CHAPTER XXII

    How Gonzalo Pizarro arrived, with his followers, at a place where Indians had formerly settled but had been driven out in a war, and the Spaniards found a very great quantity of yucas, by means of which they were restored to health and their lives were saved; and of the hardships they went through.

HAVING arrived at the yuca plantation in the way we have recounted, and seeing that there were abundant roots to sustain them, the Spaniards felt that our Lord had shown them the greatest mercy in the world, and such was their joy that they shed many tears, giving Him thanks. In the days that they were there, the native servants having failed them, they themselves grated the yucas by means of very sharp thorns that grow on certain trees in those forests, and made bread of the meal, finding it to be as wholesome as the white rusks of Utrera. Assuredly Gonzalo Pizarro performed great service in this expedition. If he had not afterwards blemished his fame with the name of traitor, his great services should for ever be held in memory. But in this history, being that of the beginning or childhood of the deeds done by the Spaniards in these realms, we shall record the events as they happened, neither failing to mention the evil deeds and atrocities, nor omitting to relate the good works.

Returning to our narrative, the yucas which the Spaniards found in this locality, where there is nothing else in those dense and evil forests, were an immense resource.

As the Indians had formerly lived on those flats, and their principal sustenance is yuca, they had laid out great plantations of this root, extending for more than forty leagues. But their neighbours having fought with these[72] natives until they were driven from thence, all that yuca harvest remained to enable the Spaniards to restore their well-being with it. At the end of eight days Gonzalo Pizarro ordered that all should depart and travel up stream, to see if God, our Lord, would be pleased to guide the expedition to some good land, or back to that from which they had come. At that plantation two Spaniards died through eating too many yucas. Others swelled in such a way that they could not walk on their feet. They were put on the horses, in the saddles, and secured with cords so that they should not fall off, for they had not strength to keep on horseback. Although they complained, they were not helped, for the others said that they were acting like rogues, and that there was nothing the matter with them.

Spaniards went in front of the main body, opening a road through the forest with axes and wood knives. Many had to go barefoot, for they had no alpargates[43] nor anything else to put on. They believed that Orellana and the others who went down the river were dead, either from starvation or at the hands of the Indians. Some Spaniards always marched in the rear guard, not allowing any to lag behind, the sick being put on the horses, as we have already said. They marched along the banks for forty leagues, always finding yuca plantations; but the horses were so lean and weak that they were of little use. When they had completed those forty leagues they came to a small settlement of natives, but they had no interpreter to ask them what they wanted to know. When the natives saw the Spaniards with horses, they were terrified, got into their canoes, and from thence made signs and brought some of their food for the Spaniards. They pitched it ashore to them in exchange for hawks' bells, combs, and other trifles which the Spaniards always carried[73] with them. They went on from this place for eight days; exploring the region up stream, and always finding it sparsely settled like the one they had left. After they had travelled for these eight days there were no longer any Indians, nor any track leading in any direction, because the natives from this point used the river as their only road. By signs the natives said that there were no roads and no provisions farther on. When the Spaniards heard this they sought for food from the store the Indians had; as much as each one could carry on his back and on the horses.

Gonzalo Pizarro was very sad. He knew not in what land he was, nor what direction to take to reach Peru or any other part where there were Christians. He took counsel with Don Antonio, Sancho de Caravajal, Villegas, Funes, and Juan de Acosta. Their conclusion was that Gonzalo Díaz de Pineda should be sent out in two canoes strongly lashed together, to explore the river, with Indians to help in working them up stream. He was to go up and try to find a well-peopled locality, and then Gonzalo Pizarro would follow with the whole camp. Gonzalo Díaz presently started in the canoes, taking with him a cross-bow and an arquebus; and Gonzalo Pizarro also set out with the rest. But he was in great anxiety, for the Spaniards were in a very bad state. They had eaten nothing but the yucas, and this brought on a flux which wore them out; besides that they all went with bare feet and legs, for they had nothing in the way of shoes, except that a few made a sort of sandal from the leather of the saddles. The road was all through forest, and full of prickly trees: so that their feet got scratched all over, and their legs were constantly pierced by the many thorns. In this condition they went on, nearly dead with hunger, naked and barefooted, covered with sores, opening the road with their swords; while it rained so that on many days they never saw the sun and could not get dry. They cursed themselves many[74] times for having come to suffer such hardships and privations, which they could well have avoided, Peru being so large and populous a country, where all may obtain relief.

