nvariably
tended to pit one of her subordinate Powers against another in order to
avoid the acquirement of too much authority on the part of any special
person, it was only natural that the authority of the Viceroy, although
great, was not supreme even in his own dominion. There were matters
which had to be referred to the Court of Spain, but even in these the
importance of Lima remained in one sense unimpaired, for Lima then
became the mouthpiece of the Continent, and it was through her officials
that the case was presented for the deliberations which pursued their
leisurely course in Europe.

The palace of the Viceroy represented, naturally, one of the chief
buildings in the capital. Impressive as was the authority of this high
official, he was wont to live even his private life in great state. As a
rule he would set apart a short while in the morning and afternoon for
the personal reception of petitions. There were, of course, numerous
public functions in which it was his duty to take part. Thus, on the
arrival of any new laws or decrees from Spain, the Viceroy was
accustomed to proceed to the Council Hall, where these were delivered to
him. He would then salute the documents by kissing the King's signature
and by laying the paper on his head.

Many of these Viceroys were notably honourable men, who refrained from
taking a greater share than was necessary in the financial arrangements
of the New World. At the same time, the opportunities for
self-enrichment during the five years' tenure of office were quite
unusually numerous. Not a few of the occupants of this post took
advantage of these, and the extravagant manner of their subsequent life
in Spain upheld to the full the popular tales which were current
concerning the fabulous wealth of the Americas.

To go back to the early days of Peru, the inception of this colony, as
has been said, was attended by even more violent disturbances than those
common to its neighbours. We have already seen how, each the victim of
strenuous jealousies, Almagro was executed at the instance of Pizarro,
and how Pizarro himself a few years later was assassinated by the
adherents of the dead Almagro's party, who now succeeded in raising to
power his son, the younger Almagro.

This, however, by no means ended the era of catastrophe and chaos into
which the great but youthful colony of Peru was now plunged. Very
shortly after the death of Pizarro, Cristobal Vaca de Castro arrived in
Pe