Penna was not conducted to camp till night, that he might have no opportunity of conversing with any one; and on being introduced to Gonzalo in his tent, he delivered to him a writing, containing the orders and instructions which the president had received from his majesty, the general amnesty granted by his majesty to all the colonists of Peru, and the revocation of the obnoxious regulations. He then expatiated, as instructed by Aldana, on the universal and great advantages which would accrue to all by giving a prompt and entire obedience to the commands of his majesty, who had not judged it convenient to continue Gonzalo in the government of Peru. That his majesty, being fully informed of all that had occurred in that country, had sent out De la Gasca as president, with instructions and full powers to provide a remedy for all the existing evils. Gonzalo proudly answered, that he would severely punish all who were on board the fleet, and would chastise the audacity of the president for the outrage he had committed in detaining his envoys and seizing his ships. He complained loudly against Aldana, for coming now against him as an enemy, after receiving his money, and accepting his commission to go into Spain on purpose to give an account of his conduct to the king.
After some farther discourse, all the officers belonging to Gonzalo left the tent, leaving him and Penna alone together. Gonzalo made him a long discourse, endeavouring to justify his conduct in regard to his past and present conduct; and concluded by making him an offer of 100,000 crowns, if he would contrive to put him in possession of the galleon commanded by Aldana, which composed the principal force of the hostile fleet. Penna rejected his proposal with disdain, declaring himself dishonoured by the offer, and that nothing whatever would induce him to be guilty of such treacherous conduct. At the conclusion of this conference, Penna was committed to the custody of Antonio de Ribeira, with strict injunctions that he should not be allowed to have the smallest intercourse with any individual whomsoever; and was sent back next day to the fleet, when Juan Fernandez returned to camp, having in the interval promised and resolved to use his utmost efforts in the service of his majesty on every favourable opportunity.
Aldana had rightly judged, that the surest means for succeeding in the mission on which he had been entrusted by the president, was to communicate the knowledge of the general pardon among the soldiers. For this purpose, therefore, he devised exceedingly proper measures to diffuse the intelligence among the troops, but which were at the same time exceedingly dangerous for Juan Hernandez. Aldana gave him copies of all his dispatches in duplicate, and entrusted him with letters for several principal persons in the camp of Gonzalo. Fernandez concealed such of these papers as he judged necessary in his boots, giving all the rest to Pizarro. Taking Gonzalo afterwards aside, he told him secretly that Aldana had endeavoured to prevail upon him to publish the royal pardon in the camp; and that accordingly he had thought it prudent to pretend compliance, and had taken charge of that general amnesty among his other dispatches, both to blind Aldana by the expectation of, doing what he wished, and on purpose to get these from him for the information of Gonzalo; pretending to be ignorant that Gonzalo knew of any such thing existing. Gonzalo thanked him for his prudent conduct, and considered him as a person worthy of entire confidence and much attached to the cause. He then received the papers which Fernandez offered, threatening the severest punishment against Aldana. Having thus craftily deceived Gonzalo, Fernandez contrived to deliver some of the letters he had in charge, and allowed some of them to fall on the ground, as if lost, yet so as they might be found by those to whom they were addressed.
When Gonzalo quitted Lima to encamp on the road towards the sea-port of Calao, he left Pedro Martin de Cicilia in charge of the city as provost-marshal. This man, who had attached himself to Gonzalo with much zeal from the very commencement of the troubles, was now about seventy years of age, yet healthy and vigorous, of a rough and cruel disposition, and entirely destitute of piety towards God or of loyalty to the sovereign. Gonzalo had given him orders to hang up every person he might find loitering in the city with out a written permission, or who might return thither from camp without a pass. Martin executed these rigorous orders with so much exactitude, that, meeting a person who came under the foregoing predicament, he had not sufficient patience to have him hanged, but dispatched him directly with his poignard. He generally went about the streets followed by the hangman, carrying a parcel of ropes, and loudly declared that he would hang up every one whom he found in the city without permission from Ganzalo.
