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which broke out after the death of the Peruvian prince. He founded, in an advantageous situation, the city of Los Reyes, since known by the name of Lima, corrupted from Rimac, the name of the valley in which it stands. The court of Spain, astonished at the immense quantity of treasure which he remitted as the royal portion of the spoils, rewarded the successful conqueror with a grant of seventy leagues of coast in addition to what had already been assigned him, and bestowed on him the title of marquess.

Almagro, who from interested motives had warmly urged the execution of the inca, now made preparations for the conquest of Chili, where a tract extending a hundred leagues along the coast had been granted him by the crown of Spain. In marching southwards to invade that country, the Spaniards endured severities of climate surpassing any thing they had hitherto experienced. In the rugged and elevated regions by which they penetrated into Chili, the cold was so intense that several men and horses were frozen to death; and five months afterwards, when the army was returning to Peru, they were found in the same positions and in the same state as when they had been first overpowered by the cold. Almagro found the inhabitants of Chili to be a strong and courageous race, who, though unable to withstand the Spaniards, were not to be speedily subdued. They were clad in the skins of seals and seawolves, and showed great address in the use of the bow and arrow. The Spaniards were at a loss what measures to adopt in order to secure themselves in their conquest, when unexpected events recalled Almagro to Peru.

The possession of Cuzco, the capital of the incas, had been long a subject of dispute between him and Pizarro ; but the latter, with his usual dexterity, had contrived to over-reach his colleague, and persuaded him to remain satisfied at first with the conquest of Chili. When the roval patents arrived, however, Almagro became convinced that the city of Cuzco lay within his territory. Intelligence at the same time reached him that the Pe

ruvians had flown to arms; that they threatened to overwhelm the Spaniards by their superior numbers; and were actually besieging Cuzco with the greater part of their army. Anxious to preserve his countrymen from destruction, and still more to save from the hands of the enemy the city on which he had set his affections, he hastened to return to Peru; and while he avoided the rigorous climate of the mountains, he lost a great number of men in the parched dry deserts of the sea coast through which he passed. On his arrival at Cuzco, Almagro found that the Peruvians had already made themselves masters of half the city, while a handful of Spaniards, under the command of Ferdinand and Gonzalez Pizarro, still obstinately defended the other half. He totally routed the Peruvian army; took the Pizarros prisoners; and thus obtained possession of the city. Yet his triumph was of but short duration: the wily governor resorted to negotiations till both his brothers were out of Almagro's power; and he then prepared openly to decide the quarrel by arms. Almagro, weighed down by the infirmities of age, was unable to make his wonted exertions in the battle that ensued. He was totally defeated and taken prisoner. Although little danger was to be apprehended from one of his advanced years, now that his party was dispersed, yet, as he had lately had the Pizarros in his power, personal animosity and a spirit of revenge decided his doom, and he was condemned to die. The courage of the veteran shrunk from the ignominy of the scaffold, and he stooped to entreaties in order to save his life; but when he found his enemies inexorable, he resumed his fortitude, and met his fate with a firmness worthy of his reputation.

After the death of Almagro, the government of Chili was bestowed on Pedro de Valdivia, who advanced into that country as far as the fortieth degree of southern latitude. At the same time, the Spaniards in South America pushed forward their discoveries in other directions with an activity and dauntless perseverance which it is astonishing to contemplate. Vadillo, in 1537,

marched with a few followers from Uraba, on the Gulf of Darien, to the southern limits of Peru, a distance of 1200 leagues. This journey, a great part of which lay through mountains and unfrequented forests, was looked upon at the time as the most extraordinary ever performed. In 1533, Benalcazar, an officer of Pizarro's, subdued the province of Quito; but he had not been long in possession of the country, when he was alarmed by the approach of a formidable competitor. Alvarado, who had served with great distinction under Cortez, and had been rewarded with the government of the southern provinces of New Spain, still panting for new acquisitions, determined to assert his right to Quito, which he considered as lying within his jurisdiction. He accordingly invaded that country with an army of five hundred men,- —a strong force among the adventurers of the New World; and advanced from the coast along the river Guayaquil, till he reached the elevated table-land of the interior. On ascending the mountains his troops experienced unusual and unexpected hardships ;- intense cold, heavy snow, or else torrents of rain, perpetually incommoded them. They were sometimes overwhelmed by immense showers of ashes, thrown forth, as they afterwards learned, from volcanoes at a distance of eighty leagues. Great numbers of them fell victims to the difficulties of the road and to the scarcity of food. When at length the troops of Alvarado approached those of Benalcazar, both parties felt how foolish it was to contend for the single possession of regions so extensive, that their combined forces were hardly numerous enough even to explore them. An accommodation was proposed, and Alvarado consented to withdraw his army, on the receipt of a sum large enough not merely to indemnify him for the expenses of the expedition, but even for the relinquishment of his hopes.

