The Spaniards kept the prettiest of the captive young women for themselves; other starving girls whose families had been destroyed came to them voluntarily. In at least one case, a group of these girls was kept locked in a building in forced prostitution. Conscience-stricken observers of the treatment meted out to the girls told tales back in Spain, and in June of 1523, the king issued a plea to his people that they rein themselves in and cease their abuse of the native women.12
