In this emergency the Viceroy was recommended by his chief officer to try the effect of negotiation; but his haughty Castilian spirit rebelled at the notion of parleying with traitors. Calling his troops together, he addressed to them a few courageous words before he led them forth to fight on behalf of his king. The battle which ensued, as might be expected, when both sides had staked their all on the issue, was a desperate one. The cavalry, which was equally matched on either side, met in deadly shock, and when their lances were shivered the cavaliers fought with axe and sword. But the Viceroy’s horses, worn out by the march of the previous night, were unequal to the work, and the victory was not long in suspense. Blasco Nuñez and his followers, however, did all that brave men could do, until he was at length overwhelmed by numbers. His companions having fallen one by one, and he being wounded, the stroke of a battle-axe caused him to fall from his horse. He was then pointed out to the brother of Carbajal, the cavalier whom in a fit of passion he had so rashly struck with his poniard at _Lima_. In this unhappy situation the proud Viceroy’s career terminated by a stroke from the sabre of a negro slave. Thus ended the decisive day, and Gonzalo Pizarro was for the time being master of _Peru_. This victory on the part of the colonists over the crown was looked upon as finally sealing the fate of the obnoxious ordinances, and was the cause of great joy throughout the country. Pizarro, for a time, rested in _Quito_, where he and his followers enjoyed the excesses which in those times usually succeeded excessive military privations and fatigues. But Gonzalo was no longer merely a victorious soldier. Upon him now rested the cares of state, for which, unfortunately, he was fitted neither by education nor by natural powers. He rewarded his followers by grants of land, and made various provisions for the welfare of the natives; but he does not seem to have entertained the idea of establishing an independent authority, since he was careful to collect the dues belonging to the crown. Indeed he urged upon the colonists so to conduct themselves as by their behaviour to bring about a revocation of the hated ordinances. In July 1546 he left _Quito_ for the south, and was everywhere received with enthusiasm. At _Lima_ he was met in triumph, the archbishop, with three other bishops of that place, riding by his side; while to crown his good fortune, he at the same time received the intelligence of the success of his arms in the south. From _Quito_ to _Chili_ his authority was undisputed, while the mines of _Potosí_ supplied him with a kingly revenue. Had he been a man of as much force of character as a politician as he had proved himself to be as a military leader, he was now in a position to have founded a dynasty of Pizarros in _Peru_. Every Spanish soldier throughout the land obeyed him; the colonists looked on him as their champion; whilst he was no