Francisco Pizarro Abandons San Sebastian—Meets Enciso at Cartagena—He and his Crew Look like Pirates—They are Taken back to San Sebastian—Vasco Nuñez de Balboa—Boards Enciso's Ship in a Cask—Arrives at San Sebastian—The Spaniards Cross to Darien—The River and the Name—Cemaco, Cacique of Darien, Defeated—Founding of the Metropolitan City—Presto, Change! The Hombre del Casco Up, the Bachiller Down—Vasco Nuñez, Alcalde—Nature of the Office—Regidor—Colmenares, in Search of Nicuesa, Arrives at Antigua—He Finds Him in a Pitiable Plight—Antigua Makes Overtures to Nicuesa—Then Rejects Him—And Finally Drives Him Forth to Die—Sad End of Nicuesa.
When Alonso de Ojeda left San Sebastian for Española, he stipulated with Francisco Pizarro, who for the time was commissioned governor, that should neither he himself return, nor the bachiller Enciso arrive within fifty days, the colonists might abandon the post and seek safety or adventure in other parts.
And now the fifty days had passed; wearily and hungrily they had come and gone, with misery an ever present guest; and no one having come, they dismantled the fortress, placed on board the two small brigantines left them the gold they had secured—trust Francisco Pizarro for scenting gold, and getting it—and made ready to embark for Santo Domingo. But though only seventy remained, the vessels could not carry them all; and it was agreed that they should wait awhile, until death reduced their number to the capacity of the boats.
Nor had they long to wait; nor would their grim attendant let them put to sea without him. He had been so long domiciled with them, and had become so useful in settling disputes, adjusting accounts, and the like, that he was one of them, and one, indeed, with all the companies which attempted colonization on these pestilential shores. As they coasted eastward in search of food before steering across for Española, a squall struck the vessels, overturning one of them and sending all on board to swift destruction. Entering with the other the harbor of Cartagena, Pizarro found there the tardy Enciso hunting his colony.
Now the bachiller, beside possessing great learning, was a man of experience, all the way from Spain; a man of keen intelligence and practical sagacity, his wits sharpened by the narrow-minded legal bigotry of a sixteenth-century Spanish lawyer. He must be of exceedingly ready wit who could deceive the bachiller. It was scarcely to be expected a man of his kidney should credit the stories of Ojeda's visit to Santo Domingo, of the deputy governorship, and of the late disaster; though honest Pizarro on this occasion told only the truth, and his companions vouched for it with all the feeble force of their high-keyed husky voices. If Ojeda had gone to Santo Domingo more than fifty or seventy days before, would not the bachiller have seen him there? Indeed, to a less erudite judge than Enciso, a band of robbers on the high seas, with an abundance of gold and no bread, would call up suspicions rather of foul play than honest adventure. And back they must go. The functions of high judge should begin here and now. Was not this Nueva Andalucía? With the horrors of San Sebastian still fresh in their minds, the thought of returning there was repugnant in the extreme, and the poor wretches begged the lawyer to let them go to Española, or join Nicuesa. No. Enciso had staked his whole earthly possessions on the delightful prospect of domination, and these should not escape him. They were just the clay for his fashioning; men for whom the law was made. Whipping out his commission, which at once deposed Pizarro, the bachiller drove them back into their boat, and all embarked for San Sebastian. But scarcely had they turned the Punta de Caribana,[VII-1] when the bachiller's well-stored ship struck upon rocks and broke in pieces, those on board barely escaping with their lives. Thus the worthy bachiller was beggared; the savings from life-long pettifoggings were swept away within the hour. Still his original stock in trade, egotism and arrogance, was left unimpaired.
Making their way along the shore to San Sebastian, the Spaniards found their fort demolished and their houses, some thirty in number, burned. In a feeble way they began to forage again, but even Enciso saw that it was useless. The absence of food, the poisoned arrows, and the poisoned air were too much for the bravest long to contend with. "Let us leave this accursed spot," they all cried. "Whither would you go?" demanded the lawyer. One of them said:—"Once when I coasted this gulf with Rodrigo de Bastidas, along the western shore we found the country fertile and rich in gold. Provisions were abundant; and the natives, though warlike, used no poisoned arrows. Through this land of which I speak flows a river called by the natives Darien."
