Both Were Exceedingly Kind To Their Servants And Dependents, Whom On All
Occasions They Delighted To Enrich And Advance, And To Rescue From Dangers.
In This Last Particular The Marquis Carried His Attentions Even To Excess,
As Appears By The Following Instance.
In passing a river called the
Baranca, one of his Indian servants, of the Yanaconas tribe, was carried
away
By the strength of the current, on which the marquis plunged into the
stream and swam after him, catching him by the hair, and saved him at the
imminent hazard of his own life, in so rapid a current that the bravest
and most vigorous man in his army durst hardly have made the attempt. When
his officers blamed him for his rashness in thus exposing his life, he
answered that none of them knew how to value a faithful servant. The
marquis enjoyed the authority of governor much longer in tranquillity than
Almagro; who, though he hardly enjoyed that authority at all, was more
ambitious, and evinced a more ardent desire of exercising command. Both
affected simplicity in dress, keeping to the same fashion in their old age
which they had been accustomed to in their youth. In particular, the
marquis used ordinarily to wear a close coat of black cloth, the wide
skirts of which came down almost to his ankles, while the body had a very
short waist and was closely fitted to his shape. His shoes were of white
leather, with a white or grey hat, and a plain sword and dagger in the old
fashion.
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