the municipal council to determine their fate, settled the matter by hanging the latter and putting the former together with a number of the leading caciques on board his fleet. All of them perished miserably on the coast of Jalisco. Among his other victims was a lord called Chuwi-Tziquinu and 17 other Cakchiquel princes, whom he took with him from Santiago under pretence of conducting them to Mexico. When a short distance from the city he caused them all to be strangled. _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, lib. iv. cap. iv. v. xx.; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, iv. 797-801; _Pelaez_, _Mem. Guat._, i. 77.

[XIV‑8] _Real Cédula de 17 de Novre 1526_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog._, _Boletin_, v. 326-31. In the preamble to this decree the emperor states that it is notorious that excessive toil in mines and at other labor and the want of food and proper clothing had caused the death of such numbers that some parts of the country had become depopulated, while whole districts were abandoned by the natives, who had fled to the mountains and forests to escape ill-treatment. This cédula, designed to apply to the king's dominions in the west from Panamá to Florida, ordered diligent inquiry to be made relative to the killing, robbery, and illegal branding of Indians, and that the perpetrators should be delivered over to the council of the Indies. Other provisos were that slaves should be restored to their native country, and if this were not possible they were to be placed in reasonable liberty, nor were they to be too heavily worked or made to labor in the mines or elsewhere against their will. In future expeditions of discovery and colonization the leader was to take with him two ecclesiastics at least, who were to use greatest diligence in obtaining kindly treatment for the Indians. Natives who were peaceably inclined were not to be made slaves; at the same time the promotion of morality and good customs was not left out of sight, and in cases where it might be deemed beneficial by the priest they might be assigned to Christian Europeans as free servitors; and lastly no discoverer was to take with him out of their native land on any of his expeditions more than one or two Indians to act as interpreters. _Ximenez_, lib. iii. cap. lii., states that natives were branded as slaves through having been merely assigned to an encomendero, and that young boys and tender girls were taken from the towns by hundreds to wash for gold in the gulches, where they perished from hunger and hardship. _Pelaez_, _Mem. Guat._, i. 67. A notable case of branding Indians who had peaceably submitted, was that of the natives of Cuzcatlan by Alvarado in 1524, described by witnesses in _Cortés_, _Residencia_, 96, 155.

[XIV‑9] This order repeated the mandates of the previous cédula, and in addition abolished the system of encomiendas, as well as the branding of Indians as slaves. His majesty refused to grant them as vassals to any one. No Spaniard was to be allowed to use them as pack-animals. The caciques were not to be deprived entirely of governing power, but allowed certain jurisdiction, under the advice and instruction of the governors of provinces. Natives were to be encouraged in gold-mining; but, on payment of the royal dues, the gold they extracted was to belong to themselves; nor were they to be deprived of the lands they had acquired by inheritance, if they wished to cultivate them.

[XIV‑10] In 1533 it was enacted that an Indian's load should not exceed two arrobas in weight. In 1536 it was ordered that natives who had been accustomed to move from place to place were not to be prevented from doing so. Other laws passed the same year were to the effect that no Spaniard of any rank could be carried about by Indians in hammock or palanquin. Negroes ill-treating Indians were to receive 100 lashes, or if blood were shed, a punishment adequate to the severity of the wound. Native villages and settlements were not to be inhabited by Spaniards, negroes, or mulattoes. A Spaniard when travelling could only remain one night, and Spanish traders three days, in an Indian village. In 1538 laws were made ordering that caciques were not to sell or barter their subjects. This year also a modification of previous enactments limited the use of natives as pack-animals to those under 18 years of age. The Indians were, by all possible means other than coercion, to be induced to live in communities. In 1541 viceroys, audiencias, and governors were ordered to ascertain whether encomenderos sold their slaves, and if any such were discovered they were to be exemplarily punished and the bondsmen thus sold restored to liberty. _Recop. de Indias_, ii. 192, 194, 201-2, 212, 277-8, 288-9. These laws were general and applied to all Spanish America. Vazquez states that, in the year 1714, there existed in the city archives of Guatemala royal cédulas, issued in 1531, 1533, and 1534, authorizing the branding of slaves taken in war or obtained by _rescate_. _Chronica de Gvat._, 37-8.