All eyes were turned upon the speaker. It was the hombre del casco, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, a fine specimen of the Spanish cavalier, at that time about thirty-five years of age. He was taller than Ojeda, though perhaps not stronger; there was not about him the assurance of breeding and position that Nicuesa bore; nor were there present in his features those marks of greed and brutality plainly discernible in the face of Francisco Pizarro, who stood not far from him. Strong and comely in every part, apparently, of body and mind, one to be observed with intuitive respect in a society of this kind, one to be approached with ease, but with due care; frank and manly, with a firm and winning eye and manner, yet there was about him noticeable something between shyness and reticence. Indeed, the standing of this person, since his sudden and altogether informal appearing as one of the present company had been somewhat dubious, and he seemed to regard it good taste to hold himself rather in the background. For all this there was that innate superiority about him over every one present, not excepting the erudite judge or the subsequently cunning conqueror of Peru, that could not always remain concealed, particularly amid constantly recurring vital issues.
Of the invariable poor but noble family, a native of Jerez de los Caballeros, Vasco Nuñez was reared in the service of Pedro Puertocarrero, the deaf lord of Moguer. Drawn with the crowd to the New World, upon the abrupt termination of the voyage of Bastidas, he obtained a repartimiento of Indians, and applied himself to agriculture at Salvatierra, a town of Española. Becoming embarrassed by debts, and disgusted with the plodding life of a farmer, he determined to try fortune in the new colony of Alonso de Ojeda. But how to escape his creditors was the question. Debtors were prohibited by edict from leaving the island. The town of Santo Domingo at this time swarmed with insolvent adventurers anxious to engage in new adventure, and the strictest watch was kept on them by the authorities. An armed escort accompanied every departure until well out at sea, to bring back discovered stowaways. For all this Vasco Nuñez determined to sail with Enciso. Now mark the budding of genius! Taking a large cask, such as was used in shipping stores, he ensconced himself therein, and caused it to be headed up, placed upon a wagon, and driven from his farm to the landing, where it was placed with the other stores, and finally carried on board the ship. The vessel put to sea; the tender returned to port; to the creditors was left the farm of Vasco Nuñez, while the late owner was forever safe beyond their reach.[VII-2]
When, like Aphrodite from her circling shell, the serio-comic face of the bankrupt farmer appeared emerging from the provision cask, the bachiller was disposed to treat the matter magisterially, and threatened to land the refugee from justice on the first deserted island. But as the learned judge could not be held accountable as a party to the fraud, and as he thereby gained a valuable recruit, his judicial sensitiveness was finally mollified, and he assigned to the stowaway the ordinary duties of a soldier. Nevertheless the mildly murderous threat of the lawyer was not lost upon the farmer.
Into the hearts of the desponding colonists at San Sebastian the words of Vasco Nuñez infused new life. No time was lost in making ready; and crossing the gulf, they found the country and river as he had said. Near this river of Darien,[VII-3] for so the Atrato and country thereabout was then called, stood the village of the cacique, Cemaco, a brave and upright ruler.
Enciso, who is no less valiant than wise and conscientious, determines to make this place judicially his own. Cemaco, who believes himself the legal owner, objects. Whereupon is invoked that admirable provision, the ultimate appeal; and the man of the long robe and the man of no robe at all, each after his fashion, prepare for war. Sending his women and children up the river, Cemaco posts himself with five hundred warriors before the village. Enciso, in whose person are united the combined essences of Christendom, civil, ecclesiastical, and military, concentrates all his forces, human and divine, to hurl upon the presumptuous savage. First, as is his wont in legal battles, to every soldier he administers the oath that he will not flinch before the enemy; then he invokes the powers above to aid him in the approaching contest, vowing that if victory shall be his and the town shall fall into his hands he will name it in honor of the virgin and build and dedicate a church within the town in honor of her sacred image, Antigua of Seville. Moreover, he promises that he will make a pilgrimage to her holy shrine if she will give him the victory over Cemaco; and with these preparations the battle begins. The half-starved Spaniards fight like fiends. Cemaco for a time maintains his position with firmness; but the awe-inspiring appearance of the strangers, their ship, their shining armor, their beards, the whiteness of their skin, the wonderful sharpness of their weapons, and the solemn thunder and smoke of their fire-arms soon scatter to the forest his terror-smitten people. To the unbounded joy of the conquerors the town is found rich in gold and cotton, and the adjacent fields afford abundance of provisions.
