Читать книгу From Poison Arrows to Prozac - Stanley Feldman - Страница 10

A combination of missionary zeal and the lure of gold led to further expeditions in the years following Columbus’s return from his first voyage to the New World. Very soon Spanish colonies were established on the island of Hispaniola and at Darien, on the southern end of the Panama isthmus. It was from this latter colony that Hernán Cortés led his expedition to the land of Montezuma and the Aztecs, in what is now Mexico. He sent back gold and silver treasure to King Charles in Spain as evidence of the riches to be found in the New World.

However, it was the exploits of Francisco Pizarro, a noble of Salamanca who became an influential figure in the disputatious court of the governor of Hispaniola, that fired the imagination of the Spanish court. Although Amerigo Vespucci and Francisco Pizarro had explored the coast of South America as far as the origin of the Amazon, they had met hostile savages who had denied them access to water and victuals necessary for a prolonged exploration.

By a feat of great seamanship, Pizarro travelled much further down the South American coast and, after many false starts, made his way inland to discover the secret of the Incas in the heights of the Peruvian Andes. The enormous quantities of gold and silver sent back to Spain from his conquest led to credible stories reaching Europe of cities of gold and silver and of untold treasure to be had by those bold enough to venture to this New World.