followed in rear of his army. The description of the perils of this expedition, of the strange and savage scenery through which they travelled, of the stormy elements which they encountered in their march, such as would only be witnessed by those who penetrated into the deepest and most awful recesses of nature,-this picture, so striking and sublime in all its leading parts and its accessories, suits well the genius of the present historian, and has accordingly been told here in such a manner as to form one of the most affecting portions of the work. We make a few extracts from the narrative, which in itself possesses most of the beauties and defects of Mr. Prescott's manner of writing:

"It was the beginning of 1540 when he set out on this celebrated expedition. The first part of the journey was attended with comparatively little difficulty, while the Spaniards were yet in the land of the Incas; but the scene changed as they entered the territory of Quixos, where the character of the inhabitants, as well as of the climate, seemed to be of another description. The country was traversed by lofty ranges of the Andes, and the adventurers were soon entangled in their deep and intricate passes. As they rose into the more elevated regions the icy winds that swept down the sides of the Cordilleras benumbed their limbs, and many of the natives found a wintry grave in the wilderness. While crossing this formidable barrier they experienced one of those tremendous earthquakes which in these volcanic regions so often shake the mountains to their base. In one place

the earth was rent asunder by the terrible throes of nature, while streams of sulphureous vapor issued from the cavity, and a village, with some hundreds of houses, was precipitated into the frightful abyss. On descending the eastern slopes the climate changed, and as they came on the lower level the fierce cold was succeeded by a suffocating heat, while tempests of thunder and lightning, rushing from out the gorges of the Sierra, poured on their heads, with scarcely any intermission, day or night, as if the offended deities of the place were willing to take vengeance on the invaders of their mountain solitudes. For more than six weeks the deluge continued unabated, and the forlorn wanderers, wet and weary with incessant toil, were scarcely able to drag their limbs along the soil, broken up and saturated with the moisture."

At length after some months they reached the Canelas, the land of Cinnamon. They saw the forests spreading wide their shades of fragrance, but the vegetable wealth was in regions too remote and inaccessible to form an object of commerce; from the wandering tribes, however, they heard that twelve degrees distance there was a rich and populous land abounding in mineral wealth and their beloved gold. Though they had reached already the proposed limits of the expedition, yet, with renewed hopes, and a richer prize in view, Pizarro resolved to push on, and the swinish multitude in his rear, we presume, was still content to follow :

"Continuing their march, the country now spread out into broad savannas, terminated by forests, which as they drew near seemed to stretch on every side to the very verge of the horizon. Here they

beheld trees of that stupendous growth only known in the equinoctial regions.* Some were so large that sixteen men could hardly encompass them with extended arms. The wood was thickly matted with creepers

*This is not quite correct if the account of the measurement of the great plane tree at Buyukdere, near Constantinople, is to be depended on, which amounts, we think, to something like 160 feet in circumference. This exceeds the largest Taxodium of Mexico and the largest baobab of Senegal. Of this tree, however, we have no scientific account, and depend on the assertions of travellers. Since writing this, on looking into our late friend Mr. Loudon's Arboretum, we find this tree mentioned. Dr. Walsh in 1831 found that it measured at the base 141 feet, and its branches covered a space 130 feet in diameter. De Candolle conjectures it must be more than 2,000 years old "This tree," Mr. Loudon says, "if it can be considered a single plant, is certainly the largest in the world." Vide Arboretum, Part III. c. cvii. Platanaceae.-Rev.

and parasitical vines, which hang in gaudycoloured festoons from tree to tree, clothing them in a drapery beautiful to the eye, but forming an impenetrable network. At every step of their way they were obliged to hew open a passage with their axes, while their garments, rotting from the effects of the drenching rains to which they had been exposed, caught in every bush and bramble, and hung about them in shreds. Their provisions, spoiled by the weather, had long since failed, and the live stock which they had taken with them had either been consumed, or made their escape in the woods and mountain passes. They had set out with nearly a thousand dogs, many of them of the ferocious breed used in hunting down the unfortunate natives. These they now gladly killed, but their miserable carcasses furnished a lean banquet for the famishing travellers; and when these were gone, they had only such herbs and dangerous roots as they could gather in the forest.... They at length came to the river Napo, one of the tributaries of the Amazon. After traversing its borders for some time, they came within hearing of a rushing noise

