In late 1541 Francisco de Orellana and 57 conquistadors began the first documented journey by Europeans down the Amazon River. Beginning their expedition in the west from Quito, the party had to travel the entire length of the river to its mouth in order to escape the jungle with their lives. Friar Gaspar de Carvajal will chronicle the experience. He writes about starvation, attack, massive cities, poison arrows, cannibals, and fighting the legendary Amazonian women. Nearly 100 years later the Portuguese will travel the river in their own adventure but their accounts don’t write about the same glory as Carvajal. The jungle they move through is largely uninhabited. So was the Friar’s description a lie or is there another explanation?
This episode is part one in a multi-part series on the Amazon Jungle. Here, we will tell Carvajal’s story. In the next few episodes, we will look at the evidence behind the legend and examine his claims.
Resources
River of Darkness by Buddy Levy (book)
The Discovery of the Amazon: According to the Account of Friar Gaspar De Carvajal and Other Documents (Book)
Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande que descubrió por muy gran ventura el capitán Francisco de Orellana ("Account of the recent discovery of the famous Grand river which was discovered by great good fortune by Captain Francisco de Orellana") SPANISH VERSION https://blogs.elpais.com/papeles-perdidos/pdf/gaspardecarvajal.pdf
UNCOVERING AMAZONIA https://editions.lib.umn.edu/openrivers/article/uncovering-amazonia/
Francisco de Orellana https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Orellana
Gaspar de Carvajal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_de_Carvajal
Amazon Jungle Once Home to Millions More Than Previously Thought
By Erin Blakemore
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/amazon-jungle-ancient-population-satellite-computer-model
Archaeologists find vast network of Amazon villages laid out like the cosmos
By Laura Geggel published December 09, 2020
https://www.livescience.com/clock-face-shaped-villages-amazon-rainforest.html