try grew more forbidding, and again the suffering
soldiers lost hope. At Puerto Viejo they were joined by thirty men under
Sebastian de Belalcazar, who afterward distinguished himself in a brave
chase of that golden butterfly which so many pursued to their death, and
none ever captured,--the myth of the Dorado.

Pushing on, Pizarro finally crossed to the island of Puna, to rest his
gaunt men, and get them in trim for the conquest. The Indians of the
island attempted treachery; and when their ringleaders were captured and
punished, the whole swarm of savages fell desperately on the Spanish
camp. It was a most unequal contest; but at last courage and discipline
prevailed over mere brute force, and the Indians were routed. Many
Spaniards were wounded, and among them Hernando Pizarro, who got an ugly
javelin-wound in the leg. But the Indians gave them no rest, and were
constantly harassing them, cutting off stragglers, and keeping the camp
in endless alarm. Then fortunately came a reinforcement of one hundred
men with a few horses, under command of Hernando de Soto, the heroic but
unfortunate man who later explored the Mississippi.

Thus strengthened, Pizarro crossed back to the mainland on rafts. The
Indians disputed his passage, killed three men on one raft, and cut off
another raft, whose soldiers were overpowered. Hernando Pizarro had
already landed; and though a dangerous mud-flat lay between, he spurred
his floundering horse through belly-deep mire, with a few companions,
and rescued the imperilled men.

Entering Tumbez, the Spaniards found the pretty town stripped and
deserted. Alonso de Molina and his companion had disappeared, and their
fate was never learned. Pizarro left a small force there, and in May,
1532, marched inland, sending De Soto with a small detachment to scout
the base of the giant Andes. From his very first landing, Pizarro
enforced the strictest discipline. His soldiers must treat the Indians
well, under the severest penalties. They must not even enter an Indian
dwelling; and if they dared disobey this command they were sternly
punished. It was a liberal and gentle policy toward the Indians which
Pizarro adopted at the very start, and maintained inflexibly.

[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS, CAXAMARCA.

_See page 268._]

After three or four weeks spent in exploring, Pizarro picked out a site
in the valley of Tangara, and founded there the town of San Miguel (St.
Michael). He built a churc