He was of obscure parent age, and born, as it is said, at
Arevalo. For forty years he served in the Italian wars, under
the most illustrious captains of the day, Gonsalvo de Cordova,
Navarro, and the Colonnas. He was an ensign at the battle of
Ravenna; witnessed the capture of Francis the First at Pavia; and
followed the banner of the ill-starred Bourbon at the sack of
Rome. He got no gold for his share of the booty, on this
occasion, but simply the papers of a notary's office, which,
Carbajal shrewdly thought, would be worth gold to him. And so it
proved; for the notary was fain to redeem them at a price which
enabled the adventurer to cross the seas to Mexico, and seek his
fortune in the New World. On the insurrection of the Peruvians,
he was sent to the support of Francis Pizarro, and was rewarded
by that chief with a grant of land in Cuzco. Here he remained
for several years, busily employed in increasing his substance;
for the love of lucre was a ruling passion in his bosom. On the
arrival of Vaca de Castro, we find him doing good service under
the royal banner; and at the breaking out of the great rebellion
under Gonzalo Pizarro, he converted his property into gold, and
prepared to return to Castile. He seemed to have a presentiment
that to remain where he was would be fatal. But, although he
made every effort to leave Peru, he was unsuccessful, for the
viceroy had laid an embargo on the shipping. *7 He remained in
the country, therefore, and took service, as we have seen, though
reluctantly, under Pizarro.
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