Acosta removed from Upper Peru to Lima near the end of Toledo’s reign. The viceroy’s administration, through his prolific and generally wise legislative activity, contributed greatly to the orderly establishment of the viceroyalty, but by his unjust condemnation and execution of the Inca he incurred the displeasure of the king, and died in disgrace. Under Martín Enríquez (1581-1586) Toledo’s successor, was held the third ecclesiastical Council of Lima. At the last sitting Acosta delivered what has been characterized as “an elegant and learned oration”; he also wrote the history of the council. At this council he was theological adviser, and was appointed to edit the acts of the council. A little later Acosta went to Mexico, where after a short sojourn, covering the year 1586, he returned to Spain in 1587 taking with him for publication various manuscripts written by him during the fifteen years of his residence in America. He was in Madrid in 1588, and in this year he began the publication of the work on which his reputation as a writer chiefly rests, his _Historia natural y moral de las Indias_. The complete work under this title was, however, not published until 1590, the date of the Seville edition.[30] [Sidenote: _Historia natural y moral_] The first four books treat of the natural history of the Indies. Of these the first and second were written in Latin, while Acosta was in Peru, and were translated into Spanish by him after his return to Spain, where all the rest of the work was written. The fifth, sixth and seventh books contain what the author calls the moral history of the Indies, embracing such subjects as are involved in the organization and development of society. The numerous editions of this work indicate somewhat the strength of the early demand for information regarding America. Large numbers of persons were solicitous to know about the climate and its fitness for securing human health; the metals, plants, and animals; the rites and ceremonies of the inhabitants; the laws and government; and the wars with the Indians. The nature of the contents of the work suggested the designation of the author as the Pliny of the New World. After an extensive discussion of the views held by ancient writers, sacred and profane, concerning the geography and the natural phenomena of the Indies, Acosta touches on the project of cutting a canal across the Isthmus. He wrote: [Sidenote: Acosta on a Panama canal]