This is something like reward for toilsome missionary labors. Along the river banks, secreted in caves, are found golden ornaments to the value of ten thousand castellanos.[VII-4] The virgin's share and the king's share are set aside, and the remainder of the spoils divided among the band. Thus Cemaco's village becomes the seat of government in Tierra Firme; and to it, as the lawyer promised the virgin, is given the name of Santa María de la Antigua del Darien.[VII-5]
In good truth fortune had at length smiled upon the colonists. Captives taken in the skirmishes which followed the pitched battle were made to gather gold and work in the fields. The bachiller began a rigorous rule with a full sense of the responsibilities resting upon him as representative of the crown of Spain and of his own importance before his soldiers, and as a hero in the great work of pacification. This view of his own merits appeared to him by no means diminished after his recent success. Though small in number, this colony should be mighty in law. Poor Ojeda! How happy he might have been in the position now occupied by this mummified bundle of quiddities.
Settling themselves in Cemaco's houses, the Spaniards began to look about. First in order after his lawless raid, in the eyes of Enciso, was law. The bachiller, as we have ere this surmised, was one of those super-wise and self-opinioned men who to achieve a fall have only to attain a height. Very little law was here needed, very little government; but Enciso was a lawyer and a ruler, and little of it would not suffice him. His first edict was the prohibition of private traffic with the natives. This measure, though strictly legal, could scarcely be called politic. The hundred or so ragged piratical wretches cast on this rich and feebly defended shore wanted few decrees; and the fewer laws their ruler made for them the fewer would be broken. But, necessary or not, the alcalde mayor must issue orders, else he is no alcalde mayor. Hence other regulations followed, equally unpopular, until the colonists began to consider how best they might make a plug which should stop this great running to waste of law. Though convinced that Enciso was planning to get the gold as well as the government all into his own hands, and employ the colonists as tools wherewith to mine, and hold the savages in check, so inbred is Spanish loyalty, that even the reckless members of this crude commonwealth hesitated before committing any overt act which might forever outlaw them from their country. Better employ his own weapon against the bachiller, for law is safer than hemp for hanging even lawyers.
There was about Vasco Nuñez a plain directness of thought and purpose the very opposite of those engendered of the law's entanglements. Ever since his fortunate suggestion to cross from San Sebastian to Darien he had been regarded as the savior of the colony; and now he thought he saw open a way of deliverance from their present trouble, and so he told them. "The gulf of Urabá," said he, "separates Nueva Andalucía from Castilla del Oro. While on the eastern side we belonged to the government of Alonso de Ojeda; now that we are on the western, we are subject only to Diego de Nicuesa." Before this simple logic the bachiller was dumfoundered. Of what value was legal lore that could be so easily overturned by an illiterate adventurer? In vain he feebly argued that wherever was Ojeda's colony, Ojeda's deputy was master. The people were against him; and the opinion of the people concerning him was expressed by Vasco Nuñez when some time afterward he wrote the king regarding persons of that cloth in infant settlements: "Most powerful sire," he said, "there is one great favor that I pray your royal highness to do me, since it is of great importance to your service. It is for your royal highness to issue an order that no bachiller of laws, or of anything unless it be of medicine, shall come to these parts of Tierra Firme, under a heavy penalty that your highness shall fix; because no bachiller ever comes hither who is not a devil, and they all live like devils, and not only are they themselves bad, but they make others bad, having always contrivances to bring about litigations and villainies. This is very important to your highness' service in this a new country."[VII-6]
So the lawyer was deposed, and the cavalier elevated. Enciso gracelessly yielded his clear authority; and after much wrangling among the ill-assorted fraternity, a municipality was decided upon, and two alcaldes[VII-7] were chosen, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa and Martin Zamudio. The office of regidor[VII-8] fell among others to one Valdivia. Subsequently additional officials were chosen.
Government without law, however, proved no less ineffectual than law without government. Disaffections and altercations continued. In the administration of justice, Balboa was accused of favoring his friends and frowning upon his enemies. Some repented having crossed the gulf; some desired the restoration of Enciso; some suggested that as they were now within the jurisdiction of Nicuesa, it was his right to rule, or to name their ruler.
