The spirit would sustain the body; and difficulties
encountered in the right spirit were half vanquished already!
The soldiers listened eagerly to his words of promise and
encouragement. The confidence of their leader gave life to the
desponding. They felt the force of his reasoning, and, as they
lent a willing ear to his assurances, the pride of the old
Castilian honor revived in their bosoms, and every one caught
somewhat of the generous enthusiasm of their commander. He was,
in truth, entitled to their devotion. From the first hour of the
expedition, he had freely borne his part in its privations. Far
from claiming the advantage of his position, he had taken his lot
with the poorest soldier; ministering to the wants of the sick,
cheering up the spirits of the desponding, sharing his stinted
allowance with his famished followers, bearing his full part in
the toil and burden of the march, ever showing himself their
faithful comrade, no less than their captain. He found the
benefit of this conduct in a trying hour like the present.
I will spare the reader the recapitulation of the sufferings
endured by the Spaniards on their retrograde march to Quito.
They took a more northerly route than that by which they had
approached the Amazon; and, if it was attended with fewer
difficulties, they experienced yet greater distresses from their
greater inability to overcome them. Their only nourishment was
such scanty fare as they could pick up in the forest, or happily
meet with in some forsaken Indian settlement, or wring by
violence from the natives.
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