There was such order in the government of the cities that,
although Aldana had been but a short time in charge,[15] it seemed
quite a different state of affairs from what had preceded it.
Being in the city of _Cali_, Pedro de Añasco went as captain and
lieutenant-governor at Timaná. Aldana charged him to treat the Indians
fairly, and not to allow the Spaniards shamelessly to rob, or seize
their lands, and to punish any one so offending with the utmost
rigour. He wrote to Juan de Ampudia at Popayán to the same effect.
After he had attended to these affairs, seeing that there were still
many men left in Cali, including veterans well versed in the service
of conquest, he resolved to form a settlement in the provinces of
_Anzerma_, which lie further west than the city of Cali, and border
on the very rich and forceful river of Santa Marta. They had been
discovered by the captain Sebastian de Belalcázar. And although Aldana
understood that much profit might result from such an expedition to
any captain who should undertake it, he cast avarice aside; for he
cared more about the good government of the territory entrusted to
him, and considered very carefully what captain he should send on
this enterprise. Though, among those who came from Cartagena, were
Melchor Suer de Nava, Alonso de Montemayor, the _Comendador_ Hernán
Rodríguez de Sosa, and other men of ability who might have performed
the service, Aldana did not see fit to give it to any of these who had
recently come from another government, and had not fought under any
banner in Peru. Among those present in the city of Cali there were few
who complied with that condition. He finally selected Jorge Robledo.
Certainly he did not err, for Robledo was such a man as would serve
the King well, and might well be employed on such a service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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