THE

HE majestic stream which descends through the center of South America, from the Andes of Peru to the Atlantic, derives its name from a story of Orellana, its discoverer, that he had met upon it, in his voyage down, a nation of warlike women living independent of men, with whom he had several encounters. From this report, it was immediately called the River of the Amazons; though sometimes named Orellana, in compliment to its discoverer. Recently, however, geographers have been disposed to restore its ancient Indian name, Marañon, by which it is now called nearly as often as by the other.

This extraordinary account, when heard in Spain, created a great excitement. On obtaining from the Emperor Charles V. the government of the countries he had made known, Orellana used the treasure he had brought home to prepare an expedition to the Amazon. Many young men, of the highest rank in Spain, agreed to join him, to see the wonderful country he described. His voyage, however, was unsuccessful. Disasters occurred at sea, and, unable to find the Amazon, he died from grief and mortification at the failure of his expedition.

More sober minds hesitated to believe his narrative; but subsequent confirmation, by a succession of travelers, lessened incredulity in regard to it. Still, the existence of such a community has always been a subject of doubt, though thought deserving of inquiry by eminent writers-some of whom, connecting this relation with the account of the ancient Amazons of Europe, have discarded it as a fabulous tale; while others, from the force of testimony, have been compelled to admit the existence of such a nation, without being able to account for so singular a phenome

non.

Our attention having been directed to the subject, we have been induced to make a particular inquiry into the truth of the relation of Orellana, which may be found in Herrera's "General History of America." His voyage down the Amazon was entirely accidental. Gonzalvo Pizarro, setting out with a force to make

discoveries in 1540, after having crossed the Andes and gone some distance, met Orellana, with fifty men, on the same pursuit, who agreed to join him. They proceeded together eastward till they came to the river Napo, a tributary of the Amazon, and marched along its banks; but, passing through a desert country, they became in want of provisions. Hereupon, Pizarro built a brigantine, in which he placed Orellana and a small body of men, with the sick and baggage, with directions to seek for a supply. Orellana was borne down the Napo so swiftly by the current that in a few days he reached the Amazon. Thus far removed from Pizarro, he conceived the idea of separating entirely from him, and descending the great river. On entering it, at the first town to which he came, he found the men wearing ornaments of gold and jewels; and one of the caciques informed him that there was a nation of Amazons on this river. Proceeding two hundred leagues, he came to four other towns; after leaving the last of which, five canoes came to his vessel, offering provisions to barter, inviting him to visit their lord; and saying that, if he were going to see the Amazons, whom they called Coniapuyara, (signifying great ladies,) he had too few men, these women being very numerous. Orellana continued his course for five hundred leagues further, when he came to a very black river, entering the Amazon on the north side. From the distance he had run, this must have been the Rio Negrowhich is of this character-whence its

name.

Proceeding on, he passed some very large towns; and at one took an Indian, who said that the Amazons were ladies of the place; and they found a house in which were garments made of feathers, of various colors, which the Indians wore at their festivals. He held on his way, stopping occasionally, till he came to a place where the Indians attacked him, fighting furiously, and wounding five Spaniards with their arrows. F. Carvajal, an ecclesiastic who was with him, said they did this as tributaries to the

Amazons; and he, and all, saw ten or twelve women fighting like commanders, before the men-so desperately that these durst not turn their backs; which if any did, they beat them to death with cudgels: but. upon several of these women being killed, they all fled. Orellana having gone on a hundred and fifty leagues further, landed in a wood of oaks to refresh his men, where he took an Indian prisoner, who informed him that the country was subject to women, who lived like Amazons, and were very rich in gold and silver; that they had five temples of the sun built of stone and plated with gold; that their cities were walled, "with so many other particulars," says Herrera, "that I neither dare believe nor report them."

We have already stated that this account was fully credited in Spain, whither Orellana sailed. Nor was it believed only by enthusiastic spirits, easily excited by novelty; but Zarate, an historian of the time, in his work, "The Conquest of Peru," published in 1555, designates, in his map, that part of Peru which is east of the Andes, from the latitude of Cuzco to the river Amazon, as the "Provincia de los Amazonas," and in his work observes, "in this country are said to be the Amazons of whom Orellana speaks."

