How, when the death of the Marquis was known at Plata, they raised the banner of the King, and how the captain Pedro Anzures, and other residents there, set out to join Pero Alvarez Holguin.

AT the time of the death of the Marquis, the Captain Pedro Anzures was his lieutenant in the town of Plata. When he set out to penetrate into the country of the Chunchos, as already related, he received such important information respecting the Rio de la Plata and the many populous provinces on its banks that he desired to discover some way into them, which would not be too difficult, by crossing the Andes. From the time when the Marquis appointed him his Lieutenant, he amply showed his valour in his wars with the Indians, and his prudence in maintaining the peaceful relations they had promised to abide by, not consenting that any harm should be done to them. In the rich mines of Porco there were Spaniards who extracted a quantity of silver. Entertaining the desire 152I have mentioned, to discover that land and great river, Pedro Anzures had gone, with some people, as far as the country of the Juries, which is to the east, to ascertain the character of the country in that direction as a practicable route for penetrating further. In that year, Captain Garcilaso de la Vega and Luis Perdomo were alcaldes of the town of Plata, Pedro de Hinojosa and Diego López de Zuniga, Francisco de Almendras and Juan de Caravajal were regidores, and Antonio Alvarez was alguazil mayor. A man came to the town as a messenger from Gómez de Tordoya; for Sancho Perero, sent by Pero Alvarez, had not yet arrived. He told the alcaldes the news of the death of the Marquis. They all received it with the very greatest sorrow, and, although they would have liked to keep it secret until the return of Pedro Anzures, they could not do so, for it became known at once to all the inhabitants. They all felt grief that a Governor of the King, and a captain so old in the conquests of the Indies, should have been so barbarously murdered. There was a great excitement among them, for they did not know what course to pursue, nor whether Pedro Anzures would return from his expedition or not. The municipal officers assembled, and after having raised the banner for the king, they agreed to send a messenger to Pedro Anzures begging for his immediate return, as the tidings required it. They sent the news by one Marchena, who travelled quickly until he reached the place where Pedro Anzures was. The latter was deeply grieved, and returned quickly to the town, where several meetings of the municipality were held, but nothing was settled. For the regidores wanted to nominate that righteous cavalier Gonzalo ¹ de la Vega as captain, or else Diego de Rojas. But Pedro Anzures maintained that it was his place, because he had been Lieutenant there. At these meetings 153there were many bickerings, and Pedro Anzures had words with the alcalde Perdomo.