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Finally, nine months later, the king agreed to give him permission for another exploratory expedition and to build two towns, one at the river's mouth. Because Spain was arguing with Portugal over the ownership of the Amazon area, and because of Pizarro's complaints against him, Orellana was not given any financial support.
Orellana felt insulted, but he did not give up. He went to Seville to hire his crew and buy supplies, but everywhere he turned he encountered difficulties. Still, Orellana persisted and, against the king's latest orders, he eventually set sail on May 11, 1545 with a crew that had failed inspections.
Disaster followed disaster from then on. Despite dealing with a crew that was extremely ill and disillusioned, Orellana arrived at the mouth of the Amazon and began working his way upriver to gather food and timber. At this point, suffering terribly from attacks by Indians, starvation, and disease, 60 more crewmembers died on board. Finally Orellana's ship was driven ashore and beached. [more]
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