Of the things that were done in the city of Cuzco by the Governor Vaca de Castro, and of his great avarice and vainglory.
AS soon as Vaca de Castro arrived at the city of Cuzco, he received many visits from the residents there. He was naturally inclined to be arrogant and haughty, and when he found that his party had routed Don Diego's and won the battle he became inflated with vanity to a degree quite unbefitting the profession to which he belonged. He ordered many gentlemen to attend him as his yeomen of the guard, and with them he spent money splendidly, having grand sideboards loaded with plate and huge candlesticks which might well have been dispensed with. He thought of nothing but amassing wealth, to satisfy his greed. This was a very ugly thing, for whilst his Majesty sent him to administer justice and conduct himself with rectitude, he set about gathering treasure for himself by unlawful means—and it is said that he had great natural skill in the art of acquisition. Indeed, some of his rivals allege that he received presents and bribes for the sale of repartimientos, which ought not, however, to be believed; nor have I been able to find any evidence of it. It is true that he wanted to make the valuable profits from coca his own perquisite, and not leave them open to all as they were before; and he ordered that no one, on pain of severe punishment, was to dare to contract for it from any of the best repartimientos, which he had reserved for himself. From this source and from other Indians he did strive to make money; and in this way, though he got little enjoyment out of it, he amassed great wealth, and he always endeavoured to settle his servants and friends in the best positions. Yet, although Vaca de Castro had the vices of meaningless presumption, vainglory, and avarice, apart from them he was a good governor, and did useful things for the kingdom, all of which I will mention, for I am thereby a friend of truth, and let not anything otherwise ever be thought of me.
Well, returning to our Governor Vaca de Castro, he was busy with affairs appertaining to the government of the Realm, and, with the desire to partition the provinces, he accepted some presents from the native Chiefs. He visited Don Diego de Almagro, Diego Méndez, Juan de Olivas in prison, and the others who were detained. He said to them: "What utter folly can have induced you to make such a mistake as to rise in rebellion and publicly appear in arms against his Majesty's service, and to have done other ugly things which are well known?" The lad Don Diego answered that neither he nor those who had been his defenders had opposed his Majesty's interests or had any such thought. On the contrary, he always believed that he was working in the King's behalf, and to assume charge of the province, seeing that he had sufficient warrant to do so, from his nomination as successor to his father the Adelantado, made by virtue of a royal commission. Vaca de Castro retorted by casting contempt on what had been done. After some further talk, he took leave of the prisoners, saying that, notwithstanding they were all condemned to death by the general sentence, he desired that they should beg him for justice, and that they would be freed or condemned as the law might dictate. Having said this, he returned to his house. Don Diego was so afflicted that his feelings could not be more wrought upon, and all felt great sorrow for him. But Caspar Rodríguez and others told Vaca de Castro that he had better behead the lad.
[CHAPTER LXXXIV]
How Don Diego, when he was in prison, tried to escape, and how he was beheaded by order of the Governor Vaca de Castro.
DON Diego de Almagro was imprisoned in the house of Hernando Pizarro, in a rather strong room which existed there, and Vaca de Castro's captains took care that he should not escape. After he had been there for some days, he began to seek for some means of escape, intending to take refuge at Viticos with the Inca Manco, and believing that, by adopting this course, his life might be saved. Certainly not a few felt regret that the lad should be put to death. The captains Gaspar Rodríguez de Camporredondo and Pedro Anzures de Castro, who were the favourite advisers of Vaca de Castro, would not hear of the execution not taking place. When Don Diego learnt this, he treated, as secretly as possible, with a page of his, for the purchase of two horses, the swiftest he could find. He was to have them ready in the river which flows through Cuzco close to his place of confinement, at a certain hour of the night. Some persons who knew about the purchase of the horses told Vaca de Castro, who, when he knew it, ordered Don Diego to be removed to the house of captain Gabriel de Rojas, and there he was watched with more care than before. The Governor Vaca de Castro took the opinions of some of his captains and friends as to what should be done with Don Diego. To all it seemed that the best course would be to put him to death, both on account of the crime he had committed and in order to safeguard the Realm and prevent the occurrence of fresh trouble. An indictment against him was drawn up, he was condemned to death, and the sentence was ordered to be notified in his presence. Don Diego replied by appealing to his Majesty, or, in the first instance, to the President and Judges of the Audiencia then accredited in Tierra Firme. He was told that this appeal could not take place; and, having made his protests, he retorted that since they would not allow his appeal, but insisted on putting him to death, he cited Vaca de Castro to appear before the Judge of Heaven, our God, where all would be judged without prejudice or passion.
After these events and some further parley he confessed, always displaying the mind of a man, and not of a youth such as he was, combined with a lofty and serious presence quite out of keeping with the humility of his parents. His eyes were steadily raised to a crucifix and, on being taken from the prison, the crier walked in front, shouting: "This is the judgment his Majesty the Emperor our Lord, and the Governor Vaca de Castro in his name, inflicts on this man as a usurper of the royal rights, and for having tyrannically rebelled and given battle to the royal standard," and other things about what had been done by him and his followers. On approaching the pillory, adjoining which was the block and an executioner ready to strike, Don Diego asked a favour. It was that he might die at the place where his father was executed, and be buried in the grave where his father's body rested, and that he might be placed beneath, and the bones of his father above him. When he reached the place of execution, they wanted to put a veil over his eyes, but he said there was no need for that, and they only had to order the executioner to perform his office. He asked them to let him have the little time that remained to him to enjoy with his eyes the sight of the image of our God, which stood there. Finally they persisted and bound his eyes against his will. He was extended on the block and with great courage he suffered death at the very spot where in a bygone year his father had suffered.[142] The son's body was buried in the church of La Merced, in the same grave as his father, and in the manner he had requested. Don Diego was of medium height, twenty-four years of age,[143] or a little more, very just-minded and intelligent, brave and a good horseman, liberal and a friend to good works. His mother was an Indian woman, a native of Tierra Firme. There was great hope for his career if he had lived. He was not altogether free from vices: on the contrary, he had those which men of the Indies usually display. Captain Pedro Anzures went about enquiring of those who were present whether they had heard Don Diego say that he deserved his death, because the Marquis had been assassinated by his order. He did not ask this in ignorance, for he and every one else knew perfectly well that Don Diego had never used any such words; but he, and Vaca de Castro, and others thought that this would be useful for their own justification. Thus closed the career of Don Diego de Almagro the younger, and with him came to an end all that remained of his father's party, both men meeting the same manner of death in the city of Cuzco.[144]