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BooK
VII.
·Royal
Commentaries.
a Belly he cou ld not ride on a Gennet's Sadd le, which ha th a high Pommel before;
but as his occafion ferved be rode on a Mule, with a
addle low before, ufed for
racing ;
though his bulk was fo burthenfome
th~t
he
never engaged himfelf
in
exercifes of Aetivity. And though in the Wars againfi
GonpJ./o Pi farro
he had the
c~mmand
of a Troop of Horfe,
it
was given·
him
as
a
reward
for
being infiru–
mental in furrender of the Fleet unto the Prefidenr, and with it; after the War
was ended, he was farther gratified with
a
good allotment of Larids with vafial–
age of
Jndian.r
thereunto belonging, as we have before mentibned : then as to
his
humour and manners, he was che moft luxurious man in his diet, and the greateft
glutton that ever was known; he was very pleafant and facetious in his converfa–
tion ; he would tell fuch comical fiories, all of his own making, as were very de–
lightfu11;
and, for want of better company, he would put jefis and tricks upon
his
Pages, Lackeys and Slaves, and enterrain hirnfelf with laughing at them:
I
cauld here recount many of his Jells,
but
lee that of
his
Doublet
pafs
for
all,
it
not
being fit to intermix too many of thefe trivial matters with o'thets. of more fe–
rious
and weighty importance. His Houfe was near co my Father's,_ and there
was
fame kindred and alliance between them ;
for
the Mother ofmy Lady
Donna
Elena de
Fig11eroa,
was of the Houfe of
Feria,
fa
that there
was
great interconrfe
between
the
two Houfes, and they always called
me
Nephew: and afterwards
in
the year
1
)6z..
when we we1e at
Madrid,
and there occafionally difcourfing of the
death of chis
Don Pedro,
we repeated and called to mind many of chefe particu–
lars :
which
"'ill
ferve
co
<hew how improbable it was chat this
D()n
Pedro,
who
lived
in
all the plenty, eafe and profperity that his heart could defire, fhould tarn
Rebel, and engage in
the
defperate Caufe of
Hernandez Giron
;
for he for the
moft
of
the
year
lived in the Countrey with his
Jndian.r,
and half a dozen good fellows
with him, being merry without thoughts of State matter, or black defigns of Re–
bellion :
fo
that his whole delign of {ending rhefe meffengers was onely
co
be
truly informed ofall particulars relating to this Rebellion of
Hernandez,
how
ma–
ny, and who were the Citizens that were fled, and who were chafe who remai–
ned, and fided with the faetious parry.
For he and
his
Companions being refo}....
ved to go to
Lo.r
Rqe.r,
they thought
it
neceffary to inform rhemfelves of all things·
at
Co~co,
fo as to give
a
difiinet account and not
in
a confufed blind manner, both
on
the way and at
Lo.r
Re;Je1
when they arrived there: and to take off all fufpi–
cion from the meffengers which he fent to
Hern11nd~z,
he gave them Letters of
credence, that he might permit chem to return with the anfwer. Then as to
rbe
Road towards
Lo.r
Reyes,
Don Pedro
had well fecured
it;
for
Don Pedro's
place of
refidence,
was
feared fifteen leagues on the way from
Cozco
to
Lot
Ron,
the Ri–
ver
Apurimac
being between; of which when the Bridge was burnt,
it
cut off
all
paffige from the enemy: and thus
Don Pedro
and his Companions, having recei–
ved information of
all
they defired, travelled
fecurely
to
Los
Reyes,
and laughed
at the
Rebels.
.
The O rders given by
Hernande~
to
!ohn Piedrahita,
were to conduet the Gover–
nour
Gil
Ramire~
de
A valo.r
with fix Mufqueciers, not by the way of
Lima,
which
is Northward, but by the way of
Areq11epa,
which is
to
the South; with farther
lnftructions that when he had brought him at the difiance of forty leagues from
the City, that he fhould then leave him at liberty, and fuffer him to take his own
courfe and way as he pleafed: but this journey of
Piedr11hita
was not made with–
in
the time of the firfi eight or ten days after the lnfurrection, but forty days af–
terwards. And the caufe why the Governour was fent by the way of
Areq11efa,
a~d
not
~Y
the direct way, was to
~r?long
his journey to
Los
Reyei ,
arrd make
huT.1 to..
m1fs
the company of
t~ofe ~it1zens
who were going to
Rim11c.
By
all
which
1t
appears,
that
the relations given to
Diego
Hernande~
of thefe matters, were
as the vulgar fore report them to be, who always fpeak iyith variety> and as they
fanfie
an~
defire things to be; but what I have here faid,
1
know
w
be true,,
both havmg feen them, and heard them from
undoubted·
witneffes..
CHA P.
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