"In the year 1559 the Marquis of Cañete sent to the Amazon Pedro de Ursoa, a Navarrese, or rather a Frenchman. We sailed on the largest rivers of Peru till we came to a gulf of fresh water. We had already gone 300 leagues, when we killed that bad and ambitious captain. We chose a Cavallero of Seville, Fernando de Guzman, for king; and we swore fealty to him, as is done to thyself. I was named quartermaster general; and, because I did not consent to all his will, he wanted to kill me. But I killed this new king, the captain of his guards, his lieutenant general, his chaplain, a woman, a knight of the order of Rhodes, two ensigns, and five or six domestics of the pretended king. I then resolved to punish thy ministers and thy auditors. I named captains and sergeants. These again wanted to kill me; but I had them all hanged. In the midst of these adventures we navigated eleven months, till we reached the mouth of the river. We sailed more than 1,500 leagues. God knows how we got through that great mass of water. I advise thee, O great king, never to send Spanish fleets into that cursed river."
The following story, from the "Viagero Universal" of Ulloa, shows his barbarity in yet more revolting colors. It appears that in all his marches he carried with him a favorite daughter. When defeated and surrounded, so that escape was impossible, he called this lady, and addressing her, said: "I had hoped to make thee a queen. This now is impossible. I cannot bear that you should live to be pointed at as the child of a traitor and a felon. Thou must prepare for death at my hands." She requested a few minutes for prayer, which was granted; but her father, thinking she was too long at her devotions, fired upon her whilst on her knees. The unfortunate lady staggered towards him; but taking her by the hand as she approached, the villain plunged his knife into her bosom, and she sank at his feet, murmuring "Basta Padre Mio,"—It is enough, my father.
It is not to be expected that information of an exact and scientific character could be had from the voyages of adventurers like these. They were mere soldiers, and too much occupied in difficulties of travel, conflicts with Indians, ambitious designs, and internal dissentions, to make any notes of the topography or productions of the countries they passed through.
But a task that had baffled the ambition and power of the Incas and love of gold, backed by the indomitable spirit and courage of the hardy Spanish soldier, was now to be undertaken by men who were urged on by a yet more absorbing passion than either of these. I mean missionary zeal—the love of propagating the faith.
The first missionary stations established in the Montaña were founded by the Fathers Cuxia and Cueva, of the holy company of the Jesuits, in 1737.
They commenced operations at the village of St. Francis de Borja, founded by Don Pedro de Vaca, in 1634, when he conquered and settled the province of Mainas, under the direction of the Viceroy Don Francisco de Borja, prince of Esquilache. This village is situated on the left bank of the Marañon, not far below where it breaks its way through the last chain of hills that obstructs its course, at the Pongo[3] de Manseriché.
In the same year (1637,) according to Ulloa, (whose statements, I think, are always to be received "cum grano salis") Pedro Texeira, a Portuguese captain, ascended the Amazon with a fleet mounting forty-seven large guns. After an eight months' voyage from Pará, he arrived at the port of Payamino, or Frayamixa, in the province of Quixos, on the river Napo. I am unable to find out how far up the Napo this is; but Texeira, leaving his fleet there, went with some of his officers by land to Quito. The Royal Audience of that city determined to send explorers with him on his return, and the Jesuit Fathers, Acuña and Artieda, were selected for that purpose, and directed to report to the King of Spain. Passing through the town of Archidona, on the headwaters of the Napo, with much suffering they joined the fleet in the port of Payamino, and after a voyage of ten months, by land and water, arrived at Pará, whence they sailed for Spain.
The Spanish government, then occupied with the rebellion of Portugal, could lend no aid to the missionaries, and Father Artieda returned to Quito in 1643. He appealed to the Royal Audience, and to the college of the Jesuits at that city, for help to the missions, and the latter institution furnished him with five or six missionaries. These were well received by the Indians, and prosecuted their labors with such success, that in the year 1666 they had formed thirteen large and populous settlements in the country, bordering on the upper Marañon, and near the mouths of the Pastaza, Ucayali, and Huallaga.
About this time the Franciscans commenced pushing their explorations and missionary operations from Lima, by the way of Tarma and Jauxa, into the Montaña, drained by the headwaters of the Ucayali; and here (thanks to Father Sobreviela) we begin to get a little topographical information; and the map may now be consulted in elucidation of the text.
In 1673 the Franciscan Father Manuel Biedma penetrated into the Montaña from Jauxa, by the way of Comas and Andamarca, and established the missionary station of Santa Cruz de Sonomora, on the river Pangoa, a tributary of the Ucayali.