Ecuador -- History -- To 1809; Peru -- History -- 1548-1820; Peru -- History -- Conquest, 1522-1548; Pizarro, Gonzalo, -1548
I arrived in this kingdom, province of Peru, without waiting for the
bulls, as your Majesty ordered, for by the provisions in my possession
your Majesty orders me to occupy myself with the good treatment and
conversion of the Indians, and in teaching them our holy catholic faith,
bringing those who are warlike into the paths of peace. With this end
and object I ventured to accept this office. It appears to me that I
shall have great opportunities of usefulness, if the unsettled state of
the land gives me a chance. As a servant of your Majesty I am bound to
tell your Majesty the truth, without affection or passion, touching all
that has been passing, and that I have seen in this land, from my
landing until I reached the city of Lima, that your Majesty may apply
the remedy that is needed, for the necessity is great.
I landed at Tumbez, which is a port in this land of Peru, 200 leagues
from this city of Lima, arriving the last of the officials of your
Majesty for I met with many hindrances, especially in the South Sea. As
I came last, I had occasion to see all that had taken place along the
road. As the Viceroy is such a zealous and fervent servant of your
Majesty, as soon as he jumped on shore in this port of Tumbez, he put in
force the ordinances and new laws which your Majesty gave for these
kingdoms. Presently he gave freedom to all the Indians held to service
by the Spaniards in Tumbez, telling them that, being free, they could go
where they chose and act for themselves freely and according to their
wishes. As regards all other provisions in the ordinances, the Viceroy
went on executing them in accordance with your Majesty’s orders. With
this liberty given to the Indians, I saw that those who had been taught
our holy catholic faith and knew it, and were baptized Christians,
having returned to their chiefs and their homes as before, also went
back to their old rites and customs. Of this all the land is a witness.
I also saw that in the houses of Christians and in the _tambos_ on the
roads, where the Christian doctrine used to be taught every night, now
there is no such custom because there is no one to teach, all having
gone to their chiefs and their homes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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