He heard him through without interruption, then said, soothingly: "My son, it is even so as thou hast said. I have beheld these things with grief and inward rage; but, as thou knowest, Don Pedro hath been appointed by the king, and, though he be technically a usurper, still he is supported by the crown. Had but Arbolancha arrived a few weeks sooner than he did all might have been in thy favor; but now—now the king's eyes have been opened too late to bestow upon thee thy deserts. But patience, my son, for yet a little while. To-day, this very morning, will I see the governor and plead thy cause."
The good bishop quickly redeemed his pledge, and within an hour was in the presence of the governor and his lady. Without a moment's delay he plunged into the subject of which he was so full, representing to Pedrarias that "by keeping the finest capacity in the land in idleness and obscurity he was injuring none more than himself, thus losing the fruits which the friendship of Vasco Nuñez would produce for him."
"There is no doubt," he said to the surly Pedrarias, "that Vasco Nuñez will, in some way or other, make known to the king the oppression and contumely in which he has been held, to the defiance of royal command and the injury of his majesty's interest. Why, then, persist in driving a man to become your deadliest enemy whom you may grapple to your side as your firmest friend?"
"Why, forsooth?" exclaimed Pedrarias, with a growl. "Because he has chosen to oppose me and to oppose the royal commands. But even were we disposed to agree—of which there is doubt—how could I, now that I have humbled and discredited him, still regain his confidence and friendship? It is incredible!"
"Nay, Pedro," said the bishop, bending forward and bestowing a glance full of meaning upon his listeners. "To the contrary, it is the simplest thing in the world. You have two marriageable daughters. Give him one of them!"
"What? One of our daughters marry that base-born caitiff? Hearest thou that, Isabel?"
"I hear," replied his wife, demurely. "But I do not consider Vasco Nuñez so far beneath us that he could not aspire. He is of the hidalguia [nobility] by birth, and not base-born, my lord."
"Aha! the rope of pearls! Hath it, then, bound thee to Balboa?"
"Shame! Thou knowest it is not so. That remark is unworthy of thee, Pedro," exclaimed the bishop, hotly.
Doña Isabel did not respond, but her eyes flashed until their fire was extinguished by the tears that welled up from them. She was used to insult from her lord, but not yet calloused.
Bestowing upon her a glance of sympathy, the bishop continued: "My friends, Vasco Nuñez would be a suitable match for your daughter. He is a man of merit, an hidalgo by birth, and—whether thou likest or not to hear it, Pedro—a favorite of the king. Whilst thou art advanced in years, Pedro, he is in the prime of life, in the very vigor of his days. Make him, then, thy son-in-law, and as thy lieutenant he can carry out thy plans. Thus all his achievements will redound to the advancement of thy family, and to the credit of thy administration."
"Enough!" exclaimed Pedrarias, won over, not so much by the bishop's earnestness and eloquence as by the evident advantages to himself in such a match. "Send for Vasco Nuñez and for a notary. He shall espouse Maria, our eldest daughter. She is in Spain; but that matters not, so the marriage agreement be written out and signed before witnesses. Send for my son-in-law!"
XVIII
BUILDING THE BRIGANTINES
1516
THE life led by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa in the New World, accustomed as he had been to scenes of rapine and to the indulgence of the baser passions, was not conducive to the upbuilding of an elevated character. But that he had a shred of manliness remaining, was shown when, in response to the command of Pedrarias, he presented himself before that worthy at his official residence. When he learned of the compact that had been proposed by the bishop and sanctioned by the governor, he at first seemed stunned by the intelligence; but recovering himself with an effort, he exclaimed: "And this is to be the purchase of my freedom? Bound by pledges which cannot be broken, I am to be delivered into the hands of mine enemy! Never! never will I consent to such a compromise. It is disgraceful, humiliating!"
"Tut, tut," said the bishop. "You forget, my son, in whose presence thou art speaking: the head of thy Church, the head of the government—not only—but before a lady of a rank the equal of, if not exceeding, thine own."
"I crave her pardon," said Balboa, now for the first time allowing his gaze to rest upon Doña Isabel. "But do you, my lady, approve this alliance? As the mother of your daughter, and knowing me for what I am—what I have been in this wild land—do you consent to such a sacrifice?"
"She is my eldest, and dear to my heart," responded the Lady Isabel; "but I not only consent to—I approve of this arrangement."
"Then so be it," rejoined Balboa, with a sigh. "Never have I seen the maiden; but if she be like her gracious mother, then truly shall I be the most fortunate of men." He advanced, and bowing low before her, with courtly dignity, pressed his lips to the hand which she extended.
"Most fortunate of men, indeed," exclaimed Pedrarias, with a sneer; "not only in what you gain, but what escape. Dost hear, Isabel? he condescends to marry our daughter! We will make note of that; but, inasmuch as I have decided, we will for the moment overlook it. Now the notary, and the marriage compact. These, our signatures, you witness, notary. Enough. It is done; it is affirmed. Maria shall be sent for, and when she arrives the marriage shall be solemnized. Now, son-in-law, what is it thou desirest most of all—saving, of course, to be my son-in-law?"
"Your excellency," responded Balboa, ignoring the sneering tone and look, "when you came hither it was my intention soon to build some ships, and, after transporting them to the coast of the new sea, to explore its shores and islands."
"Then proceed. It is a good intention, and should be carried out at once. But how, son-in-law, wilt transport the ships across the mountains? The way is long and rugged—impossible."
"Nay, not impossible. After what has been achieved, it is feasible. At the port of Acla, in Careta's country, I would fain cut the timbers, collect the material for fittings, and thence have them taken by carriers to the southern sea-coast."
