" Then, stripping
up his sleeve, the war-worn veteran bared his arm, or, exposing
his naked bosom, pointed to his scars, as the best title to his
estates. *15
[Footnote 15: Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Pedro de Valdivia, Ms.,
desde Los Reyes, 31 de Oct., 1538. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib.
5, cap. 1. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 10,
11.
Benalcazar, in a letter to Charles the Fifth, indulges in a
strain of invective against the ordinances, which, by stripping
the planters of their Indian slaves, must inevitably reduce the
country to beggary Benalcazar was a conqueror, and one of the
most respectable of his caste. His argument is a good specimen of
the reasoning of his party on this subject, and presents a
decided counterblast to that of Las Casas. Carta de Benalcazar
al Emperador, Ms., desde Cali. 20 de Diciembre, 1544.]
The governor, Vaca de Castro, watched the storm thus gathering
from all quarters, with the deepest concern. He was himself in
the very heart of disaffection; for Cuzco, tenanted by a mixed
and lawless population, was so far removed into the depths of the
mountains, that it had much less intercourse with the parent
country, and was consequently much less under her influence, than
the great towns on the coast. The people now invoked the
governor to protect them against the tyranny of the Court; but he
endeavoured to calm the agitation by representing, that by these
violent measures they would only defeat their own object.
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