[XIV‑11] In December 1530 the cabildo of Santiago was compelled to pass a law ordering the burial of the dead. 'Los Indios que mueren en sus casas, no los entierran, è los dexan comer de perros, y aues, è podrir dentro de la dicha ciudad, de que suelen venir è recrecer muchas dolencias á los vezinos y habitãtes.' _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 30. Christianized Indians, whether servant or slave, were to be buried in consecrated ground at the depth of the waist-belt of a man of good stature. Others were to be buried an _estado_ deep, out of reach of dogs, under penalty of 20 pesos de oro. _Id._

[XIV‑12] In 1529 laws were passed prohibiting such acts under a penalty of 25 pesos de oro, the proprietor of the servant to forfeit his ownership. If the person offending were an hidalgo the fine was 100 pesos de oro; if not he was to receive 100 lashes. _Arévalo_, _Actas Ayunt. Guat._, 90-1, 114-15. The market called by the Indians _tianguez_ was held daily at sunset. To provide against the outrages then committed a master of the market was appointed in 1532. In the following year another decree was found necessary, which was republished February 9, 1534. _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 32.

[XIV‑13] Paul III. it will be remembered is noted as the pontiff who excommunicated Henry VIII. of England, and in the contest of Charles V. with the Protestant League despatched a large force to the emperor's aid.

[XIV‑14] It will be remembered that the inquisition, at that time in full blast, was founded by the Dominican order. In _Prescott's Peru_, ii. 253, it is stated that the arguments used by Las Casas before the junta were first published by a secretary of that institution.

[XIV‑15] The full text of them is given in _Leyes y Ordenanzas_, _Icazbalceta_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 204-27. There are extracts from them in Herrera, Remesal, Torquemada, and other chroniclers. For further mention of the new code and its workings see _Hist. Mex._, ii. 516, et seq. this series. Prescott says: 'The provisions of this celebrated code are to be found, with more or less—generally less—accuracy, in the various contemporary writers. Herrera gives them _in extenso_.' _Peru_, ii. 255. The historian is himself somewhat inaccurate on this and other points.

[XIV‑16] Before the new laws were passed Indians captured in war or guilty of certain crimes could be legally enslaved.

[XIV‑17] For a description of the repartimiento and encomienda system, see _Hist. Cent. Am._, i. 262-4, and _Hist. Mex._, ii. 145-52, this series.

[XIV‑18] For a description of the organization and jurisdiction of audiencias see _Hist. Cent. Am._, i. 270-3, this series, and of the supreme council of the Indies, 280-2 of the same vol.

[XIV‑19] The version given in _Prescott's Peru_, ii. 260-1, is that the viceroy found a ship, laden with silver from the Peruvian mines, ready to sail for Spain, and that he laid an embargo on the vessel as containing the proceeds of slave labor. There is, however, no absolute prohibition in the new code against the employment of Indians in working the mines, although, as mentioned in _Herrera_, dec. vi. lib. v. cap. iv., a cédula issued in 1538, forbade that natives be so engaged, and authorized the substitution of negro slave labor for such purposes.

[XIV‑20] The emperor was memorialized by the clergy and by the civil authorities, each party sending its petition without the other's knowledge, each slandering its adversary and using such falsehoods as would be most likely to injure the opposite cause. _Abreo_, in _Cent. Am.; Extr. Sueltos_, in _Squier's MSS._, xxii. 48.

[XV‑1] _Gasca_, _Carta al Consejo_, in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, l. 107; see also _Herrera_, dec. vi. lib. v. cap. iii.

[XV‑2] In _Garella_, _Isthme de Panama_, 4, it is stated that Andagoya made his survey in obedience to a cédula issued 20th February 1534. Some authorities state that Philip first suggested the idea of uniting the two oceans by means of a canal; but when the survey was ordered he was not over seven years of age. In _Hist. Cent. Am._, i. 360-1, this series, there is a description of the difficulties overcome in constructing the first road across the Isthmus about 1520, and an account of the obstacles encountered by surveying expeditions even in the middle of the nineteenth century.

[XV‑3] _Almagro_, _Informacion_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, xxvi. 265, and _Herrera_, dec. iv. lib. x. cap. vii.

[XV‑4] Benzoni goes somewhat out of his way to make Panamá appear in a contemptible light. He says that it contained about 4,000 inhabitants and had about 120 houses built of reeds or wood and roofed with shingles, but he does not explain how such a population contrived to crowd themselves into that number of dwellings.

