Pedro Anzures having arrived, and the captains having been appointed, it was found that the force numbered 300 men--including mounted pikemen, arquebusiers, and musketeers. News had come that his Majesty had appointed the licentiate Vaca de Castro to be Judge, and that he had actually arrived at Buenaventura, and must by now be at Quito. So leaving a sufficient force behind to uphold Justice in the King's name, it was decided to set out from Cuzco with the intention of giving battle to Almagro and his followers if they should cross their path; while, if not, they would march on until they could join Vaca de Castro wherever they might meet him. They began the march to Guamanga in good order, always throwing out scouts to reconnoitre in case there should be signs of an enemy's approach. Were one ordered to enumerate the great evils, injuries, robberies, oppression and ill-treatment inflicted on the natives during these operations, without exaggeration, there would never be an end of it, for they took no more thought about killing Indians than as if they were useless beasts, nor stopped to consider that Christ, our God, was placed on the Cross for them as well as for us. If the captains wished to place some check on such great evils they were powerless to do so; for in past disturbances and civil wars soldiers have always held to robbery and profit. If a remedy was attempted they mutinied, and passed over from one camp to the other; or they stayed away in the villages, if they were not allowed to follow their own devices. In very truth we may in some measure acquit them of blame, for the country is so rough and so devoid of beasts of burden that many must travel afoot, through having nothing to ride. There are also uninhabited wilds where it is necessary, owing to the great cold, to carry tents and means of subsistence, so that where it is done with moderation, I would not condemn the employment of Indian carriers. But since my readers know what I can vouch for, I do not wish to say more on this subject than that if a man had need of one pig he killed twenty, if four Indians were wanted he took a dozen. To speak quite plainly, there were many who made the poor Indians carry their public women in hammocks borne on their shoulders.