quarter-deck, broke open the arm chest, which, on a slight suspicion of
mutiny, had been ordered there a few days before, as to a place of the
greatest security. Here, he took it for granted, he should find cutlasses
sufficient for himself and his companions, in the use of which weapon
they were all extremely skilful, and with these, it was imagined, they
proposed to have forced the great cabin; but on opening the chest there
appeared nothing but firearms, which to them were of no use. There were
indeed cutlasses in the chest, but they were hid by the firearms being
laid over them. This was a sensible disappointment to them, and by this
time Pizarro and his companions in the great cabin were capable of
conversing aloud, through the cabin windows and port-holes, with those in
the gun-room and between decks; and from hence they learned that the
English (whom they principally suspected) were all safe below, and had
not intermeddled in this mutiny; and by other particulars they at last
discovered that none were concerned in it but Orellana and his people. On
this Pizarro and the officers resolved to attack them on the
quarter-deck, before any of the discontented on board should so far
recover their first surprise as to reflect on the facility and certainty
of seizing the ship by a junction with the Indians in the present
emergency. With this view Pizarro got together what arms were in the
cabin, and distributed them to those who were with him; but there were no
other firearms to be met with but pistols, and for these they had neither
powder nor ball. However, having now settled a correspondence with the
gun room, they lowered down a bucket out of the cabin window, into which
the gunner, out of one of the gun-room ports, put a quantity of pistol
cartridges. When they had thus procured ammunition, and had loaded their
pistols, they set the cabin door partly open, and fired some shot amongst
the Indians on the quarter-deck, at first without effect. But at last
Mindinuetta had the good fortune to shoot Orellana dead on the spot; on
which his faithful companions, abandoning all thoughts of further