How Francisco de Orellana went down the rivet until he reached the Ocean Sea, and of the great sufferings of Gonzalo Pizarro and his followers from hunger.

GONZALO PIZARRO, having decided to send Francisco de Orellana in the vessel down the river, ordered him to start at once, and to those who were to travel with him he repeated the instructions he had given to Orellana himself. They therefore proceeded down stream, taking scarcely any provisions with them, and suffered very great hardships, making their way for days without seeing any inhabitant. At the end of that time they met with a few and began to talk of returning, but this seemed an impossible task, for they had traversed more than three hundred leagues.