"Good! In the province of Careta, another father-in-law of thine, by the way, thy relations with whom thou must sever! Thou canst not but understand what I mean?"
"I understand," rejoined Balboa, "and your law is my will."
"Certes, thou shouldst have no other, henceforth, as thou'lt find!"
This allusion to Cacique Careta had reference, of course, to the fact—which was well known in Darien—that his daughter, the Cacica, was still held in regard by Balboa, and had not yet returned to her father. Perhaps Doña Isabel had not been aware of the circumstances, for she looked inquiringly at Balboa, who avoided her gaze, and retired in confusion from her presence.
Then ensued scenes of activity at Antigua del Darien to which it had long been a stranger. When it became known that Pedrarias and Balboa were again in accord, the settlers took heart and began to improve their condition. Establishing himself at Acla, a port in Careta's province, to the west of Antigua, where he had already erected a fortress, Balboa began the construction of four brigantines. Timber for two of them was already hewn and shaped, when it was discovered that, having been cut near the sea-coast, it was subject to the ravages of destructive worms, and all the work had to be done over again.
During long weeks and months, troops of negroes and Indians trudged painfully over the rugged trails of the mountains, from the north coast to the south, bearing heavy loads comprised of rigging, anchors, and iron-work for the brigantines, arms, ammunition, and provisions, a distance of fifty or sixty miles. Timber for the second pair of brigantines was felled on the banks of a river called the Balsa, which flowed into the South Sea; but hardly had it been cut and shaped before a flood came down from the mountains and swept it nearly all away. Then, a third time, did the indefatigable Balboa set his men an example by Herculean labors, and after almost incredible toil, exposure, suffering from famine and sickness, two brigantines were finally constructed and floated on the river. They drifted down to the sea-coast, and there, while timber for the other two was being prepared and their fittings brought from Acla, Balboa equipped them with sails and set forth upon the bosom of the ocean he had discovered three years before. This, he thought, was the consummation of his labors and the triumph of his genius; but before him yet lay the country in which he hoped to round out his career by a grand and startling conquest.
A trial trip was made to the islands of pearls, on one of which, called Isla Rica, or the Rich Island, he established a base of supplies, and then, with one hundred men aboard his clumsy brigantines, he set sail for the coast of the mainland, where it stretched away to the west and the southward. He was then, if he had but known it, on the watery highway to Peru, but which another was to traverse, to its ending at the gateway of the golden empire. He had found the way, however, and was content, for, with four brigantines soon to be under his orders, and three hundred men in his command, it seemed to him that the treasures of Peru now lay open before him. He could exploit them at his leisure, he thought, and when a school of whales appeared ahead of his vessel—which he mistook for reefs—and a contrary wind assailed him, he abandoned his cruise to the southward and returned to Isla Rica.
Balboa was a careful commander, and he had been three years dreaming of and preparing for the invasion of Peru. He would not, then, jeopardize his chances by starting out half equipped, with less than one-third the number of men he desired and in all probability needed. So he returned to Isla Rica, which, having reduced its people to subjection and investigated its resources, he planned to make his headquarters.
With what exultation he found himself at last free from the domination of Pedrarias! With what delight he rambled over his island realm and thought upon the freedom that would be his, the glorious opportunities unfolded, the treasure he would obtain, when, at last afloat, with armament complete, he would bear down for the land that then lay dim and shadowy upon the horizon!
But, even while indulging in these dreams of future conquest, sinister rumors reached him from the northern shores of the isthmus. At least, viewed in the light that Pedrarias was now his friend, they seemed so, for they related to the arrival of a new governor, who might not look with favor on his schemes, and indeed supplant him with favorites of his own. After consulting with the most trusty of his officers, he resolved to send a messenger to Acla, in order to ascertain the exact condition of affairs in Antigua, for reports were conflicting, and he knew not what to do. The man selected for this important mission was none other than Andres Garabito, who had brought the contingent of armed men from Cuba. Balboa thought he could trust him, as they had campaigned together, passed through perils together, and existed in close comradeship for years; but he had not taken into the account a recent occurrence which had changed Garabito's friendship into bitter hatred.
His enmity was secret, but was none the less vindictive, and it was occasioned by his fondness for Careta's daughter, of whom Balboa claimed sole proprietorship. When, therefore, he one day discovered Garabito paying her attentions—which she seemed not to receive unwillingly—he rebuked his subordinate severely, and sent him away in anger. The occurrence faded quickly from Balboa's mind, for his generous nature did not harbor resentment long; but not so with Garabito, who felt he had been unjustly treated, and meditated revenge.
Before setting out with Balboa on this very expedition, he wrote to Pedrarias that his prospective son-in-law was so completely enamored of the Indian girl Cacica that, rather than give her up, he would fly with her to the wilds and abandon the settlement forever. This poisoned missive had done its dastardly work most effectually during Balboa's absence on the southern coast, and when, by a sinister coincidence, Garabito was chosen to return to Darien to spy upon the Spaniards there, he found the mind of Pedrarias ripe to receive any accusation whatever against the man he hated yet had so highly honored. He was furious from wounded pride and jealousy. His former suspicions revived, and were augmented by the arrival of the malignant Garabito at Acla. This despicable wretch allowed himself to be arrested as a spy, and when threatened with punishment pretended to reveal what he knew and suspected of Balboa's intentions. He declared that his chief intended, as soon as the brigantines were ready for sea, provisioned and equipped, to embark upon the southern ocean. As an independent commander, said Garabito, he proposed to sever all relations with the government of Darien, and cast off his allegiance to the king. Thus was Balboa accused of the crime of treason by this dastard scoundrel, a crime which, as he well knew, was punishable with death!
