Sebastian Cabot, the son of the Genoese…
1528 CE to 1539 CE
Cabot thinks the Rio de Soils might provide easier passage to the Pacific and the Orient than the stormy Straits of Magellan where he is bound, and, eager to win the riches of Peru, he becomes the first European to explore that estuary.
Leaving a small force on the northern shore of the broad estuary, Cabot proceeds up the Rio Parana uneventfully for about one hundred and sixty kilometers and founds a settlement he names Sancti Spiritu.
He continues upstream for another eight hundred kilometers, past the junction with the Rio Paraguay.
When navigation becomes difficult, Cabot turns back, but only after obtaining some silver objects that the natives say came from a land far to the west.
Cabot retraces his route on the Rio Parana and enters the Rio Paraguay.
Sailing upriver, Cabot and his men trade freely with the Guarani tribes until a strong force of Agaces natives attacks them.
About forty kilometers below the site of Asunción, Cabot encounters a tribe of Guarani in possession of silver objects, perhaps some of the spoils of Garcia's treasure.
Hoping he has found the route to the riches of Peru, Cabot renames the river Rio de la Plata, although today the name applies only to the estuary as far inland as the city of Buenos Aires.
Cabot returns to Spain in 1530 and informs Emperor Charles V (1519-56) about his discoveries.
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