[4] This officer was father to the historian of the same name.--E.
On receiving notice of all these events which had taken place in Cuzco, and that Holguin had marched from thence with his troops, Don Diego judged that Holguin would endeavour to form a junction with Alonzo de Alvarado who commanded in Chachapoyas, and would therefore proceed by the mountain road towards the north; he resolved therefore to march in such a direction as might enable him to intercept Holguin before his junction with Alonzo de Alvarado, but did not think it prudent to attempt this before the arrival of the force under Garcias de Alvarado, whom he had recalled from the originally concerted expedition against Alonzo de Alvarado[5]. While passing through Truxillo, levying men and providing arms and horses, Garcias proposed to have attacked Alonzo de Alvarado, but was resisted by the inhabitants of a town in the province of Chachapoyas named Levanto, and receiving his orders of recal from Don Diego he relinquished his design, and marched in all haste for Lima. Immediately after the return of Garcias, Don Diego began his march against Holguin, with a force of 300 horse, 100 musqueteers, and 150 pikemen; but before his departure, he banished the children of the late marquis and of Gonzalo Pizarro from the country, and executed Antonio Picado, having previously put him to the torture to endeavour to extort confession from him as to any hidden treasure belonging to the marquis.
[5] It was now the year 1542.--E.
"As during the civil dissentions in Peru, all intercourse with Spain was suspended, the detail of the extraordinary transactions there between the marquis and the elder Almagro, already recounted, did not soon reach the court[6]. Unfortunately for the victorious faction, the first intelligence was brought thither by some of Almagro's officers, who left the country on the ruin of their cause; and they related what had happened with every circumstance unfavourable to Pizarro and his brothers. Their ambition, their breach of the most solemn engagements, their violence and cruelty, were painted with all the malignity and exaggeration of party hatred. Ferdinand Pizarro, who arrived soon after, and appeared at court with great splendour, endeavoured to efface the impression which their accusations had made, and to justify his brother and himself by representing Almagro as the aggressor. The emperor and his ministers, though they could not pronounce which of the contending factions was most criminal, clearly discerned the fatal tendency of their dissentions. It was obvious, that while the leaders entrusted with the conduct of two infant colonies, employed the arms which should have been turned against the common enemy in destroying one another, all attention to the public good must cease, and there was reason to dread that the Indians might improve the advantage which the disunion of the Spaniards presented to them, and extirpate both the victors and the vanquished. But the evil was more apparent than the remedy. Where the information which had been received was so defective and suspicious, and the scene of action so remote, it was almost impossible to chalk out the line of conduct that ought to be followed; and before any plan that should be approved of in Spain could be carried into execution, the situation of the parties, and the circumstances of affairs, might alter so entirely as to render its effects extremely pernicious."
[6] As Zarate introduces Vaca de Castro into the history of Peru without any previous notice of his appointment, it has been deemed proper to give a short account of his commission from Robertsons History of America, II. 339, which, being too long for a note, is distinguished in the text by inverted commas--E.
"Nothing therefore remained but to send a person to Peru, vested with extensive and discretionary powers; who, after viewing deliberately the posture of affairs with his own eyes, and inquiring on the spot into the conduct of the different leaders, should be authorised to establish the government in that form which he deemed most conducive to the interest of the parent state and the welfare of the colony. The man selected in 1539 for this important charge was Christoval Vaca de Castro, a judge in the court of royal audience at Valladolid; and his abilities, integrity, and firmness, justified the choice. His instructions, though ample, were not such as to fetter him in his operations. According to the different aspect of affairs, he had power to take upon him different characters. If he found the governor still alive, he was only to assume the title of judge, to maintain the appearance of acting in concert with him, and to guard against giving any just cause of offence to a man who had merited so highly of his country. But, if Pizarro were dead, he was entrusted with a commission that he might then produce, by which he was appointed his successor in the government of Peru. This attention to Pizarro, however, seems to have flowed rather from dread of his power, than from any approbation of his measures; for at the very time that the court seemed so solicitous not to irritate him, his brother Ferdinand was arrested at Madrid, and confined to a prison where he remained above twenty years[7]."
[7] The remainder of the circumstances relative to de Castro, here quoted, are to be found in Robertson II. 353.; the other events in the history of Peru having been already given from Zarate.--E.
"Vaca de Castro, who left Spain in 1540, was driven by stress of weather in 1541, after a long and disastrous voyage, into a small harbour in the province of Popayan; and proceeding from thence by land, after a journey no less difficult than tedious, he reached Quito. In his way he received accounts of Pizarro's death, and of the events which followed upon it, as already mentioned. He immediately produced his commission appointing him governor of Peru, with the same privileges and authority which had been enjoyed by Pizarro; and his jurisdiction was acknowledged without hesitation by Benalcazar, adelantado or lieutenant general for the emperor in Popayan, and by Pedro de Puelles, who had the command of the troops left in Quito in the absence of Gonzalo Pizarro. Vaca de Castro not only assumed the supreme authority, but shewed that he possessed the talents which the exercise of it at that juncture required. By his influence and address, he soon assembled such a body of troops as not only set him above all fear of being exposed to any insult from the adverse party, but enabled him to advance from Quito with the dignity that became his character. By dispatching persons of confidence to the different settlements in Peru, with a formal notification of his arrival and of his commission, he communicated to his countrymen the royal pleasure with respect to the government of the country. By private emissaries, he excited such officers as had discovered their disapprobation of Almagro's proceedings, to manifest their duty to their sovereign by supporting the person honoured with his commission. Those measures were productive of great effects. Encouraged by the approach of the new governor, or prepared by his machinations, the loyal were confirmed in their principles, and avowed them with greater boldness; the timid ventured to declare their sentiments; the neutral and wavering, finding it necessary to choose a side, began to lean to that which now appeared to be the safest, as well as the most just[8]."
[8] We now return to the narrative of Zarate.--E.
Don Diego had hardly got two leagues from Lima, in 1542, when secret orders arrived there from Vaca de Castro, addressed to F. Thomas de San Martin, provincial of the Dominicans, and Francisco de Barrionuevo, to whom he committed the direction of public affairs till his own arrival. By these persons, the cabildo of the city was secretly assembled in the Dominican convent, to whom these orders were communicated, and who immediately recognized Vaca de Castro as governor, and Geronimo de Aliaga, his principal secretary, as adelantado or lieutenant governor of Peru. Immediately upon this formal act of recognition, the members of the cabildo and several of the principal citizens fled to Truxillo, fearing the resentment of the Almagrians. Although all this had passed in secret, it was communicated on the same night to Don Diego, who was disposed in consequence to have returned with the intention of giving up the city to plunder; but he was afraid lest by delay Holguin might escape into the north of Peru, and lest by returning, the arrival of the new governor might come to the knowledge of his troops. He determined therefore to continue his march against Holguin with all expedition. In spite of all his precautions, intelligence of the arrival of the new governor reached his camp, on which several persons abandoned him secretly, particularly the provincial of the Dominicans, Diego de Aguero, Juan de Saavedra, Yllen Suarez de Carvajal the commissary, and Gomez de Alvarado.