631 / 1060
BooK
Ill.
Royal C
om1nentaries.
In
thefe parts they
remain~d
rwo months in Expettation of the coming of
thofe
Spaniards,
whom they had left in
Cumaco,
and had direCl:ed
to follow them
by
Cuch trace
and marks
as
they fuould find
of
the way they_ had
taken
before
rhem. the Companions being come up
to
them, and a while
refreO~ed
after
their
Journey,
they travelled all
together
by the Banks _of that great !_liver, for
the
[pace
of
fifty
Leagues,
io
all
which way, they neither found Bndge, !1or
{hallow
place,
which was fordable,
for
the
"!
ater was very deep, and the River
fo
broad that no Bridge could
be
made over
1t.
At
le~grh
they came to a
place where this whole River falls from the top of
a Rock above two hundred
fa
th.omhigh, which Catarack, or falling of the Wa–
ters,
m~kes
a noife, that
is
h
eard above
fix
l..eagu~s
from the place; at which,
though the
Spaniards
~ere
wonderfully amazed,
yet
it
was much more
wonderfull
ro fee
about forty or
fifty
Leagues lower, that immenfe
quanticy
of
Water
contratfed and
Hrairened
within
a Chanel
made
by one great Rock.
This
Cha–
nel is
[o
narrow, that from one fide co the other
it
is
not above twenty foot
wide;
but
fo
high,. that from the top, where 'the
Spaniard1
made their
Bridge
to
pafs
down
to
the
Surface of the-.Water,
are r:vvo
hundred
Fadiom,
as was
that
of
the
Catarack.
It
is indeed'
frrange to confider ,
that
in
that
Countrey there
iliould
be
fuch
prodigious Wonders,
which
are beyond Expreffion,
as
may
appeat
by thefe nwo
inHances,
and
divers others,
whioh
occur
in
cliis
Hillory.
Gon:qi/q Piptr_ro,
and
his
Captains, confidering
that
there was nomora convenient paifage to be found ovet:
the River than
this,
and that
it
was necdfary to pafs
t:o
tH¢
other
fide,,.
by
reafon
. that
the Countrey
was
barren on
that
fide wliidh they
then were
in,.
it
was
agreed
to
make
a
Bridge
over
the
top
0f
the Rode.
'Fhe
Indians
though
few
in
num-
·
ber, fioutly defended
the
:mds,.
fo
that
tlie
Sp1VJiards
were
furced
to
fight
with
them,
which
was
the
firfr
1tnaotn1te
they·
hadr
with
thofe
of
chat
Countrey
:
,
When
the
Spa-11iards.
killeti aa}J
dne, or more
of
~hem,
with
their
Mufquett; the
others
immediately
fled, being rteJtuified to
fee
·their
Companions killed
at the
dillance of an hundred or two hundred
paCesi;.
and
tlyting
with
Fear
and Amaze..
-menr,
reported
in all places, that
t1hete
was1ai fonn
of
People
c0111e
into their
Coumrey,
of
fuch
wonderfuJM
Po
er~
thac Imled thofe1with
Thunder
and
Light·
ning, that wonld
not
obey thmi.
The PafS
being now dear, the
.S1wtim"dr
fell
to1
wm:k on
tih~
Bridge
of
Timber,
which cofi
mucli
labour before
dre
firft
Bearn
cmuld
be
p~d
over to
nhe
other
Rock,,
which
was fo high, that
it
was a bold thing for any one co adventdre.
to
look
dovvn; for vvhillt a
Spaniard
caO: his Eyes to behold
from
the cop of that
precipice the fvvift current
of
the Water belovv, his Head became
dizzy,
and
turned , fo that dovvn he fell , and vvas drovvned in the Waters. The other
Spaniards
being vvarned by this unfortunate Example, vvent
more
cautioufly
to vvork, and after much Difficulty, and Labour, they paffed the
firll:
Beam over
to the
oppofite
Rock, by help of vvhich a
fecond
vvas more eafiJy laid
and
then other
~ieces
of Tim?er, vvhich vvere neceffary; fo that by degrees' they
formed
a
Bndge, over·vvh1ch both Man
and
Horfe fecurely paffed,
vvhich
they
left
in
the fame condition to remain , in cafe
they
!hould nave occa.fion to
re–
turn
back
by
the fame vvay: And fo they
travelled
by the fide of the
River
over certain Mountains, vvhich vvere
fo
tbick
vvuh
Wood, that they
vver~
forced to open their vvay vvirh the Hatchet,
and
other
ln!huments.
With thefe
Difficulties they came at length to a Countrey,
called
Guema,
vvhich vvas fo
poor,
and fiarved, that
it
vvas more barren than
any
they had paffed before :
H~re
vvere fame fevv
Indians,
vvho at the fight ofthe
Spaniard.r
fled into the Lv1oun–
tams,
and.never
aftervvards
appeared.
Here the
Spaniards
,
and their
Indian
Servants, vvere forced again to fuftain ·
themfelves vvith Herbs, and
Roots,
and vvith the tender fprouts
ofTrees
vvhich
are
as
good to eat, as the fialks of our Vine Leaves are here. Thus
vvich
1
Famine
an~
Travels, and with perpetual Rains,
fo
that their Cloths
vvere
never
dry
o~
t:h~ir Ba~ks,
many of the
Spaniards
fell fick and dyed; yet
in
defpight of all thefe
D1fficulues, they
pro~eed~d ma~y
Leagues
f~rther
on their vvay, untill at
length
they came vvhere
Jndwu.
mhab1ted ,
fomethmg more civilized than the former
5
for they
vvere
fuch as did eat
Mayz,
and clothed chemfelves vv·th Garments of
Cbtten;
but
frill
the Climate vvas fubjeet co Rains.
h h t
Whil
I
•