While these strifes were raging, the inhabitants of Antigua were startled one day by the report of a gun coming from the direction of San Sebastian. Thinking perhaps Ojeda had returned, or sent supplies, they built fires on the adjacent heights in order to attract attention. Presently two ships approached, and anchored before the town. They proved to be vessels belonging to Nicuesa, freighted at Española with supplies for the colony of Castilla del Oro, and commanded by Rodrigo Enriquez de Colmenares. Thrown by stress of weather upon the coast of Santa Marta,[VII-9] he had there lost a number of his men; after which he entered the gulf of Urabá, hoping to find information of Nicuesa.
A quick observer and a faithful officer, Colmenares soon understood the position of affairs, and took prompt measures to secure to his governor such advantages as might accrue from profitless contentions. By a judicious distribution of articles greatly needed by the colonists, attended by wise counsels, he gained their confidence, and partly healed their feuds; so that before sailing he prevailed on them to send two ambassadors to treat with Nicuesa concerning the affairs of their settlement. The two envoys chosen were Diego de Albites, and an aspiring lawyer, hitherto overshadowed by the august presence of Enciso, called the bachiller Diego del Corral, and they were directed to accompany the ships of Colmenares in the brigantine belonging to the settlement of Antigua.
It was about the middle of November, 1510, when Colmenares entered the gulf of Urabá. Unable to gather any tidings of Nicuesa, he continued his voyage westward, searching the inlets along the coast. He would nevertheless have passed Nombre de Dios had he not seen some of Nicuesa's men in their boat, at one of the islands, seeking food. The wildest joy greeted the new arrival. It was to the colony of Castilla del Oro as a reprieve from death. Gazing sadly on the sallow faces and emaciated forms before them, the miserable wreck of Nicuesa's gallant company now reduced to sixty souls, listening to their tales of wretchedness, tears of honest sympathy fell from the eyes of the hardy sailors. With difficulty could be recognized in the leader of the hapless troop the once gay and courtly Nicuesa. Colmenares gave the sufferers food and comforted them. He told Nicuesa of Ojeda's failure, of the settlement at Antigua, and how Enciso and his company, having found a spot rich in gold and well provisioned, had fallen to quarrelling among themselves about the government, and had finally sent messengers to him, the rightful ruler, for the healing of their disputes.
To Nicuesa these words were as fresh oil in an expiring lamp. But in his enfeebled state, the sudden change from blank despair to brilliant hope played havoc with his discretion. After brief thanksgiving for deliverance, his mind became excited by dreams of boundless wealth and empire. He ordered a feast, at which he presided with insensate levity. Toward the ambassadors from the gulf he assumed a haughty arrogance, claiming supreme authority relative to all matters at Antigua, and stoutly swearing that the gold taken from his subjects of Darien should be disgorged.
Colmenares had marked the effect of Nicuesa's altered temper on his followers. He saw that disaffection was rife, and that the governor held control by a feeble thread. Showing Nicuesa the madness of his course, he explained the importance of attaching the remnant of Ojeda's colony to his own, and pointed out their strength and his weakness; he received in reply only insolent rebukes.
Meanwhile the ambassadors Albites and Corral, men whose wits were about them, were not pleased with this foretaste of Nicuesa's rule; nor did intercourse with Nicuesa's men tend in any wise to diminish their unfavorable impressions. One night they visited Lope de Olano, who for his sins was chained to a rock and made to grind corn. "Behold my condition," he exclaimed. "I have ever served my governor faithfully. I saved him from perishing, when I had but to delay his rescue to become myself the governor. This is my reward. You men of Antigua may draw your own conclusions." By others the ambassadors were informed that the chief officers of the new government were already selected: Vasco Nuñez was to be stripped of all authority, and Zamudio, as a relative of Olano, could scarcely hope to fare better. Those who had trafficked with the natives were to be severely punished. It was enough. Stealing away, they hastened back to Antigua. "A pretty mess you have made of it, with your infernal bickerings," they said to the assembled confederates. "Nicuesa will give you more of law than Enciso, and more of arbitrary rule than Vasco Nuñez and Zamudio ten times over." A few days after a messenger, one Juan de Caicedo, arrived from Nicuesa, and informed them, for their further comfort, that the governor was detained at one of the islands capturing natives, but would be with them shortly. Perceiving that his tidings were not hailed with transports of joy, and being himself embittered against Nicuesa, as were indeed almost all his followers, Caicedo swung round upon his bearings and laughed at them. "Silly señores! free and rich, you call in a cormorant to swallow your substance and yourselves." And now, as usual when folly comes home, curses flowed freely on themselves and others. The prospect of losing their gold touched them. What should they do?
