of foot; and Gonzalo Diaz de Pignera captain of musqueteers.  Vela Nunnez, his own brother, was made captain-general of the troops.  Diego de Urbina maestre de campo, or major general, and Juan de Aguire serjeant-major, or adjutant general.  Without including the citizens, his army amounted to 600 men; of whom 100 were cavalry, 200 musqueteers, and the remaining 300 armed with pikes.  On purpose to arm these soldiers, he caused a considerable number of musquets to be made, some of which were of iron, and others of cast metal, which he procured by melting down some of the bells belonging to the great church.

Besides frequently exercising his troops to perfect them in their discipline, he occasionally caused false alarms to be given that he might ascertain their disposition towards him, as it was much suspected that the majority were by no means hearty in the cause.  Having some suspicion of Vaca de Castro, the former governor, whom he had lately allowed to be a prisoner at large on parole not to leave the city, and believing that he had some secret intelligence with his former friends and dependents, the viceroy ordered a false alarm one day about noon, reporting that Gonzalo was near at hand; and when the troops were all assembled in the great square, he sent his brother-in-law, Diego Alvarez de Cueto to arrest Vaca de Castro.  At the same time he arrested Don Pedro de Cabrera, Hernan Mexia de Gusman, Lorenco de Aldana, Melchior Ramirez, and Baltazar Ramirez his brother-in-law, all of whom he sent prisoners on board a ship comanded by Jeronimo de Zurbano.  A few days afterwards, he set Lorenco de Aldana at liberty, and sent off Cabrera and Mexia to Panama, and the two Ramirez to Nicaragua.  Vaca de Castro remained prisoner in the ship, neither he nor any of the rest being informed of what they were accused, nor were any informations or law-processes made respecting them.  While these civil discords were going on, two ships loaded with merchandise arrived at the port belonging to Arequipa[5], both of which were purchased by Gonzalo Pizarro, with the intention of employing them to transport his artillery, and for getting possession of the harbour of Lima, and seizing the ships belonging to the viceroy, believing that whoever was master of the sea along the coast of Peru must command the country, by having it in his power to land in any unguarded place and to do all the mischief he pleased, on account of the prodigious extent of coast.  By commanding at sea, he would likewise have been enabled to procure arms and horses from the vessels which are in use to bring these to Peru, and would have it in his power to stop all vessels coming there from Spain with merchandise or other supplies.  On learning that Gonzalo had purchased these two vessels, and the purpose for which he destined them, the viceroy was a good deal distressed, fearing they might occasion considerable detriment to his affairs, as he had no means of opposing two ships so well provided with artillery; yet he took the best