men after him in several canoes under the command of Juan de Guzman, to bring back Estevanez whom Alvarado intended to hang for his breach of discipline.  At the same time the brigantines furled their sails and rowed up against the stream to support the canoes.  The Indian canoes, which covered the water for an extent of a quarter of a league, retreated a little way on purpose to separate the Spanish canoes from the brigantines; on which, quite frantic at seeing them give way, Estevanez pushed on, followed by the other canoes which were sent to bring him back.  The Indian canoes then drew up in form of a crescent, and when the Spanish canoes were well advanced among them, those Indian canoes which formed the horn or point on the right, attacked them so furiously athwart ships that they sunk them all, by which means all the Spaniards were drowned, and if any happened to appear above water, they were either shot with arrows, or had their brains dashed out by the paddles.  Thus forty-eight Spaniards perished, only four escaping of all that were in the canoes.  The Indians held on their pursuit of the brigantines all that day making continual rejoicings for their victory.  On the seventeenth day at sun-rise, when the Indians had paid their adorations to the sun with hideous cries, and a prodigious noise of drums, horns, and trumpets, they ceased the pursuit of the Spaniards and retired, having continued the chase about four hundred leagues.

The river was now estimated by the Spaniards to be fifteen leagues across, from which they concluded they were near the sea, yet did not venture to quit the main stream for fear of hidden danger.  Thus holding on their course, on the nineteenth day of their voyage they came to the sea, computing that they had run little short of 500 leagues[191], from the place where they built their brigantines.  Being ignorant whereabout they were, they cast anchor at an island, where they rested three days to recover from their long fatigues and continual watching, and to refit their brigantines.  They here computed how far they had been up the country, and as already mentioned estimated the distance from where the brigantines were built to the sea at near 500 leagues:  And as the river was there nineteen feet deep and a quarter of a league over, they conjectured that the source of the river might be still 300 leagues farther up the country, or 800 leagues in its whole course.  When the Spaniards had been three days in this island, they observed seven canoes to issue from a place overgrown with tall reeds, and come towards them.  When within hearing, a gigantic man, as black as a negro, stood up in the headmost canoe and addressed them in the following harangue:  “Wherefore do you vagabond robbers stroll about this coast, disturbing its inhabitants?  Get you gone speedily by one of the mouths of the great river, and let me not find you here after this night, or I will kill you all and burn your ships!” After this he withdrew