Explorers in the New WorldChristopher ColumbusPedro CabralPortuguese ExplorationVicente Yß±ez Pinz≤nAmerigo VespucciOther European ExplorersThe Conquistadors
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Francisco de OrellanaAfter the conquests of Peru and the Incas, the conquistadors set off on new expeditions – in search of new wealth and new glory. The conquistadors were an extremely tough breed. They were very brave, arrogant, and were extremely skilled and courageous fighters. Unfortunately, they were not the type of people who would stay idle for long – by 1540 there had already been major battles between rival groups of Spaniards seeking more powerful positions in the new lands. Francisco Pizarro was the conquistador who had conquered the Inca Empire with a fierce band of 150 conquistadors in 1524 and 1526 – and was subsequently appointed Marquis of the new territories by the Spanish Crown. He thought it prudent to send his conquistadors off on new challenges, enlarging the territories by conquering new lands, and also keeping them occupied to prevent them from stirring up further trouble and rebellion in Peru.
Hearing of the planned expedition, Gonzalo’s cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to join him. Orellana was Captain General of the nearby province of La Culata, founder of the city of Guayaquil, and an experienced fighter who had faithfully served the Pizarros in many campaigns (with the loss of an eye in one battle). In contrast to most other conquistadors, Orellana also studied hard, and had taught himself several Indian languages – a skill that was to prove of great benefit in the adventure ahead. The Journey across the Andes.Gonzalo Pizarro’s expedition set out from Quito to cross the Andes on 21 February 1541 with a magnificent column consisting of 220 soldiers (about half of them on horseback); 4,000 Indians conscripted to serve porters laden with provisions (the Spaniards just carried their weapons); 2,000 llamas also carrying the expedition’s supplies; 2,000 ferocious attack dogs (used to attack hostile Indians); and 2,000 pigs for food. Orellana, who was still in Guayaquil (300 km away) gathered his own men together and rushed to join the expedition. He reached Quito in mid-March, then gathered supplies and a further 150 Indians, and set out to follow Pizarro. The journey was a difficult one. They first had to climb up into the Andes, across a snow-covered ridge where many of the Indians died – they were unused to such heavy burdens, and were unused to the cold which was made worse because of their inadequate clothing. While descending the other side, the expedition was pelted by torrential rain in narrow passes, causing some of the horses to slip in mud, and fall from high cliffs. Then came dense forests full of hostile Indians. Pizarro’s sizeable and well-provisioned column was able to pass through relatively unscathed – but Orellana’s smaller column made a more tempting target for Indian attacks. The group had to move slowly, hacking their way through the jungle with swords and machetes. Their weapons weren’t as effective as they’d hoped because gunpowder was hard to keep dry in that rainy environment, especially when crossing rivers and streams, and crossbows were slow to load and fire (unlike the Indians’ bows and arrows). They fought bravely – but by the time they met up with Pizarro’s expedition a month later, they had lost most of the their horses, and all of their Indian porters (who had fled or had died). There were twenty-one Spaniards remaining, walking on foot and carrying only their swords. Orellana Arrives.
