with extraordinary pomp, to take poffeffion of his new dignity. q)

The viceroy recovers his liberty.

But admidft the diforder and turbulence which accompanied this total diffolution of the frame of government, the minds of men, fet loofe from the ordinary reftraints of law and authority, acted with fuch capricious irregularity, that events no less extraordinary than unexpected followed in a rapid fucceffion. Pizarro had fcarcely begun to exercife the new powers . with which he was invefted, when he beheld formidable enemies rife up to oppofe him. The viceroy having been put on board a veffel by the judges of the audience, in order that he might be carried to Spain under cuftody of Juan Alvarez, one of their own number; as foon as they were out at fea, Alvarez, either touched with remorfe or moved by fear, fell at the feet of his prifoner, declaring him from that moment to be free, and that he himself, and every perfon in the fhip, would obey him as the legal reprefentative of their fovereign. Nugnez Vela ordered the pilot of the veffel to fhape his course towards Tumbez, and as foon as he landed there, (CE. 8. 1544.) erected the royal ftandard, and refumed his functions of viceroy. Several perfons

4) Zarate, lib. v. c. 8-10. Vega, p. II. lib. iv. c. 13 - 19. Gomara , c. 159-163. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 18-25. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 10-20.

of note, to whom the contagion of the feditious fpirit which reigned at Cuzco and Lima had not reached, inftantly avowed their refolution to fupport his authority. r) The violence of Pizarro's government, who obferved every individual with the jealoufy natural to ufurpers, and who punished every appearance of difaffection with rigour, foon augmented the number of the viceroy's adherents, as it forced fome leading men in the colony to fly to him for refuge. While he was gathering fuch ftrength at Tumbez, that his forces began to affume the appearance of what was confidered as an army in America, Diego Centeno, a bold and active officer, exafperated by the cruelty and oppreffion of Pizarro's lieutenant governor in the province of Charcas, formed a confpiracy against his life, cut him off, and declared for the viceroy. s)

Pizarro marches against him. 1545.

Pizarro, though alarmed with thofe appearances of hoftility in the oppofite extremes of the empire, was not difconcerted. He prepared to affert the authority to which he had attained, with the fpirit and conduct of an officer accustomed to command, and marched directly against the viceroy as the enemy who was near

1) Zarate, lib. v. c. 9. Gomara, c. 165, Fernandez, lib. 1 c. 23. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 15.

s) Zarate, lib. v. c. 18. Gomara, c. 169. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. ix. c. 27.

As he was

eft as well as most formidable. mafter of the publick revenues in Peru, and most of the military men were attached to his family, his troops were fo numerous, that the viceroy, unable to face them, retreated towards Quito. Pizarro followed him; and in that long march through a wild mountainous country, fuffered hardships and encountered difficulties, which no troops but thofe acuftomed to ferve in America could have endured or furmounted. t) The viceroy had fcarcely reached Quito, when the van guard of Pizarro's forces appeared, led by Carvajal, who, though near fourfcore, was as hardy and active as any young foldier under his command. Nugnez Vela instantly abandoned a town incapable of defence, and with a rapidity more resembling a flight than a retreat, marched into the province of Popayan. Pizarro continued to purfue; but finding it impoffible to overtake him, returned to Quito. From thence he difpatched Carvajal to oppofe Centeno, who was growing formidable in the fouthern provinces of the empire, and he himfelf remained there to make head against the viceroy. u)

The viceroy defeated and flain.

By his own activity, and the affiftance of Benalcazar, Nugnez Vela foon affembled four

t) See NOTE XVI.

u) Zarate, lib. v. c. 15, 16 -24. Gomara, c. 167. Vega, p. II, lib. iv. c. 25-28. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 34. 40. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 16. 20-27.

hundred men in Popayan. As he retained, amidst all his difafters, the fame elevation of mind, and the fame high fenfe of his own dignity, he rejected with difdain the advice of fome of his followers, who urged him to make overtures of accomodation to Pizarro, declaring that it was only by the fword that a conteft with rebels could be decided. With this intention he marched back to Quito. Pizarro, relying on the fuperior number and ftill more on the difcipline and valour of his troops, advanced (Jan. 18. 1546.) refolutely to meet him. The battle was fierce and bloody, both parties fighting like men who knew that the poffeffion of a great empire, the fate of their leaders, and their own future fortune, depended upon the iffue of that day. But Pizarro's veterans pufhed forward with fuch regular and well directed force that they foon began to make impreffion on their enemies. The viceroy, by extraordinary exertions, in which the abilities of a commander and the courage of a foldier were equally displayed, held victory for fome time in fufpense. At length he fell, pierced with many wounds; and the route of his followers became general. They were hotly pursued. His head was cut off, and placed on the publick gibbet in Quito, which Pizarro entered in triumph. The troops affembled by Centeno were difperfed foon after by Carvajal, and he himself compelled to fly to the mountains, where he remained for

feveral months concealed in a cave. Every perfon in Peru, from the frontiers of Popayan to thofe of Chili, fubmitted to Pizarro; and by his fleet, under Pedro de Hinojofa, he had not only the unrivalled command of the South - Sea, but had taken poffeffion of Panama, and placed a garrifon in Nombre de Dios, on the oppofite fide of the ifthmus, which rendered him mafter of the ufual avenue of communication between Spain and Peru. y)

Pizarro advised to affume the fovereignty of Peru.

After this decifive victory, Pizarro and his followers remained for fome time at Quito, and during the firft tranfports of their exultation, they ran into every excefs of licentious indulgence, with the riotous spirit usual among low adventurers upon extraordinary fuccess. But, amidft this diffipation, their chief and his confidents were obliged to turn their thoughts fometimes to what was ferious, and deliberated with much folicitude concerning the part that he ought now to take. Carvajal, no less bold and decifive in counfel than in the field, had from the beginning warned Pizarro, that in the career on which he was entering, it was vain to think of holding a middle courfe;

y) Zarate, lib. v. c. 31, 32. Gomara, c. 170. Vega, p. II. lib. iv. c. 33, 34. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 51 - 54. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. x. c. 12. 19-22. dec. 8. lib. c. I-3. Benzo, lib. iiì. c. 12.