How they discovered great deposits of gold in the river Caravaya, how Vaca de Castro ordered all the old tambos and lodgings¹ to be occupied, and of the departure of Pedro Anzures and Francisco Becerra for Spain.

VERY great things happened in the Realm at this time; and notwithstanding the constant wars, the people who lived in it appeared very contented² and seemed to take fresh heart, at all points. And it pleased God, in appreciation³ of the Christian⁴ zeal⁵ of the Emperor Don Carlos, our lord, that great kingdoms and provinces should be discovered during his reign⁶, full of rivers and hills, the richest in metals of gold and silver that have ever been seen. Although the sins of the men who live out here are many, their Catholic aspirations⁷ and eagerness to make war on the infidels in support of the great expense and disbursements involved, led them on in these enterprises. So it was that in this year the richest of all the gold mines in this country were found at a river called Caravaya—of which I do not treat here, because I have told about it in my "Book of Foundations." The gold that was extracted was of perfectly⁸ pure quality, and there were many instances of 500 and 1,000 pesos being taken from one trough. Altogether they got from this river more than 1,300,000 pesos' worth. As the treasure was so great, so also the labour was not less. It employed many gangs of Indians and, the climate being very different from that of Peru, a great number of them died. From these natives Vaca de Castro got lavish⁹ supplies of gold; and, retaining the coca profits as he did for himself alone, he realized further large sums of money to meet the

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