Yet they gained little by the exchange. The country wore the same
unpromising aspect, and the river-banks were studded with gigantic
trees, or fringed with impenetrable thickets. The tribes of Indians, whom
they occasionally met in the pathless wilderness, were fierce and
unfriendly, and they were engaged in perpetual skirmishes with them.
From these they learned that a fruitful country was to be found down the
river at the distance of only a few days' journey, and the Spaniards held
on their weary way, still hoping and still deceived, as the promised land
flitted before them, like the rainbow, receding as they advanced.
At length, spent with toil and suffering, Gonzalo resolved to construct a
bark large enough to transport the weaker part of his company and his
baggage. The forests furnished him with timber; the shoes of the horses
which had died on the road or been slaughtered for food, were converted
into nails; gum distilled from the trees took the place of pitch; and the
tattered garments of the soldiers supplied a substitute for oakum. It was
a work of difficulty; but Gonzalo cheered his men in the task, and set an
example by taking part in their labors. At the end of two months a
brigantine was completed, rudely put together, but strong and of
sufficient burden to carry half the company,--the first European vessel
that ever floated on these inland waters.
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