On the
departure of his vessels, Pizarro marched into the interior, in
the hope of finding the pleasant champaign country which had been
promised him by the natives. But at every step the forests
seemed to grow denser and darker, and the trees towered to a
height such as he had never seen, even in these fruitful regions,
where Nature works on so gigantic a scale. *16 Hill continued to
rise above hill, as he advanced, rolling onward, as it were, by
successive waves to join that colossal barrier of the Andes,
whose frosty sides, far away above the clouds, spread out like a
curtain of burnished silver, that seemed to connect the heavens
with the earth.
[Footnote 16: "Todo era montanas, con arboles hasta el cielo!"
Herrera Hist. General, ubi supra.]
On crossing these woody eminences, the forlorn adventurers would
plunge into ravines of frightful depth, where the exhalations of
a humid soil steamed up amidst the incense of sweet-scented
flowers, which shone through the deep glooms in every conceivable
variety of color. Birds, especially of the parrot tribe, mocked
this fantastic variety of nature with tints as brilliant as those
of the vegetable world. Monkeys chattered in crowds above their
heads, and made grimaces like the fiendish spirits of these
solitudes; while hideous reptiles, engendered in the slimy depths
of the pools, gathered round the footsteps of the wanderers.
Here was seen the gigantic boa, coiling his unwieldy folds about
the trees, so as hardly to be distinguished from their trunks,
till he was ready to dart upon his prey; and alligators lay
basking on the borders of the streams, or, gliding under the
waters, seized their incautious victim before he was aware of
their approach.
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