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Royal
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which
Aldana
had employed to fill warer
~nd
cut wood, of which he killed three
or four
and took as many Prifoners, behdes fourteen or fifreen of them who of
their
o~
accord revolted
to
his party , and gave notice And caution of the Am–
bufh. And though the Forces of
Aldllna
were much more in number , yet they
durfr not adveruure to refcue the Prifoners , for they were all Foot, and the Ene-
. my
Horfe and their Powder not half
fo
good, nor their Guns fo well fixed, and
the
Coun~rey
a deep and dead
San~.
Acofta
fent th.e perfons
w~ch
were taken to
Pifarro,
who received chem very km?ly, and.
furmfh~?
them with Arms,
Hor~es
and Money: they acquainred him
\~ith
che ill cond1t10n of _the Fleet, _how ill
they were provided with men and v16tuals ; and moll: :of their people bemg fick
and difeafed
~ere
put afhoar , and fome were dead and thrown into the ea ;
thofe that remained aboard were fickly and
ill
provided, and wanted both Arms
and Ammunition ; that they had received no late News of the Prefident, nor
did they know where he was, nor when he would come, nor did they expect
him for this whole year. And though this was great good News to him, yec
when he
coofider~d
the weaknefs of the four hips , then he began to be fenfible
.of the evil Counfel which fome of his Confidents had given him, to burn his
o , five·Ships, and how much
Francifto Carva}l'l
was in the right , when he con–
demned that counfel , and faid , one of thefe five Ships was able to fight with
.all the other four' hich
Aldana
commanded. After this
Acofta
failed to the Port
of
Huaura,
where
Palentino
faith there is excellent good Salt, and
in
fuch abun–
dance as
i
fuffi
ient
to
fupply all
Italy, France
and
Spain.
Gon f alo
Pi~arro
having received intelligence of what
Acofta
had performed at
Lo1
Reyes,
arid what
Diego
de
Mora
had done at
Truxillo,
he refolved to fend
Licen–
ciado
Carvajal
with three hundred men under his command to hinder
Acofta
from
landing his me , or taking water or cutting wood, and likewife to keep
Diego
de
Mor1t
in fome awe , and aet other matters as occafion fhould ferve.
Licenciado
Carvajal
having accordingly provided all things nece!fary for his march, the Lieu–
tenant
eneral
Carvajal
gave a fiop to
his
proceedings, condemning the Counfell
as not good, for he was perfuaded within himfelf that he would revolt with all
his
men
to
the other party: that which hath fixed him, faid he, fo long with us was
nothing but a defire to revenge the murtber of his brother the Agent : and now
:fince that is over, and the late Ordinances repealed, and a general Pardon given for
all Crimes pall:,
t
ere is no doubt, but he
will
pafS over to the King,s parry, with
whom all his
Ki
dred and Relations are engaged, and are men of quality, and emi–
nent in their Offices ; nor can he forget, how without any fault, the halter was
about his neck, and the fenrence ready to be executed.
[ohn
de
Acofta
t
as of
the fame mind, and earnealy perfuaded
Pifarro
not to fend him; upon which che
defign was altered, and
Acofta
was fent in his place with the three hundred men
formerly ordered for
Licenciado Carvajal :
but when
A
co
ft
a
was on his march, he
obferved a kind of backwardoeCs in fome of his Souldiers , and an inclinati n to
revolt unto the other party: the which was verified by the flight of twelve Soui–
diers, men of note and great reputation. And fome of his friends affured him
(whether true or falfe
it
is not certain) that feveral others had the fame intention,
and
t
a
1
chief Leader of them was
Lorenfo Mexia de Figueroa,
the
Conde
de
Gomera's
.Son-in-law; on
~hich
information,
wit~out
farther proof or telHrnony,
he put him to death :. ThIS Gentleman was married to
Donna Leonor
de
Bobadilla~
the Widow of
Nunno {ovar,
who was Lieutenant General to Governour
Hernando
de
Soto,
in that
enterpriz~
which was defigned for the Conquefi of
FLo-!'ida,
as we
have at large related in that Hifiory: he left one Son and a Daughter called
Ma–
ria
Sarmiento,
who vvas married in
Co:tco
to
Alonfo de Loayfa
an Inhabitant of that
City: the very night that they were married, happened the infurrelftion of
Fran–
cifco
Hernande:t Giron,
as we !hall relate, God willing, in
its
due place. The Son
was called
Gonfalo Mexia de Figueroa,
a very hopefull youth, he went with me to
the Grammar School , but he died very young , to the grief of all thofe who
were acquainted with him. But
l~t
us leave
Acofta
upon his march, and the
others upon the coaft, to relate the difafier which befell
Pedro
de
Puelles
in
~itu ~
for he, having received advice that the late Ordinances were repealed, and age–
neral Pardon given for
~ll
Crimes and !reafons already pall, he refolved co accept
the
benefi~
of
t~at
grauous Proclamation, and return to his allegiance and duty
towards his Ma1efiy, anc;l thereby renounce
Picarro
and
his
Caafe, for whom and
for
\~hkh
he had zealou£ly engaged himfelf
in~former
times.
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