empire of the Incas on the plateau of Peru. They also obtained sufficient gold and silver to raise their hopes of the riches of the country, and returned to Spain to report to the Emperor. Pizarro obtained permission from Charles V. to attempt the conquest of Peru, of which he was named Governor and Captain-General, on condition of paying a tribute of one-fifth of the treasure he might obtain. He started in February, 1531, with a small force of 180 men, of whom thirty-six were horsemen. Adopting the policy of Cortes, he pushed directly for the capital Cuzco, where they managed to seize Atahualpa, the Inca of the time. He attempted to ransom himself by agreeing to fill the room in which he was confined, twenty-two feet long by sixteen wide, with bars of gold as high as the hand could reach. He carried out this prodigious promise, and Pizarro's companions found themselves in possession of booty equal to three millions sterling.
Atahualpa was, however, not released, but condemned to death on a frivolous pretext, while Pizarro dismissed his followers, fully confident that the wealth they carried off would attract as many men as he could desire to El Dorado. He settled himself at Lima, near the coast, in 1534. Meanwhile Almegro had been despatched south, and made himself master of Chili. Another expedition in 1539 was conducted by Pizarro's brother Gonzales across the Andes, and reached the sources of the Amazon, which one of his companions, Francisco de Orellana, traversed as far as the mouth. This he reached in August, 1541, after a voyage of one thousand leagues. The river was named after Orellana, but, from reports he made of the existence of a tribe of
