Alejo García
(Alejo or Aleixo García; Alentejo,?-Paraguay, 1525) Portuguese conqueror.Castaway from the expedition of Díaz de Solís (1516), he heard the Indians speak of a region rich in gold and silver (undoubtedly present-day Peru).With four companions, joined by large contingents of natives, he crossed Paraguay and the Chaco, and reached the Bolivian Andes, collecting many treasures; he was killed by the natives on the way back.His memory lasted for a long time among the natives, and the news of his audacious adventures prompted, among others, Caboto's expedition to the Río de la Plata.
Alejo García
Alejo García was part of the expedition that Juan Díaz de Solís undertook in 1515, which aimed to cross the strait that was supposed to exist at the southern end of America.After traveling along the Brazilian coast, Díaz de Solís' fleet entered the Plata estuary and was attacked by the Guarani Indians, who killed Solís and a large number of expedition members.The survivors, led by Solís's brother-in-law, Francisco de Torres, decided to return to Spain, without continuing their exploration.In the port of Los Patos, off Santa Catalina Island, in southern Brazil, one of the caravels sank and eighteen castaways were left ashore.
One of them, the Portuguese Alejo García, settled with other colleagues on the island of Santa Catalina.He heard the Indians speak of a country in which gold and silver were abundant, and he decided to set out in search of them with four or five white companions, a mulatto, and a certain number of Indians.Later he subdued and convinced the tribes that he found on his way to that chimerical country.He crossed Paraguay, crossed the homonymous river, penetrated the Chaco jungle and reached the Andean foothills, in present-day Bolivia, where he collected a good number of slaves and precious metals.After encountering resistance, he began to return to the Brazilian coast, but could not reach his destination; the natives killed him and took away his treasures.The expedition of Alejo García apparently took place between the years 1521 and 1525.
The news of his feat reached the coast, where two survivors of the expedition reported the event, in 1526, to Rodrigo de Acuña , of the army of Jofre García de Loaysa, and Sebastián Caboto.The stories influenced the latter's decision to enter the Río de la Plata in search of the Sierra de la Plata and the dominions of Rey Blanco; Such denominations undoubtedly alluded to the Peru of the Incas, the region from which the metals that the Indians of the areas visited by Alejo García came from.This extraordinary and daring adventurer is one of the lesser known figures of the American conquest; Years later he was still remembered by the Paraguayan Indians, as confirmed by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Domingo Martínez de Irala.
Comments
Post a Comment