ther
governor of the territory of Quito, in the north of the empire, with
instructions to explore the unknown country lying to the east, where the
cinnamon tree was said to grow. Gonzalo lost no time in seeking his
province, and made haste in starting on his journey of exploration to the
fabled land of spices.

It was early in the year that he set out on this famous expedition, with a
force of three hundred and fifty Spaniards and four thousand Indians, one
hundred and fifty of the whites being mounted. They were all thoroughly
equipped and took with them a large supply of provisions and a great drove
of hogs, five thousand in number, as some writers say. Yet with all this
food they were to suffer from the extremes of famine.

We can but briefly tell the incidents of this extraordinary journey. At
first it was easy enough. But when they left the land of the Incas and
began to cross the lofty ranges of the Andes, they found themselves
involved in intricate and difficult passes, swept by chilling winds. In
this cold wilderness many of the natives found an icy grave, and during
their passage a terrible earthquake shook the mountains, the earth in one
place being rent asunder. Choking sulphurous vapors issued from the
cavity, into whose frightful abyss a village of several hundred houses was
precipitated.

After the heights were passed and they descended to the lower levels,
tropical heats succeeded the biting cold, and fierce storms of rain,
accompanied by violent thunder and lightning, descended almost
ceaselessly, drenching the travellers day after day. It was the rainy
season of the tropics, and for more than six weeks the deluge continued,
while the forlorn wanderers, wet and weary, could scarce drag themselves
over the yielding and saturated soil.

For several months this toilsome journey continued, many a mountain stream
and dismal morass needing to be crossed. At length they reached the Land
of Cinnamon, the _Canelas_ of the Spaniards, where were forests of the
trees supposed by them to bear the precious bark. Yet had it been the
actual cinnamon of the East Indies, it would have been useless to them in
that remote and mountain-walled wilderness. Here their journey, as
originally laid out, should have ended, but they were lured on by the
statements of the wild tribes they met, they being told of a rich and
populous land at ten days' journey in advance, in which gold could be
found in abundance.

Gold was a magi