with great justice, that the mutineers would remain in the city until
they had eaten and drunk to that amount, and that there would still be
the arrearages; for which the city would be obliged to raise the funds.
On the 9th of May, the authorities made an offer, which was duly
communicated to the Eletto. That functionary stood forth on a window-
sill of the town-house, and addressed the soldiery. He informed them
that the Grand Commander proposed to pay ten months' arrears in cash,
five months in silks and woollen cloths, and the balance in promises, to
be fulfilled within a few days. The terms were not considered
satisfactory, and were received with groans of derision. The Eletto, on
the contrary, declared them very liberal, and reminded the soldiers of
the perilous condition in which they stood, guilty to a man of high
treason, with a rope around every neck. It was well worth their while to
accept the offer made them, together with the absolute pardon for the
past, by which it was accompanied. For himself, he washed his hands of
the consequences if the offer were rejected. The soldiers answered by
deposing the Eletto and choosing another in his room.

Three days after, a mutiny broke out in the citadel--an unexampled
occurrence. The rebels ordered Sancho d'Avila, the commandant, to
deliver the keys of the fortress. He refused to surrender them but with
his life. They then contented themselves with compelling his lieutenant
to leave the citadel, and with sending their Eletto to confer with the
Grand Commander, as well as with the Eletto of the army. After
accomplishing his mission, he returned, accompanied by Chiappin Vitelli,
as envoy of the Governor-General. No sooner, however, had the Eletto set
foot on the drawbridge than he was attacked by Ensign Salvatierra of the
Spanish garrison, who stabbed him to the heart and threw him into the
moat. The ensign, who was renowned in the army for his ferocious
courage, and who wore embroidered upon his trunk hose the inscription,