About the same time, an account of such a nation, in this part of South America, was brought from an opposite quarter, the province of Paraguay. In 1541 Ribero set out from Puerto de los Reyes, on the La Plata, with a brigantine and eighty men, to explore this river. In eighteen days he came to the nation of Xarayes, whose chief inquired of him of what he was in search. He answered, gold and silver, on which the chief gave him a few small silver articles, and a little plate of gold, saying, that this was all he had, and that he had obtained it of the Amazons, who lived in a large island, on a great lake, and that they were visited, three or four times a year, by their male neighbors. On inquiring how he might reach them, the chief said that it was a two months' journey, and that it could not then be made, as the country was inundated. Not deterred by this diffi

culty, having obtained some Indians to carry his baggage, Ribero set out with his men, and, after eight days' traveling through water up to their knees, and sometimes to their middle, they came to the Siberis, who advised them not to proceed, as they were not strong enough. He still, however, continued, and, after four days, came to the Urtueses. There he was informed that it was still a month's journey to the country of the Amazons, and that through floods. Here he found some Indians of the neighboring tribes, who wore coronets after the fashion of Peru, and plates of a metal called chafalonia. Of these he renewed his inquiries respecting the Amazons. Ribero solemnly affirms that he faithfully reports the information they gave, and that it was not obtained from them by queries, but spontaneously given; he declares that they told him of a nation of women, governed by a woman, and so warlike, that they were dreaded by all their neighbors; they possessed both white and yellow metal; their chairs and all the utensils of their houses being made of them. They lived on the western side of a large lake, which they called the Mansion of the Sun, because the sun sunk into it. The cacique gave Ribero four large bracelets, and four golden frontlets, which were worn as marks of distinction, for which he received, in return, a present of knives, beads, and toys. The Spaniards having heard that they could obtain no food in the country beyond, were prevented from proceeding further, and after taking a friendly leave of the cacique, held their course back.*

Before the close of the same century, the existence of such a nation on the Amazon was heard of in another quarter, also at a great distance from the river. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his celebrated expedition up the Orinoco,† in 1595, after alluding to the account of Orellana, observes:-" 'I made inquiry of the most ancient and traveled of the Orenokoponi, (or inhabitants on this river,) respecting these warlike women, and will relate what I was informed of, as truth, about them, by a cacique, who said he had been on that river (the Amazon), and beyond it also. Their

country is on the south side of a river, some sixty leagues from the mouth. They accompany with men once a year, which is in April. The kings of the borderers assemble, and the queens of the Amazons, who first choose their companions, and then cast lots for their valentines. The whole month is spent in feasting, dancing and drinking, at the end of which, they all depart to their homes. Children born of these alliances, if males, they send to their fathers; if daughters, they take care of them and bring them up: but that they cut off the right breast, I do not find to be true. I was informed that, if in their wars they took any prisoners, they also accompanied with them for a time, but in the end certainly killed them, for they are said to be very cruel and blood-thirsty, especially to such as offer to invade their territories. They have also a great quantity of plates of gold, which they obtain in exchange for a certain kind of green stones, which the Spaniards call piedras hijadas, and we use for spleen-stones."

This account, it will be seen, Raleigh says was given him by a cacique, who said he had been on the Amazon, and, therefore, spoke from his own knowledge, and not from mere rumor circulated among the Indians on the Orinoco.

About a century after Orellana (1639), De Acuña made a voyage down the Amazon. His narrative of it has always been considered an authentic one. He confirms, in a most absolute manner, the account of Orellana.* "The proofs," he observes, "that there is a province of the Amazons on the banks of this river, are so strong and convincing, that it would be renouncing moral certainty to scruple giving credit to them. I do not build upon the solemn examinations made by the Supreme Court of Quito, on which many witnesses who were born in these parts, and lived there a long time, were examined, and who, of all matters contained in these frontier countries, as one of the principal, particularly declared, that one of the provinces near the Amazon is peopled with a sort of warlike women, who live together, and maintain their government alone, without the company of men; that at a certain season of the year they seek the society of men to perpetuate their race;