As the new governor had died in the very harbor of Antigua before he could take up the burden of government, Pedrarias was not only undisturbed, but at liberty now to proceed unrestrained with his persecution of Balboa. In his blind fury, he cast all considerations of justice or fairness to the winds, and listened to the accusations of Balboa's enemies, who now rose up on all sides to condemn him. The colony was again thrown into a ferment by the several factions, for Balboa still had many friends besides those who were with him on the coast; and every advantage which had been gained by the alliance between the governor and the discoverer was thus thrown away. The interests of the colony were subordinated by Pedrarias to the gratification of his malice, and all enterprises halted while he pursued his enemy to the last extremity.
Garabito had, as though unintentionally, let drop that his chief had sent for Cacica, who was instructed to join him in his camp at Isla Rica, he said, without delay. But this was an untruth, for Balboa had broken with her from the day he had promised Pedrarias to do so. As an honorable man—according to the code of honor at that time—he felt himself constrained to abide by the letter of his marriage agreement with the governor's daughter, and had held himself aloof from all temptations. His deep regard for Doña Isabel constrained him also; for, though she had condoned his past, she expected him to comport himself like a true knight in the future. As the mother of his bride in prospective, and as the first pure woman he had met in many years, he regarded her with worshipful reverence. For her sake he had resolved to crucify his lusts and purge himself of all iniquities.
But Balboa's righteous resolve had been made too late, for the Cacica, though she had long since steeled her heart against her master, was piqued at his coldness, and it was that which had caused her to receive the attentions of Garabito, who failed not to tell her of the marriage contract with the governor's daughter. Balboa had, then, at least two enemies who, with a desire for revenge, though from different motives, aided Pedrarias in fastening the fetters upon him.
If this were but a story of love and revenge, rather than the simple biography of a historical character, we should find the material at hand for a most fascinating romance; and if the reader will recall the leading features of chapters v. and ix., in this connection, perhaps such a story may be woven, after all! For we have all the essentials for a plot: valiant hero, beautiful heroine, despicable villain; love, intrigue, the deadly enmity of a base tyrant; and finally, a tragic ending. This final tragedy we are leading up to now, and we shall attempt to show how Vasco Nuñez de Balboa's crimes in the early part of his career came to be visited upon him when at the height of apparent prosperity and power, and brought him to the headsman's block!
When Pedrarias heard from Garabito that the Cacica had been ordered by Balboa to join him on his expedition, he sent an officer to bring her before him. She came tremblingly, having in mind the tortures to which her brother had been subjected when summoned before a similar council by the magistrates. She was waylaid by Garabito, who whispered in her ear: "You have only to say that your master sent for you, but that you refused to go. If you testify otherwise, you are lost, for the governor will put you to the torture!"
The power of Garabito was in the ascendent, over that of Balboa, and the girl testified as he commanded, greatly to the satisfaction of the governor, who grimly regarded this rival of his daughter with something like approval. Her evidence was the last link in the chain he was forging to connect his enemy with treason towards the king. The fact that he had sent for her proved his intention of making the southern coast his base of operations and place of permanent abode. It also showed, the governor argued, that Balboa had no thought of fulfilling his obligations to his daughter, whom he thus virtually repudiated. This thought enraged him to the verge of frenzy. That he should have meditated an alliance with this base-born adventurer (as he styled him then) was exasperating; but that the graceless fellow should have spurned that alliance, and preferred an Indian female to his high-born daughter, stirred his malignant nature to its depths.
XIX
IMPRISONED AND IN CHAINS
1517
WHILE his enemies were plotting to take his life, Balboa was beyond their reach at Isla Rica, where, all unconscious of the dangers that menaced him, he was completing preparations for the voyage southward to Peru. He had sent for and expected supplies and reinforcements, but while they were, presumably, on the way, he did not abate his diligence for a moment.
He relaxed, however, his strenuous exertions, for the great object of the past months of terrible toils had been in a measure accomplished in the building of the brigantines. While the work went on beneath his eye, he allowed himself a little recreation, and amid the delights of Isla Rica indulged in dreams of future conquests. One evening, while reclining in company with some comrades on a couch of palm-leaves spread upon the sands, he pointed to a particular star in the heavens above them, and said: "There is the planet that holds my fate in its keeping. See you yon star, my friends? Well, I was told by Micer Codro (the Venetian astrologer who was with us, you remember, when we first found these shores) that when that star appeared in this position in the firmament my life would be in jeopardy. But should I survive this period of peril, I would become the richest, the most renowned man in the Indies!
"Now, what think ye, comrades? That was more than three years ago, and, according to Micer Codro's prophecy, I should be in peril of my life; yet here am I, almost within reach of my desires, sound in health, with four brigantines and three hundred good men at my command, and on the point of exploring the great Southern Ocean, which I was the first to find! Out upon all astrologers, say I. That man is surely womanish who gives credit to diviners, and especially to old Micer Codro. Star, I salute thee! Continue thou to shine; but thy baleful radiance is not for Vasco Nuñez de Balboa!"
"He was a learned man," replied one of his companions. "Of a truth, I have heard fearsome stories of his sagacity. But what is that? See, yonder on the sea: a canoe approaches. What can fetch a boat hither from the main, save unwelcome tidings?"
"I cannot conceive," rejoined Balboa, "except that the new governor has arrived and it is a summons for us to return. But we shall see as to that, for while the isthmus intervenes between him and me, no power shall stay us nor cause us to delay."
