It was evident that the forces of the
Spaniards were unequal to a contest with so numerous and well-
appointed a body of natives; and, even if they should prevail here, they
could have no hope of stemming the torrent which must rise against them
in their progress--for the country was becoming more and more thickly
settled, and towns and hamlets started into view at every new headland
which they doubled. It was better, in the opinion of some,--the faint-
hearted,-to abandon the enterprise at once, as beyond their strength. But
Almagro took a different view of the affair. "To go home," he said,
"with nothing done, would be ruin, as well as disgrace. There was
scarcely one but had left creditors at Panama, who looked for payment to
the fruits of this expedition. To go home now would be to deliver
themselves at once into their hands. It would be to go to prison. Better
to roam a freeman, though in the wilderness, than to lie bound with
fetters in the dungeons of Panama.24 The only course for them," he
concluded, "was the one lately pursued. Pizarro might find some more
commodious place where he could remain with part of the force while he
himself went back for recruits to Panama. The story they had now to tell
of the riches of the land, as they had seen them with their own eyes,
would put their expedition in a very different light, and could not fail to
draw to their banner as many volunteers as they needed.
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