He accordingly left Quito under the command of Pedro de Puelles, whom he appointed his lieutenant and captain-general in that province, with a force of three hundred men, having great confidence in his attachment ever since he had succoured him when in straits on his march from Cuzco to Lima, and when his army was on the point of abandoning him.  He reposed so entirely on Puelles, that he believed, if the king were to send any force against him by the route of the province in which Benalcazar commanded, that Puelles would prevent them from being able to penetrate into Peru.

While on his progress from Quito towards Lima, Gonzalo assumed in everything the deportment and authority of governor of Peru, and was treated in every respect as such by all the inhabitants of the country.  He seemed to believe that his authority was so well and firmly established that he had nothing to fear from the attempts of his enemies, and that even the king would be obliged to grant him any terms he might require.  All his officers soldiers and dependents obeyed and respected him entirely, as if satisfied that they were always to be subject to his authority, and to depend upon him alone for advancement and reward.  In the exercise of his usurped authority, he made many grants or repartitions of lands and Indians, all of them for long periods, which every one considered as secure of being continued.  He and his principal officers pretended that they frequently received letters from some of the highest of the nobles in Spain, praising his conduct and approving of every thing he had done, which these pretended letters justified on account of the infringements which had been made on the rights and privileges of the colonists.  In these letters likewise, the pretended Spanish grandees were made to engage their favour and credit at court to support his interest and authority with the sovereign.  The well informed among the followers of Gonzalo Pizarro saw clearly that these letters were mere fabrications to impose upon the vulgar, and had no foundation whatever in truth.

On his arrival at the city of San Miguel, Gonzalo learned that there were a considerable number of Indians in that neighbourhood who had not been reduced under subjection; for which reason he gave orders to establish a military post in the province of Garrochamba[28], the command of which he conferred on Captain Mercadillo, with a force of an hundred and thirty men, and gave him instructions for completing the conquest of that district, and for dividing the lands and Indians into repartitions like the rest of the country.  At this time likewise, he detached Captain Porcel with sixty soldiers to complete the conquest of the Bracamoros.  In these proceedings, he wished it to be believed that his sole object was for the advantage of the colony; but his real purpose was to keep his troops on foot and in employ, in case of needing them at a future period for his own defence in support of his usurpation.  Before leaving Quito, Gonzalo sent off the licentiate Carvajal by sea with a party of soldiers, in the ships which Juan Alonzo Palomino had brought from Nicaragua after his pursuit of Verdugo.  Carvajal was ordered to proceed along the coast towards Lima, and to settle all the maritime towns in his way in good order.