One day several of the citizens came from the camp to the city, under the authority of a pass, to procure such provisions and other articles as they stood in need of, the principal persons among whom were Nicolas de Ribeira, who was alcalde or police judge of the city, Vasco de Guevara, Hernando Bravo de Lagunas, Francisco de Ampuero, Diego Tinoco, Alfonzo Ramirez de Sosa, Francisco de Barrionueva, Alfonzo de Barrionuevo, Martin de Menezes, Diego d'Escobar, and some others. After they had collected the articles of which they were in want, they left the city with their horses arms and servants; but, instead of returning towards the camp, they went off in the road for Truxillo. Being noticed by some spies, who gave immediate notice to Gonzalo, he caused them to be pursued by Juan de la Torre with a party of mounted musqueteers. At the distance of eight leagues from Lima, De la Torre came up with Vasco de Guevara and Francisco Ampuero, who had fallen behind with the intention of acting as a kind of rear guard, to give notice to the rest in case of a pursuit. They defended themselves courageously, and as their enemies could not take any certain aim, it being under night, they contrived to make their escape unwounded. De la Torre and his men found themselves unable to continue the pursuit with any chance of success, as their horses were already completely tired with their rapid march from camp. They returned, therefore, believing that, even if they were to get up with the fugitives, they would be unable to take them by force, as they were all men of quality, who would rather be slain than surrender. On their way back to camp, they fell in with Hernando Bravo, who had fallen behind his companions, and on bringing him a prisoner to Gonzalo he was ordered to immediate execution. Donna Ynez Bravo, who was sister to the prisoner and wife to Nicolas de Ribeira, one of the fugitives, on hearing the situation of her brother, hastened to the camp accompanied by her father, and threw herself at the feet of Gonzalo, whom she earnestly implored to spare the life of her brother. Being one of the most beautiful women of the country, and of the highest rank, and being seconded by most of the officers who served under Gonzalo, he at length allowed himself to be prevailed on to pardon her brother, who was the only person, during the whole subsistence of his usurpation, whom he forgave for a similar offence. On granting this pardon, Alfonzo de Caceres, one of the captains under Gonzalo, kissed his hand saying: "Illustrious prince! accursed be he who abandons you, or hesitates to sacrifice his life in your service." Yet, within three hours afterwards, Hernando Bravo and several others made their escape from the camp. Among these who now deserted were several persons of consideration who had attached themselves to Gonzalo from the very commencement of the troubles, so that their defection gave him infinite vexation and alarm, insomuch that hardly any one dared to speak to him, and he issued peremptory orders to put to death every person who might be found beyond the precincts of the camp.
On the same night, Captain Martin de Robles sent a message to Diego Maldonado, who had been alcalde of Cuzco, usually called the rich, intimating that Gonzalo had resolved in a consultation with his officers to put him to death. Maldonado very readily believed this information, as he had formerly been one of the inhabitants of Cuzco who made offer of their services to the late viceroy. Likewise, although then pardoned by Gonzalo, whom he accompanied in the march to Quito against the viceroy, he had fallen under new suspicions, and had even been put to the torture, on account of a letter which was dropt near Gonzalo, containing some very unpleasant truths; and although the real authors of that letter had been afterwards discovered, Maldonado could never forget the treatment he had suffered at that time. Besides this, he was the intimate friend of Antonio Altamirano, whom Gonzalo had recently put to death. Considering all these circumstances, Maldonado was so thoroughly convinced of the imminent danger in which he stood, that he immediately quitted his tent with only his sword and cloak, not even taking time to saddle a horse, though he had several good ones, or speaking to any of his servants. Though a very old man, he walked as fast as possible all night in a direction towards the sea, and concealed himself in the morning among some tall reeds near the shore about three leagues from where the ships of Aldana lay at anchor. As he was much afraid of being pursued, he revealed his situation to an Indian who happened to be near; and whom he prevailed upon to construct a float of reeds and straw, on which the Indian carried him on board one of the ships.