to make a conquest of the country of the Amazons on the river Marannon,
being the same country in which Orellana deserted Gonzalo Pizarro, as
formerly related. Orsua went to Quito to raise soldiers, and to provide
arms and provisions, in which he was greatly assisted by contributions
from the citizens of Cuzco, Quito and other cities of Peru. Orsua set
out accordingly on his expedition, with a well appointed force of five
hundred men, a considerable proportion of which was cavalry. But he was
slain by his own men, at the instigation of Don Fernando de Guzman and
some others, who set up Don Fernando as their king, yet put him to death
shortly afterwards. Lope de Aguira then assumed the command, but the
whole plan of conquest fell to the ground, and Aguira and far the
greater part of the men engaged in this expedition were slain.

SECTION VI.

_Incidents in the History of Peru, during the successive Governments of
the Conde de Nieva, Lope Garcia de Castro, and Don Francisco de Toledo._

On the death of Don Diego de Azevedo, Don Diego de Zuniga by Velasco,
Conde de Nieva, was appointed to supersede the Marquis of Cannete as
viceroy of Peru, and departing from Spain to assume his new office in
January 1560, he arrived at Payta in Peru in the month of April
following. He immediately dispatched a letter to the marquis informing
him of his arrival in the kingdom as viceroy, and requiring the marquis
to desist from any farther exercise of authority. On the arrival of the
messenger at Lima, the marquis ordered him to be honourably entertained,
and to receive a handsome gratification, to the value of 7000 dollars;
but he forfeited all these advantages, by refusing to address the
ex-viceroy by the title of excellency. This slight, which had been
directed by the new viceroy, so pressed on the spirits of the marquis,
already much reduced by the infirmities of age and the ravages of a
mortal distemper, that he fell into a deep melancholy, and ended his
days before the arrival of his successor at Lima.

The Conde de Nieva did not long enjoy the happiness he expected in his
government, and he came by his death not many months afterwards by means
of a strange accident, of which he was himself the cause; but as it was
of a scandalous nature I do not chuse to relate the particulars. On
receiving notice of his death, King Philip II. was pleased to appoint
the lawyer Lope Garcia de Castro, who was then president of the royal
council