376 AVOYAGETO Book VI. 



its banks, it was natural for every one to call it by a 

 particular name, or at leaft to make ufe of that which 

 had been previoufly given it. But either the firft 

 Spaniards who failed on it negledled this enquiry, or 

 the former names became confounded with others 

 given it fmce that epocha, fo that now no veftiges of 

 them remain. 



The general opinion prefers, in point of antiquity, 

 that of Maranon, though fome authors will have it 

 pofterior to the two others j but we conceive they are 

 miftaken, both in their affertion, and in the caufe of 

 that name. They fuppofe that it was firft given to 

 this river by the Spaniards, who failed down it under 

 the condud of Pedro de Orfua, in 1560 or 1559; 

 whereas it had been known by that name many years 

 before : for Pedro Martyr in his decades, fpeaking of 

 the difcovery of the coaft of Brazil, in the year 1500, 

 by Vincente Yanez Pinzon, relates, among other 

 things, that they came to a river called Maranon. This 

 book was printed in the year 1 5 1 6, long before Gon- 

 zalo Pizarro undertook the difcovery of the river, anc} 

 conqueft of the adjacent nations who inhabited its 

 banks; or Francifco de Orellana had failed on it. 

 This demonftrates the antiquity of the name of Ma- 

 ranon ; but leaves us under the fame difficulties with 

 regard to its date and etymology. Some, following 

 Auguftine de Zarate, attribute the origin of this name 

 to a Spanid^ commander called Maranan, from whom, 

 as being the firft that difpiayed the Spanifh enfign oa 

 this river, it was thence called after his own name. 

 Bat this opinion is rather fpecious than folid ; being 

 founded only on the fimilarity of the names, a very 

 exceptionable inference-, efpecially as no mention is 

 made of any fuch officer in any hiftory publiftied of 

 thefe difcoveries and conquefts ; whence it feems na^ 

 tural to conclude, that Zarate, on hearing that the 

 river was called Maranon, inferred that the name wa^ 

 from fome perfon of enijnence who had made 