*

but at all other times live together in their towns, and employ themselves in working the ground... But I cannot conceal what I have heard with mine, own ears, and of the truth of which I have been making inquiries from my first embarking on the Amazon: and I must say that I have been informed, at all the Indian towns where I have been, that there are such women in the country as I have described... However, we had the clearest information of the province where they dwell, of their singular customs, and so forth, at the last village which makes the frontier town between them and the Tupinambas. [This nation he describes as inhabiting an island sixty leagues in length, commencing fifty leagues below the Rio Negro.] Thirty leagues below the last village of the Tupinambas, you meet with another river which comes from the very province of the Amazons, and is known by the name of Canuris." The remainder of his account we must abridge. This river takes its name from the first nation on it. Above them are the Indians called Apootos, higher still are the Taguris; and, lastly, beyond them the Guacures, who are the people that have the privilege to converse with these valiant women. The women are courageous, and able to defend themselves alone. When their neighbors, at a time agreed upon between them, come into their country, they seize their bows and arrows as if to repel them; but, knowing their object, and that they come not as enemies, they lay down their arms, and run to the canoes of these Indians, where each, taking a hammock, carries it home, and hangs it up in a place where the owner may know it again when he comes, and she receives him as her guest. These neighbors remain a few days with their hosts, then return home. They never fail to make this journey once every year. Of the children born, the females are brought up by their mothers, taught the use of arms, and inured to labor. What becomes of the male children is not certain. De Acuña was told by an Indian that they gave them to the fathers on their next visit; but the common report is, he says, that they kill them as soon as they are born.

This account, it will be seen, agrees

with that of Orellana, in placing the Amazons below the Rio Negro.

Another confirmation of the account of Orellana is afforded by the voyage of La Condamine down the Amazon, in 1743. His testimony is entitled to the highest credit; he was an eminent mathematician and astronomer, and the objects of his voyage were entirely scientific. A traveler of this character would be little in danger of being led away by wonderful reports circulated among the natives, nor have thought them worthy of being even mentioned, unless he believed they had some foundation.

"In the course of our voyage," he observes,* "we inquired everywhere of Indians of different nations, and took pains to inform ourselves if they had knowledge of those warlike women whom Orellana affirms he had met and fought with, and if it was true that they lived separate from men, and received them among them once a year, as De Acuña relates.... All said that they had heard thus of their fathers, adding a thousand particulars, too long to repeat, which all tended to confirm that there had been on this continent a republic of women, who lived alone without having men among them, and that they retired to the north, in the interior of the country, by the Rio Negro, or by one of the rivers that descend on the same side into the Amazon. An Indian of St. Joachim des Omagues informed us that we should still find at Coari an individual whose father had seen the Amazons. We learned at Coari that this person was dead; but we spoke to his son, aged about seventy years, and who commanded over the village. He assured us that his grandfather had seen these women pass the mouth of the Cuchivara, that they came from that of the Cayamé, which enters the Amazon on the south side between Tefé and Coari; that he had spoken to four of them, one of whom had an infant at her breast; he mentioned the name of each of them. He added that, in leaving Cuchivara, they crossed the Amazon and went up the Rio Negro. . . Below Coari the Indians everywhere told us the same things, with some variation as to the circumstances; but

all agreed as to the principal point, in particular those of the village of Topayos [which is situated on the river Topayos, that enters the Amazon on the south side]. This village is formed from the remains of that of the Tupinambas, who inhabited a large island at the mouth of the Madera. Among the Topayos are found at present, more easily than anywhere else, those green stones known by the name of Amazon stones. They said they inherited them from their fathers, and that these had them of the Cougnan-tainse-comma, that is, in their language, women without husbands, among whom, they added. they were found in great quantity."

Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Gili, employed as a missionary on the Orinoco, and author of the work "Saggio di Storia Americana," cited by Humboldt, gave an account of a nation of female warriors existing on this river. His words are:-"Upon inquiring of a Quaqua Indian what Indians inhabited the Cuchivero (a branch of the Orinoco), he named to me the Achirigotoes, the Pajuroas, and the Aikeam-benanoes. Well acquainted with the Tamanac tongue, I instantly understood the sense of this last word, which is a compound and signifies women living alone. The Indian confirmed my observation, and related that the Aikeam-benanoes were a community of women who fabricated long sarbacans and other weapons of war. They admit, once a year, the men of the neighboring nation of Vokearoes, into their society. All the male children born in this horde of women are killed in their infancy." This nation of women may be the one of which De Acuña speaks as being at the head of a river which enters the Amazon from the north. Gili says, the Indians with whom the Aikeam-benanoes associate are the Vokores. De Acuña observes that, the nation north of the Amazon accompany with the Guacures. Vokores and Guacures appear to be the same word. The initial syllable Gua, in Indian names, is pronounced Waa: thus the Guapanabes on the Orinoco call themselves Uipanavi. The Guacures on the lower part of this river are called Wikiri. The use of the sarbacan (a hollow reed