[XV‑5] In his description of a journey from Acla to Panamá by way of Nombre de Dios, Benzoni mentions that his party was accompanied by 20 negro slaves, whose business it was to cut away the undergrowth and branches of trees that barred their path. The same writer also alludes to the danger incurred by travellers during the rainy season through the frequent crossing of the Chagres en route across the Isthmus. He relates a story of a Spaniard, who while fording the last branch of the river, mounted on a mule, and with gold and jewels in his possession to the value of 4,000 ducats, was carried down stream, lost everything, and was saved only by tying himself to the branch of a tree, arriving at Nombre de Dios with only his waistcoat.

[XV‑6] In commenting on the statements then current as to the commerce of Panamá, Benzoni remarks: 'Senza dubio dieci Mercatanti Venetiani basteriano à comprare tutte le mercantie che vi entrano vna volta l'anno, con la istessa città.' _Mondo Nvovo_, lib. ii. 79.

[XV‑7] Pizarro sent 20,000 gold castellanos to Panamá and thus enlisted in his service a number of recruits which he could not otherwise have obtained. _Naharro_, _Descubr. y Conq._, MS.

[XV‑8] Among other marauding expeditions planned by Almagro was a raid on Panamá and Nombre de Dios for the purpose of plundering both places, and making the former a base for future operations against Nicaragua and Guatemala. He intended moreover to destroy all ships on the Pacific side that could not be utilized. _Vaca de Castro (Licenciado Cristóbal)_, _Carta al Emperador Don Cárlos, dándole cuenta de la sublevacion y castigo de Don Diego de Almagro el mozo y de otros importantes asuntos_ (Cuzco, Nov. 24, 1542). _Cartas de Indias_, 478, 483-4.

[XV‑9] On the very spot where his father met a like fate. _Herrera_, dec. vi. lib. vi. cap. i.

[XV‑10] 'Españoles hai que crian perros carniceros y los avezan á matar Indios, lo qual procuran á las veces por pasatiempo, i ver si lo hacen bien los perros.' _Morales_, _Relacion_, MS.

[XV‑11] In _Herrera_, dec. vii. lib. vii. cap. xxii., it is stated that Gonzalo was elected captain, procurator general, and chief-justice.

[XV‑12] It was truly a triumphal entry. Pizarro himself was clad in a full suit of mail, with a richly embroidered surcoat, and before him was borne the royal standard of Castille. _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xii.

[XV‑13] He gathered great strength by the adhesion of Diego Centeno, a brave officer, who was exasperated by the cruelty and oppression of Pizarro's lieutenant-governor in Charcas, and therefore declared for the viceroy. _Robertson's Hist. Am._, ii. 240.

[XV‑14] Vasco Nuñez was decapitated by a negro on the battle-field, and his head borne on a pike. Some of the soldiers were brutal enough to pluck the grey hairs from the beard and wear them in their helmets as trophies of the victory. _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. i. cap. iii. See, also, _Fernandez_, _Hist. Peru_, pt. i. lib. i. cap. liv.

[XV‑15] He ordered galleys to be built at Arequipa, which with the vessels already in his possession would make him master of the sea from Chile to Nicaragua. _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xv.

[XV‑16] Named by some authors Machicao, and in _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nuovo_, Machicano. When Gonzalo Pizarro made his entry into Lima, Bachicao caused the artillery, ammunition, and equipments to be carried on the backs of Indians, thus showing his contempt for the new code of laws. _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nuovo_, 210 (_Hak. Soc._ ed.) See, also, _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 214, and _Datos Biograficos_, in _Cartas de Indias_, 718-20. Gomara says of him: 'Lo escojeran entre mil para qualquiera afrenta, pero couarde como liebre, y asi solia el dezir: ladrar, pese á tal, y no morder. Era hombre baxo mal acostumbrado, rufian, presumptuoso, renegador, q̃ se auia encomenado al Diablo, ... buen ladron ... asi de amigos como de enemigos.'

[XV‑17] On board the fleet were Maldonado and Doctor Trejada on their way to Spain to render to the emperor Gonzalo Pizarro's account of the matter and await his Majesty's further instructions. _Pizarro_, _Carta al Rey_, in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, l. 195 passim.

[XV‑18] _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, ii. 14. Benzoni states that the captain was hanged at the harbor of Vecchio in Taboga. 'Fece alcuni soldati in porto Vecchio, e vicino Taboga pigliò una naue, e perche il patrone non abassò le velle cosi presto, lo mandò à impicecare, e cosi giunto à Panama, e non volendo Giouanni di Gusman che intrasse nella città, ilquale faceua gente per lo Vicerè.' _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 143.

