PIZARRO, GONZALO, threw in his fortunes with those of his brother Francisco, on the occasion when that leader returned to Spain in 1528. He was, like the great conqueror, illegitimate. Iie became a soldier at an early age, distinguished himself, before he joined his brother's expedition, by his skill in martial exercises, and when he reached Peru, was esteemed the best lance in the Spanish troop. The territory of Quito was assigned to him by Francisco, and he was enjoined to undertake an exploring expedition to the e., where reputed to be extremely rich in spices, was said to lie. At the head of 350 Spaniards and a great concourse of Indians, Pizarro set out on his famous journey in the beginning of 1540. Marching e., they reached a country traversed by lofty branches of the Andes. here the icy winds benumbed the limbs of the adventur ers as they rose to the higher plateaux, and, rendered helpless by the cold, many of them sank and died. Deseenaing the eastern slopes of the Andes, they reached the "land of cinnamon ;" hut as they could not transport the trees across the mountains, their discov ery was almost valueless. Hearing of a land abounding iu gold at the distance of ten days' journey, the leader resolved to reach it. Pushing forward, the Spaniards entered great forests, where often they had to hew a passage with their axes. Their clothes were now torn to shreds, and their provisions had been long exhausted. They killed and ate the dogs they had brought with them, after which they lived on the herbs and dangerous roots of the forest. At length they struck the broad but desolate waters of the Napo, an important affluent of the Amazon. On the surface of this broad river no vesssel floated,.and it ran amid gloomy woods, the silence of which was undisturbed save by the sound of the rushing waters. Here Pizarro caused a rude bark to be constructed
for the transport of the baggage and of the weaker travelers. Francisco de Orellaua was intrusted with the command of the vessel. Pizarro, hearing of a populous nation at the distance of a few days' journey, who dwelt near the confluence of the Napo with p. larger river, sent forward Orellana to obtain and bring back supplies for the starving travelers, who had eaten the last of their horses, and were now reduced to the leather of their saddles and belts. °reliana reached the Amazon; but, unable either to obtain supplies, or to return against the current of the river, abandoned the expedition, and with his fifty followers resolved to sail down the Amazon, reach the Atlantic, and make for Spain. This wonderful design was successfully carried out. Pizarro, after waiting in vain for the return of the bark, resolved to return to Quito, which, after enduring terrible sufferings, and seeking fruitlessly for the rich regions of which he had heard Si) much, he reached in June, 1542, after an absence of more than two years. The fatal character of this expedition may be inferred from the appearance the travelers presented on their return. Half of the 4,000 Indians had perished, and of the Spaniards, only SO remained: and these, clad in skins, blackened by the sun, and wasted by hunger and fatigue, with long matted locks, seemed like a troop of spectral savages. This expedi tion stands unmatched in the annals of American discovery for its dangers and suffer ings, for the length of their duration. and for the heroic fortitude with which they were endured. For the fate of Gonzalo Pizarro, see article PERIL