telling the factor that evil spirits were seen flitting up and down the great squares of Tezcuco, which the Indians said, were the departed souls of Cortes and Doña Marina. But all these were of course infamous lies, merely invented to flatter the factor, or most likely he had promulgated them himself.
About this time Francisco de las Casas and Gil Gonsalez de Avila arrived in Mexico, the officers who, we saw in a former chapter, ordered Christobal de Oli to be decapitated at Naco. Las Casas, seeing the disordered state of the government, and that the factor had proclaimed himself governor of New Spain, publicly declared that the conduct which had been pursued was bad, and that nothing of all this ought to have been permitted, as Cortes was still alive. But even if he had perished, which God forbid, the government ought to have devolved upon a person of higher rank than the factor, a cavalier of distinction and merit; for instance, on Pedro de Alvarado, whom, he maintained, ought to be called to take the government into his hands. The latter's brother, indeed, and even the treasurer, besides several other of the inhabitants of Mexico, actually wrote to that officer, requesting him to march, without delay, to this town, at the head of as large a body of troops as he could possibly get together, and they would assist him in getting him proclaimed governor, until some certainty was obtained respecting the fate of Cortes, and his majesty's pleasure was known as to whom his successor should be. In consequence of this letter, Alvarado set out on his march to Mexico, but on the road he changed his mind and returned to his province, when he heard that the factor threatened to put him to death, and had already hung Rodrigo de Paz, and cast the licentiate Zuazo into prison.
The factor had, shortly beforehand, scraped together as much gold as he possibly could, which he intended forwarding, with secret despatches, to his majesty in Spain, through his most confidential friend, a certain Pennas. This was opposed by Las Casas, the licentiate Zuazo, Rodrigo de