Notwithstanding the great value of Sarmiento's work for the
information it affords of Peru under the Incas, it is but little
known, has been rarely consulted by historians, and still remains
among the unpublished manuscripts which lie, like uncoined
bullion, in the secret chambers of the Escurial.
The other authority to whom I have alluded, the Licentiate Polo
de Ondegardo, was a highly respectable jurist, whose name appears
frequently in the affairs of Peru. I find no account of the
period when he first came into the country. But he was there on
the arrival of Gasca, and resided at Lima under the usurpation of
Gonzalo Pizarro. When the artful Cepeda endeavoured to secure
the signatures of the inhabitants to the instrument proclaiming
the sovereignty of his chief, we find Ondegardo taking the lead
among those of his profession in resisting it. On Gasca's
arrival, he consented to take a commission in his army. At the
close of the rebellion he was made corregidor of La Plata, and
subsequently of Cuzco, in which honorable station he seems to
have remained several years. In the exercise of his magisterial
functions, he was brought into familiar intercourse with the
natives, and had ample opportunity for studying their laws and
ancient customs. He conducted himself with such prudence and
moderation, that he seems to have won the confidence not only of
his countrymen but of the Indians; while the administration was
careful to profit by his large experience in devising measures
for the better government of the colony.
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