The coming of Vaca de Castro as Judge was publicly known in Lima
through letters that had arrived from Spain; and the men of Chile
anxiously awaited the hour of his arrival, when they would seek for
justice respecting the putting to death of Don Diego de Almagro. They
were in very great need, and the Marquis did nothing to alleviate
their condition. There was an estate with some Indians which, it was
said, Domingo de la Presa had given or sold to Don Diego.[45] It
happened that Domingo de la Presa died at this time, and Francisco
Martín de Alcántara, brother of the Marquis, asked for the estate.
There were even some words about it, for the Bishop, as was said, also
had pretensions. Finally the Marquis took it away from Don Diego and
gave it to Francisco Martín. This was assuredly a great injustice,
and not in conformity with the position and claims of Don Diego,
having regard to his father's services to the King. As maize and other
supplies for Don Diego's house, where all the men of Chile boarded,
were obtained from this estate, they felt the want so much that it was
pitiful to hear what the lad Don Diego said, and how he complained of
the harshness with which the Marquis treated him. Juan de Herrada, who
had formerly been his father's servant, sought by every means for food
to sustain Don Diego and his followers, who had become very poor. It
is true that the Marquis, in order to make friends with some of them,
sent word to the captains Juan de Sayavedra, Cristóbal de Sotelo, and
Francisco de Chaves that he would give them Indian bondsmen whereby
they might live in comfort: but they scoffed at a promise of that
sort, saying that they would rather die of hunger than receive food at
the hands of the Marquis.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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