12 Gardiner G. Hubbard — South America. 



stream which, rismg in the Andes, near Quito, flowed eastward ; 

 to explore the country, and find the happy land. He set out 

 with 350 Cavaliers, mounted on Spanish horses and attended by 

 4000 Indian slaves. 



The first part of the route was easy ; the little stream soon 

 became a river, then broadened into the Napo ; but the farther 

 they went, the slower and more difficult was their progress as 

 they passed from the open forest and the cool and invigorating 

 breezes of the Andes into the sultry valley of the Napo. Their 

 way now led through forests more dense, darker and more impen- 

 etrable than those described by Stanley, for the valley of the 

 Amazon is richer than the valley of the Congo, Natives armed 

 with poisoned arrows opposed their progress ; food became scarce, 

 treachery was on every side, and their number gradually dimin- 

 ished by death and by desertion of the slaves. 



The natives told them of a greater river than the Napo which 

 they would find a few days' voyage farther down. This river, 

 they said, flowed through a more populous and richer country, 

 where food was abundant and gold was found in every stream. 

 Pizarro determined to build a bark and to send Orellano as 

 commander to find and return with food and succor. For this 

 vessel, the forests furnished the timber ; the shoes of the horses 

 were converted into nails, distilled gum was used for pitch, and 

 the garments of the soldiers were a substitute for oakum. In 

 two months, a brigantine was launched, the first European vessel 

 that ever floated on the waters of the Amazon. The Napo grew 

 broader and deeper as the little company rapidly floated down, 

 until it became a mile wide. Three days after they left Pizarro, 

 they saw before them a river, many times larger than the Napo, 

 which the Indians called Parana-tinega, King of Waters ; but we 

 call it the Amazon. There was no cultivation, little food could be 

 obtained, and the Indians were hostile instead of friendly. What 

 was to be done ? Behind them was the wilderness, before them 

 the promised land. The journey back would be difficult and 

 dangerous ; the temptation to explore the wonderful river was 

 too great to resist. One man alone was faithful to Pizarro, and 

 he was left on the bank while Orellano sailed doM^n the river. 

 The wonder of the explorers daily increased as other livers larger 

 than the Napo flowed into the Amazon, now on the north, more 

 frequently on the south. Month after month passed, the river 

 grew so broad that they could not see from one side to the other. 



