While the province of Panamá thus quietly passed into the hands of Hinojosa the partisans of the viceroy were not idle. Melchor Verdugo,[XV‑34] to whom as one of the conquerors of Peru had been assigned the province of Caxamalca, proffered his services to Vasco Nuñez Vela, on his first landing in Peru. Becoming afterward implicated in a plot devised by the royalist party to gain possession of Lima, he was arrested in that city by order of Gonzalo Pizarro. Escaping thence he proceeded to Trujillo, where he was fortunate enough to seize one of Bachicao's vessels, laden with the spoils of Panamá. With the proceeds of this capture, and with funds realized from his own estate, he enlisted a company in the service of the viceroy. He then sailed for Nicaragua and requested from the governor, as a loyal servant of the king, men and means to assist him in quelling the insurrection on the Isthmus. Failing to draw from him a hearty response he next applied to the audiencia of the Confines. With the magistrates of that tribunal he was more successful. Licentiate Ramirez de Alarcon, one of the members, took an active part in recruiting men and collecting arms and horses. In the mean time tidings of Verdugo's doings in Peru and Nicaragua and his intended expedition to the northern coast of Darien reached Panamá. Hinojosa, fearing that Verdugo might raise a force sufficient to cause him trouble, sent Juan Alonso Palomino with two vessels and one hundred and twenty arquebusiers in pursuit. Arriving at Nicaragua Palomino captured Verdugo's vessel without difficulty, but on attempting to land found himself confronted by all the available men in the province arrayed under the royalist banner, under the command of Verdugo and the licentiate. After hovering about the coast for several days, watching in vain for a chance to disembark, he seized all the ships on the coast, and burning those which were unserviceable, returned with the remainder to Panamá, not knowing that his design was suspected. Verdugo made ready on Lake Nicaragua three or four frigates, and with two hundred choice and well armed troops[XV‑35] sailed through the river San Juan to the North Sea, and creeping stealthily along the coast, hoped to surprise the rebels before his presence in that quarter became known. At the Rio Chagre he captured a vessel manned by negroes, from whom he obtained valuable information as to the condition of affairs at Nombre de Dios, the number of men stationed there, the names of their commanders, and a minute description of the building in which the officers were quartered.