Propelled by the sinewy arms of naked Indians, the canoe darted over the sea and through the surf to the strand, when a man in the garb of a king's official leaped out and approached the group. Going up to Balboa, who was standing expectantly, he bowed low, then said: "Señor Adelantado, a letter I bring you from his excellency the governor."
"Which I receive as his dutiful servant," answered Balboa, taking it in his hand, and reading it by the light of a torch held by one of his aids. "It seems my intended father-in-law is desirous of seeing me and consulting with respect to our projected expedition," he explained to his comrades. "As his wishes are my desires, I shall start in the morning. Meanwhile I am gone, Francisco Companon, you will be in command of the ships and the soldiers. Messenger, what tidings in Antigua del Darien? For, sooth, my father-in-law says not a word as to happenings there. Is all well? Has the new governor arrived? Perchance not, else Pedrarias would not have written."
"The new governor, who was to supersede his excellency, died as he entered the harbor," answered the messenger; but he was silent, or evasive, as to other happenings at Antigua.
On the shore of the mainland other messengers were in waiting, who, finding that Balboa had set out unarmed and without a suspicion of the fate that was in store for him, consulted together as to the advisability of informing him. They did not do so, however, until the mountains were passed and the little party drew near Acla, when, won by Balboa's frankness and open conduct, their sympathies prevailed over their fears of the governor's vengeance, and they informed him of the snare into which he was hurrying. Balboa was astounded, and at first refused to believe in the perfidy of the man to whose daughter he was pledged in marriage.
"I am innocent of any evil intention," he finally exclaimed. "Faithfully have I served Pedrarias, and faithfully have I served my king. No, I will not retreat," he said, in answer to a suggestion that he should escape while the opportunity offered. "I have done nothing worthy of punishment, and I will go forward, for my innocence I can prove."
"To-morrow it will be too late," answered one of the messengers, "for at Acla awaits Francisco Pizarro, with a command, to arrest you. Adelantado, we entreat you: return while you may."
"Nay, never! My back I have never turned to an enemy yet. But I cannot believe that Pedrarias will continue my enemy; and as for Francisco Pizarro, have I not reared him in the profession of arms? Have we not campaigned together, fought and starved together?"
Sorrowfully, then, the little band of unarmed Spaniards held on their way to Acla, in the environs of which they were met by Pizarro and a company of soldiers, who barred the way. Pizarro drew from his corselet an order of arrest and proceeded to read it, while Balboa regarded him with reproachful astonishment. When it was concluded, he exclaimed: "How is this Francisco? You were not wont to come out in this fashion to receive me!" His former comrade made no reply, for he was only obeying the orders of his superior, and had no alternative but to choose between the two: Pedrarias, supreme in authority, and Balboa, discredited commander. He chose to serve the former, and, as shown in the light of future events, he may have chosen wisely, for it was under Pedrarias, then governor of Panama, that he made his first voyage southward, eventually achieving the conquest of Peru, and tearing Balboa's laurels from his brow.
At a muttered command from Pizarro, two soldiers stepped forward with manacles, which they placed upon Balboa's wrists and ankles, and in chains he was conducted to Acla and thrown into prison. There he was soon visited by the wily Pedrarias, who could scarce conceal his exultation at having in his power the man he hated because his reputation was greater than his own. But, concealing his true feelings, he said to Balboa: "Be thou not afflicted, my son. Thou art here through the charges brought against thee by Alonzo de Puente, who, being the king's treasurer, hath compelled me to this proceeding. But, doubtless, an investigation will not merely establish thy innocency, but serve to render thy zeal and loyalty to the crown the more conspicuous."
Balboa made no reply, for, frank and generous himself, without the power of dissembling, he despised, detested a hypocrite. He knew that Puente's charge was a mere pretence behind which were cloaked deeper designs than had yet been revealed; and so it proved, for when, in the course of a few days, Pedrarias was satisfied that the grounds of the legal process were sufficiently strong to secure Balboa's conviction of treason and enable him to put his unhappy prisoner to death, he threw off the mask. Returning to the prison, he said to Balboa, with the hard and threatening countenance which he habitually wore: "Hitherto I have treated you as a son, because I gave you credit for fidelity to the king, and to me, in his name. Since, however, I find myself mistaken, you have no longer to expect from me the conduct of a father, but of a judge and an enemy, as I shall henceforth treat you."
"As for your feelings towards me," indignantly replied the prisoner, "it matters not to me one whit; but as to my conduct towards the king, my sovereign, your charges are false! If what you impute to me were true, holding as I did at my command four ships and three hundred men, by whom I am beloved, why should I not have gone straight to sea without permitting anything to impede my purpose? Safe in the consciousness of my innocence, I returned at your command; and little did I dream of being treated so rigorously and with such enormous injustice. This is my reward for trusting you: a dungeon, with slander, indignities, and chains."
"Yea, traitor," rejoined Pedrarias, hotly, "a dungeon is truly your merited reward for despising the alliance I would have made with you. Truly, I shudder to think of what my family has escaped: of the foul blot which the marriage of my daughter with one of your stamp would have spread upon my proud escutcheon. And all the time you had an Indian mistress, for whom you sent to accompany you on the expedition which would have placed you well beyond my reach. But know, traitor and scoundrel, that she has confessed, and thus the means by which you would have covered my daughter's name with obloquy have been those for encompassing your own destruction!"
