Along the Andes and Down the Amazon (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from Along the Andes and Down the Amazon "The exploits of the conquistadores of America were so stupendous, so fabulous, that no epic could do them justice, no narrative, however faithful, complete or masterly, could portray the reality. It is necessary to have been born and to have lived a long time in America and to know the Andes, the deserts, the forests, the rivers, the morasses, the coasts, the climates, of this part of the world, where everything is colossal; to compare the formidable obstacles, which still exist, with the far greater ones overcome by the Spaniards, in order to form an adequate idea of the prodigious daring, heroism and inflexibility of the conquistadores. All the impetuosity of the conqueror of the Moor, the indomitable tenacity of the Arragonese, the patient and silent constancy of the Castilian, who fought and died with a jest on his lips, the vehement curiosity and passion of the Andalusian, the cold and calculating perseverance of the Catalonian and the Basque, were exhibited in that struggle of a handful of Titans engaged in the conquest of a world of exuberant heat and life, force and majesty, riches and population, novelty and marvels... In that epoch all was great, the good and the bad, iniquity and virtue, force and resistance, but the greatness of force was in man while that of resistance was in nature." Jose M. Samper, Ensayo sobre las Revoluciones, Cap. I. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."