ue and
Almagro. Disagreements speedily arose, for the latter naturally felt
aggrieved that Pizarro should have secured for himself such an unfair
share of the riches and honours as the King had bestowed on him without
putting forward the claims of his comrade, and matters were made worse
by the insolent way in which Hernando Pizarro treated the old soldier,
whom he looked upon as an obstacle in the path of his brother. Matters
got to such a pass that Almagro was actually preparing ships to
prosecute the expedition on his own account, but De Luque at last
succeeded in reconciling the two commanders--at least for the
moment--and the united band started for the third time. Though the
number of men in the three ships did not exceed one hundred and eighty,
yet they had twenty-seven horses, and were now much better provided with
arms and ammunition. Pizarro's intention was to steer for Tumbez, but
the wind being contrary he anchored instead in the Bay of St. Matthew,
where the troops disembarked and advanced along the coast, while the
vessels proceeded in the same direction, keeping as close inshore as
possible. When Pizarro and his men reached a town of some importance
they rushed in upon it sword in hand, and the inhabitants, without
offering any resistance, fled to the woods, leaving the invaders to
rifle their dwellings, from which they collected an unexpectedly large
store of gold, silver, and emeralds, some of the stones being of great
size. Pizarro sent the treasure back to Panama in the ships, and
continued his march, his soldiers suffering terribly in crossing the
sandy wastes under the burning sun, which beat upon their iron mail or
quilted cotton doublets till they were nearly suffocated. Here, too,
they were attacked by a dreadful disease, terrible warts of great size
breaking out upon them, of which several died. This plague, which was
quite unknown before, attacked the natives also, spreading over the
whole country. Everywhere as they advanced the Indians fled before them;
the land was poor, and the Spaniards began to grumble and wish to
retreat; but at this juncture one of the ships appeared, and the march
along the coast was continued. Reaching the Gulf of Guayaquil, Pizarro
persuaded the friendly natives of Tumbez to transport himself and his
men to the island of Puna, where he encamped for the rainy season; but
the islanders resented the presence of their enemies the men of Tumbez,
a suspicion of treachery ar