Even then the labours of Nuñez and his men were far from being complete; for, with all their trouble, the Spaniards found that the timber which they had brought at such cost of labour and of life was useless, being worm-eaten from having been cut near salt water. They were obliged, therefore, to fell trees near the river and begin their work afresh. But the perseverance and good management of Nuñez at length overcame every difficulty. As food was scarce he divided his people into three bands, assigning to one the task of foraging for provisions, to another that of cutting and sawing the timber, and to the third that of bringing the rigging and the ironwork from _Acla_. The patience of the working party was still further to be tried; for when the rainy season set in, the river rose so rapidly that the workmen had barely time to save their lives by climbing the nearest trees. The wood on which they had expended so much labour was either buried out of sight or carried away by the torrent. The same cause prevented the foraging party from returning with food; and the workmen were thus reduced to feed on roots. In this extremity the Spaniards owed their relief to the ingenuity of the Indians, who contrived to fasten a number of logs together, thus making a floating bridge on which they were able to cross to the opposite bank, where they procured provisions. When the river had subsided, the workmen resumed their operations; and, after immense toil, Vasco Nuñez had the satisfaction of seeing two of the brigantines afloat on the river _Balsas_. As soon as they could be fitted and manned for sea, he embarked in them with his companions on the mighty ocean which he had been the first European to discover. His first cruise was to the Pearl Islands, on one of which he disembarked the greater part of his men, sending back his vessels for the remainder. On their arrival, taking a hundred men with him, he set out on a reconnoitering cruise to the eastward, in the direction to which the natives pointed as being that of the land which abounded in gold. Nuñez and his party sailed for about twenty leagues beyond the Gulf of _San Miguel_, the seamen being alarmed at the number of whales which they met with. On this account he anchored for the night, intending to continue his cruise in the same direction next day. But when daylight came the wind had changed, whereupon he steered for land. It was at the point where a party of Spaniards under Morales had recently been massacred; and as the Indians were disposed to fight, Nuñez took vengeance upon them for the slaughter of his countrymen, after which he re-embarked and returned to _Isla Rica_.