Up to this time Charles, occupied by the affairs of his vast empire at home, had paid but little attention to the welfare of the colonies. In general terms the Spanish government had set limits to the cruelty and oppression of the natives by the conquerors. The intentions of the sovereigns and their councils were from the beginning humane and praiseworthy as I have often observed. But as new issues were constantly growing out of these new conditions, and as very many of the royal decrees concerning the affairs of the Indies were impracticable and therefore inoperative, the conquerors were left in a measure to lay down their own rules of conduct according to their immediate necessities; or rather to act independent of all rule, being governed by the dictates of their judgment or interest. If success attended these lawless efforts, the misdeeds of these adventurers were obliterated by their gold. If unsuccessful, they usually fell victims to their cruelty or cupidity, and their bones were left to moulder in the wilderness; so that in the early history of the Spanish colonies it was only at rare intervals and in aggravated cases that any notice was taken of disobedience of the laws. To one crime, however—that of disloyalty—the Spanish monarchs were never insensible. So long as the prerogatives of the crown were strictly regarded, excesses were overlooked. The next most heinous offence was civil strife. Native Americans, a race midway between Castilians and brutes, might be slaughtered by the thousand upon slight cause;[XV‑10] but the lives of Spanish marauders were far too valuable to be given up to internecine strife.
In Peru, however, it was different. The passions of the populace had been roused by contending factions, and the license hitherto granted to the conquerors rendered them all the more impatient of restraint. Although the people were worse prepared for stringent measures than the more orderly colonists of Mexico, the person upon whom devolved the execution of the obnoxious laws lacked the wise and politic discrimination which governed the actions of Sandoval and Mendoza.
On the 4th of March 1544, Vasco Nuñez Vela landed at Tumbez on the Peruvian coast, and as the fame of his high-handed measures at Panamá had not preceded him, was accorded a loyal reception. His popularity was short-lived, for the viceroy immediately liberated a number of slaves and on his journey to Los Reyes would not even allow his baggage to be carried by Indians, or, if compelled to do so, he paid them liberally. Such conduct caused huge disgust throughout the province, but Nuñez was deaf to all remonstrance and even caused the arrest of some of the malecontents.