[XV‑19] Benzoni, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 211. See also _Oviedo_, iv. 400. In _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xvi., it is stated that the order for an execution was given in the words 'Manda hacer el capitan Hernando Bachicao.'

[XV‑20] Of Bachicao's subsequent history we learn that he was captured while attempting to desert to the royalist party, and executed by Francisco Carbajal, one of Gonzalo's officers. _Datos Biograficos_, in _Cartas de Indias_, 718-20.

[XV‑21] In addition to other precautions, Pedro de Casaos, the corregidor, or mayor, of Panamá, crossed the Isthmus to Nombre de Dios, and exhorted all loyal citizens to rally for the defence of Panamá. Gathering all the arquebuses and other arms which he could find, he returned to the city and called upon the captains of the viceroy to place themselves under his banner. This they obstinately refused to do, thereby sowing discord which was to tell greatly in favor of the insurgents. _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xxx.

[XV‑22] Twenty thousand ducats according to _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nvovo_, 144.

[XV‑23] Eight ships and three brigantines. _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nuovo_.

[XV‑24] Juan de Illanes, as soon as he saw the ships, cried out with a loud voice to the citizens, 'Come out of your houses, ye traitors, come and defend the king's domain from these tyrants!' When Pedro de Casaos sent word to Hinojosa to inquire the cause of his coming he answered that 'he came to pay the debts of Machicano.' _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nvovo_, 144-5.

[XV‑25] _Herrera_, dec. vii. lib. x. cap. ix. _Garcilaso de la Vega_, in _Hist. Peru_, ii. 244, styles Hinojosa governor, and Zárate, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xxx., says: 'Y el governador de aquella Provincia llamado Pedro de Casaos, Natural de Sevilla, fue con gran diligencia à la Ciudad de Nombre de Dios, i mandò apercebir toda la Gente que en ella estaba, i juntando todas las Armas, i Arcabuces que pudo haver, los llevò consigo à Panamà.' The corregidor of a town was often styled 'governador' by courtesy. Hence perhaps the mistake.

[XV‑26] _Herrera_, dec. vii. lib. x. cap. ix.

[XV‑27] It is said that a battle now appearing inevitable, the officer in charge of Vela Nuñez was ordered to hang him and the other prisoners to the yard-arm. _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xxxi. This statement is very improbable.

[XV‑28] He informed the people of Panamá that if they had received a wretch like Machicao, they certainly ought to admit him. _Herrera_, dec. vii. lib. x. cap. ix.

[XV‑29] They had no faith in Hinojosa's promises. 'Aunque Gonzalo Pizarro governase juridicamente, como ellos decian; y que no tenian color ninguno para entremeterse en distrito ageno; y que las mismas promesas avia hecho Bachicao.' _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 244.

[XV‑30] _Herrera_, dec. vii. lib. x. cap. x., and _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nvovo_, 145. In _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 218, it is stated that 40 men were allowed to land. Other authorities give 50 as the number of the guard and 30 days as the period.

[XV‑31] 'Con este concierto Hinojosa mandô recoger la gente a las naos, y los de Panamá le hablaron y trataron con mucha cortesia, y le aposentaron en la ciudad y diziendole, que se trataua de prenderle, ô matarle; aunque no lo creyô, todauia se hizo fuerte en la casa adõde posaua, y poco despues, como buen Capitan, por quitar ocasiones de tumultos se fue a sus naos, y presto se entendió q̃ aquel rumor no fue palabras.' _Herrera_, dec. vii. lib. x. cap. 10.

[XV‑32] It was during this year that the wealth of Potosí began to be known.

[XV‑33] In _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. i. cap. ix., it is stated that Hinojosa's officers committed many robberies, taking care to hide them from their commander, who strictly forbade anything of the kind and gave orders that all such offenders should be handed over to the civil authorities. Gasca, in _Carta al Consejo_, 1. 108-9, says that Hinojosa forced the people of Panamá and Nombre de Dios to feed and quarter his men.

[XV‑34] A native of Álava, and a fellow-townsman of the viceroy. _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xxxiii. See also _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 244.

