Whilst these events occurred in Mexico, Pizarro had subjugated Peru, and added it to the Spanish crown. But there, as in Mexico, an able man was needed to organize the fragmentary society which was in the utmost disorder after the conquest. No one appeared to the Emperor better fitted for the task than the viceroy whose administration had been so successful in Mexico. Accordingly, in 1550, the viceroyalty of Peru was offered to him, and its acceptance urged by the Emperor at a moment when a revolt against the Spaniards occurred among the Zapotecas, instigated by their old men and chiefs, who, availing themselves of an ancient prophecy relative to the return of QUETZALCOATL, assured the youths and warriors of their tribe that the predicted period had arrived and that, under the protection of their restored deity, their chains would be broken. In this, as in all other endeavors to preserve order, the efforts of Mendoza were successful. He appeased the Indians, accepted the proffered task of governing Peru; and, after meeting and conferring with his successor, Velasco, in Cholula, departed from Mexico for the scene of his new labors on the distant shores of the Pacific. [Footnote 31: Herrera Decade vii., lib. vi., chap. v.] CHAPTER III. 1551-1564. VELASCO ENDEAVORS TO AMELIORATE THE CONDITION OF THE INDIANS.--UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO ESTABLISHED--INUNDATION.--MILITARY COLONIZATION--PHILIP II.--FLORIDA.--INTRIGUES AGAINST VELASCO--PHILIPINE ISLES.--DEATH OF VELASCO--MARQUES DE FALCES.--BAPTISM OF THE GRAND CHILDREN OF CORTÉZ.--CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE MARQUES DEL VALLE--HIS ARREST--EXECUTION OF HIS FRIENDS.--MARQUES DE FALCES--CHARGES AGAINST HIM--HIS FALL.--ERRORS OF PHILIP II.--FALL OF MUÑOZ AND HIS RETURN.--VINDICATION OF THE VICEROY. DON LUIS DE VELASCO, II. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1551-1564. The new viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, arrived in Mexico without especial orders changing the character of the government. He was selected by the Emperor as a person deemed eminently fitted to sustain the judicious policy of his predecessor; and it is probable that he had secret commands from the court to attempt once more the amelioration of the Indian population. There is no doubt that Charles the Fifth was sincere in his wish to protect the natives; and, if he yielded at all,--as we have seen in the narrative of the last viceroyalty,--to the demands of the owners of _repartimientos_, it was probably with the hope that a better opportunity of sustaining his humane desires would occur as soon as the conquerors or their followers, were glutted by the rich harvests they might reap during the early years of the settlement.