place where they had left
Alonzo, carrying with them the gold, to acquire which they had suffered
so many miseries.

"But while they had been employed in this manner, Alonzo, who foresaw
what would happen, had been industriously toiling to a very different
purpose. His skill in husbandry had easily enabled him to find a spot of
considerable extent and very fertile soil, which he ploughed up with the
oxen he had brought with him, and the assistance of his servants. He
then sowed the different seeds he had brought, and planted the potatoes,
which prospered beyond what he could have expected, and yielded him a
most abundant harvest. His sheep he had turned out in a very fine meadow
near the sea, and every one of them had brought him a couple of lambs.
Besides that, he and his servants, at leisure times, employed themselves
in fishing; and the fish they had caught were all dried and salted with
salt they had found upon the sea-shore; so that, by the time of
Pizarro's return, they had laid up a very considerable quantity of
provisions.

"When Pizarro returned, his brother received him with the greatest
cordiality, and asked him what success he had had? Pizarro told him that
they had found an immense quantity of gold, but that several of his
companions had perished, and that the rest were almost starved from the
want of provisions. He then requested that his brother would immediately
give him something to eat, as he assured him he had tasted no food for
the last two days, excepting the roots and bark of trees. Alonzo then
very coolly answered, that he should remember that, when they set out,
they had made an agreement, that neither should interfere with the
other; that he had never desired to have any share of the gold which
Pizarro might acquire, and therefore he wondered that Pizarro should
expect to be supplied with the provisions that he had procured with so
much care and labour; 'but,' added he, 'if you choose to exchange some
of the gold you have found for provisions, I shall perhaps be able to
accommodate you.'

"Pizarro thought this behaviour very unkind in his brother; but, as he
and his companions were almost starved, they were obliged to comply with
his demands, which were so exorbitant, that, in a very short time, they
parted with all the gold they had brought with them, merely to purchase
food. Alonzo then proposed to his brother to embark for Spain in the
vessel which had brought them thither, as the winds a