[XV‑35] 'Et non molto dopo Melchior Verdugo calato per lo Scolatio di Nicaragua con duecento soldati con animo di offendere la gente di Pizzarro.' _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nvovo_, 146. In _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. v. cap. xxxiii., the number is stated at 100.

[XV‑36] The darkness of the night favored them, but Verdugo's men might have effected their capture if they had not been too intent in plundering the house. _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 245.

[XV‑37] Herrera says that Hinojosa expecting to be attacked placed the city of Panamá in a thorough state of defence and told his officers that Verdugo held but the authority granted him by the audiencia de los Confines and knew not even whether the viceroy were alive. dec. viii. lib. ii. cap. iv.

[XV‑38] One hundred and fifty arquebusiers. _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 145-46, 140; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 219.

[XV‑39] 'Verdugo fu il primo à saltare in vn Brigantino, et solo vn soldato resto ferito, e questo fu el fine delle brauate di Verdugo.' _Benzoni_, _Mondo Nvovo_, 146.

[XV‑40] 'La dificultad de tanto aparato, ... Armas, y Cavallos, Municíon y Bastimento, y la Navegacion tan larga, yaver de pasar dos Mares les forçava á no tomar este Consejo.' _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 268.

[XV‑41] Gasca was born in 1494 in the Caballería de Navarregadilla, a small town near the Barca de Ávila. He received a liberal education, being placed by his uncle at the famous seminary of Alcalá de Henares, and subsequently transferred to the university of Salamanca. He was ordained a priest in 1531, and in 1541 was appointed counsellor of the inquisition. He acquired great renown by his gallant defence of the city of Valencia, at a time when its inhabitants were panic-stricken at the approach of a foreign foe. 'Vinieron á tierra de Avila la familia de Gasca mudándose ... las dos letras consonantes C y G el nombre de Casca en Gasca.' _Hist. de Don Pedro Gasca_, MS. Even when a student he showed the power of his will and decision of character in quelling political disturbances. _Datos Biograficos_, in _Cartas de Indias_, 763-7.

[XV‑42] 'El Titulo que llevó, fue de Presidente de la Audiencia Real del Perú.' _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, in _Barcia_, lib. vi. cap. vi.

[XV‑43] 'Llevó las Cédulas, y Recaudos necesarios, en caso, que convinese hacer Gente de Guerra, aunque estos fueron secretos, porque no publicaba, ni trataba, sino de los perdones, i de los otros medios pacificos.' _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, in _Barcia_, lib. vi. cap. vi. _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 269, says: 'Le diesen absoluto Poder en todo, y por todo, tan cumplido y bastante, como su Magestad lo tenia en las Indias.' See, also, _Prescott's Peru_, ii. 344.

[XV‑44] 'Alvarado habló á Hernan Mexia, i le dió noticia de la venida del Presidente, diciendole quien era, i á lo que venia, i despues de largas platicas se despidieron, sin haverse declarado el vno al otro sus animos, porque ambos estaban sospechosos.' _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, in _Barcia_, lib. vi. cap. vi.

[XV‑45] _Fernandez_, _Hist. Peru_, pt. i. lib. ii. cap. xxi. Gasca did not hear of the death of the viceroy until after his landing at Nombre de Dios, but smothered his resentment, and even declared that if Pizarro would not receive him he would return to the emperor. _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 170. See, also, _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 228. Gasca's letter to Verdugo, then awaiting the emperor's orders at Cartagena, is also characteristic of the subtle churchman: 'Embió a decir á Melchor Verdugo, que venia con ciertos Compañeros á servirle, no viniese, sino que estuviese á la mira.' _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 269. See, also, _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. ii. cap. v.

[XV‑46] 'Mexia le repondio, que la vandera que alli estaba, la tenia por el Rey, y no por Pizarro, y q̃ haria en su seruicio quanto le mãdasse.' _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. ii. cap. v. 'I que si queria, que llanamente se alçase Vandera por su Magestad, lo haria, i podian ir à Panamà, i tomar la Armada, lo qual seria facil de hacer.' _Zárate_, _Hist. Peru_, lib. iii. 133. See also, _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 270.

[XV‑47] _Fernandez_, _Hist. Peru_, pt. i. lib. ii. cap. xxviii. See also _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. ii. cap. vi., and _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 228.

[XV‑48] When Paniagua, Gasca's emissary, first called on Gonzalo he was discourteously treated, the governor not even asking him to be seated.