The San Pedro is built.The expedition moved northwards, discovering a peaceable Indian village with a plantation of maize, located at the juncture of the Coca and Napo rivers in Ecuador. At this point Pizarro decided to build a small boat (a brigantine, capable of carrying about 30 people) which could be used to transport the expedition’s heavy equipment and the sick – and for fighting the Indians who dared to attack the Spaniards from their canoes in the river. The village that now stands on this site is fittingly named El Barco, in memory of the boat that was built here. The boat was christened the San Pedro, and expedition proceeded further down the river, with some travelling in the boat, some in canoes captured from the Indians, and rest marched through the forests along the riverbank. Still short of food, the men had to wade through treacherous swamps, and cross rivers by using the boat and canoes as ferries or building bridges. The expedition's problems continue. Orellana leaves in search of food.Life in the tropical jungle was very difficult because, although there was lush forest all around them, the Spanish could find little food. There were torrential rains, flooded rivers, hot and humid weather, and no rest from the mosquitoes and other biting insects that lived in there. Even worse, there were vampire bats which would descend on the men, drinking blood from their toes while they slept (strangely the bats were rarely seen and the men did not usually feel anything – only noticing the following morning that they had provided a bat’s night-time feast). The Spaniards were very unhappy because they although they had suffered these difficulties for almost a year, with no end yet in sight and constant threat of starvation, they had absolutely nothing to show for their efforts. Finally, at Christmas 1541, local Indians told the Spaniards of a prosperous village a few days down the river. Orellana suggested he take sixty men down the river in the San Pedro, then return, bringing back food and supplies for the rest of the expedition. Pizarro agreed, adding that they should find food and return in no more than twelve days. Little did Pizarro know when he watched Orellana sail off on 26 December 1541, that it was the last time he would ever see Orellana or his shipmates again. Orellana's journey downstream.There were 57 men that went with Orellana, including Friar Gaspar de Carvajal from whose journal the subsequent events were recorded. The sick travelled in the San Pedro, while those who were still able paddled downstream in a flotilla of 10 captured Indian canoes. The first stage of the journey took a week, being carried far downstream by the river's swift current (which, they estimated, carried them about 120 km each day). On the second day of the journey, the San Pedro rammed the stump of a tree which punctured through the hull, causing it to sink. Luckily, the Spaniards managed to sail close to an island in the river before it sank too deep – so were able to repair the boat and continue. The rag-tag flotilla continued, but were unable to find any food. They became so hungry and desperate for food that they boiled up a broth containing old leather shoes, belts, and pieces of saddles – mixed with herbs to make the softened leather more palatable and easier to digest. It must have tasted terrible, but it helped them to survive a few more days. Finally, on the eighth day (3 January 1542), they discovered an Indian village on the riverbank. The desperate Spaniards pounced on the village before the startled Indians had any time to respond – the Indians all fled the village, leaving the Spaniards with the opportunity to gorge themselves on the Indians' food. The Spaniards ate this meal, hiding behind their shields and holding their weapons under the arms ready just in case the Indians counter-attacked. Eventually, some curious Indians returned. Orellana, with his knowledge of Indian languages. was able to convince the Indians that his men did not mean any harm – it was just that they were so in need of food. Orellana also ordered that his men should treat the Indians well, and not to create any problems – quite unlike Pizarro's expedition in which Indians were often treated cruelly, tortured, and killed. Responding to Orellana's reassurances and good treatment, the Indians were very hospitable and helpful, bringing food and offering advice about what lay ahead downriver. Compared to the trials of the past week, the village (called Imarß by the locals) was as much a paradise as the Spaniards could have hoped for. It was at this point that Orellana's men started considering the return journey to meet back up with Pizarro. Although it had only taken them a week to get there, carried by the swift current, they knew that they were a very long way away – perhaps more than 1,000 km. To return by paddling upstream would take them much longer because travelling against the current would negate most of their paddling. They would travel very very slowly, and the return journey might take several months! Considering that they had barely been able survive for a week, they thought it almost impossible for them to survive for several months (by which time, Pizarro would almost certainly have left). Orellana's men petitioned him not to return upstream –the threat of almost certain starvation outweighed the many unknown dangers that lay further downriver (Aparia, the village's Indian Chief, warned them of many villages of hostile Indians. Dangerous as it was, at least it meant there would be food available for raiding). Realising the hopelessness of their situation, and the fact that they were likely to be labelled as traitors by Pizarro, they discussed the matter at great length – even writing legal documents and testimonies to support their case if ever they made it home. After much though, Orellana gave into his men's requests – but on the condition that they wait longer in the village just in case Pizarro changed his mind as decided to build more boats and follow them downriver. In the meantime, Orellana and his men would concentrate on beginning the construction of a second boat – which was easier to defend than the canoes in the even of Indian attacks downriver, and was much more practical for ocean travel if