had nothing to fear from the attempts of his
enemies, and that even the king would be obliged to grant him any terms
he might require. All his officers soldiers and dependents obeyed and
respected him entirely, as if satisfied that they were always to be
subject to his authority, and to depend upon him alone for advancement
and reward. In the exercise of his usurped authority, he made many
grants or repartitions of lands and Indians, all of them for long
periods, which every one considered as secure of being continued. He and
his principal officers pretended that they frequently received letters
from some of the highest of the nobles in Spain, praising his conduct
and approving of every thing he had done, which these pretended letters
justified on account of the infringements which had been made on the
rights and privileges of the colonists. In these letters likewise, the
pretended Spanish grandees were made to engage their favour and credit
at court to support his interest and authority with the sovereign. The
well informed among the followers of Gonzalo Pizarro saw clearly that
these letters were mere fabrications to impose upon the vulgar, and had
no foundation whatever in truth.

On his arrival at the city of San Miguel, Gonzalo learned that there
were a considerable number of Indians in that neighbourhood who had not
been reduced under subjection; for which reason he gave orders to
establish a military post in the province of _Garrochamba[28]_, the
command of which he conferred on Captain Mercadillo, with a force of an
hundred and thirty men, and gave him instructions for completing the
conquest of that district, and for dividing the lands and Indians into
repartitions like the rest of the country. At this time likewise, he
detached Captain Porcel with sixty soldiers to complete the conquest of
the Bracamoros. In these proceedings, he wished it to be believed that
his sole object was for the advantage of the colony; but his real
purpose was to keep his troops on foot and in employ, in case of needing
them at a future period for his own defence in support of his
usurpation. Before leaving Quito, Gonzalo sent off the licentiate
Carvajal by sea with a party of soldiers, in the ships which Juan Alonzo
Palomino had brought from Nicaragua after his pursuit of Verdugo.
Carvajal was ordered to proceed along the coast towards Lima, and to
settle all the maritime towns in his way in good order.

[Footnote 28: No such provin