798 / 1060
774
Royal
Cornmentaries.
BooK
V.
Li~enciado
Cepeda
carried with
him a
whole Library
of
La\1\-books
out of,
·h· l
~ith
the help
?f
certain
La\
1
vy~rs
who lived in thofe parts, he
drew
up
·a~ E~~
dictmenc of High Treafon agamfi the Preftdent
Gafca,
and againfi:
Pedro de
H/
~
and aJl the other Captains, for having betrayed the Fleet into the
hands
~f°{h
4
PreGdent. And
ro
make the bufinefs more forll}al, Wimeffes were
examinede
and the treachery and robbery.made by the Captains proved upon Oath,
and
tha~
Gafca
~nd
accepted of the
hips, and
~ppropnat~d
them
to
his own ufe, "hich
cofl:
Prfarro
about a hur.dred thoufand pieces of
Etght:
upon this Procefs Sentence
f
D eath
v.
as paffed upon them
all
to be hanged, dravrn and quartered.
Cepeda
~a
the firi
l \:·ho.
fi~ne9
th
e ent{!nce, and defired
Gonf~do
Pifarro
and all his Offi–
c~rs
to
fub[
ai.beit _m like
m.an?er;but
\~
1
hen
Cepeda
came
to
Francifco
Carvajal
for
his
hand~
t
elling
him
that
his firm \'\'as
of great
c~m[equence,
Carvajal
fmiled
and
made a
Jeft
?f
the Semen e. .
I.v
arrant you,
fa1d
h~,
fo
~oo!l
as this Writing
is
figoed by this learned Council
m
che Law, execution will immediately
follow
thereupon, and the condemned perfons d) e upqn the fpor. No, Sir, faid
Cepeda
but
it
is good to have them fentenced by courfe of La\',
that"
hen we rake
rhe~
e ecution may prefemly follow without
delay
or lofs of time. At which anf
wer
·
Carvapd
laughed aloud; As I am a Souldier, faid he, I thought that
fo
foon
as
I
had
figned
the entence, fome certain blow of Thunder-bole would have knocked
them all dead on a fudden ; but if it be not fo, for my p:irt I would not give a
farthing for all your entence nor ubfcriptions; for had I them but here,
without
fuch
formalities,
I
would
find
a
way ro execute your entence
with
more expedi–
tion ; to which he added many ocher pleafant Sayings to {hew the impertinence of
fuch
a Sentence.
Licenfittdo Polo
(of whom we have formerly made mention)
was
prefent at this
Affembly, where he gave fome reafons againfi the Sentence: the fufi was, Be–
caufe
Gafaa
was a Prielt, and in Holy Orders, and therefore no Sentence ofDeath
could be palfed upon him in chat nature, under pein of excommunicarion:
ano–
ther reafon was, that
this
Sentence ought not
to
be precipitated
in
foch manner,
becaufe it
might
probably be hoped, rhat fome of thofe Captains, who for fear
of
Hinojofa
had betrayed their Ships co
Ga[ca,
might yet repent of this aCl:ion, and
return again
to
their duty ; whereas on the contrary, they
will
become def
perate
if
the door be {bur, and they excluded from Pardon by a Sentence. Upon
thefe reafons a fi:op was given to the Decree, and the Writing figned by none
but
Cepeda.
CH AP.
VJIJ.
Gon~alo Pi~arro
fends
John de Acofl:a
againfl
Loren.,o
de Aldana.
Spyes are Jent from both fides.
The death
of
Pedro de
Puelles.
W
Hilft matters were thus in confulcation, and the Lawyers bufied in draw–
ing up their ridiculous and impertinent Procefs,
Gonpilo Pifiarro
received
Advice, that the four Ships under che command of
~orenf_o
de Aidana,
and rhe
ocher Captains were making their way cowards the City of
Los Reyes,
chat they
bad already been at
Truxillo,
and were failing along the Coafi: whereup n Jle de–
tached
fifty
Horfemen
armed
with
Carbines, .under
rhe
command
~f
Captam
[olJ11
de Acofta,
to march
to
the Sea-iliore, and hm er them from taking
'N
ood, .or
Water, or landing in any of the Ports,
{ohn de 21cofta
proceeded as far as
Tr11xJ/I(),
but durft not
fiay
above one
day
there, for
fear
of
Diego
de
Mora,
wh.o
wa~
then
in
Caj{amarca;
wherefore he returned again to the Sea-coafi, and
lay
m
wait
ex·
pelting co take fame of
Aldana's
men in cafe any of them iliould
~dvent~re
co
come afhore.
Aldana
on the other fide had Spyes abroad who
g~ve
him n uce of
all the
motionsof(ohn
de
Acofta;
upon knowledge of which he laid an ambufh ofa
hu dred Muskeriers in a certain Wood through which
Acoffa
was to pafs:
but
h~
receiving intelligence thereof
turned another way, and fell upon a arty of rhh9fhe
W IC
'•