Let us return to Gonzalo Pizarro who, when he had despatched his lieutenant-general Francisco de Orellana down the river in the vessel, as we have related, determined to push forward from that place as best he could. He had no provisions, nor any knowledge of whither he might be able to go. There was not even any track to follow. The heavens poured down water from their clouds in such quantities that for many days, including nights, the rain never ceased. As for those swamps we have mentioned, the farther the Spaniards went the more of them they encountered. To enable them to proceed and bring along the horses the strongest young men went ahead, opening a road with axes and wood knives, never ceasing to cut through that dense wild in such a way that all the camp could pass and journey eastward. As they were in such an evil land and might not find any village, they determined to wait and see what the captain Francisco de Orellana could do for them. Meanwhile, not to die of hunger, they ate some remaining horses, and dogs, without wasting any of the entrails, skin, or other parts; for all was food for the Spaniards. At this time they had come in sight of an island in the river; but facing it, on the mainland where the Spaniards had to pass, there were great swamps and bogs which they could not traverse. To arrive at the supposed land of plenty which Orellana might discover down the river, they would have to build boats and big rafts near this island, and these must be well supplied with provisions and fit to receive the remaining horses on board, and everything else. They could then go down the river without danger, and in a short time enter the region where they expected to find settlements so large and well-to-do that the mere mention of them excites astonishment, though we know positively it is truth, and rather under than over stated. Gonzalo Pizarro, finding himself near this island, and not knowing the kind of road there might be ahead, and considering the want of provisions from which all the Spaniards were suffering, now ordered the captain Alonso de Mercadillo to go down the river with a dozen Spaniards, in some canoes they had, to see if there was any sign of Francisco de Orellana, and to seek for some fruit or roots by which the Spaniards might be sustained. Mercadillo was away for eight days, without finding anything whatever, nor any sign of Indians. Great was the sorrow of Gonzalo Pizarro and his followers when they heard this. It seemed as if they were quite lost, for they had nothing to eat but wild herbs and coarse fruits never before seen or known, and the horses and dogs; and these on so restricted a dole that rather did it whet their hunger than relieve their yearning for food.