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female warriors, was afterwards known as the river of the Amazons; The author spread reports of another El Dorado to the north, in which the roofs of the temples were covered with gold. This report afterwards led to the disastrous expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh to Guiana. By his voyage Orellana connected the Spanish and Portuguese "spheres of influence" in the New World of Amerigo. By the year 1540 the main outlines of Central and South America and something of the interior had been made known by the Spanish adventurers within half a century of Columbus's first voyage. Owing to the papal bull Portugal possessed Brazil, but all the rest of the huge stretch of country was claimed for Spain. The Portuguese wisely treated Brazil as an outlet for their overflowing population, which settled there in large numbers and established plantations. The Spaniards, on the other hand, only regarded their huge possessions as exclusive markets to be merely visited by them. Rich mines of gold, silver, and mercury were discovered in Mexico and Peru, especially in the far-famed mines of Potosi, and these were exploited entirely in the interests of Spain, which acted as a sieve by which the precious metals were poured into Europe, raising prices throughout the Old World. In return European merchandise was sent in the return voyages of the Spanish galleons to New Spain, which could only buy Flemish cloth, for example, through Spanish intermediaries, who raised its price to three times the original cost. This short-sighted policy on the part of Spain naturally encouraged smuggling, and attracted the ships of all nations towards that pursuit.