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.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 368 of 421
Words from 192982 to 193504 of 221091