Editing Francisco de Orellana (section)

=== Expedition ===
On 11 May 1545, he left Spain with four ships, supplies to build two riverboats, perhaps 300 men, at least 24 horses, and his young wife. Before leaving land, he obtained from a farm some cattle, pigs, and chickens, which he salted.  In the open sea, he waylaid a caravel and looted its supplies. At the end of May, he reached [[Tenerife]] and spent three months there putting his ships in order. He then sailed to the [[Cape Verde Islands]] where an epidemic killed 98 of his men and 50 or 60 deserted.  With this loss, he abandoned one of his ships after salvaging what he could. He left about the middle of November.<ref>Medina's guess, p. 147. The surviving documentation is poor.</ref> The crossing was difficult, and one of his ships became separated and was never seen again. With it went 77 men, 11 horses, and supplies to build one riverboat.  He lost several anchors and had to replace them with cannons.

He reached the Brazil coast, sailed a hundred leagues until he found fresh water in the sea, which he assumed came from the Amazon. He landed on 20 December 1545 with two ships, 11 thin horses, and perhaps 100 men.<ref>The counts of dead and survivors do not add up easily.</ref>  Since the natives were friendly and there was plenty of food, his men suggested that they stop and rest and build the riverboat. Orellana overruled them and set off to find the main branch of the Amazon five days later. After sailing more than 300 miles<ref>The sources do not say where he was.</ref> he made camp and started building the riverboat. This took from January to March. They were forced to cannibalize the smaller of the two ships. The natives were hostile, there was little food in the area, and they had to eat all their dogs and horses. Fifty-seven men died.

Orellana sent the newly built boat off to find food, but it returned with no food and several men dead of hunger or wounds. He set off with the remaining ship and the riverboat. After traveling 75 miles southeast, the ship was wrecked on a riverbank. Orellana continued with the boat, leaving many men at the shipwreck camp.  After nearly a month, he returned to the shipwreck, reporting that he had gone 500 miles and not found the main river. Orellana was now in poor shape, both physically and mentally. He set off again with the boat. Seventeen of his men were wounded by arrows. According to his wife, he died "from illness and grief." The survivors went downriver to the sea where they were driven by the [[South Equatorial Current]] to the Spanish base at [[Margarita Island]] west of Trinidad.

After Orellana left the shipwreck camp, the 28 or 30 men there began building a boat from the wrecked ship, which took more than three months. The boat was ill-built and leaky. Some indigenous people guided them to "a place where the Amazon splits into three arms". Finding no sign of Orellana, they went downriver. Ten men jumped ship, preferring life with the natives to a leaking boat. Reaching the sea, the current carried them northwest. In late November, the 18 survivors reached Margarita Island, where they met the other 25 survivors and Orellana's wife.