"Who, Cacica, the pledge of amity between me and Careta? She has confessed? Nothing had she to confess, for I sent her no message. After my word was given to you that I would not see her, of a truth, I saw her no more. You are a liar, Pedro Pedrarias, and were I but free, with my good sword in hand, fain would I render you unable to utter more false statements against me and those who were once true to me!"
"Ha! Would you, then? Here, jailer, double this fellow's irons, and if he protest, weight him to the floor with them! My throat you would slit, eh? Old as I am, you will find that when it comes to the cutting of throats, Don Pedrarias de Avila needs not rely upon his own unaided sword. There is one in my employ who wields a more potent weapon—mark you—and that is Gomez, the headsman. I go to tell him now to sharpen his axe for four!"
"For four?" exclaimed Balboa, as the old man retreated from the cell. "Who else have you enmeshed in your net, base wretch? Will not one victim suffice you? Who are they? Tell me."
"Who?" repeated the old man, mockingly, peering at his victim through the bars. "Why, who but Hernan de Arguello, Hernan Muños, Valderrabano, and Botello. Were they simply your friends, it were enough; but they are more: they are traitors to the king, and to me, Pedrarias de Avila, governor-in-chief of Darien, whose authority you have endeavored to usurp."
"They, my officers, condemned to die merely because they were friends, and loyal to me," groaned Balboa as, left in the solitude of his cell, he sank helpless to the floor. "Truly is this Pedrarias a fiend, an intimate of the devil, and scarce human! And they will die, being my friends, but no man's enemies."
Realizing that he had proceeded so far it was impossible to leave Balboa alive in the same land with himself, Pedrarias left no stone unturned to accomplish his death. Urged to activity by promise of the command of Balboa's expedition in the event of his death, the vile lawyer, Espinosa, found an indictment against the five which warranted his master in proclaiming they were doomed to die for treason against the king. The proclamation was made at Acla, and not in Antigua, where resided most of the settlers, because, as Pedrarias knew, it would provoke an uprising of the people.
While they were supremely loyal to the crown, and, in their timidity, afraid to declare against its representative, Pedrarias, the people of Darien were yet well inclined towards Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, and most of them his friends, because of his possessing many lovable qualities which the governor lacked.
When, affrighted at the vindictiveness of Pedrarias, Espinosa explained to him that the verdict against Balboa was technical only, and that on account of his great services he should be inclined to mercy, the fiend replied: "No, if he has merited death, let him suffer it. Die he must, and shall, and on your head be his blood!"
XX
THE END OF VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA
1517
WE are compelled, in this chapter, to narrate the details of a horrible crime, to commit which the name of justice was invoked by its perpetrator, Pedro Arias de Avila, the one-time governor of Darien. We have followed the hero of this story, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, through the various stages of his career: a penniless adventurer, self-elected governor of Darien, savior of the settlement when on the point of dissolution, subjugator of the caciques, discoverer of the Pacific, faithful servant of the king, builder of the first brigantines that ploughed the waters of the great Southern Ocean. We are now to behold him led forth from his prison cell as a criminal, a traitor to his sovereign, and executed in the very town which was founded, through his unwearied efforts, in chief Careta's province.
He was then scarcely forty-two years of age, in the prime of life, seven long years of which had been passed in the wilderness of Darien. He had labored, he had fought, he had committed crimes against humanity—all that his sovereign might acquire a realm beyond the sea—and this was his reward: to perish as a felon, to die as a traitor, "in the full career of his glory, one of the most deserving of the Spanish discoverers—a victim to the basest and most perfidious envy." He had, indeed, deserved well of his king, for of all the Spaniards who explored the regions of America, he was one of the greatest, the most persistent in carrying the flag of his country into unknown lands, in compelling the inhabitants to accept his religion and acknowledge the sovereignty of Spain.
He was not the first of the Spanish explorers and conquistadores to experience that king's ingratitude, nor the last to meet a violent death. Columbus and Cortés died in their beds, but they were victims of their sovereign's neglect. De Soto, worn out by his toils, perished on the bank of the Mississippi, which became his grave. Ponce de Leon, returning to Florida, the land he had discovered, received his death-wound from an Indian arrow. Pizarro was assassinated, by men he had reduced to poverty and exasperated by his taunts.
The reward, then, of exploration and discovery mainly inheres in the accomplishment itself, for few of the world's great explorers have lived to receive the fruits of their labors, as witness Magellan and Hudson and Cook. Of them all, however, perhaps there was none who was so basely requited as Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. Were it not for the fact that there was in Darien, at the time Pedrarias wreaked his vengeance upon Balboa, a veracious chronicler of events, whose name has survived as author of a great history, we should be loath to accept as true this story of revenge, ingratitude, and crime. But we have it from Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, a contemporary of the chief characters in this tragedy, who was sent out by King Ferdinand as inspector of mines, and who subsequently, as historiographer of the Indies, wrote a great work, which first appeared in 1526. He was intimate with both Pedrarias and Balboa, and after the death of the latter had access to his private papers, from the perusal of which, and from his knowledge of our hero, he drew conclusions as to his merits, which were long since sanctioned by the voice of posterity.
The day arrived in which the sentence of death was to be carried out, and found the little town of Acla overspread with gloom. The horrified inhabitants moved about as in a dream, unable to wholly comprehend the nature of their dread surroundings, hardly daring to allow their tears to flow, much less their voices to be raised in protest. For they realized that in Pedrarias, the governor, they had a man to deal with not in his right mind, warped by envy, malice, jealousy, until he had become a frenzied maniac. They dared not provoke his wrath by protest, even in a whisper, for they were cowards all, rendered so by their subserviency to the crown, which might commit any atrocity and yet be accounted blameless.
