38o A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



wards all along the part of the descent of this river 

 through Peru; alleging that this was the part through 

 which Pedro de Orsua entered the river; supporting 

 their opinion by a derivation, to which we cannot 

 subscribe, namely, that he gave it this name on ac- 

 count of the disturbances v/hich happened among his 

 men. The truth is, that the Maranon, the Ama- 

 zons, and the Orellana, are one individual riverj and 

 that what is meant by each of these names, is the 

 vast common channel into which those many rivers 

 fall, which contribute to its greatness. And that to 

 ihe original name of Maranon the two others have 

 been added for the causes already mentioned. The 

 Portuguese have been the most strenuous supporters 

 ^f this opinion, calling it by no other name than that 

 of the Amazons, and transferring that of Maranon 

 to one of the captainships of Brazil, lying betwixt 

 Grand Para and Siara ; and whose capital is the city 

 of San Luis del Maranon. 



IÍ. Account of the first Discoveries and of ihe most 

 famous Expeditions on the Maranon, in order to 

 obtain a more adequate Idea of this famous River > 



After this account of the course and names of 

 this river, I shall proceed to the discovery of it, and 

 the most remarkable voyages madethereon. Vicente 

 Yanez Pinzón, one of those who had accompanied 

 the admiral Don Christopher Columbus in his first 

 voyage, was the person who discovered the mouth 

 through which this river, as 1 have before taken no- 

 tice,discharges itself into the ocean. This adventurer, 

 at his own expense, in 1499, fi^^cd out four ships, disr 

 coveries being ihe reigning taste of that time. With 

 this view he steered for the Canary Islands; and after 

 passing by those of Cape de Verd, continued his 

 course directly west, till on the 26th o*f January, in 



the 



