Having
Driven Away These Indians By Means Of Their Firearms, The Spaniards
Constructed A Wooden Bridge Across Between The Steep Rocks, Over Which
They All Passed In Safety.
After crossing the river, the Spaniards penetrated through the woods to a
country named Guema, which was extremely flat
And intersected with rivers
and marshes, and in which they could get no provisions except wild fruits;
but after this they came to a country tolerably peopled, in which there
were some provisions. In this place the natives wore cotton vestments, but
in the whole country through which they had hitherto passed, the few
natives they had seen were entirely naked, either on account of the
continual and excessive heat of the climate, or because they had no means
of procuring clothes: The men had only a kind of girdles round their waist,
with some strings tied to their prepuce, which passed between their thighs
and were drawn up to the girdle; and the women wore some slight clouts. At
this place Gonzalo built a bark to serve for crossing the rivers in search
of provisions, and to transport the baggage and the sick by water. Besides
in some places the country was so covered with wood, that they were unable
to clear the way by means of their swords and hatchets, and in other
places so inundated, that they were often obliged to transport the whole
party by water. The building of this vessel occasioned infinite difficulty
and labour, as besides cutting down wood for the purpose, they had to
construct a forge in which to make the necessary iron work, which they
made from the shoes of their dead horses. On this occasion, Gonzalo not
only obliged every one to labour without regard to rank, but gave the
example himself in using both the hatchet and the hammer as occasion
required. Instead of pitch and tar, the gum which exuded from some trees
of the forest was collected; and instead of flax and hemp, the old clothes
of the Indians and the wore-out shirts of the Spaniards were employed for
caulking the scams. They at length succeeded in making their bark capable
of swimming, so as to transport all their baggage very commodiously;
besides which they hollowed out several canoes to accompany the bark
instead of boats.
Gonzalo flattered himself that all his difficulties would be surmounted by
means of this bark, and that he would now be able to pursue his
discoveries to any extent he pleased. He continued his march therefore,
accompanied by the bark which carried the baggage, while the main body had
to travel along the banks of the river, often greatly incommoded in
passing marshes, thick woods, and close brushwood. In some of these places
they had to cut their way through canes and reeds with great toil, by
means of their swords and hatchets; often changing from one side of the
river to the other in search of an easier road. In this march they were
always accompanied by the bark; and at night the whole party united
together, that they might be able to give mutual assistance in case of
need. After having penetrated above two hundred leagues, always following
the course of the river, during which space they got only wild fruits and
roots to support them, Gonzalo gave orders to Francisco de Orellana, one
of his captains, to go forwards in the bark with fifty men in search of
provisions; with orders to load his bark with these if he found any,
leaving all the baggage at a place where two great rivers joined,
according to information received from the Indians; and likewise to leave
two canoes in a river which crossed the road to that place by land, to
serve for ferrying over the troops.
Orellana set out accordingly in the bark, and was very soon carried by the
current to the appointed place where the two rivers met; but finding no
provisions, and considering the immense difficulty of going up the river
against a rapid current, he resolved to trust himself to the stream to try
his fortune in that way. He even neglected to leave the two canoes at this
place according to the orders of Gonzalo; and although several of those
who were along with him in the bark urged him to remain according to the
orders of his general, he insisted upon going forwards, even maltreating
Friar Gaspard de Carvajal, who opposed this act of mutiny and desertion
more forcibly than any of the rest. In his progress down the river,
Orellana and his people frequently landed in search of provisions, and had
often to fight with the Indians, who sometimes even attacked him in the
bark by means of canoes, on which occasion the Spaniards could hardly
defend themselves they were so crowded. On this last account he built a
second bark, at a place where the Indians received him in a friendly
manner and supplied him with provisions. From these Indians he was
informed of a district a few days journey farther on, which was entirely
inhabited by women, who made war and defended themselves agaist their
neighbours[6].
Following continually the stream of the river, but without finding any
gold or silver, or the least indication of these metals, Orellana arrived
at the mouth of this river on the Atlantic Ocean, about 350 leagues from
the island of Cubagua. This great river is called the Maragnon or Marannon,
from a person of that name who first discovered its mouth. It takes its
rise in Peru on the eastern slopes of the Andes of Quito, and its entire
course measured in a straight line extends to 700 leagues; but following
all its flexures from the Andes to the ocean, it measures at least 1800
leagues. At its mouth it measures 15 leagues in breadth, and in many parts
of its course is three or four leagues broad. Orellana went afterwards
into Spain[7], where he gave an account to his majesty of his discovery,
which he pretended to have made at his own charges.
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