ur government as more than an air
bubble....

"In the year 1559 the Marquis of Canete entrusted the expedition of the
river of Amazons to Pedro de Ursua, a Navarrese, or, rather, a
Frenchman, who delayed the building of his vessels till 1560. These
vessels were built in the province of the Motilones, which is a wet
country, and, as they were built in the rainy season, they came to
pieces, and we therefore made canoes and descended the river. We
navigated the most powerful river in Peru, and it seemed to us that we
were in a sea of fresh water. We descended the river for three hundred
leagues. This bad governor was capricious, vain, and inefficient, so
that we could not suffer it, and we gave him a quick and certain death.
We then raised Don Fernando de Guzman to be our king.... Because I did
not consent to their evil deeds they desired to murder me. I therefore
killed the new king, the captain of his guard, his lieutenant-general,
four captains, his major-domo, his chaplain who said mass, a woman, a
knight of the Order of Rhodes, an admiral, two ensigns, and five or six
of his servants. I named captains and sergeants, but these men also
wanted to kill me, and I hanged them. We continued our course while this
evil fortune was befalling us, and it was eleven months and a half
before we reached the mouths of the river, having travelled for more
than a hundred days over more than fifteen hundred leagues. This river
has a course of two thousand leagues of fresh water, the greater part of
the shores being uninhabited, and God only knows how we ever escaped out
of that fearful lake. I advise thee not to send any Spanish fleet up
this ill-omened river, for, on the faith of a Christian, I swear to
thee, O king and lord, that if a hundred thousand men should go up, not
one would escape....

"We shall give God thanks if, by our arms, we attain the rewards which
are due to us, but which thou hast denied us; and because of thine
ingratitude I am a rebel against thee until death."

He and his band of outlaws ravaged the settlements of Venezuela for some
time, until at last, on a promise of pardon, all left him save Llamoso,
the murderer of Lady Inez. Aguirre had a daughter, a girl of twelve to
fourteen, and when he found that all was lost he resolved to kill her.
They were living at a country house, and when Llamoso brought the news
of the desertion of his men, he snatched up a loaded arquebuse and
rushed into his child's room, sa