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If they shed tears before thy throne, it is that thou mayest 

 send them hither to govern provinces. Dost thou know 

 what sort of life they lead here ? given up to luxury, ac- 

 quiring possessions, selling the sacraments, being at once 

 ambitious, violent, and gluttons ; such h the life they lead in 

 America. The faith of the Indians suffers by such bad ex- 

 amples. If thou dost not change all this, O king of Spain, 

 thy government will not be stable. 



<e What a misfortune, that the Emperor, thy father, has 

 conquered Germany at such a price, and has spent on that 

 conquest the money, that we procured for him in these very 

 Indies ! In the year 1559, the Marquis of Canete sent to 

 the Amazons Pedro de Ursua, a Navarrese, or rather a 

 Frenchman : we sailed on the largest rivers of Peru, till we 

 came to a gulf of fresh water. We had already gone three 

 hundred leagues, when we killed that bad and ambitious 

 captain. We chose a cavallero of Seville, Fernand de Guz- 

 man, for king : and we swore fealty to him, as is done to 

 thyself. I was named quarter-master general : and because 

 I did not consent to all his will, he wanted to kill me. 

 But I killed this new king, the captain of his guards, his 

 lieutenant-general, his chaplain, a woman, a knight of the 

 order of Rhodes, two ensigns, and five or six domestics of 

 the pretended king. I then resolved to punish thy ministers, 

 and thy auditors (counsellors of the audiencia). I named 

 captains and sergants : these again wanted to kill me, but 

 I had them all hanged. In the midst of these adventures, 

 we navigated eleven months, till we reached the mouth of 

 the river. We sailed more than 1500 leagues. God knows 

 how we got through that great mass of water. I advise 

 thee, O great king, never to send Spanish fleets into that 

 cursed river. God preserve thee in his holy keeping/' 



This letter was given by Aguirre to the vicar of the 

 island of Margaretta, Pedro de Contrera&j in order to be 

 transmitted to king Philip II. Fray Pedro Simon, pro- 

 vincial of the order of St. Francis in New Grenada, saw 



s2 



