rtile plains through which
ran the great rivers. The scarcity of minerals in these districts had
now become sufficiently obvious to them; yet even to men in quest of
little beyond gold the extraordinary fertility of the alluvial soil was
not altogether lost. With a courage and pertinacity which does the
adventurers every credit, they determined, instead of abandoning the
river and putting out to sea, to sail far up-stream into the unknown,
and to seek their fortune inland.

Mendoza's expedition first of all established itself for a while on the
site of Sancti Spiritus, Cabot's old abandoned fort, which they now
rechristened Corpus Christi. Shortly after their arrival at the place,
Mendoza himself, who had doubtless suffered many disillusions concerning
the gold and precious stones of these districts, and whose health had
given way beneath the stress of the hardships and of the numerous
precarious situations in which he had found himself, set sail for Spain.
It was to be his fate never to return to his native land, since he died
on his way home.

Juan de Ayolas was now left in command of the Spanish force. He was an
able commander, and a man of determined character, eminently fitted to
conduct an expedition such as this. Without hesitation, the new leader
purposed to make his way farther up the stream. He got together the
ships once again, and, manning them, he made his way from point to
point along the great river system, attacked here and there by the
Indians on the banks, and occasionally challenged by flotillas of
canoes, which boldly came out to assume the aggressive. But in every
case the lesson taught the Indians was a severe one, and, undeterred by
the hostility shown him, Ayolas sailed inland until he came to Asuncion
in Paraguay. At this spot the expedition came to a halt, and the weary
pioneers landed, and immediately became lost in admiration of the
fertile and delightful country in which they now found themselves.

There is no doubt that to the new-comers the country in the
neighbourhood of Asuncion, with its pleasant valleys, rolling country,
and forest-covered hills, must have come in the shape of a relief after
the apparently interminable passage of the plains. It was the spot at
which the pioneer would naturally halt, and endeavour to found his
settlement.

The Guarani Indians extended but a cold welcome to the daring
adventurers. Their temperament was by nature far less warlike than that
of the sav