450 / 1060
I
•
Royal
Commentaries.
CH A P. X.
cis
Pi~arro
proceeds in his Conquefl
~
I
P.
lftrrro
and his
tbirteen
Companions remained
many
Months in
the Ifland
of
Gorgona,
enduring great hardiliips in that Councrey where are perpetual
Rains,
V\
ithout Houfe or Tent> or any thing to cover them, and where the
befl:
and
choice~
of their food
"Yas
nothing but
th~
fle(h
of
gr~at
Serpents;
fo
that
it
feemed,
as
1fGod had
fu
amed them by
a
miracle; and mdeed
the
Divine
Pro.
idence a peared moil: wonder'fully in putting it into the Hearts
of all,
befides
rhefe thine
n, to
rerw·n,
to
demon{l:rate unto the
W
odd, that this Conquefi:
"as
not effetled by Humane, but
by
Di ine Aid.;
for
it
is
hardly conceivable
how
humanely [peaking,
it
fhould enter into the minds of thirteen Men onely, to aci
\emure on the Conquell: of
Peru.
Of which therefore we can give no other
Ac–
count, than onely tnat the Divine Mercy compaffionating the Miferies
and
Jg.
norances of thofe Gentiles, was pleafed to incite and inflame
a fire
of
Coura~
in
the Breall:s of thofe
Spaniard!,
fitted
for
fuch an Enterprife; for as
God
did
under
the Old Tell:ament infufe fuength and virtue into
the
Locks of
Sttmpfon,
fo
no\
he was p eafed by fuch weak means
as
thefe
to
briog
Light out of Darknefs,
and
make \ ay
for
the effufion and fpreading of
his
Holy Gofpel.
At
the end
f
many Months
(for a
difpatch could not be fooner
made) the
Ship arrived
~hi
h
Almagro
fent with Provilions, but without Men;
a misfortune
fo
difcouraging, that one might believe they would rather have been
induced co
return home, than perfill in their refolucion. But God
fo
influenced their
Minds
wit
firange hopes, that they figured unto themfelves
a
concurrence
of
all
hap–
py
Omens in th
ir
favour, for they no fooner
faw
the Ship, than that they
refoI–
ved
to
proceed
in
their
oyage., and difcover
at
leaft what Countrey
and
what
People they were, who inhabited under the Equinoctial, a Region as yet
un–
knm
n to the
Spaniards:
With the[e Intentions they embarked> and at
length
with
mud
labour they got out of the Golf
in
hich
they
1
ere embayed;
for
both the South '
ind,
which al ays
blm
s in, and
the
Current, which
ah
ays
fets from
orth
tO
South , made it very difficult to furmount both one
and che
other;
for
indeed
it
is
a
wonderfl;lll thing to fee, and it were well if
it
were de·
fcribed in our Map , for the benefit of Navigation, in what manner,
and wirh
what
rapidnefs thofe Streams run; for
\~:ith
the violence of rhe Wav , and
force
of
the Current they make Cuch a noife, and raife fuch a froth, as is molt
rerri le
to behold, and
i
dangerous to Ship , which being fucked
in
by thofe
Whirl-
ool , are certainly loft.
Many
of thefe Currents caft
up
the
earth and
fiime
fro
n
t 1e bottom,
that
the Waters are \ ery thick and cur id, others are
clear and
limpid; Come are large and broad, and others narrow,
ut that
which
is
moll
firange
to
fee,
is
the
vafr
difference of one
Vv
ater from the other, rhat
is
of one
at r
hi h runs \\ ith
a
{i
ift
rream from thar whi h
i
fiill, or runs flm
·Jy;
he W aters on each fide are quiet, and feem like a
"'"all to the rapid
cream
which runs in the middle, the reafon
0£'
hich I cannot comprehend.
It is
foffi:
dent for our pur ofe to tell you, that their
avigation over fuch Current
"'O
i
an unkno\.\ n ea, for many
ays and Month, was very difficult· and there·
fore we cann
t
fufficient
y app aud the courage of thefe thirteen
Companionc:,
'
·110
would full adventure, and firug
0
le under all thefe Difcouragernent.
The}'
fuffered much by hunger, for being but few in num er, they were cauriou of ha·
zarding t emfe ves amongO: the
Indians,
onely they fometimes watched an oppo ·
tunity to get ·ood and Provifions
by
Ctealth and rob er), rathe than
by
for e
f
Arm , or pen appearance.
CH AP.