HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 306

Leading an expedition to Algeria in 1775,
O'Reilly encountered reverses that led to
the failure of Spain's attempt to reestablish
dominance in Muslim North Africa. His
enemies, who had bitterly resented the
influence of an Irish clique at the royal court
led by R ICHARD W ALL and O'Reilly, did their
best to blame him for the Algerian reversal.
His friendship with the king protected the
general from serious consequences, but he
was not entrusted with important duties
thereafter. Count O'Reilly, who had received
this personal (non-territorial) title in 1785,
was called to a more active role at the begin-
ning of Spain's clash with revolutionary
France in 1794, but he died just after his
arrival to take charge of the Pyrenean
frontier.

supplies on the journey across the moun-
tains, they were soon near starvation, and
the few poverty-stricken natives whom
they encountered could only promise that
food and gold might be found down the
next of a series of rivers that ran through
the jungle. On reaching the largest of these
streams Orellana suggested that he take
several dozen men downriver on a boat
that they had constructed to scout out the
prospects ahead. Within a few days of leav-
ing the main body he had passed through
several increasingly large tributaries of what
became an obviously massive waterway,
and he resolved to abandon any attempt to
return to his chief but rather to sail on in
the hope of ultimately reaching the Atlan-
tic. Months of drifting down the great river
brought him into contact with many local
tribes, some friendly and helpful, others
violently hostile. Among those who attacked
his craft in canoes were what appeared to
be women warriors. Their fancied resem-
blance to the Amazons of Greek legends
would lead to this river being named the
Amazon. Finally in August 1541 Orellana
and his surviving comrades reached the
mouth of the river and sailed up the coast
until they reached a Spanish outpost on the
northeastern shore of the continent.
(Pizarro and the depleted remnants of his
expedition had struggled back across the
Andes many months before.)
Orellana took ship for Spain to press his
case for recognition as a conquistador of the
first rank and succeeded in obtaining royal
approval for an expedition to explore and
claim the region through which he had
sailed. Without adequate funding, however,
it took him several years to assemble the
men, ships, and supplies to return to the
mouth of the Amazon. The Portuguese, who

Orellana, Francisco de (1511-1546)
Spanish explorer and soldier
Orellana joined his fellow townsman F RAN -
CISCO P IZARRO in the conquest of P ERU dur-
ing the 1530s. He was particularly active in
operations against the Inca in what is now
E CUADOR , where he was a founder of both
Quito and Guayaquil.
In 1538 he was appointed second in
command to the conqueror's brother, Gon-
zalo Pizarro, for an expedition into the inte-
rior of South America. A large force of
Spanish soldiers, Indian bearers, pack ani-
mals, and dogs of war set out across the
Andes but suffered extreme hardships and
heavy losses due to cold and exertion in the
high passes. On descending into the eastern
lowlands the Spaniards found themselves
in a virtually impenetrable jungle, with no
sign of the prosperous Indians or the abun-
dant gold and spices that had lured them to
the region. Having abandoned most of their