to himself in authority, and placing them in a boat, ordered them to be pulled on shore and there left. The effect throughout the fleet of these bold and summary proceedings was instantaneous. Discord disappeared with the chief conspirators, and, during the five years of service through which the expedition passed, full as they were of toil, peril, and privation, the voice of discontent was never afterwards heard. [Sidenote: Explores the river La Plata while waiting instructions from Spain.] Having expelled the only individuals who, in the event of his death, had been named in succession to the command of the expedition, Cabot felt that he would not have been justified in proceeding with the squadron on the long and perilous voyage originally contemplated. He therefore put into the La Plata, and sent advice to the king of what had occurred, by John Barlow, one of the Englishmen who had accompanied him; resolving in the meantime to explore that great river, in attempting which his predecessor in the office of pilot-major, Diego de Solis, had not long before been slain.[74] [Sidenote: Sanguinary encounter with the natives.] Running boldly up the river, which, until very recently, was the dread of navigators, Cabot reached a small island about half a league from the northern shore, and nearly opposite to the present Buenos Ayres. Here the natives made a very formidable show of resistance, but were repulsed. Proceeding seven leagues farther up the river, he erected a fort. Having completed this work, and taken every precaution for the safety of the ships, he commenced the exploration of the Parana, taking care, as he proceeded, to build small forts, on which he could fall back with his boats and caravels in case of disaster, until he reached its junction with the Paraguay, which he ascended thirty-four leagues. Here everything presented a new aspect, with indications of a comparatively higher state of civilisation; but the natives engaged in the cultivation of the soil, being jealous of the strangers, and under the impression that they had come to take away their produce, seized three of Cabot’s men, who had incautiously strayed from the main body, and a sanguinary conflict ensued, in which three hundred of them were killed, and twenty-five of the Spaniards.