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GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA THE ELDER

government of Guatemala. On hearing of the riches of Peru, Alvarado sailed with a large fleet from Nicaragua, and landed in the bay of Carangues in May 1534. Garcilasso de la Vega was with him, and shared all the terrible hardships and sufferings of the subsequent march to Riobamba. After the convention with Almagro, and the dispersal of Alvarado's forces, Garcilasso was sent to complete the conquest of the country round Buenaventura. He and his small band of followers forced their way through dense forests, enduring almost incredible hardships. He next went to Lima, and marched thence for the relief of Cuzco, which was surrounded by a native army under the Inca Manco. He returned to Lima after the siege, and was an officer under another Alvarado, when he was sent by Pizarro to dislodge Almagro from Cuzco. Defeated in the battle of Abancay, Garcilasso suffered a long imprisonment until the final overthrow of Almagro in April 1538. Afterwards he accompanied Gonzalo Pizarro in his conquest of Charcas, and received a grant of land near Cochabamba. He then became a citizen of Cuzco, and married the Princess Isabel Yupanqui Ñusta, formerly called Chimpa Ocllo. A contemporary portrait depicts a delicate-looking girl with large, gentle eyes and slightly aquiline nose, long black tresses hanging over her shoulders, and a richly ornamented woollen mantle secured in front by a large golden pin. Their house was at the north-west angle of the Cusi-pata, or that part of the great square which