Once more Vasco Nuñez offers a pertinent suggestion. "You were dissatisfied with Enciso, and questioned many of my acts. Now you fear a governor possessing all the bad qualities of your former rulers, with, perhaps, few of their redeeming traits. If calling Nicuesa was an error, is not receiving him a greater one?" Struck by the suggestion, the colonists drop their differences and unite as one man against Nicuesa, each taking a solemn oath never to serve under him. Sentries are then stationed to give notice of his approach, and measures taken to prevent his landing. After eight days pleasantly passed kidnapping among the islands, the ill-fated governor enters the harbor and comes to anchor, little dreaming of the reception that awaits him. On shore before the town he observes a company of armed men, assembled, as he supposes, to give him welcome. As he prepares to disembark, the public procurator[VII-10] advances and, to his astonishment, in a loud voice warns him on pain of death not to place foot on shore, but instantly to abandon these parts and return no more.
The colony at Antigua was at this time comparatively strong and well-conditioned; Nicuesa's followers were few, weak, and disaffected. For him to enforce authority was not possible. His mind had dwelt fondly of late on his rising fortunes, and this hostile reception was a terrible disappointment, for it was the last earthly resource. To return to the broken camp at Nombre de Dios would be to enter again the jaws of death; if he could not remain here, he certainly could not depart.
Recovering in a measure, as from a heavy blow, the governor requested permission to land, promising solemnly to enter into any stipulations concerning the government which the colonists should deem just. His proposals were drowned by the shouts of the rabble; and he was warned, as he valued his life, to approach no nearer the shore. Nicuesa continued his expostulations till nightfall, when he retired with his ship a little farther from land. Returning next morning, he renewed his importunities. A change had apparently taken place in the minds of the people, for he was now permitted to land with his page. Balboa received the governor courteously, conducted him to his house, and made him a guest for the night. The affairs of the government were discussed, and an amicable understanding was arrived at by the two leaders. It was nothing less, in fact, than that one of them should be first, and the other second, in Castilla del Oro. On the following day a portion of the crew on board Nicuesa's ship was permitted to land; and Vasco Nuñez now endeavored to reconcile his comrades to the rule of the governor. It was too late. Sedition is more easily raised than allayed. Not only was Zamudio jealous of his colleague, but he well knew that under the proposed regime the odium of all the opposition would fall on him. Drawing round him the rougher element, he reminded the colonists of their oath, and pictured to them the poverty and restraint under the proposed government. So successful was he in exciting bad blood, that Nicuesa was glad to escape insult and violence by retiring to his ship. Thus encouraged, Zamudio resolved to press a final issue by capturing the governor, and dictating terms to him. The next day accordingly he placed his men in ambush near the landing, and with one companion, Pedro Macaz, appeared before the ship. Hailing the commander, he assured him that all was well, and that he now might safely venture on shore. Nicuesa fell easily into the trap. Joining the conspirators, he walked unsuspiciously with them toward the spot where the gang lay concealed. When near it Zamudio changed his tone to one of harsh insolence, "Señor Nicuesa," he said, "why do you persist in remaining here contrary to our wishes? Your presence is our ruin. We can neither accept you, nor abandon this place. You must depart instantly, or die. Take your choice." Meanwhile his minions sprang forward. Nicuesa saw it all at a glance. He was fleet of foot, and this was his only hope. So flinging off dignity, he eluded their clutches, dashed off at the top of his speed along the shore, and outstripping his pursuers, turned into the forest to hide.
When Vasco Nuñez saw the desperate plight to which Nicuesa was reduced, all the generous impulses of his nature were aroused. He hated himself for the part he had played, and cursed the sordid ambition which thus unjustly humiliated so chivalrous a gentleman. More in earnest than ever, he sought out Nicuesa in the wood; and then endeavored to excite the sympathies of the colonists, and even to intimidate them; but all was of no avail. Those there were who well knew they had gone too far ever to be forgiven.