Those who went in the canoe made a signal every night, to show how they went forward, and Gonzalo Pizarro with his followers worked their way through the forest in the laborious manner we have described. So they went on for fifty-six leagues, Pizarro by land and Gonzalo Díaz on the river. They met no natives, and had no food but the yucas they brought with them and the insipid wild fruits they found among those mountains. Gonzalo Díaz, who went on the river, reflecting that they had gone fifty leagues without striking anything, was very sad. He thought that Gonzalo Pizarro and all his men must die of hunger, as they could find no inhabited land. One day, at the hour of compline, they encountered a strong current which they were unable to stem, so they jumped ashore. On a trunk of a tree, brought down by the current, they sat pondering over their misery. They were very anxious, thinking that it would be impossible for Gonzalo Pizarro and the others to reach this place, owing to the density of the forest and the large affluents that came to join the river. As they were thus thinking, Don Pedro de Bustamente, who accompanied Gonzalo Díaz, stood up and saw a canoe at a bend of the river near where they were, and in a little while fourteen or fifteen more appeared, there being eight or nine Indians in each canoe with their arms and shields. As soon as they saw the canoes, the captain Gonzalo Díaz got fire from his flint and steel, and with it he lighted the match of the arquebus. Bustamente took the cross-bow, and putting a shaft into it, they held them ready until they saw what the Indians, who came on careless of being about to meet the Spaniards, would do. When they came within range, Gonzalo Díaz pointed the arquebus and hit an Indian in the breast, who presently fell into the[75] river dead. Bustamente, with the cross-bow, let fly a shaft and hit another in the arm, who very quickly pulled it out and turned to hurl the missile at him who shot it off. Then with loud yells, they hurled many darts and arrows. The two Spaniards as quickly loaded the arquebus again and set the cross-bow. With these they killed two more Indians, and then, laying hold of their swords and shields, they approached the enemy in their canoe.

The Indians, astounded at seeing four of their number dead, began a flight in their canoes down the river. The Spaniards followed, shooting at them with the arquebus. This scared them so that they left the canoes and jumped into the river. The Spaniards took some of the canoes and found food in them of the kind used by the Indians, for which they gave thanks to Our Lord, for it was many days since they had tasted anything but roots and herbs which they found on the banks of the river. These Indians had come from a river which is different from this one, and two of them, with two canoes, had been fishing when they saw the Spaniards and went to give the alarm to their village. So the people of the village came out by a creek which falls into the river, thinking to take or kill the Spaniards. The event turned out as you have heard. Gonzalo Díaz and Bustamente, after they had eaten, cut some crosses on trees near the river with their swords, so that if Gonzalo Pizarro and his people should come that way, they would know that they had been there and gone on. That night they resumed their voyage up the river, and the morning dawned very clear. Casting their eyes towards the south they saw a range of very high mountains, at which they rejoiced greatly for they thought it must be the Cordillera of Quito, or that which lies near the cities of Popayán and Cali. In that case the Spaniards would not be lost, for God our Lord would guide them to a Christian land. Presently they found some stones, at a rapid. Never[76] before had they seen any in the more than 300 leagues that they had traversed. Having gone so far up the river, they determined to go back and see whether Gonzalo Pizarro and his people were coming. Leaving some of the food and canoes, they turned back down the river, and what had taken them eleven days to accomplish in going up, they now covered in a day and a half.

Gonzalo Pizarro continued to advance with his people, suffering terribly from famine, for now they had eaten all the dogs, numbering more than nine hundred, except two: one belonging to Gonzalo Pizarro, and the other to Don Antonio Rivera. They had also eaten most of the horses they had brought. The Spaniards were so tired and worn out, that they could hardly walk, while several died in the forest. Going down the river Gonzalo Díaz heard the noise of people cutting the trees with their swords. Very joyfully he landed at the spot the Spaniards had reached, and they were delighted to see each other. Gonzalo Pizarro was coming with the rear-guard, lest any of the Spaniards should drop and be left for dead. When Gonzalo Díaz heard this he got into the canoe again and went to meet him. We cannot describe the joy they felt at seeing each other, for Díaz had believed Pizarro to be already dead.[44] He and Bustamente related to Gonzalo Pizarro how they had come back to seek for him, because in going up the river they had encountered armed Indians, and God had delivered them out of their hands, and given them strength to kill four of them with the arquebus and cross-bow, making them take to flight and abandon their canoes, in which they found some food. They also reported having seen very high mountains and that they believed that they would there find inhabitants, or a road which would lead to a land of Christians. They[77] also said they had found a great beach on the river, covered with stones. Gonzalo Pizarro rejoiced at this news. We will here leave off writing about him, to relate other important things which happened within the Realm.