ever they eventually reached the sea. Construction would follow the same pattern as for the first – the first priority being the manufacture of a large number of nails which were made by melting down iron from horseshoes which the expedition was carrying. The Indians continued to bring food, allowing the Spaniards to build up stocks for their journey (although, the demands of providing for so many visitors meant that the Indians soon grew tired of their unexpected guests). After a month of waiting, on February 2, 1542, the Spaniards finally left the village to continue their journey downstream. They had not finished construction of the second boat, but had made 2,000 nails and other materials to help them build it later on. The Village of Aparia the Great.While staying in the village of Imarß, also called Aparia because of its chief, the told of a bigger village downstream ruled by the same tribe – but by a more powerful chief, "Aparia the Great". They finally reached this second village after another twenty-four days' sailing downstream. Claiming to be children of the Sun, the Spaniards were treated especially politely by the Indians. Orellana had stressed the importance of showing friendliness towards the Indians to ensure that relations remained cordial on both sides. Instead of resorting to long battles, he always tried speaking with the Indians, reassuring them of his peaceful intentions, and requesting food for his men and the journey ahead. The Indians responded favourably, they had great quantities of food that they were willing to share with the Spaniards – including thousands of turtles, which were kept in small pens along the riverbank, and tens of thousands of turtle eggs. As such, the Spaniards stayed here for 57 days – time enough to build their second boat which they christened Victoria. The Indians marvelled at the strange visitors, their new ways, and about the new religion that the strangers seems to hold in such high regard (it was the duty of any explorer in those days to instruct native people that worhipping stones and images was wrong, and that they should readily embrace the word of Christianity or suffer the consequences – either in the afterlife . . . or sometimes even more immediately). However, the thing that is likely to have most impressed Indians were the Spaniards' metal tools, used for felling trees and cutting wood. The Indians had never seen metal tools before – and for them, cutting down a single tree could easily take an entire day of tough work using blunt stone axes. Using the Spaniards' metal axes, chopping down a tree took only a fraction of the time and effort. While at the village of Aparia the Great, the Spaniards met four tall distinguished-looking Indian chiefs, with white skin, quite unlike the Indians with whom they were staying. These chiefs were from the neighbouring territory through which the Spaniards had to pass. Orellana gave gifts to these chiefs in the hope that it would result in a peaceful (and safe) passage though the next territory. The new boat was finally launched on April 24 1542, allowing the expedition to continue. River Battles.Things became more difficult for the Spaniards as they passed out of the territory rulled by Aparia the Great's territory. There were no more gifts of food, and there were frequent small skirmishes with Indians in canoes and along the riverbanks. The territory reportedly belonged to Indians called the Machiparo. On 12 May, the Spaniards sighted a large prosperous village along the riverbank, but were soon set upon by a large flotilla of armed canoes full of Indian warriors – being cheered on by other Indians standing on the shoreline. With Orellana unable to convince the Indians to a peaceful agreement, a large battle followed. The battle lasted two days and which left one Spaniard dead with many others also wounded. Nonetheless, the Spaniards managed to raid the villages food stores capturing thousands of turtle eggs and other food. In this part of the river there were frequent Indian villages, and indeed this and the neighbouring Omagua territories were the most populous area that they had yet encountered. For hundreds of miles, the distance between villages was "no more than a crossbow shot" (about 300 metres). At the end of May, they reached half way in their journey, and discovered a river whose waters were, according to Friar Carvajal, as black as ink (we now know that these waters are coloured in almost the same way as tea – they pass through rotting leaves and vegetation, absorbing the tanin which stains the waters brown). The Spaniards named this river Ri≤ Negro (Black River), a name which survives to this day. Where the Amazon and Ri≤ Negro rivers meet, the waters of the two rivers (one stained white by limestone sediments carried from the Andes, and the other stained black by the dissolved vegetation) impressively flow together side by side for several miles before finally mixing. This is the spot on which the city of Manaus was later built.
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In
1540, Francisco appointed his younger brother, Gonzalo,
to become the governor of Quito (in modern-day Ecuador).
Although he was already a veteran of several campaigns,
Gonzalo was eager to prove himself and to set out upon
further conquests. A couple of years earlier, an
expedition had reached the headwaters of the Amazon, and
a reconnaissance party had reported a land full of
prosperous Indians wearing gold ornaments – possibly
the legendary city of 
Gonzalo
Pizarro welcomed his cousin. Impressed by the ordeal,
Pizarro immediately appointed him as his Chief
Lieutenant. Pizarro's expedition had made a sizeable
camp, and used this a base for further explorations into
the area – sending out scouts to look for the
rumoured cinnamon forests and El Dorado. But, after a few
months, things were looking disastrous – the
expedition had found only a few widely scattered cinnamon
trees of very poor quality, and no sign of gold. Food had
almost run out, morale was low, and most of the horses,
dogs, and Indians had been lost. Angry and bitterly
disappointed, Pizarro took his frustrations out on the
remaining Indians – throwing half of them to his
savage attack dogs and burnt the other half alive. 
(under construction)