Satan now wholly possessed Zamudio. No fiend could ever invent and execute a more dastardly measure than was now proposed. With sixty men he entered the forest, seized Nicuesa, and made him swear instantly to sail for Spain, touching no port till he should reach Cádiz. Then, as if in mockery, he took from him his only serviceable ship, placed him into the old brigantine, now rotten and unsafe, which had been in use at Veragua, and sent him forth with seventeen men and a few devoted members of his household. It was in March, 1511, that the so lately proud and gallant Nicuesa was thus driven from Antigua, and neither he nor any of that ill-fated company was ever afterward heard from![VII-11]
The Garrison at Nombre de Dios—Subtle Diplomacies—Vasco Nuñez Assumes Command—Enciso, his Life and Writings—The Town and the Jail—Rights of Sanctuary—Valdivia's Voyage—Zamudio's Mission—Expedition to Coiba—Careta Gives Vasco Nuñez his Daughter—Ponca Punished—Jura, the Savage Statesman—Visit of the Spaniards to Comagre—Panciaco Tells Them of a Southern Sea—The Story of Valdivia, Who is Shipwrecked and Eaten by Cannibals—Vasco Nuñez Undertakes an Impious Pilgrimage to the Golden Temple of Dabaiba—Conspiracy Formed by the Natives to Destroy Antigua—Fulvia Divulges the Plot—Darien Quieted—Vasco Nuñez Receives a Royal Commission—Serious Charges—Vasco Nuñez Resolves to Discover the Southern Sea before He is Prevented by Arrest.
Thus far the first decade of disaster along Tierra Firme; thus far the discovery of Rodrigo de Bastidas in 1501; the ineffectual attempt of Columbus at Veragua in 1502; the failure of the impetuous Ojeda, and the death of the veteran pilot, Juan de la Cosa; the founding of Nombre de Dios and Antigua; the destruction of the superb armament of Diego de Nicuesa, and the sad fate of its commander. Meanwhile we behold evolved from the factions of Antigua two notable characters, Francisco Pizarro and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. We will now further observe society in Darien, and the attempts of the Spaniards to govern themselves and pacify their neighbors.
When Diego de Nicuesa embarked to assume command at Antigua, he left in the fortress of Nombre de Dios a small garrison under Gonzalo de Badajoz, with Alonso Nuñez de Madrid as alcalde. Their provisions falling low, and expected relief failing them, like ill-mannered wolves they fell to fighting over the little remaining food, and but for the opportune arrival of Colmenares, civilization at Nombre de Dios would soon have found a miserable ending. To the proposal to join their countrymen at Antigua, they eagerly assented, and embarked without delay in the two brigantines sent for the purpose. Lope de Olano was released, and subsequently rose high in the esteem of Balboa. Thus the settlement of Antigua, after the departure of the hapless Nicuesa, comprised all that was left of the two colonies of Nueva Andalucía and Castilla del Oro, and numbered about two hundred and fifty men.[VIII-1]
The final disappearance of the two commanders by no means allayed the discords of the colony. Factions assumed broader dimensions than ever. A band of two hundred and fifty bears, after accomplishing the duties of the day, would sensibly stretch themselves under the welcome covert; but intellectual and moral beasts are, by reason of their superiority, doomed to the eternal curse of government; nor does it make much difference as to the quality or quantity of the herd; fools will fight for domination all the same.
