they should reach their
native land. He would lead them back by another route, and somewhere on it
they would surely reach that fruitful land of which so much had been told
them. At any rate, every step would take them nearer home, and nothing
else was left them to do.

The soldiers listened to him with renewed hope. He had proved himself so
far a true companion, sharing all their perils and privations, taking his
lot with the humblest among them, aiding the sick and cheering up the
despondent. In this way he had won their fullest confidence and devotion,
and in this trying moment he reaped the benefit of his unselfish conduct.

The journey back was more direct and less difficult than that they had
already taken. Yet though this route proved an easier one, their distress
was greater than ever, from their lack of food beyond such scanty fare as
they could pick up in the forest or obtain by force or otherwise from the
Indians. Such as sickened and fell by the way were obliged to be left
behind, and many a poor wretch was deserted to die alone in the
wilderness, if not devoured by the wild beasts that roamed through it.

The homeward march, like the outward one, took more than a year, and it
was in June, 1542, that the survivors trod again the high plains of Quito.
They were a very different looking party from the well-equipped and
hope-inspired troop of cavaliers and men-at-arms who had left that upland
city nearly two and a half years before. Their horses were gone, their
bright arms were rusted and broken, their clothing was replaced by the
skins of wild beasts, their hair hung long and matted down their
shoulders, their faces were blackened by the tropical sun, their bodies
were wasted and scarred. A gallant troop they had set out; a body of
meagre phantoms they returned. Of the four thousand Indians taken, less
than half had survived. Of the Spaniards only eighty came back, and these
so worn and broken that many of them never fully recovered from their
sufferings. Thus in suffering and woe ended the famous expedition to the
Land of Cinnamon.

CORONADO AND THE SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA.

The remarkable success of Cortez and Pizarro in Mexico and Peru went far
to convince the Spaniards that in America they had found a veritable land
of magic, filled with wonders and supremely rich in gold and gems. Ponce
de Leon sought in Florida for the fabled Fountain of Youth. Hernando de
Soto, one of the companions of Piz