that sounded like subterranean thunder. The river, lashed into fury, tumbled along over rapids with frightful velocity, and conducted them to the brink of a magnificent cataract, which to their wondering fancies rushed down in one vast volume of foam to the depth of twelve hundred feet. The appalling sounds which they had heard for the distance of six leagues were rendered yet more oppressive to the spirits by the gloomy stillness of the surrounding forests. The rude warriors were filled with sentiments of awe. Not a bark dimpled the waters; no living thing was to be seen but the wild tenants of the wilderness, the unwieldy boa, and the loathsome alligator basking on the borders of the stream. The trees towering in wide spread magnificence towards the heavens, the river rolling on in its rocky bed, as it had rolled for ages, the solitude and silence of the scene broken only by the hoarse fall of waters, or the faint rustling of the woods,-all seemed to spread out around them in the same wild and primitive state as when they came from the hands of the Creator."

Still the adventurers persevered in their drear and disastrous journey; meeting with nothing but impenetrable thickets and occasionally engaged in skirmishes with the tribes of fierce and unfriendly Indians whom they found wandering in the pathless wilds. To alleviate in some degree the insupportable suffering and toil of the journey, Gonzalo resolved to build a small brigantine, which should, at least, convey the feebler portion of their followers and the baggage; this, a work of great difficulty, was completed in two months; the shoes of the horses were beat into nails; the gum of the trees was used for pitch; the soldiers' clothes for oakum; but still the chief body of the troops continued their march through the dreary wilderness on the borders of the river. Every scrap of provision had long since failed-the last of the horses had been devoured; to appease the cravings of hunger they eat the leather of their saddles and belts. The woods supplied but scanty sustenance; they at last fed, and even greedily, on toads, serpents, and other reptiles that they occasionally found. But again they were told of a rich district and a populous country further on, where the Napo empties itself into the larger river of the Amazon. Orellana, who commanded the brigantine, was ordered to proceed thither for a stock of provisions, and to return.

"Taking with him fifty of the adventurers, he pushed off into the middle of the river, where the stream ran swiftly, and his bark, taken by the current, shot forward with the speed of an arrow, and was soon out of sight. Days and weeks passed away, yet the vessel did not return; and no speck was to be seen on the waters as the Spaniards strained their eyes to the furthest point, where the line of light faded away in the dark shadows of the foliage on the borders. Detachments were sent out,

the spot so long desired, where the Napo pours its tide into the Amazon that mighty stream which, fed by its thousand tributaries, rolls on towards the ocean for many hundred miles, through the heart of the great continent, the most majestic of American rivers. No tidings of the bark, or its adventurous crew, however, were heard; but their doubts were at length dispelled by the appearance of a white man wandering in the woods, half naked, in whose famine-stricken countenance they recognized the features of one of their countrymen. It was Sanchez de Vargas, a cavalier of good descent and much esteemed. He had a dismal tale to tell, and that tale is as follows:-Orellana, borne swiftly down the current of the Napo, had reached the point of its confluence with the Amazon in less than three days, accomplishing in this brief space of time what had cost Pizarro and his men two months. He had found the country altogether different from what he had expected, and, so far from supplies for his countrymen, he could barely obtain sustenance for himself. Nor was it possible for him to return as he had come, and make head against the current of the river, while an attempt to journey by land was an alternative scarcely less formidable. In this dilemma, an idea flashed across his mind; it was to launch his bark

at once on the bosom of the Amazon, and descend its waters to its mouth. He would then visit the rich and populous nations that as report said lined its borders, sail out on the great ocean, cross to the neighbouring isles, and return to Spain to claim the glory and the guerdon of discovery. The suggestion was eagerly taken up by his reckless companions, welcoming any course that would rescue them from the wretchedness of their present existence, and, fired with the prospect of new and stirring adventure, they heeded little their unfortunate comrades whom they were to abandon in the wilderness. One of Orellana's party maintained a stout opposition to his proceedings, as repugnant both to humanity and honour. This was Sanchez de Vargas; and the cruel commander was revenged on him by abandoning him to his fate, in the desolate region where he was now found by his countrymen. The Spaniards listended with horror to the recital of Vargas, and their blood almost froze in their veins as they saw themselves thus deserted in the heart of this remote wilderness, and deprived of their only means of escape from it. They made an effort to prosecute their journey along the banks, but after some toilsome days strength and spirits failed, and they gave up in despair."