An expedition of greater importance in its geographical results, and attended with circumstances of a peculiarly romantic character, issued a few years later from Quito. The mountainous country to the east of

that city was reported by the Indians to abound in aromatic productions, and particularly in cinnamon; from which circumstance the Spaniards gave it the name of Los Canelos. The difficult task of penetrating to those wild and remote regions, through hostile tribes of Indians, trackless forests, and over mountains covered with perpetual snow, was undertaken by Gonzalez Pizarro, who at this time had the government of Quito. He accordingly set forward on his march in 1540, with an army of 350 Spaniards, of whom nearly one half were horsemen, and about 4000 Indians. His progress over the mountains was retarded by impediments of a more fearful kind than any which he had anticipated. While the Spaniards were marching through the country of the Quixos, they felt repeatedly the shocks of a violent earthquake: the earth opened in many places, and swallowed up above 500 houses. The atmosphere shared in the general commotion. The thunder and lightning were incessant; and the rain fell in such torrents as quickly to deluge all the valleys, so as to cut off every communication between the Spaniards and the cultivated country, and to reduce them at once to absolute want. Farther on they were obliged to cross a lofty ridge of the Andes, on the top of which the cold was so intense, that many of the attendant Indians were frozen to death. At length Gonzalez reached the province of Zumaco, where the cinnamon trees were found in the greatest abundance. Throughout the whole of the country these trees were found in great numbers in the woods; but the Indians also cultivated them with much attention in their plantations, and the cultivated trees produced a much better cinnamon than those which grew wild. The inhabitants of Zumaco carried on an advantageous trade by means of it; exchanging it for provisions and whatever else they stood in need of.

*

- *Zarate, Hist. del Peru. The Winter's bark and white cinnamon of America are very different from the true cinnamon of Ceylon and Cochin China. The tree (a species of laurel) which produces the latter, was introduced towards the close of the last century into St. Domingo and French Guiana, where it is at present cultivated with very little mercantile success.

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From Zumaco, Gonzalez proceeded to explore the country to the east. He followed the course of a river till he arrived at a place where the whole stream fell over a height of 600 feet: the noise of the cataract could be heard distinctly six leagues off. The Spaniards marched fifty leagues along the banks of this river without being able to find a place where they could cross over. At length they came to a spot where the crags, jutting out at an immense height above the channel of the river, approached each other so closely, as to permit the construction of a temporary bridge by throwing some trees across. After passing the river the Spaniards had to march through a flat country, intersected by floods and marshes; and in some places so covered with wood, that they found it extremely difficult to cut their way through it. Wild fruits were now their only subsistence. Gonzalez deemed it necessary to build a bark, in order to search for provisions along the rivers, as well as to transport the baggage and the sick. Every one, without regard to rank, was obliged to labour in its construction. The worn-out shirts of the Spaniards were used to caulk the seams; and the gums that exuded from some of the forest trees served instead of pitch and tar. Relying on the advantages to be derived from this small vessel, Gonzalez continued to advance in spite of all the difficulties that beset his progress. He penetrated in this way above 200 leagues, always following the course of the river, until the supply of roots and berries became so scanty, that it was necessary to have recourse to some bold expedient in order to procure food for the famished army. Gonzalez, in consequence, ordered Francisco de Orellana, one of his chief captains, to proceed expeditiously down the river with fifty men in search of provisions; and, having loaded the bark with a plentiful supply, to return, leaving all the baggage at a place where two great rivers joined, according to the information received from the Indians.

Orellana accordingly went forward, and found the statement of the Indians respecting the confluence of the

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