not be sent to die owing to having no mothers. These were ordered to pay a still larger sum. The authorities, appointed to enforce the new laws in Peru, were the Viceroy and four Judges of the Royal Court of Justice[6]. When the Judges arrived at Panama there were some entertainments, and it was reported that the Viceroy and the Judges were not on very good terms, and that, in secret, neither he treated them well, nor they him. Considering the severity of the new laws, and the difficulty of enforcing them in Peru, owing to the resistance of those in that kingdom, the Judges suggested to the Viceroy that an intention to enforce them should not be shown until they were in possession of Peru. When the Court was established there, it would be easier to enforce the orders of his Majesty. The Viceroy had received news of what was passing in Peru, of the great number of people in that kingdom, of the proceedings of the Governor Vaca de Castro, and that there were many charges for artillery and arquebuses and much gunpowder in the cities of Lima and Cuzco. He was strongly advised to enter Peru quietly and with consideration, for if he came in another way there would be a rebellion against him. For besides the arms and people actually in the country, more came every day, and are now coming. But the Viceroy, unmoved by these reports, replied that his single cloak and sword would suffice for all Peru. Many, hearing these boastings, foresaw what they must be prepared for. As the ordinances were so severe against men who had lived so freely as those in Peru, and so heavy for them, it was evident that they would take up arms, for it was their custom to contend in war for very slight causes. CHAPTER II _Of what other things happened at Panama, and what the Governor Rodrigo de Contreras and the Judges said to the Viceroy respecting the ordinances._ There was no less commotion in Tierra Firme than in Peru on hearing that the Viceroy intended to enforce the ordinances and to hold the kingdom under a rule of such right and justice that no one should live in licentiousness, as had hitherto been the case. Rodrigo de Contreras, who had been Governor of Nicaragua, was at that time in Panama. He saw that the Viceroy would not keep in his own bosom a single part of what he had been ordered to do: but on the contrary declared publicly, so that all might hear, affirming it with an oath, that he will not have landed at Tumbez before the Indians had been informed that they were vassals of the Emperor our Lord, and that the _Encomenderos_ had no authority over them except for the collection of tribute which the Indians were bound to pay: also that the ordinances would be enforced as the King had ordered.