d'Escovedo, and Martin Monje; who, with all who went off on this occasion, were men of consideration and of much experience in the affairs of Peru. These men took immediately the road for Guamanga, and used such expedition that, though Acosta sent off sixty mounted musqueteers to pursue them, they made their escape in safety. Acosta caused immediate investigations to be made in regard to such as had participated in this plot, and ordered several persons to be hanged who were proved to have known its circumstances: some others in the same predicament he detained prisoners, and dissembled with the rest who had been implicated, pretending not to know that they had participated in the conspiracy: Yet, during his march towards Cuzco, he put to death several of those of whom he was suspicious, and others who endeavoured to desert. On his arrival at Cuzco, he displaced all the magistrates who had been appointed by Centeno, nominating others in their stead in whom he thought he could confide, and appointed Juan Velasquez de Tapia to take the chief direction of affairs in that city and province; and having regulated every thing to his mind, he resumed his march for Arequipa to join Gonzalo, according to his directions. In this latter part of his march, about thirty of his men deserted from him, by two or three at a time, all of whom went directly to Lima where they joined Lorenzo de Aldana. Besides these, when Acosta had got about ten leagues beyond Cuzco, Martin de Almandras abandoned him with twenty of the best soldiers of his small army, and returned to Cuzco, where he found a sufficient number of the inhabitants disposed to join him in returning to their duty, and in concurrence with whom he deposed the magistracy appointed by Acosta, one of whom he sent away prisoner to Lima, and established a new set in the name of his majesty. Finding that the number of his followers diminished from day to day, Acosta accelerated his march as much as possible, both for his own security and to serve the insurgent cause in which he was engaged. Out of three hundred well armed and excellently equipped men, with whom he had set out from Lima, only one hundred remained with him on his arrival at Arequipa. He found Gonzalo Pizarro at that place, with only about three hundred and fifty men, who a very short while before had a fine army of fifteen hundred, besides all those who were dispersed in different parts of Peru under various captains, all of whom were then under his orders. Gonzalo was now exceedingly irresolute as to his future proceedings; being too weak to wait the attack of the royalists, who continually augmented in their numbers, and yet deeming it dishonourable to fly or to endeavour to conceal himself.