Under the pressure of the immense excitement which resulted from the discoveries of Columbus, the entire eastern coast of the American continent, from _Labrador_ in the north to _Terra del Fuego_ in the south, was explored within about thirty years from A.D. 1492. In the year 1520, the Portuguese mariner Magelhães, or Magellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, found, as has been said, a westerly way through the Straits which bear his name. The first distinct notice of the existence of _Peru_ was given, it will be remembered, to Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the discoverer of the Southern Sea, about the year 1511. The efforts of that distinguished explorer to penetrate to the Peruvian Coast were doomed to disappointment; but the idea of reaching the land of gold was not lost sight of by his successors. _Darien_ being found unsuitable as a spot from which to prosecute expeditions on the _Pacific_, the capital of Central America was in the year 1518 transferred to _Panamá_, the governor being still Pedrarias; but several years elapsed before serious efforts of discovery were made in a southern direction, though meanwhile communication had been established through Central America with _Mexico_. [Sidenote: 1522.] It was not till 1522 that a regular expedition was despatched from _Panamá_ to the South, and its leader penetrated no further than had Balboa. [Sidenote: 1524.] But in 1524 three men were found in the colony whose respective characters pointed them out as being conjointly fitted to undertake a discovery and conquest no less dazzling and wonderful than that which had been effected by Cortez. These were Francisco Pizarro, Diego Almagro, and Hernan de Luque, the Vicar of _Panamá_, who was, however, but the commissioner of the Licentiate Espinosa, who supplied the funds. The celebrated Pizarro was a native of Truxillo in Estremadura, and at the time of setting out for the discovery of _Peru_ was rather over fifty years of age. In his youth he had not been taught either to read or to write, but his fancy was captivated by the strange tales to which he listened of the New World beyond the sea. Embarking with other adventurers from Seville, he found his way to _Hispaniola_ and later to _Darien_, from which place he accompanied Balboa in the march across the mountains which resulted in the discovery of the Southern Ocean. He later removed, with the seat of government, from _Darien_ to _Panamá_, and was conspicuous in the conquest of the tribes to the north. Of Pizarro’s confederates, Almagro was, like himself, an illiterate soldier of fortune and of a similar time of life, whilst Luque supplied the greater proportion of the brains and of the funds requisite for their joint enterprise.