Then Gonzalo Pizarro ordered Delicola, the Chief who had been a party to raising the natives in arms against him and his followers, to be made fast on the chain with the others. The Spaniards, seeing that the river they had discovered was very large and must flow down to the Sweet Sea,[40] and reflecting that of all the servants they had brought from Quito not one remained, nor could any be found where they were, the land being so bad, came to the conclusion that the best plan would be to build a craft, on board of which their supplies might go down the river, the horses following by land, in the hope of reaching some region of plenty, for which they all besought Our Lord. Presently they built the vessel with the necessary outfit they had brought with them, and one Juan Alcántara was given charge of her. They shipped as much stuff as she could stow, and the Spaniards with the horses followed down stream, along the bank. They met with some small settlements where they got maize and _yuca_, and they found a quantity of guavas which afforded no small help to them in their need. Continuing their journey down the river bank, they sometimes wished to diverge in one direction or another to see what the country was like, but the morasses and other obstacles were so great that they could not, and so they were obliged to keep along the river bank, though with much difficulty, for the creeks in the swamps were so deep that swimming the horses through them was an arduous task. Some Spaniards and horses were drowned. The Indian men and women carrying loads could not cross these swamps on foot, so they looked for some of the canoes which the natives had hidden. When the bad places were narrow they made bridges of trees, and crossed in that manner. In this way they advanced down the river for forty-three marches, and there was not a day when they did not come upon one or two of these creeks, so deep that they were put to the labour we have described, each time. They found little food and no inhabitants, and they began to feel the pangs of hunger, for of the herd of swine they brought from Quito, numbering more than 5,000, all were eaten. At this time the Chief Delicola, who was the first that came in friendly guise, and the other prisoners, for fear the Spaniards would kill them, declared that farther on they would find a rich and well-peopled land. Observing one day that they were less carefully watched, they slipped into the river with their chain, and crossed to the other side, without the Spaniards being able to retake them. The Spaniards thus found themselves without guides for advancing, and they consulted as to what it would be best to do. As the Indians had said that after fifteen marches they would come to another very broad and swift river, down which there were large settlements and very rich Chiefs, also such quantities of food that if there were a thousand Spaniards there would be enough for all, Gonzalo Pizarro ordered the Captain-general