of being concerned in these seditious proceedings, having been heard to say to some of the discontented soldiers, that when he came to Las Charcas he would endeavour to satisfy them to the utmost of power.  Though these words had no seditious tendency, the soldiers who were desirous of rebellion were willing to interpret them according to their own evil inclinations.  On these slight grounds, and because it was known that Hinojosa was to go as governor and chief justice of the province of Las Charcas, as many of the discontented soldiers as were able went to that country, and wrote to their comrades in various parts of the kingdom to come there also.  Some even of the better sort, among whom were Don Sebastian de Castilla, son to the Conde de Gomera, with five or six others of rank and quality went secretly from Cuzco, taking bye-paths out of the common road to prevent them from being pursued by the governor of that city.  They were induced to this step by Vasco Godinez a ringleader among the malcontents, who informed Don Sebastian by a letter in cyphers that Hinojosa had promised to become their general.

During these indications of tumult and rebellion, the viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza died, to the great grief and detriment of the kingdom.  On his death, the entire government of the kingdom of Peru devolved on the judges of the royal audience, who appointed Gil Ramirez de Avalos, who had been one of the gentlemen of the household to the viceroy, governor of the city of Lima; and the marshal was sent to command in the new city of La Paz, in which neighbourhood his lands and Indians were situated.

SECTION III.

Narrative of the Troubles in Peru, consequent upon the Death of the Viceroy Mendoza..

At this threatening period, all the soldiers and discontented persons of Peru, flocked to Las Charcas, Potosi, and that neighbourhood, endeavouring to procure employment about the rich mines of that district.  Disputes continually arose between the soldiers and principal inhabitants and merchants, and duels were fought almost daily.  In some of these duels, the combatants fought naked from the waist upwards, while in others they were dressed in crimson taffety waistcoats, that they might not see their own blood.  I shall only mention the particulars of one of these duels, between two famous soldiers, Pero Nunnez, and Balthazar Perez, with the former of whom I was acquainted in 1563 at Madrid, who was then so much disabled in both arms by the wounds he received in that duel, that he could scarcely use his hands to feed himself.