amazon basin
Francisco de Orellana – the First Amazon River Explorer
Francisco de Orellana was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. It could have been a relative of Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru. Like their relatives Pizarro, Orellana was born in Trujillo, Extremadura. Reached the New World as a teenager and has participated in Pizarro's conquest of Peru, where he lost an eye in battle. He was one of Gonzalo Pizarro's lieutenants during his mission in 1541 through the Cordillera of the Andes east of Quito in the heart of South America in search of El Dorado and the Land of Cinnamon.
They face enormous challenges to overcome the Andes, with departure from Quito, when he finally reached the NapoRiver, a tributary of the Amazon River leading to the lowlands of the Amazon basin. They face attacks Indians and captured many, which remains under pressure to admit the existence of a land of gold and downstream, nutmeg. After weeks of difficulties and reservations Food running low (by this time had eaten their horses and dogs), Orellana was ordered by the leader of the expedition of Pizarro sailing down river in search Food and signs of a treasure and then return.
Orellana was chosen because he knew many native languages and could communicate with the Indians and get help. But he and his men found no villages, while navigating the Napo River. On the other hand, were so hungry they ate their own shoes.
Decreased stream to its confluence with the Amazon River in the northeast of modern Peru, but again, as promised Gonzalo Pizarro, he went down the river to the Atlantic Ocean. Orellana managed to sail the length of the Amazon in one of the most surprisingly successful expeditions in recorded history, reaching the mouth River on August 24, 1542. Then managed to follow the sea currents to the coast of South America, finally reaching the Caribbean and Margarita Island in Venezuela, from where he was transferred to Spain to meet with the king and tell their incredible journey. It is known as the first European to descend the Amazon River.
Chaplain the expedition, Gaspar de Carvajal, a diary of his journey, which offers interesting, though not always accurate, descriptions of what the Amazon was before the arrival of Europeans. He describes the fertile farmland and turtle farms in the heart of the Amazon basin. Long thought to be exaggerations, attitudes to Orellana claims are beginning to change. His description of continuous human settlement banks are gradually being met by the archaeological record, which shows the Amazon as a place that can support large human concentrations, provided the appropriate technology for sustainability exists.
There may also led the first party of Europeans through a highly advanced civilization that flourished in the Amazon for centuries – a civilization whose existence was thought to impossible.
The excavation of ruins and even fragments of the language of the Amazon with the words of the crops that were allegedly unable to farm suggests that there were complex agricultural practices rather than thousands of years ago.
Archaeologists have discovered that these farmers Amazon apparently developed fields raised over half a mile long irrigation channels in the middle. Somehow found a way to enrich the soil with a microorganism that creates a dark layer, soil with clay-like qualities. Up to 10% of the Amazon basin has been terra-formed in this way for the old – an area the size of France.
A Spanish expedition in 1617 highlighted the extent and quality of discharge from a network of raised roads connecting villages in the Amazon together. These roads can still be seen as lines cutting straight through the bush. Joining them run channels, the result of its construction. This network of channels could have held hundreds of thousands of people, and Archaeologists believe that this area was home to a society that had fully mastered their environment.
During his trip, also described Orellana found with a tribe of white women are very high and doing as much fighting as 10 men. These women were skilled warriors with bows and arrows, and his queen, conori, was said great treasures. His formidable force brought to mind the Amazons of Greek mythology, and Orellana stories of these female warriors gave the river and the region its name.
Orellana own name is still a bit stained because of the suspicion that he left Pizarro in a desperate situation. However, his men and said it was found innocent. When he returned to Spain, Orellana sought and obtained a waiver to explore and the State of New Andalusia, or about the land south of the great river. He left Sanlúcar on May 11, 1545, with a poorly equipped fleet, accompanied by his wife, Ana de Ayala, whom he married in Spain.
After being appointed Governor of New Andalusia, he and his men reached the Amazon River delta, he built a boat and exploring 500 kilometers of the region. They face many difficulties and the 300 men who had brought with him fromSpain only 44 were rescued at sea by a Spanish fleet. Orellana was one of the victims – Who died in November 1546.
The Amazon is the second longest river in the world, 3,980 miles. Its water contains 40 percent of the continent, as thousands of tributaries, many of whom over 1000 miles long. As with the Nile, the people living in the Amazon in ancient times used the river for agriculture and transport.
There is now a province of the interior of Ecuador called Orellana, whose capital is Puerto Francisco de Orellana. The province is named after Orellana, said to be left somewhere near the city to the Atlantic Ocean. What made this trip several times in search of El Dorado and a forest of nutmeg rumored nutmeg in the time to be a very expensive spice.
Orellana, a fan as it was to find gold, was known as the "golden man." Said glitteringEl Dorado have seen, stories of which still reverberate through the archaeological community, and while it may be easier to believe that Orellana was fraud, there are still those seeking remnants of the past that could confirm that the legendary city existed.
The legend of El Dorado, apparently originated a tradition of the people of Colombia chibcha each year selects a chieftain and rolled him in gold, then ceremonially washed in a sacred lake, casting offerings of emeralds and gold in the waters at the same time. This custom was gone, of course, long before the arrival of the conquistadors, but the stories lived and became a legend of a land of gold and wealth.
Orellana scan also produces an international problem between Spain and Portugal, since, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Amazon delta byPortugal be ruled out. Only solve a century later with the exploration of Pedro Teixeira.
About the Author
Secretário Estadual de Planejamento e Desenvolvimento Econômico, Amazonas, Brasil / Secretary for Planning and Economic Development, State of Amazonas, Brazil
What’s happening Friday at the Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival
A look at the Friday-Sunday schedule of events.
Who is doing all of deforestation in the Amazon basin?
The main cause of Amazon deforestation is certainly off the forest area for grazing cattle. The most important reason for deforestation in the Amazon rainforest deforestation caused Seventy percent of the former forest land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, is used for grazing cattle. Anyway here is the site is strictly dedicated to deforestation in the Amazon to take a close look http://deforestationarticles.blogspot.com/