Pedrarias had sentenced his prisoner to death in the name of the king, yet he allowed him no appeal, either to the king or to the Council of the Indies; for he knew that sentence would be reversed and the discoverer set free should his voice reach the throne. It never reached it, save as wafted across the sea and ocean in the indignant outcry of the people—after the deed was done by which Balboa lost his head. Then it did not avail to redress Balboa's wrongs nor to bring Pedrarias to justice, for he continued in his crimes for years, and at the last died in his bed, like many another wretch of lesser note.
But the day had arrived, Balboa's last on earth. The hot afternoon wore away, and the sun sank towards the mountains which the prisoner had been the first to explore, and touched with its rays the roofs of the dwellings he himself had erected. The dungeon door was thrown open, and forth came Balboa, preceded by his jailer and loaded with clanking chains. But the burden of the chains was as naught to the armor he had carried in the days of his great deeds, and he bore himself erect, dauntless in mien as of yore.
He searched the village square with flashing eye, sweeping his glance over the assembled crowd of cowards, held back by mailed soldiers under the command of his former comrade and lieutenant, Francisco Pizarro. He was no coward—that Balboa knew; but he had his own reasons for serving Pedrarias, as already narrated. If Pizarro had but weakened, if he had allowed his sense of justice to prevail over his lust for power and lucre, and said one word for Balboa, all the men under him would have joined in an effort to save the man they loved from him they loathed and hated. But Pizarro was a clump, a stick, a stone—anything inanimate, or, in other words, a soldier—and when Balboa's piercing glance fell on him he looked to the ground and remained immovable.
Preceding the prisoner walked the public crier, who announced: "This is the punishment inflicted by command of the king and his lieutenant, Don Pedrarias de Avila, governor of this colony, upon this man, as a traitor, and usurper of lands belonging to the crown."
"Nay, nay," exclaimed the still loyal Balboa when he heard this lie proclaimed; "it is false! You, my former comrades, know it is false. Never hath thought of such a crime entered my mind. I have ever served my king with truth and loyalty, and ever sought to augment his dominions!"
He raised his eyes to heaven and stretched forth his manacled hands, while a murmur of compassion went around the throng in the square of Acla. But there was no demonstration in his favor, for there was no man left in Darien, apparently, with a heart in his breast. The best of Balboa's followers, the original conquerors of the territory, were awaiting his return to Isla Rica, where lay the brigantines ready for exploration, where were gathered the men for a voyage Balboa was never to make, for a conquest he was never to achieve.
There was no man present capable of leading an uprising against the tyrant, save Pizarro, and he was unready. There was no man in authority who could resist the tyrant's authority, for Bishop Quevedo had returned to Spain; but a priest was present, who offered Balboa the sacrament as he ascended the scaffold, and whispered words of consolation. It is doubtful if Balboa heeded them, for, coming from such a source, from a man in the hire of Pedrarias, his words must have seemed meaningless and a mockery.
The rude scaffold stood in the centre of the square, a platform erected on posts, reached by a ladder, which, manacled as he was, Balboa climbed with difficulty. Why he should have climbed at all, and why he so tamely submitted to his fate, seems strange to those acquainted with his courageous nature. But probably the spell of authority was on him, for the magician who had enthralled him had invoked the name of a monster, living afar, but held to be omnipotent. That monster was the king, at mention of whose dread name the most valiant of fighters became servile and abject.
So Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, mistakenly supposing himself bound by the will of a dastard king, went meekly to the scaffold. With a firm step he ascended to the platform, without a tremor viewed the block on which he was to lose his head, and looked calmly on while the grim headsman made it ready. "Now haste," growled the man with the axe, "for there are others, and the sun is low in the sky." Then Balboa gave a start—remembering the others. But it was too late now to save them, and, with a pang at his heart for those he had involved in deadly perils, he sank to the platform and laid his neck on the block. The headsman raised his axe—a thrill of horror ran through the spectators; it fell, and, as the blood spurted from the headless trunk, their groans and lamentations rent the air.
The executioner's work was not finished with Balboa, whose head was held aloft, and then, by orders of the implacable Pedrarias, stuck on a pole, where all might view the gory trophy. The three officers followed, and the head of each was taken off at a stroke. The dusk of evening gathered as the last one was beheaded. But there yet remained another victim, one Arguello, whose sole offence lay in the writing of a letter to Balboa warning him of what Pedrarias intended. The people assembled about the scaffold had witnessed—with what feelings of grief and horror may be imagined!—the execution of four gallant soldiers whose offences were such Pedrarias would not pardon them. But now, overcome by their sympathies, they entreated, with sighs and with tears, that this life might be spared, "inasmuch as God had not given daylight for the execution of his sentence." The stony-hearted governor, resentful and relentless, replied: "Never! Rather would I die myself than permit one of those traitors to escape unpunished!"
Chilled with horror, the people returned to the square, where the scaffold was but dimly visible in the gloom of approaching night, and where the last act of the horrible drama was being performed in darkness. They heard the clank of Arguello's chains as he fell across the block, and then, after an interval of breathless silence, the thud of the axe, proclaiming all was over.
Pedrarias had witnessed all, hidden behind a palisade of reeds, through the crevices of which he watched the doings on the scaffold, less than twenty feet away. There he crouched, a demon in human semblance, gloating over the anguish of the people, the groans of his victims, and counting the strokes of the headsman's axe.