The only course that remained was to return to Quito; but to return was to pursue a journey of four hundred leagues, which had exhausted a whole year, when they were not worn by toil or sunk in despair as they now were. Yet Gonzalo inspired fresh confidence into his followers, and every one caught the enthusiasm with which he spoke. From the first hour of the expedition he had fully borne part in their privations; he had taken his lot with the poorest soldier; ministering to the wants of the sick, cheering up the spirits of the despairing, sharing his pittance with his famished followers, bearing his full share in the toil of their march; and now he found the reward of his noble conduct in the faith, the friendship, the devotion of his army. Another year of famine, of despair, and of incessant toil saw the wretched remains of this unhappy expedition once more encamped on the elevated plains of Quito :

"But how different their aspect from that which they had exhibited on issuing from the gates of the same capital two years and a half before, with high romantic hope and in all the pride of military array. Their horses gone, their arms broken and rusted, the skins of wild animals instead of clothes hanging loosely about their limbs, their long and matted locks streaming wildly down their shoulders, their faces burnt and blackened by the tropical sun,

their bodies wasted by famine, and sorely disfigured by scars; it seemed as if the charnel-house had given up its dead, as with uncertain step, they glided slowly onwards, like a troop of dismal spectres. More than half of the four thousand Indians who accompanied the expedition had perished, and of the Spaniards only eighty, and many of them irretrievably broken in constitution, returned to Quito."

Such was the end of this expedition to the Amazon, an expedition which for its dangers and hardships, for their long duration, and the

constancy with which they were borne, stands, perhaps, unmatched in the annals of American discovery.

When the reduction of Peru was accomplished, Hernando Pizarro was sent on a mission to Spain, to lay at the feet of the monarch the royal share of the treasures taken, to represent the services of the generals, and to petition for further grants in the subdued territory. Besides the royal fifth, he took with him gold to the amount of half a million of pesos, large quantities of silver, till the Custom House was filled with costly objects of art, and the spectators flocked from the neighbouring country to behold these marvellous productions of Indian art. He had soon after a gracious audience of the king. He dwelt on the exploits of his brothers in armsthe difficulties they had overcome, the privations they had suffered, the victories they had achieved. He expatiated on the advantages of the conquered country-its delicious climate-its fruitful soil-its abundant and civilized population, and the monarch was at once too sagacious not to appreciate the advantages of a conquest which secured to him a country so rich in agricultural resources; and too ready not to listen with delight to the account of those mineral treasures which were to fill his exhausted treasury, and assist him in prosecuting his extensive and ambitious designs in Europe.

"The arrival of Hernando Pizarro in the country, and the reports spread by him and his followers, created a sensation among the Spaniards, such as had not been felt since the first voyage of Columbus. The discovery of the New World had filled the minds of men with indefinite expectations of wealth, of which almost every succeeding expedition had proved the fallacy. The conquest of Mexico, though calling forth general admiration as a brilliant and wonderful exploit, had as yet failed to produce those golden results which had been so fondly anticipated. The splendid promises held out by Francis Pizarro on his recent visit to the country had not revived the confidence of his countrymen, made incredulous by repeated disappointment. All that they were assured of was, the difficulties of the enterprise; and their distrust of its results was sufficiently shown by the small number of followers, and those only of the most desperate stamp, who were willing to take their chance in the adventure. But now these promises were realized. It was no longer the golden reports that they were to trust, but the gold itself which was displayed in such profusion before them-all eyes were now turned towards the west. The broken spendthrift saw in it the quarter where he was to repair his fortunes, as speedily as he had ruined them. The merchant, instead of seeking the precious commodities of the east, looked in the opposite direction, and counted on far higher gains, where the most common articles of life commanded so exorbitant prices.