[XV‑49] The captains so sworn signed their names before the notary Juan de Barutiu. _Panamá_, _Pleito Homenage_, in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, xlix.

[XV‑50] In _Carta á Miguel Díez Armendariz_, in _Cartas de Indias_, Gasca states that since the 1st of December 1546 1,000 soldiers, including several men of rank, had been assembled for the king's service; that he had at his disposal a fleet of from 23 to 25 ships, two of which were built at Panamá; and that there had not yet been time for the arrival of reënforcements from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Española, or Nicaragua, at which latter province there were 250 horsemen ready to embark.

[XV‑51] On seeing the masterly disposition of the royalist forces, Carbajal, Gonzalo's lieutenant, remarked, 'Valdivia rige el campo o el diablo.'

[XV‑52] Among those present at Gonzalo's funeral was Hinojosa, who, after serving further the royal cause, was assassinated in 1552.

[XV‑53] The most partial biographer of the Pizarros is Fernando Pizarro y Orellana, author of _Varones Ilvstres del Nvevo Mvndo_, Madrid, 1639, folio. The book contains the lives of Columbus, Ojeda, Cortés, the four Pizarros, Almagro, and García de Paredes, but the greater part is devoted to the author's namesakes and kinsmen, by the side of whom the other heroes appear in comparatively faint outline. Every incident that can in any way redound to their credit is made to shine with a lustre unsurpassed even by the pearls and gold for which they so recklessly staked their lives. The brilliancy indeed is so strong as to merge into complete obscurity the bloody deeds and shameful traits which characterize the name. This is intentional on the part of the writer, who not only suppresses facts most notorious, but in glossing over the later revolt of Gonzalo, even attempts to justify it. His object is to advocate for the heirs of Hernando Pizarro, the restoration of his estates and titles of marquis as more fully set forth in the _Discurso Legal, i Politico_, published the same year, immediately after the _Varones_. The work is, in brief, the pleading of a learned lawyer, as the author proves himself, supplemented with quaint and abstruse notes and profuse marginals chiefly from classic writers.

[XVI‑1] Pedrarias never had the shadow of a right to the province of Peru; but it was probably an easy matter for Hernando so to persuade his audience.

[XVI‑2] 'Y porque algunos querian yr á armarse, y otras de mala gana le seguian, los reprehendia, y amenazaua, diciendo, que los haria castigar como a delinquentes, diziendoles; que no auian menester otras armas, i mandó a Iuan Barmejo, que matasse al que no le siguiese.' _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. vi. cap. v.; see, also, _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 491.

[XVI‑3] 'Hecho esto embiò a Granada á dar auiso á Pedro de Contreras su hermano, embiandole la daga con que auia muerto al Obispo, sin punta, que so le auia despuntado al tiempo que le matô.' _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 492; see also _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. vi. cap. v., and _Gasca_, _Carta_ in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, 1.; but Zárate, _Hist. Peru_, lib. vii. cap. xii., does not attribute the killing of the bishop to Hernando himself, saying, 'i vn Dia entraron ciertos Soldados de su Compañía, adonde estaba el Obispo jugando al Axedrez, i le mataron.' This, however, is not likely, as Hernando was thirsting for personal revenge against the prelate, and the apostate friar, probably excommunicated, may also have had his secret motives for participating in the murder.

[XVI‑4] _Gasca_, _Carta al Rey_, in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, l. 117-23. See, also, _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 493; _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 371, and _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. vi. cap. v.

[XVI‑5] On board these vessels were placed all the vagrants and those who had come from Spain without license, together with certain married men who had left their wives in Spain. 'Para boluerlas a Castilla por casados, holgazanes, y gente que antes auia de causar desasosiego que prouecho.' _Herrera_, dec. viii. lib. vi. cap. i. The governor was determined to leave on the Isthmus none who were not settlers or traders, or known to live on their means or by their labor. _Gasca_, _Cartas_, in _Col. Doc. Inéd._, l. 111.

[XVI‑6] So confident were they of success that instead of removing the treasure to their ships they deposited it with the merchants and others, who bound themselves before a notary to deliver it when called for either to Bermejo or the Contreras brothers. 'Proveieron estos disparates, imaginandose, que sin tener contraste alguno, eran yá Señores de toda el Nuevo Mundo.' _Garcilaso de la Vega_, _Hist. Peru_, ii. 373.

[XVI‑7] _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 493. Vega, _Hist. Peru_,