Stores were laid in, as
experience dictated, on a larger scale than before, and
proclamation was made of "an expedition to Peru." But the call
was not readily answered by the skeptical citizens of Panama. Of
nearly two hundred men who had embarked on the former cruise, not
more than three fourths now remained. *11 This dismal mortality,
and the emaciated, poverty-stricken aspect of the survivors,
spoke more eloquently than the braggart promises and magnificent
prospects held out by the adventurers. Still there were men in
the community of such desperate circumstances, that any change
seemed like a chance of bettering their condition. Most of the
former company also, strange to say, felt more pleased to follow
up the adventure to the end than to abandon it, as they saw the
light of a better day dawning upon them. From these sources the
two captains succeeded in mustering about one hundred and sixty
men, making altogether a very inadequate force for the conquest
of an empire. A few horses were also purchased, and a better
supply of ammunition and military stores than before, though
still on a very limited scale. Considering their funds, the only
way of accounting for this must be by the difficulty of obtaining
supplies at Panama, which, recently founded, and on the remote
coast of the Pacific, could be approached only by crossing the
rugged barrier of mountains, which made the transportation of
bulky articles extremely difficult. Even such scanty stock of
materials as it possessed was probably laid under heavy
contribution, at the present juncture, by the governor's
preparations for his own expedition to the north.
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