The

cavalier, eager to win both gold and glory at the point of his lance, thought to find a fair field for his prowess on the mountain plains of the Andes. Ferdinand Pizarro found that his brother had judged rightly in allowing as many of his company as chose to return home, confident that the display of their wealth would draw ten to his banner for every one that quitted it. In a short time that cavalier saw himself at the head of one of the most numerous and well-appointed armaments, probably, that had left the shores of Spain since the great fleet of Ovando, in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was scarcely more fortunate than this. Hardly had Ferdinand put to sea, when a violent tempest fell on the squadron, and compelled him to return to port and refit. At length he crossed the ocean, and reached the little harbour of Nombre de Dios in safety, but no preparations had been made for his coming, and, as he was detained here some time before he could pass the mountains, his company suffered greatly from scarcity of food. In their extremity, the most un wholesome articles were greedily devoured, and many a cavalier spent his little savings to procure himself a miserable subsistence. Disease, as usual, trod closely in the track of famine, and numbers of the unfortunate adventurers, sinking under the unaccustomed heats of the climate, perished on the very threshhold of discovery. It was the tale often repeated in the history of Spanish enterprise; a few, more lucky than the rest, stumble on some unexpected prize, and hundreds attracted by their success press forward in the same path.

Few portions of an historical narrative are of greater interest than those which describe the characters and persons of the chief actors in the great drama, and which delineate the mental qualities and habits, the active powers and resources, the peculiar and distinguishing characteristics both of mind and person, of those whose fortunes we have been following with interest, and whose actions and enterprise we have listened to with sympathy. To perform this part of the duty with success has been considered a mark of skill and sagacity in the historian; it has been evidently a favourite part of Hume's labours, and it is supposed to appear with superior lustre in the pages of Clarendon. We therefore will give some specimens of Mr. Prescott's ability in this direction.

"Pizarro's person has been already described. He was tall in stature, well

proportioned, and with a countenance not unpleasing. Bred in camps, with nothing

The appearance and dress of Cortez and Pizarro at the convent of La Rábida are thus described in Mr. Rogers's poem of Columbus, a poem to which we never refer without finding some new grace and beauty of thought or expression :

"Brothers in arms the guests appear'd,

The youngest with a princely grace;
Short and sable was his beard,

Thoughtful and wan his face.

His velvet cap a medal wore,

And ermine fringed his broider'd vest;

And ever sparkling on his breast

An image of St. John he wore.

The eldest had a rougher aspect, and there was craft in his eye. He stood a little behind, in a long black mantle, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword; and his white hat and white shoes glittered in the moonshine. Cortez was in the forty. third, Pizarro in the fiftieth, year of his age. The portrait of Pizarro in the viceregal palace at Lima represents him in a citizen's dress, with a sable cloak, the capa y espada of a Spanish gentleman." Each panel in the spacious Sala de los Vierges was reserved for the portrait of a viceroy. The long file is complete, from Pizarro to Pezuela, and it is a curious fact, noticed by Stevenson, that the last panel was exactly filled when the reign of the viceroys was abruptly terminated by the Revolution. It is a singular coincidence that the same thing should have occurred at Venice, where the last niche reserved for the effigies of the doges was just filled when the ancient aristocracy was overturned. While we the more lament the incomplete state in which "Columbus" is given to us by the English poet, from our great enjoyment of what we possess, we may mention as a remarkable coincidence that there is another poem also on the same subject by an eminent poet, which is also unfinished. We mean L'Oceano, by Al. Tassoni, beginning

"

"Cantiam Musa l'eroe de gloria digno

Ch' un nuovo mondo al nostro mondo aperse,
E da barbaro colto e rito indigno
Vinto il ritrasse, e al vero Dio l' offerse
La discordia de suoi, l' iniquo sdegno

De l'inferno ei sostene, e l' onde averse
E con tre sole navi ebbe ardimento

De porre il giogo a cento regne e cento."

Of this poem we have only the first canto; it is printed at the end of the "Secchia Rapita in some editions; but in the author's letter to a friend he has given a sketch of his design, to follow the example of Homer in the Odyssey, to introduce the dangers of the sea, the opposition of demons, the incantations of magicians, the fury of the savage natives, and the discord and rebellion of his own companions, &c.-REV.