And, to check still further these disorderly
movements, he ordered his alcaldes to arrest every man guilty of
seditious language, and bring him at once to punishment. By this
firm yet temperate conduct the minds of the populace were
overawed, and there was a temporary lull in the troubled waters,
while all looked anxiously for the coming of the viceroy. *16
[Footnote 16: Ibid., ubi supra. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, ubi
supra. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Gonzalo
Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales Ms., ano 1543.]
The person selected for this critical post was a knight of Avila,
named Blasco Nunez Vela. He was a cavalier of ancient family,
handsome in person, though now somewhat advanced in years, and
reputed brave and devout. He had filled some offices of
responsibility to the satisfaction of Charles the Fifth, by whom
he was now appointed to this post in Peru. The selection did no
credit to the monarch's discernment.
It may seem strange that this important place should not have
been bestowed on Vaca de Castro, already on the spot, and who had
shown himself so well qualified to fill it. But ever since that
officer's mission to Peru, there had been a series of
assassinations, insurrections, and civil wars, that menaced the
wretched colony with ruin; and though his wise administration had
now brought things into order, the communication with the Indies
was so tardy, that the results of his policy were not yet fully
disclosed.
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