heart to be cast down.
They brought back but little gold, but with that little they had
gathered evidence of the indubitable existence of the opulent empire
they sought.

The governor was hugely dissatisfied with the results of the
expedition, of which he had expected to share some of the profits; and
his consent to another could hardly have been obtained, but for the
persuasive eloquence of the priest, backed by the offer of a sum in
ready cash. For a thousand pesos de oro Pedrarias gave his consent,
and signed away his right to the spoils of an empire.

A new contract was entered into by the three partners, and an
elaborate and solemn document was drawn up, in sonorous Spanish, which
is curious reading at this day. Father Luque signed it with his own
hand, and the two soldiers by the hands of witnesses, since neither
Pizarro nor Almagro could write his name. About one hundred and sixty
men were enlisted, and again the two chiefs set sail from Panama in
separate ships.

They made their first landing at the mouth of the Rio San Juan, where
by the plunder of a small village, they secured some ornaments of gold
and a few prisoners. Almagro hastened to carry the treasure back to
Panama, as a bait to other followers, while Pizarro and his pilot Ruiz
remained to explore the interior and the coast. Ruiz sailed as far
south as the equator, and after a memorable voyage of some weeks,
returned to his chief with a cheering report. He had fallen in with
what seemed at first a ship at sea, where no European ship had ever
been, and found it to be an Indian _balsa_, a huge raft across which
was stretched a sail of cotton-cloth. It had a rudder and a keel. On
board were men and women clad in a curious sort of woollen stuff,
skilfully woven, and beautifully dyed and embroidered. They were
making a voyage of traffic along the coast. They wore ornaments of
gold, and had with them, besides vessels and mirrors of burnished
silver, balances for weighing the precious metals, which by signs they
assured Ruiz were common in their country.

Pizarro in the meanwhile vainly endeavored to pass the yawning gorges,
bottomless swamps, and dense dark forests that lay between him and the
snow-covered peaks of the Cordilleras. Entangled vines and trees of a
luxuriant tropical vegetation, huge boas coiling in the branches,
ready to spring upon their prey, screaming parrots, chattering and
grimacing monkeys, mosquitoes, alligators, prowling savages,-