ABSTRACT
HAVING made the arrangements just described, Vaca de Castro, by virtue of the commission he brought as Governor, ordered a general repartimiento to be made of all the encomiendas that were vacant, taking care not to forget himself nor those he took to be his friends, for to himself and them he allotted the best and greater portion. Either to justify the course he took, or to become acquainted with everything down to the roots, he ordered four of the old conquistadores to inform him, under a solemn oath, of the services rendered by every one who had been in the Realm from the beginning. This being done, he allotted all the natives of the provinces among them, and issued titles to the encomenderos; requiring them, however, in the name of our lord the King, to use them fairly, and to instruct the bondsmen in the affairs of our sacred religion; and he gave orders that all the villages and towns in the Realm should be visited. As many captains might be leaving Peru, to undertake conquests, Vaca de Castro ordered that they might take just a moderate number of Indians for their service; for it would not be a fair thing to still further deplete provinces which were nearly depopulated owing to the calamities of the late wars. If any soldier tried to deviate from this order he was to be punished. This order of Vaca de Castro was certainly very beneficial, for there had been great irregularities in the past.