Beneath a tree on the verge of the forest cowered a fearsome watcher, the Cacica, formerly beloved of Balboa. Peering through the screen of leaves, she witnessed the dreadful ending of him whom she had both loved and hated. But she did not exult, like the man-fiend Pedrarias. Believing that her testimony had sealed Balboa's fate, by the reproaches of conscience she was driven into the forest, where (as nothing more was ever heard of her) she probably perished, an outcast from her tribe, and forgotten by her family.
In Antigua del Darien, a broken-hearted woman mourned the gallant Vasco Nuñez de Balboa; for he had been betrothed to her daughter, who, through her father's vengeful deed, was widowed ere she had been made a bride.
INDEX
- Abebeiba, Indian cacique, 103, 104.
- Acla, port of, Darien, 247, 252;
- Aerial dwellings, 101, 107.
- Albitez, one of Balboa's men, 42.
- Antigua del Darien, 37;
- Arbolancha, Pedro, sent to King Ferdinand, 200, 207.
- Areito, or areyto, Indian chant, 56.
- Arguello, Hernan, condemned to death, 267;
- executed, 277.
- Armor of Spaniards, 96.
- Atrato River, 100.
- Avila, Pedro Arias de, sails for Darien, 203;
- arrives, 206;
- meets Balboa, 208-211;
- his jealousy, 212;
- entertained by Balboa, 213-216;
- demands an accounting, 217;
- at open enmity with Balboa, 220-222;
- plots his destruction, 226;
- blunders and crimes of, 237;
- gives Balboa his daughter in marriage, 244;
- makes peace with Balboa, 247, and sends him to the Pacific, 248;
- frenzied by tales of Balboa's perfidy, 256, and schemes for revenge, 257;
- orders him back to Antigua, 260;
- sends Pizarro to arrest him, 262;
- visits him in prison, 263;
- consoles with and then denounces him, 264;
- places him in double irons, 266;
- causes sentence of death to be proclaimed, 268, and allows no appeal, 273;
- orders him beheaded, 277;
- exults over and witnesses his death, 278.
- [Avila may be pursued further in the "Lives" of Pizarro and De Soto (of this series), with whose careers he was intimately identified. He died at Leon, in Nicaragua, 1531, at the age of ninety. His eldest daughter, Maria, to whom Balboa was affianced, retired to a convent; the youngest, Isabel, married De Soto, whom she accompanied to Cuba, where she died.]
- Balboa, Vasco Nuñez de, advent of, 8, 9, 10, 11;
- farm and major-domo of, 11-14;
- packed in a cask, 15;
- appearance of before Enciso, 17-22;
- his friends, 23-26;
- advises Enciso, 29, 30;
- becomes prominent, 34;
- conspires against Enciso, 38;
- saves the colony, 47;
- fine qualities of, 48;
- in supreme command, 49;
- captures Careta, 56-60;
- rescues an Indian girl, 64, with whom he falls in love, 67-69;
- discovers treasure, 70;
- spies upon his mistress, 72;
- sacks Ponca's capital, 78;
- invades Comogre's province, 79, 80, where he finds gold, 83;
- first hears of the Pacific, 85;
- sends gold to King Ferdinand, 88;
- despatches Valdivia to Spain for reinforcements, 89;
- invades Dobaybe province, 98, 99;
- discovers tree-dwellers, 101;
- in aerial dwellings, 107;
- tortures Indians, 121;
- sends Colmenares to Tichiri, 130-140;
- retreats to forest to avoid dissensions, 143;
- entreated to return to
- Antigua, 144-146;
- in disfavor with the King, 150;
- commissioned captain-general, 152;
- sends commissioners to Spain, 155;
- his intrepidity, 157;
- projects great expedition, 159;
- sets out for Austral Ocean, 162;
- treats with Chief Ponca, 163;
- in Quaraqua's country, 165;
- massacres Indians, 168;
- on verge of discovery, 170;
- his first sight of the Pacific, 171;
- on its shores, 174;
- compared with Columbus, 175;
- takes possession of Pacific, 179, 180, and embarks on, 182-184;
- discovers pearls, 189;
- success with Indians, 196;
- returns from expedition, 197;
- popularity of, 198;
- sovereign's opinion of, 201;
- superseded by Pedrarias, 203, whom he receives at Antigua, 208-212;
- his courtesy to Doña Isabel, 211, 212;
- angers Pedrarias, 216, who demands an accounting, 217;
- seeks Dobaybe, 227, and fails, 229;
- appointed adelantado by the king, 230, 231;
- ordered confined in a cage, 233;
- protests to Bishop Quevedo, 240;
- engages to marry the governor's daughter, 242, 246;
- character of, 245;
- builds brigantines, 248,
- 249, and sails them on Pacific, 250;
- freed from Pedrarias, 251;
- accused by Garabito, 253;
- suffers for his crimes, 256;
- flouts astrologer's prophecy, 259;
- returns to Acla, 261, where he is arrested, 262;
- imprisoned, 263;
- visited in prison by Pedrarias, 263, whom he defies and denounces, 265;
- his career reviewed, 269, 270;
- scenes at his execution, 272-275;
- beheaded, 276.
- Balsa, river in Darien, 249.
- Barbacoa, Indian structure, 54, 101.
- Bastidas, Rodrigo de, explorer, 1-7.
- Becerra, Francisco, lost in Zenu, 237.
- Biru (Peru) described to Pizarro, 236.
- Bobadilla, Francisco de, 3-7.
- Bobadilla, Doña Isabel de, 205;
- Bohio, or Indian hut, 53.
- Bonouvama, friendly Indian, 195.
- Brigantines, building the, 248-250.
- Cacica, the fair, Balboa's prisoner, 69;
- Caciques of Darien, the, chap, v.;
- dead, 71.
