in the kingdom of Quito by Ruminagui, he accordingly marched there with his troops and formed a junction with Benalcazar, assuming the command of the combined forces, after which he reduced several districts and fortified stations of the natives.  But, as he did not find any gold in that country, which was by no means so rich as he thought he had reason to expect from report, he soon afterwards returned towards Cuzco, leaving the command in Quito to Benalcazar.

After the conquest of New Spain by the Marquis del Valle, he detached one of his captains named Don Pedro de Alvarado to a neighbouring country called Guatimala; which that officer accordingly reduced to subjection after much trouble and many dangers, and, as a reward of his services, was appointed to the government of that province by the king of Spain.  On receiving intelligence of the riches of the newly discovered empire of Peru, Alvarado solicited permission from the emperor Don Carlos to be permitted to undertake the conquest of some part of that country, beyond the bounds that had been granted to Pizarro, and received a patent to that effect.  Having received authority for this purpose, while he was making preparations for the expedition, he sent one of his officers, named Garcias Holguin, with two ships to examine the coast of Peru, and to gain some precise intelligence respecting its actual state.  From the report of Holgum respecting the immense quantities of gold which the governor Don Francisco Pizarro had found in that country, Alvarado was encouraged to proceed in his enterprize; flattering himself, that while Pizarro and his troops were occupied at Caxamarca, he might be able to acquire possession of Cuzco[28], which he considered as beyond the two hundred and fifty leagues which had been assigned as the extent of the government conferred upon Pizarro.  For the better execution of his design, and lest reinforcements might be sent from Nicaragua to Pizarro, he came by sea to that place one night, where he made himself master of two large ships which had been fitted out there expressly for the purpose of carrying a large reinforcement of men and horses to Peru.  In these two ships, and in those which he brought with him from Guatimala, Alvarado set sail with five hundred men, cavalry and infantry, and landed on the coast of South America at the harbour of Puerto Viejo.

From Puerto Viejo, Alvarado marched almost due east with his army, crossing those mountains which separate the plain country of Guayaquil from the table land of Quito, which the Spaniards call the Arcabucos, being thickly covered with brushwood, but over which the road is tolerably easy and only moderately steep, being almost under the equator.  In this march his men suffered extremely from hunger and thirst, as the country through which they went was very barren, and had neither springs nor rivulets.  The only relief they could procure was from certain large canes as thick as a mans leg, in each of the joints of which