or's palace and made their way with drawn swords into the room
where Pizarro was surrounded by some friends and servants. Most of these
jumped through the window; the rest were cut down. Pizarro defended
himself bravely, but after killing four of his assailants he fell to the
ground, and with a loud voice asked to be allowed to make his
confession. While he was making the sign of the cross on the ground, a
sword was thrust into his throat.

The murdered Inca king is an emblem of bleeding South America. All was
done, it was pretended, in order to spread enlightenment and
Christianity, but in reality the children of the country were lured to
destruction, deluded to fill Spanish coffers with gold, and then in
requital were persecuted to death. Civilisation had no part in the
matter; it was only a question of robbery and greed of gain, and when
these desires were satisfied, the descendants of the Incas might be
swept off the earth.

THE AMAZONS RIVER

In Peru the largest river of the world takes its source, and streams
northwards among the verdant _cordilleras_ of the Andes. Wheat waves on
its banks, and here and there stands a funereal tower or a ruin from
Inca times. Small rafts take the place of bridges, and at high water the
river rushes foaming furiously through the valley.

And then it suddenly turns eastwards and cuts its way with unbridled
fury through the eastern ridges of the Andes. The water forces itself
through ravines barely 50 yards wide and dashes with a deafening roar
over falls and rapids. Sometimes the river rests from its labours,
expanding to a width of two or three furlongs. Crystal affluents hurry
down from the snow-fields of the Andes to join it. It takes its tribute
of water from mountain and forest, and is indeed a majestic stream when
it leaves the last hills behind.

The source of the Amazons was discovered in 1535 by Maranon, a Spanish
soldier. Vicente Pinzon had discovered its mouth in the year 1500. But
Maranon, on the one hand, had no notion where the river emerged into the
sea, and Pinzon, on the other, knew not where the headwaters purled
through the valley. It was reserved for another Spaniard to solve the
problem. Let us follow Orellana on his adventurous journey.

Gonzalo Pizarro served under his brother, the conqueror, in northern
Peru. There he heard of rich gold countries in the east, and decided to
seek them. With an army of 350 Spanish cavalry and infantry, as well as
4000