ely the road for Guamanga, and
used such expedition that, though Acosta sent off sixty mounted
musqueteers to pursue them, they made their escape in safety.

Acosta caused immediate investigations to be made in regard to such as
had participated in this plot, and ordered several persons to be hanged
who were proved to have known its circumstances: some others in the same
predicament he detained prisoners, and dissembled with the rest who had
been implicated, pretending not to know that they had participated in
the conspiracy: Yet, during his march towards Cuzco, he put to death
several of those of whom he was suspicious, and others who endeavoured
to desert. On his arrival at Cuzco, he displaced all the magistrates who
had been appointed by Centeno, nominating others in their stead in whom
he thought he could confide, and appointed Juan Velasquez de Tapia to
take the chief direction of affairs in that city and province; and
having regulated every thing to his mind, he resumed his march for
Arequipa to join Gonzalo, according to his directions. In this latter
part of his march, about thirty of his men deserted from him, by two or
three at a time, all of whom went directly to Lima where they joined
Lorenzo de Aldana. Besides these, when Acosta had got about ten leagues
beyond Cuzco, Martin de Almandras abandoned him with twenty of the best
soldiers of his small army, and returned to Cuzco, where he found a
sufficient number of the inhabitants disposed to join him in returning
to their duty, and in concurrence with whom he deposed the magistracy
appointed by Acosta, one of whom he sent away prisoner to Lima, and
established a new set in the name of his majesty. Finding that the
number of his followers diminished from day to day, Acosta accelerated
his march as much as possible, both for his own security and to serve
the insurgent cause in which he was engaged. Out of three hundred well
armed and excellently equipped men, with whom he had set out from Lima,
only one hundred remained with him on his arrival at Arequipa. He found
Gonzalo Pizarro at that place, with only about three hundred and fifty
men, who a very short while before had a fine army of fifteen hundred,
besides all those who were dispersed in different parts of Peru under
various captains, all of whom were then under his orders. Gonzalo was
now exceedingly irresolute as to his future proceedings; being too weak
to wait the attack of the royalists, who continual