When the fury of the population had somewhat calmed down, they elected Domingo de Irala as deputy-governor and captain general of the whole province. This man had already been elected once before in the place of Francisco Ruiz, once Don Pedro de Mendoza’s deputy. Ruiz had been in truth a good deputy-governor; but against all justice, and from envy and malice, he was deposed and Domingo de Irala elected in his stead. Someone having said to the supervisor, Alonso Cabrera, that they had acted badly in that case, because Francisco Ruiz had colonized the country and been at great pains to maintain it, he answered that they had acted thus because Ruiz would not do what they wished, but that Domingo de Irala, whose rank was less than their own, would always do what they bade him; and for this reason all the officers elected him. They appointed Pero Diaz del Valle alcalde mayor, because he was a friend of Domingo de Irala, and gave the insignia of alguazil to a certain Bartolomé de la Marilla, a native of Truxillo, a friend of Nuflo de Chaves, and to Sancho de Salinas, a native of Cazalla.
Then the officers and Domingo de Irala made it known that they intended fitting out a new expedition to the country discovered by the governor, to search for gold and silver, and sending it, when found, to His Majesty, in order that they might be pardoned the crime they had committed. Should they not succeed in finding gold, they would not return, as they feared punishment; yet it might happen that they found so much of the precious metal that the king, in return for it, would make them a present of the country. By such means as these they cajoled the people. However, everybody knew enough of their misdeeds and their past and present conduct to decline consenting to the proposed expedition. And since then the majority of the people began to remonstrate against the imprisonment of the governor. Then the officers and newly-appointed magistrates began to maltreat those who showed discontent at the governor’s imprisonment. They imprisoned them, deprived them of all their possessions, and tormented them in every way. When these people took refuge in the church, in order to avoid being arrested, they stationed watchmen at the door, so that no provisions might reach them. They punished those who attempted to relieve them, disarmed all the inhabitants and harassed them by every means in their power. They, moreover, said in public that they would kill any persons who might show discontent at the governor’s imprisonment.
[CHAPTER THE SEVENTY-SIXTH.]
Of the tumults and disturbances that took place in the country.
FROM that time tumults and dissensions frequently arose among the people. Those that were of the party of the king denounced the rebel officers and their partisans as traitors. These, fearing the inhabitants, went armed day and night; they built stockades and other works for their defence, barricaded the streets, and withdrew into five or six houses. The governor was confined in a small room in the house of Garcia Vanegas, so as to have him in their midst. The alcalde and alguazils daily searched the houses immediately surrounding that in which the governor was held a captive, for fear lest an attempt might be made to enter them by means of mines. When the officers saw two or three men of the governor’s party talking together, they would immediately raise the alarm, enter the place in which governor Nuñez was confined, lay their hands on their daggers, and swear that if an attempt were made to rescue him they would cut off his head and throw it to his would-be deliverers. They appointed four men, whom they considered the bravest of their band, to stand ready armed with poniards, and made them swear that on the first attempt to rescue him in the name of His Majesty they would immediately enter and behead him. These men were posted so near the governor that he could hear them talking and sharpening their daggers. These executioners were Garcia Vanegas, Andres Hernandez, el romo, besides others.
Not only was the arrest of the governor the cause of general tumult and dissension, there were also many private disputes and lawsuits in consequence of the edicts which had followed. Some said that the officers and their friends were traitors, and had done wrong in arresting Alvar Nuñez; that they had caused the ruin of the country as then appeared, and even now appears to be the case. Others took the contrary view; and they killed, wounded, and maimed one another. The officers and their friends said that the partisans of the governor and those who wished him set at liberty were traitors, and should be punished as such; they forbade suspected persons from talking together. Whenever they saw two men together in the streets they drew out an act of inquest, and arrested them in order to know what they were saying; and if three or four collected together, they fell upon them with their weapons. They had placed sentries on the roof of the house in which the governor was confined, in two sentry-boxes, that they might overlook the whole town and adjacent country. Their spies, too, reported what was being done and said in the town. At night, thirty armed men patrolled the streets, arresting anybody they met, demanding to know whither they were going, and for what purpose. As the tumults and disorders increased, the officers and their partisans became harassed, and begged the governor to give an order to the people to keep the peace and not revolt; and if necessary to fix a penalty for disobedience to this order. The officers drafted this order for him to sign, but when he had signed it they were advised not to publish it, because they pretended that everybody had been in favour of his arrest. For this reason the order was not published.