THE EXPEDITION" OF PIZARRO 59 



situation. The spirit of the stoutest-hearted veteran sank 

 within him ; all demanded to be led back instantly, and 

 Pizarro, though he assumed an appearance of tranquillity, did 

 not oppose their inclination. But they were now 1200 miles 

 from Quito, and a march of many months had to be made 

 without the hopes which had soothed their previous sufferings. 

 Hunger compelled them to sacrifice all their dogs and horses, 

 to devour the most loathsome reptiles, to gnaw the leather of 

 their saddles and sword-belts. All the Indians and 210 

 Spaniards perished in this wild expedition, which lasted nearly 

 two years. When at length the survivors arrived at Quito, 

 they were naked like savages, and so worn out with famine 

 and fatigue, that they looked more like spectres than men. 



Two hundred years after the adventures of Pizarro and 

 Orellana, the French naturalist. La Condamine, performed 

 his celebrated voyage from Bracamoros to Para. He was 

 accompanied by the learned M. Grodin des Odonnais, who, 

 leaving his wife on the eastern slope of the Andes, returned 

 alone to Europe in the year 1749. After a separation of 

 twenty years, Madame Godin undertook to descend the Amazons 

 to Para, where her husband was waiting for her. She em- 

 barked with her two brothers, a doctor, three female servants, 

 and some Indians, in a large open boat. At the very first 

 opportunity the doctor abandoned the party, and was soon 

 followed by the Indians, who had been paid beforehand. The 

 unskilled travellers vainly attempted to steer their boat; it 

 foundered on the bank, and Madame Godin with difficulty 

 saved her life. They then made a raft, which met with the 

 same misfortune. Undaunted by these repeated disasters, but 

 completely inexperienced, they now resolved to proceed on foot 

 through the forest ; but hunger and fatigue soon drove them to 

 despair, and they all perished, except Madame Godin, who, 

 though physically the w^eakest, was morally the strongest of the 

 party. Who could describe her sufferings after the last of her 

 companions died! Tattered, emaciated, exhausted, she at 

 length met some Indians who treated her with the greatest 

 kindness. The long struggle for her life, amid dangers and 

 hardships without number, had bleached her hair, and stamped 

 her with the marks of extreme old age. The good-natured 



