prevent the bearers from running away they were
strung together on chains, running through rings round their necks. If
one of them dropped from sickness or exhaustion, his head was cut off,
the ring loosened, and thus the trouble of interfering with the chain
saved. If he were to be left behind, it did not matter whether he was
alive or dead. At one place on the river Magdalena the frightened
natives took refuge on some islands, but the Spaniards swam their horses
across and killed or took prisoners the whole of them. From their
Cacique Alfinger got booty to the value of sixty thousand dollars, with
which he sent back for further supplies. But, although he waited for a
year his messengers did not return, and the company were reduced to such
straits that many died for want of bare food. But the Indians fared much
worse, for their provision grounds were utterly destroyed, and what with
murders and starvation the surrounding country was quite depopulated and
desolate.

Even Alfinger had to give up waiting for his supplies and move on at
last, for these had been utilised by his lieutenant on an expedition of
his own. The party eked out a bare subsistence with wild fruits and
game. If they found a village they plundered it of everything it
contained, dug up the provisions from the fields, and left the survivors
of the massacre to starve. Not that they themselves were in a much
better plight; fever, the result of want and exposure, carried them off
in continually increasing numbers. At last they got into a mountain
region, and the poor naked bearers were frozen to death. Descending
again they encountered stronger and fiercer tribes, by whom they were
defeated, the cruel Alfinger himself dying two days afterwards from his
wounds. A small remnant only returned after two years' absence, leaving
a track of pain and suffering to make their memory accursed for many
generations.

George of Spires now fitted out a great expedition of three hundred
infantry and two hundred cavalry, which started in 1536. They also went
a long distance into the interior, braving hardships and dangers almost
incredible. Jaguars carried off their horses, and even went so far as to
attack and kill several of the Indian bearers and one Spaniard. Like
their predecessors, they also encountered savage Indians, and died of
starvation and sickness. After journeying fifteen hundred miles from the
coast they had to return unsuccessful; but as their leader was l