through which a small poisoned arrow is blown by the breath), would denote that the Aikeam-benanoes came from the Amazon, where this instrument is used, which is unknown on the Orinoco. Condamine, it has been seen, says a portion of the Amazons went up the Rio Negro, and from this river there is a navigable communication with the Orinoco, by the Cassiquiari, which connects them.

There is also testimony of a very recent date, confirming the existence of the reported nation of female warriors north of the Amazon. Between the years 1834 and 1838, Sir Robert H. Schomburgk, under the patronage of the Royal Geographical Society of London, made expeditions up several of the rivers in British Guyana, the Essequibo, Corentine, and Berbice, which descend from the prolongation of the cordillera of Paraima that, after crossing the continent, pursues a southeasterly direction along the borders of this province. His reports of these expeditions were published in the journal of the society.* In his ascent of the Corentine, not being able to reach its sources, he resolved on another expedition in which he proposed to take a different course. He ascended the Essequibo which rises near the Corentine, thence intending to proceed to that river by land; but he was informed that the country was uninhabited, that he could obtain no provisions, and had better not make the journey. From the same chain two streams, the Caphiwini and Unamu, rising near the sources of the Corentine, descend southerly, and uniting form the Caphu. He was advised, to attain his object, to descend the Caphiwini and then ascend the Unamu. This route he pursued, and when at the junction remarks:-"I have no doubt, from information which I afterwards procured, that the Caphu is the Tombretas or Cunuris of De Acuña, which falls into the Amazon." "The river Tombretas," he adds, "is remarkable for being one of the last passes where the fable of the existence of the Amazons has placed the republic of warlike women who, only once in the course of the year, namely, in April, received men into their society. It was at the mouth of this river where, according to

* Journal of the Society, vol. xv., art. i.

Father De Acuña, Orellana found, in 1542, women fighting among the men; and on my inquiries, while traveling on the Rio Negro, that river was always pointed out to me as the one at whose sources the Amazons resided. The upper branches of the Tombretas were perfectly unknown; large cataracts and the fear of savage Indians had prevented the inhabitants of the lower Amazon from ascending that river to any distance, and for want of better information, it was the subject of the strangest stories. The Caribs of the Corentine pretended that these women without husbands inhabited the regions near the sources of the Corentine, which we now know to be at no great distance from the northern branches of the river Tombretas. We have, therefore, as well from the south as from the north, the same traditions-that the Amazons of the New World inhabited a central district from whence the rivers flow northward toward the Atlantic, and southward toward the Amazon.”

In connection with the remark of Sir R. H. Schomburgk, that it was at the mouth of the Tombretas or Cunuris Orellana found the Amazons, it is material to observe, that the Rio Topayos, where Condamine places them, enters the Amazon on the south side but forty leagues below the Tombretas.†

Thus we see that, even to a very recent period, the story of the Amazons was still current in South America.

In regard to the opinions which have been entertained on the subject, eminent writers, who have reviewed the statement of De Acuña, Condamine, and Gili, not to speak of Orellana, have concurred in giving credit to them. The learned Vater, in his great work, "Mithridates," expresses himself as inclined to believe in the sole donne," or women living alone, of Gili, whose testimony, he thinks, is one that is not to be disregarded. Carli (in his "Lettres Americaines") concludes "with avowing his belief in the Amazons of South America." Southey (History of Brazil)† observes:-"The testimony of Orellan and his Dominican voucher might be doubted; but there is not the least reason for doubting the veracity of De Acuña. He certainly heard what he has related. When Condamine came

† Southey's Hist. of Brazil, vol. i., p. 609.