accompanied by her father, and threw herself at the feet of Gonzalo, whom she earnestly implored to spare the life of her brother.  Being one of the most beautiful women of the country, and of the highest rank, and being seconded by most of the officers who served under Gonzalo, he at length allowed himself to be prevailed on to pardon her brother, who was the only person, during the whole subsistence of his usurpation, whom he forgave for a similar offence.  On granting this pardon, Alfonzo de Caceres, one of the captains under Gonzalo, kissed his hand saying:  “Illustrious prince! accursed be he who abandons you, or hesitates to sacrifice his life in your service.”  Yet, within three hours afterwards, Hernando Bravo and several others made their escape from the camp.  Among these who now deserted were several persons of consideration who had attached themselves to Gonzalo from the very commencement of the troubles, so that their defection gave him infinite vexation and alarm, insomuch that hardly any one dared to speak to him, and he issued peremptory orders to put to death every person who might be found beyond the precincts of the camp.

On the same night, Captain Martin de Robles sent a message to Diego Maldonado, who had been alcalde of Cuzco, usually called the rich, intimating that Gonzalo had resolved in a consultation with his officers to put him to death.  Maldonado very readily believed this information, as he had formerly been one of the inhabitants of Cuzco who made offer of their services to the late viceroy.  Likewise, although then pardoned by Gonzalo, whom he accompanied in the march to Quito against the viceroy, he had fallen under new suspicions, and had even been put to the torture, on account of a letter which was dropt near Gonzalo, containing some very unpleasant truths; and although the real authors of that letter had been afterwards discovered, Maldonado could never forget the treatment he had suffered at that time.  Besides this, he was the intimate friend of Antonio Altamirano, whom Gonzalo had recently put to death.  Considering all these circumstances, Maldonado was so thoroughly convinced of the imminent danger in which he stood, that he immediately quitted his tent with only his sword and cloak, not even taking time to saddle a horse, though he had several good ones, or speaking to any of his servants.  Though a very old man, he walked as fast as possible all night in a direction towards the sea, and concealed himself in the morning among some tall reeds near the shore about three leagues from where the ships of Aldana lay at anchor.  As he was much afraid of being pursued, he revealed his situation to an Indian who happened to be near; and whom he prevailed upon to construct a float of reeds and straw, on which the Indian carried him on board one of the ships.