History - The Freshwater Sea

While the Portuguese began to expand in Brazil, a Spaniard named Vincentre Pinzon found freshwater in the ocean near Brazil. He traced it to the mouth of the Amazon, known as the "Freshwater Sea" since it pushes freshwater into the ocean for 155 miles. Many years later, in 1541, a group of Spanish explorers led by Francisco de Orellana set out from Ecuador to search for gold. One day, the travelled downstream in search of food and, when they couldn't go back upstream, they decided to keep going downstream and explore the land. They discovered many tribes, some friendly and other unfriendly, and one with female warriors like the Amazons of greek mythology. Thus, the river was named Amazon for the group of female warriors that lived along its banks.

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