On receiving notice of all these events which had taken place in Cuzco, and that Holguin had marched from thence with his troops, Don Diego judged that Holguin would endeavour to form a junction with Alonzo de Alvarado who commanded in Chachapoyas, and would therefore proceed by the mountain road towards the north; he resolved therefore to march in such a direction as might enable him to intercept Holguin before his junction with Alonzo de Alvarado, but did not think it prudent to attempt this before the arrival of the force under Garcias de Alvarado, whom he had recalled from the originally concerted expedition against Alonzo de Alvarado[5].  While passing through Truxillo, levying men and providing arms and horses, Garcias proposed to have attacked Alonzo de Alvarado, but was resisted by the inhabitants of a town in the province of Chachapoyas named Levanto, and receiving his orders of recal from Don Diego he relinquished his design, and marched in all haste for Lima.  Immediately after the return of Garcias, Don Diego began his march against Holguin, with a force of 300 horse, 100 musqueteers, and 150 pikemen; but before his departure, he banished the children of the late marquis and of Gonzalo Pizarro from the country, and executed Antonio Picado, having previously put him to the torture to endeavour to extort confession from him as to any hidden treasure belonging to the marquis.

“As during the civil dissentions in Peru, all intercourse with Spain was suspended, the detail of the extraordinary transactions there between the marquis and the elder Almagro, already recounted, did not soon reach the court[6].  Unfortunately for the victorious faction, the first intelligence was brought thither by some of Almagro’s officers, who left the country on the ruin of their cause; and they related what had happened with every circumstance unfavourable to Pizarro and his brothers.  Their ambition, their breach of the most solemn engagements, their violence and cruelty, were painted with all the malignity and exaggeration of party hatred.  Ferdinand Pizarro, who arrived soon after, and appeared at court with great splendour, endeavoured to efface the impression which their accusations had made, and to justify his brother and himself by representing Almagro as the aggressor.  The emperor and his ministers, though they could not pronounce which of the contending factions was most criminal, clearly discerned the fatal tendency of their dissentions.  It was obvious, that while the leaders entrusted with the conduct of two infant colonies, employed the arms which should have been turned against the common enemy in destroying one another, all attention to the public good must cease, and there was reason to dread that the Indians might improve the advantage which the disunion of the Spaniards presented to them, and extirpate both the victors and the vanquished.  But the evil was more apparent than the remedy.  Where the information which had been received was so defective and suspicious, and the scene of action so remote, it was almost impossible to chalk out the line of conduct that ought to be followed; and before any plan that should be approved of in Spain could be carried into execution, the situation of the parties, and the circumstances of affairs, might alter so entirely as to render its effects extremely pernicious.”