Iain Kelly

5th July 1592

We continue to follow De Orellana. The river seems to be endless. It has been seven months since we set out.

Today we were attacked by a group of savages. Without a common language took us for enemies. They hurled sharpened rocks as we fled back to the boat.

It was not the men that attacked us but the females, the like of which I have never seen before. With long, muscular legs they bounded after us. They beat to death any man they caught with clubs and bare hands. I was gripped by one, held by arms as strong as a toro. Gonzalez used his sword to injure my captor and I struggled free. Gonzalez has read of such women existing in ancient Greece, they were called Amazons. It seems a fitting name. They were as barbaric and dense as the forest surrounding us.

In all, another fifteen men were killed. Only thirteen from the sixty that began the expedition are left. De Orellana refuses to turn back until we have claimed the full length of the river for the King.

Written for ‘What Pegman Saw’, a weekly prompt based on a view from Google Maps. The idea is to write a piece of fiction of around 150 words based on the prompt. Full details can be found HERE. This week we’re off to Brazil on an expedition down the Amazon river. Read more about the Spanish explorers and their encounters with the native tribes HERE.

For more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

Feature Image © Steve Wallace