escaped from La Plata, in spite of the guards which had been set, to
watch the passes of the mountains. Alfonso de Toro, who acted as
lieutenant governor of Cuzco under Gonzalo Pizarro, happened at this
time to be a hundred leagues to the northward of that city, keeping
guard in one of the passes of the mountains, as by letters from Gonzalo
the viceroy was reported to have gone into the mountainous country, and
was supposed to have directed his march by that road toward the south of
Peru. On receiving notice of the late revolution at La Plata, De Toro
returned in all diligence to Cuzco, where he levied forces to oppose
Centeno; and, having assembled the magistrates and principal inhabitants
of Cuzco, he informed them of what had occurred at Las Charcas, and as
there was a sufficient force in Cuzco to suppress the royalists, he
thought it incumbent on him to march to La Plata for that purpose. To
gain them over to his purpose, he represented that Centeno had revolted
without any just cause, and had usurped authority in Las Charcas for his
own private ends, under pretence of serving the king; whereas Gonzalo
Pizarro, being actual governor of the kingdom of Peru, ought to be
obeyed as such till his majesty sent orders to the contrary. That the
revolt of Centeno, being both criminal in itself and contrary to the
law, every one was bound to resist him, and to punish his temerity. He
recalled to their remembrance, that Gonzalo Pizarro was engaged in
serving the general interest of the colonists, to procure the revocation
of the obnoxious ordinances, in which common cause he had exposed his
fortune and personal safety to every hazard, as it was well known that
every inhabitant of Peru would be stripped of his property if the
regulations were put in force. That besides the general advantage
procured by Gonzalo in setting aside the obnoxious regulations, for
which all were infinitely indebted to him, it was obvious that he had
not in any respect conducted himself contrary to the royal orders, and
had not in any manner set himself against the authority of the