_Of what further happened in the city of Cuzco, of the speech
Don Diego made to his companions; and of what García de Alvarado
did._
In relating the things that passed in the city of Cuzco between Don
Diego de Almagro and his people, and their great activity in equipping
themselves with arms, it must be understood that the good captain
Cristóbal de Sotelo was quite indefatigable. Out of his own estate he
had given 100,000 _pesos_ among the soldiers, his companions; and he
had sent spies, by order of Don Diego, to find out whether Vaca de
Castro was advancing. The Inca Paulo also ordered runners to find out
at Jauja what was happening at Guaraz; and when Vaca de Castro had
joined Alonso de Alvarado and Pero Alvarez Holguin the news of their
union spread over all the provinces of the Realm in such a way that
it soon reached Cuzco, and the Indians said that Vaca de Castro had
brought many Spaniards and foot-soldiers. This news did not fail to
cause some stir--not that it caused dismay to young Don Diego and his
accomplices. They entered into consultation, he and his captains and
principal supporters in the city, to decide what had best be done.
They agreed to leave Cuzco as soon as possible, and to induce Vaca de
Castro not to give battle nor cause an encounter, because they were
waiting to see the royal command of Caesar, and his commission, in
order not to go beyond his orders in any way. They knew not the hour
when García de Alvarado would come; but ordering all the Spaniards of
his party who were in Cuzco, horse and foot, to assemble in a place
where they could hear him, Don Diego thus addressed them:
"You all know, and no one can cease to remember, the great worth of
my father to this Realm, and the constancy with which he tried to
open up the country; also the desire he displayed not to fail in
his duty to his Majesty in a single point, and the cruel death they
inflicted upon him, as witnessed by some of the veterans who were with
him at Las Salinas and are now with me to follow in his footsteps.
Afterwards, having endured this great calamity for you and for me, and
being in Lima, I was so badly treated by the Marquis that in truth I
often abhorred my life and wished for death, which he was about to
order to be inflicted on me. To escape from such odious bondage, and
to avenge my father's death, I took the life of the Marquis, which
he justly forfeited, for the life he took or ordered to be taken of
one who had so greatly honoured and befriended him. Now that the
Marquis is dead--and even if he were not dead--let it not appear to
you that we are doing any ill service to his Majesty in wishing to
conduct the government that he conferred upon my father. His Majesty
even empowered my father to nominate a successor to administer his
government in the royal name in the event of his own death; and that
all who were unaware of this may now take it for certain, I have
resolved to order the commissions and grants that his Majesty issued
to my father to be read before you all. Mind ye, therefore, that my
desire goes no farther than to see myself placed in full charge of the
province of New Toledo, in order that I may pay back the much I owe
to you, as well as reward the services you rendered my father in past
wars and explorations."
Then, having ordered them all to go to an open field outside the city,
the commissions held from his Majesty by the late Adelantado were
read. Amongst them was one which said: "Whomsoever shall be nominated
by him as Governor after his own days, him shall the municipalities
obey and accept as his successor." His father's will gave further
proof wherein there is a clause showing that he appointed his son
Don Diego to be his successor as Governor, and Diego de Alvarado to
be his executor. As soon as these documents had been read, and which
the soldiers were not a little glad to hear, Don Diego concluded his
speech in these words: "Now that you know this to be clear, I appeal
to you to be my faithful friends and companions, and not to forsake
me until it is seen what my fate will be, and what his Majesty will
order. Vaca de Castro does not bring any power or authority with him
to dispossess me of the government; and do you bear in mind how many
and great were the services of my father, and the ingratitude of the
Pizarros."
So well did this young man know how to address the Spaniards that
he won all their hearts and incited them to follow him against any
leader who might come against them. Most of the soldiers who were
in Cuzco, indeed, were men of worth and of white blood; and, as
they had shown themselves to be friends and supporters of Don Diego
from the beginning, they bestirred themselves to follow him with a
constancy which was unwavering, and not--as some mean minds are wont
to believe--feigned. It is said that they felt such hatred against
Cardinal Loaysa,[105] knowing that Vaca de Castro had been appointed
through his influence, that they burnt him in effigy, and spoke many
insulting words against him.
García de Alvarado had gone, as we said, to the lowlands, by order
of Don Diego, and was to raid the coast tracts as far as Arequipa.
He went by way of Lunahuana, plundering all he could, and seizing
all the arms and horses he found. He arrived at Arequipa, where he
committed gross excesses, and killed a resident called Montenegro,
and another Spaniard; and they do say that he was so grasping that he
went the length of carrying off the sacred vessels of silver and gold
from inside the churches. After he had inflicted not a few outrages
at Arequipa he set out with the reinforcements and arms he had been
able to get, for Cuzco, where he was warmly welcomed by Don Diego
de Almagro. Sotelo knew very well about the murder of Baltanas at
Guamanga by Martín Carrillo, and that there had been conversations
between him and García de Alvarado, which proved to him that they
were his covert enemies. Considering that it is not necessary to be
too precise in such times, he concealed what he felt in his breast,
and spoke to García de Alvarado, as soon as he arrived at Cuzco with
others, desiring to be on friendly terms. Alvarado said that Cristóbal
de Sotelo had done wrong in nominating Juan Gutiérrez Malaver to be
captain of the men raised in Cuzco, and that he had not any intention
to condone or overlook it.
Now Sotelo was the officer whose duty it was to provide what was
necessary in the city, and he took great care that the soldiers should
not commit any robberies or excesses nor provoke the native Indians.
But war brings with it unbridled license, and soldiers do not consider
they show pluck unless they appropriate the goods and property of
peaceful people. And so two soldiers, who called themselves the
Machines, broke into the house of Captain Gabriel de Rojas, to kill
another soldier and make off with what they could. In fine they killed
him, and though they tried to shelter themselves in a place where
Sotelo could not arrest them, they did not succeed; for as soon as
he got notice of their crime he promptly had them searched for and
ordered their arrest. He told them to confess, for they would be
presently put to death for the crime they had committed.
FOOTNOTES:
[105] Fray García de Loaysa, President of the Council of the Indies,
Archbishop of Seville, and confessor to Charles V. He was a brother
of Dr. Gerónimo de Loaysa, the first Archbishop of Lima and friend
of Vaca de Castro. The appointment of Vaca de Castro by the Emperor,
would have been settled on the recommendation of the Council of the
Indies, submitted through its President.