AD. THE ENGLISH VOYAGES 



1572-87. 



now by his subtill practises, being withall eloquent in his 



talke, he caused the souldiers to appoint himselfe their 



governour, & made them beleeve that all the cruelties 



committed were for their saveguard : neither did the 



tyrannie of this wretched man here ende. He was borne 



in Biskay a countrey neere unto France, wherefore I 



beleeve him rather to have beene a Frenchman then a 



Spaniard, for that in the heart of a Spaniard could not be 



A nezv mas- so much crueltie as this man shewed. Now being readie 



sacre. ^^ g^^ j^-g ^^^^ j^^ determined not to carry with him any 



gentlemen or persons of qualitie, and therefore he slew all 



such persons ; and then departing onely with the common 



souldiers, he left behind him all the Spanish wom.en and 



sicke men, with all other creatures. If I should rehearse 



all the cruell murthers of this wicked man one by one, I 



should be over tedious unto you. Onely in fewe words I 



say, that this man proceeded downe the river, having with 



him onely foure hundred men : but before he passed the 



[III. 786.] river, and was come to Margarita, he had no more left 



but two hundred and thirty men, for the rest hee had put 



to death, and left on shore among the people of the 



countrey : all which tyranny he used, because he ever 



stood in feare of his life : for had he seene at any time but 



two souldiers talking together, he would streight suspect 



that they were conspiring of his death, and therefore he 



used the practises abovesaide. And he never went any 



way, but that hee had in his company thirtie Biscaines 



of his owne will and minde readie to execute his cruell 



purposes. 



Great store of As these souldiers with their Captaine came downe 



gold in the ^he river, they sawe many Canoas with golde in them 



river oj ar- p^g^jj^p. ^qq ^j^j £j.q ^^^ people on both sides of the river, 



and m their passage many times they landed, and got 



good store of golde and victuals. Now also did they 



Jmazones finde that to be true which Orellana had reported, namely 



women which ^^x^^ ^]^^^^ ^^^^ Amazones, that is to say, women that 



husbands in %^^ ^^ ^^^ warres with bowes and arrowes : but these 



the warres. women fight to aide their husbands, and not by them- 



246 