- Caicedo, Juan de, 154, 200.
- Calaboose, from Spanish calabozo, 141.
- Caribs of Urabá, 52.
- Carillo, Captain Luis, 227;
- death of, 228.
- Carita, Cacique, 50, 56;
- Cartagena, harbor of, 26, 28.
- Chiapes, native chief, 176-178, 181, 182, 188.
- Chicha, fermented beverage, 108.
- Colmenares, Diego de, rescues colonists, 39;
- Colombinos, followers of Columbus, 4.
- Columbus, Christopher, allusion to, 1, 3, 4, 8, 10.
- Columbus, Don Diego, governor of Santo Domingo, 10, 11.
- Columbus, appeal to, by Balboa, 88.
- Comogre, Cacique, 78, 79;
- Companon, Francisco, 261.
- Corral, companion of Balboa, 42;
- in irons, 144.
- Cortés, Hernando, never at Darien, 176.
- Cosa, Juan de la, pilot, 1, 4, 7.
- Coyba, province of, 50;
- invasion of, 52.
- Darien, Caciques of, chap. v;
- Dobaybe, the golden, 92, 93;
- expedition to, 95 et seq.;
- second expedition to, 226-229.
- Dragons of Dobaybe, 227, 228.
- Enciso, Martin Fernandez De, Ojeda's partner, 11;
- encounters Balboa, 19;
- by whom he is outwitted, 20-22;
- arrives at Cartagena, 26;
- parleys with Indians, 30, 31;
- sends Balboa and Pizarro to fight them, 32;
- loses a vessel, 33;
- unable to restrain his men, 35, who depose him, electing Balboa and Zamudio to fill his place, 39;
- expelled and sent to Spain, 45.
- Encomiendas of Indians, 9.
- Escary, Juan de, with Balboa, 178.
- Espinosa, Gaspar de, lawyer, 205;
- Explorers, fate of, 270, 271.
- Famine in the colony, 223.
- Fonseca, Bishop, allusion to, 203.
- Garabito, Andres, 232;
- Gold, in nets, 29, 237;
- Golden Castile, 202.
- Golden sepulchres, 29.
- Hurtado, Bartholomew, 113-115;
- commands at Darien, 140.
- Indian sepulchres, 71-73.
- Indians of Darien, 53-56.
- Isabel, Doña. See Bobadilla, Doña Isabel de.
- Isla Rica (rich island), 250;
- Balboa recreates in, 258.
- Keats, the poet, mistake of, respecting Balboa and Cortés, 175.
- Leoncico, Balboa's blood-hound, 16, 17, 24-26, 60-63;
- Lianas, 58.
- Llamas, first description of, 186.
- Martin, Alonzo, first Spaniard on Pacific (at Darien), 178.
- Micer Codro, astrologer, predicts Balboa's end, 259.
- Morales, Gaspar, expedition of, 235;
- attacked and defeated, 237.
- Muños, Hernan, condemned to die with Balboa, 267.
- Nicuesa, Don Diego de, 23, 38;
- Niño, Pedro, 2.
- Nombre de Dios, port of, 41.
- Ocoa, Bay of, 2.
- Ojeda, Alonzo, 11, 23, 26-28;
- Olano, Lope de, 42.
- Ovando, the atrocious, 10, 27.
- Oviedo, Gonzalo Fernandez de, historian, 199;
- intimately acquainted with Balboa and Pedrarias, 271.
- Ozama River, 3.
- Pacific Ocean, first information of, given to Balboa, 85, 86;
- Pasamonte, Miguel de, 152, 153.
- Pearl Islands, the, 187, 236.
- Pearls, discovery of, 184, 185;
- by the basketful, 236.
- Pedrarias. See Avila, Pedro Arias de.
- Perez, Alonzo de la Rua, 140, 141, 143, 144.
- Peru, first mention of, to Spaniards, 86;
- rumors regarding, 186.
- Pizarro, Francisco, with Ojeda, 11, 28, 178;
- Poisoned arrows, 32, 52.
- Ponca, Indian chief, 56, 76, 78, 162;
- tortured and killed, 189.
- Puertocarrero, Pedro, 8.
- Quaraqua, Cacique, 115, 167, 177.
- Quevedo, Bishop, 204;
- Quintana, Don Manuel J., author of Balboa's biography, 158.
- Rio Negro, or Black River, 100.
- Salvatierra, town of, 12.
- San Miguel, bay of, 181.
- San Sebastian, settlement of, 33;
- removal of colony to Darien, 47.
- Sea of the South, or Pacific, 180.
- Techoan, Cacique, 188.
- Te Deum Laudamus, chanted, 173.
- Terra Firma, 2, 5, 23.
- Tichiri, Indian settlement, 119;
- captured, 131.
- Toledo, swords of, 96, 98.
- Tom-tom, African drum, 56.
- Tubanamá, Cacique, 86, 191;
- Tuira, Indian deity, 53.
- Tumaco, Indian cacique, 184 et seq., 188.
- Tutibara, Indian chief, 235.
- Urabá, Gulf of, 23, 33, 92, 99.
- Valderrabano, Andres de, notary, 180;
- condemned to death, 267.
- Valdivia, regidor, sent to Spain, 88, 89;
- Vara, Andres de, chaplain, 172.
- Vela, Cape de la, 23.
- Weapons of the Spaniards, 95, 96.
- Xeres de Los Caballeros, Balboa's birthplace, 8.
- Zamudio, alcalde, 39;
- Zemaco, Cacique, 35, 93;
- defeats Spaniards, 114.
- Zenu, province of, 237.