WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES— VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 415 



if that was not true, they could kill them ; and so Juan Alonso de la 

 Bandera put them in a bohio, which means house, and told them 

 to look out and see if what they said was true, for they had kept 

 saying it up to arriving here ; and the interpreters said that if it 

 was not true, they could kill them. But as soon as Lope de Aguirre 

 knew that they were discussing exploration, he killed the interpreters, 

 and arranged to suppress the expeditionary pay we drew under Gen, 

 Pedro de Ursua ; in fact, if anyone talked about exploring, the rebel 

 tyrant murdered him, without any additional cause. 



1208. And so another route was discovered which would be shorter 

 to the sea ; immediately after 4 days of navigation, we came on a 

 settlement which extended more than 3 leagues, with the houses 

 touching one another. It was occasionally inundated when the river 

 came down in flood, covering the country for 200 leagues and over ; 

 against that season they had other houses built in the trees like 

 magpies, with everything they needed to be able to live there while 

 the river is in flood; when it rains in Peru it drowns the country 

 for over 200 leagues, the land being level. The people were naked ; 

 there was much food in this settlement, with abundance of cassava, 

 corn, guamotes or sweet potatoes, yams, and other root crops in 

 abundance, and much fruit. Since there were plenty of people and 

 of logs in this settlement, they finished building the brigantines for 

 the voyage to the sea; and 15 days before they were finished. Lope 

 de Aguirre with eight Basque companions of his, plotted to murder 

 Lorenzo de Salduendo, Don Hernando de Guzman's Captain of the 

 Guard, on the pretext that he was heading a movement against Don 

 Hernando de Guzman — an idea that had never entered his head. 

 And so the rebel Lope de Aguirre left his cabin where he lodged, 

 with his eight fellow conspirators, saying "Gentlemen and soldiers, 

 let him who wants to follow me, come along, for there is a great 

 evil brewing in the camp ; they want to kill our leader." And so the 

 soldiers went along after their tyrannical Militia Captain, and as soon 

 as they were near the lodgings of Don Hernando de Guzman and 

 his captains, the Sergeant Major stepped forward, a Basque by the 

 name of Martin Perez de Arraudi, and said "Long live Don Fernando 

 de Guzman, and death to traitors." And at the noise Don Fernando 

 de Guzman came out of his cabin with his captains to see the Militia 

 Captain and find out what he wanted or what the uproar was about ; 

 and Lorenzo de Salduendo came out with him, as his Captain of the 

 Guard ; and at 8 paces' distance from this Lope de Aguirre and Don 

 Fernando de Guzman and Lorenzo de Salduendo, Captain of the 

 Guard, the Sergeant Major threw the dagger he was holding in his 



