In pursuance of this purpose, the viceroy and his suite
disembarked at Tumbez, about the middle of October, 1544. On
landing, he issued a manifesto setting forth the violent
proceedings of Gonzalo Pizarro and his followers, whom he
denounced as traitors to their prince, and he called on all true
subjects in the colony to support him in maintaining the royal
authority. The call was not unheeded; and volunteers came in,
though tardily, from San Miguel, Puerto Viejo, and other places
on the coast, cheering the heart of the viceroy with the
conviction that the sentiment of loyalty was not yet extinct in
the bosoms of the Spaniards.
But, while thus occupied, he received tidings of the arrival of
one of Pizarro's captains on the coast, with a force superior to
his own. Their number was exaggerated; but Blasco Nunez, without
waiting to ascertain the truth, abandoned his position at Tumbez,
and, with as much expedition as he could make across a wild and
mountainous country half-buried in snow, he marched to Quito.
But this capital, situated at the northern extremity of his
province, was not a favorable point for the rendezvous of his
followers; and, after prolonging his stay till he had received
assurance from Benalcazar, the loyal commander at Popayan, that
he would support him with all his strength in the coming
conflict, he made a rapid countermarch to the coast, and took up
his position at the town of San Miguel. This was a spot well
suited to his purposes, as lying on the great high road along the
shores of the Pacific, besides being the chief mart for
commercial intercourse with Panama and the north.
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