doeth iustly put to silence all the rest, whereunto our Spaniards haue gone and sayled. And I stand in doubt, whether I may cal it a riuer or a sea. This riuer runneth from the mountaines of Piru, from which it gathereth infinite store of waters, of raine, and riuers, which runneth along, gathering it selfe together, and passing through the great fieldes and plaines of Paytiti, of Dorado, and of the Amazones, and falleth at length into the Ocean sea, and entreth into it almost ouer against the Isles of Margarita and Trinidad. But it groweth so broad, especially towardes the mouth, that it maketh in the middest many and great Isles: and that which seemeth incredible, sayling in the middle chanel of the riuer, men can see nothing but the skie and the riuer, although men say that there are hilles neere the bankes thereof, which can not be kenned, through the greatnesse of the Riuer. Wee vnderstood by very good meanes the wonderfull bredth and largenesse of this Riuer, which iustly may bee called the Emperour of Riuers, to wit by a brother of our companie, which being a boy was there, and sayled it wholy through, being personally present in all the successes of that strange enterance, which Pedro de Orsua made, and in the mutinies and perilous conspiracies of that wicked Diego de Aguirre, out of all which troubles and dangers the Lord deliuered him, to make him one of our societie.
The second Testimonie out of Iosephus de Acosta, lib. 3. cap. 20.
Among all the riuers not onely of the West Indies but also of the whole world, the chief is the Riuer of Marannon or of the Amazones, whereof I haue spoken in the second booke. The Spaniards haue diuers times sayled along this riuer, with determination to discouer countries, which according to report, are of great riches, especially that which they call Dorado, and Paytiti. The Adelantado or admirall Iuan de Salians made a very notable entrance, although to small profite. It hath a salt or fall of water which they call El Pongo, which is one of the most dangerous places in the world: for being restrained betweene two exceeding hie diuided mountaines, it maketh a fall of terrible depth, where the water with the great descent maketh such whirlepooles that it seemeth impossible but that it should sink it self there into the ground. For all this the boldnes of men hath attempted to passe the said El Pongo for the greedines to come to that so famous
