Orellana's Amazon Expedition

Timeline

1. 1541Napo River · Eastern Amazon frontierOrellana, ordered by Gonzalo Pizarro to follow the Napo River in search of supplies and a route, parted ways due to exhausted provisions and disagreements over the route, taking about fifty-seven men in boats southward and failing to return toward Quito as originally planned.
2. 1541–1542Main stream of the Amazon River · Amazon BasinAfter entering the Amazon River, the expedition drifted east, enduring hunger, disease, and attacks by riverside tribes; over the long voyage they recorded the river's width and the societies along its banks, and spread legends of the "Amazons."
3. 1542Amazon River mouth · Amazon River mouthThe surviving crew reached the Atlantic, made their way to Spanish Guiana, and ultimately returned to Spain to report, presenting Europe for the first time with a systematic account of the Amazon's scale as it cut across the South American continent.