Zamudio, followed by the gang that had driven out Nicuesa, claims preëminence as a reward for his villainies. Enciso, the learned and disinterested representative of the higher orders of mastership, earthly and heavenly, never fails to keep the high and holy law spread before these misguided men. Vasco Nuñez keeps his own counsel; but he feels within himself that neither Zamudio nor Enciso shall rule Antigua. All he need do is to continue as hitherto to turn against his opponents their own weapons. The lawyer he vanquishes with law; the ruffian, by giving him a rope wherewith to hang himself. In the present instance, like a skilful tactician, he separates his antagonists and opposes one to the other. Calling Zamudio aside, he makes evident to him the necessity, if he would continue a municipal government, of withholding all power from the bachiller. Having no intention of relinquishing the sweets of office, for which he has risked so much, Zamudio lends a willing ear. The lawyer must be quieted, but lawfully. High-handed measures may be employed, but only exceptionally. The law is too useful a weapon to be flung aside by intelligent knaves. So the two alcaldes put their heads together and frame charges to fit the occasion. Enciso is accused of wilful usurpation of authority, of assuming the duties and exercising the functions of alcalde mayor without license from the king—grave charges, truly, emanating from so scrupulous a society. The lawyer's skill at pleading avails him nothing. He is convicted, his property confiscated, and himself cast into prison.[VIII-2] He is not long kept in confinement, however, but is set free on giving a promise immediately to leave the country.[VIII-3] Thus one of the two ambitious Cæsars is out of the way; but how dispose of the other? Again Vasco Nuñez draws Zamudio aside and expresses a fear that the enraged bachiller, once in Spain, will stir up the king against them, and enter false statements before the tribunal of the Indies regarding the quality of justice dispensed by the alcaldes of Antigua. "Would it not be well," continues Balboa, "for one of us to accompany the bachiller? and thus, while misrepresentations may be promptly refuted, we may at the same time secure our government upon a more substantial basis." Zamudio sees this necessity, and is finally induced to accept the commission. Thus Vasco Nuñez is left to reign alone; and every effort is made by him firmly to secure his government. While cementing his friends, he conciliates his enemies; above all he strives to deal justly by everybody, and with fair success. By caring for their comfort and exercising strict impartiality in the division of spoils, he wins the hearts of the fighting men. Even Oviedo, who was not friendly to Balboa, says: "No chieftain who ever went to the Indies equalled him in these respects." And yet, beneath the accumulating honors the recipient sits not wholly at ease. "No one need hope to rule this land," writes Vasco Nuñez to the king, "and sit or sleep; for if he sleep, he will never wake. Day and night I think only of your Majesty's interests. In every battle I lead my men, and with truthful example, and kind treatment of the natives, seek to bring into favor your Majesty's government in these parts."
It must not be supposed that the settlers were idle all this time, or that the natives, or their gold, were neglected. The town had grown in size and importance since the driving out of Cemaco. Streets had been regularly laid out round a plaza,[VIII-4] or public square, common to all Spanish towns, and a church and religious houses established, for priests had come hither with the rest.
While Enciso made ready for departure, Bachiller Corral, Captain Badajoz, and others, enemies of Balboa, improved the time by secretly making specifications of both the alcaldes' errors, and by instigating others to assist in criminating the rulers. These charges were to be delivered to the king by Enciso. Hearing of it, the alcaldes seized the ringleaders and confined them in a pen,[VIII-5] the municipal jail, situated in the middle of the plaza. But the prisoners escaped from the cage to the Franciscan monastery, and, claiming the protection of the sanctuary,[VIII-6] they were finally discharged.
Valdivia, the regidor, was Balboa's friend; before leaving the Salvatierra plantation they had been warmly intimate. Supplies were needed, and Enciso and Zamudio required passage to Spain. Taking, therefore, a small vessel, and placing in Valdivia's hands a large amount of gold,[VIII-7] Vasco Nuñez sent him to Española, with instructions to buy the good opinion of Diego Colon the governor, and Pasamonte[VIII-8] the king's treasurer, and bring back recruits. The regidor was fairly successful. He set forth the wealth of Tierra Firme, and the important services of Vasco Nuñez in glowing colors, and obtained from the governor a commission authorizing Balboa to act as his lieutenant in those parts. He begged for his friend Pasamonte's influence with the king; but Enciso was active there with opposing influence.
Meanwhile Balboa was haunted by thoughts not of the happiest. He well knew how precarious was his tenure of position. Nicuesa's wrongs were ever before him. Though not the chief criminal in that affair, he knew he was criminal enough. Yet before the deed was done, and since, he had striven to make amends. "Once, twice, three times," writes he to the king, "have I sent aid to Nicuesa's men, and saved them when dying at the rate of five and six a day." Then, too, he must confess having treated poor Enciso somewhat shamefully; and the bachiller was stronger where there was more strength in the law; while Zamudio was not the same before the king as before his Antigua ruffians. There remained only one course. Action was the word. If he would play the great man, and rule others, he must bestir himself to something nobler than political strife and demagogy at Antigua. Gold would help him; he thoroughly appreciated the weakness of officials in that direction; but a notable adventure, a great discovery, were better. At all events, upon whatever he should decide, he must act immediately, before being deprived of his present modicum of authority.
First of all, he would begin his career of greatness by assuming to be great. One is never nearer the truth than when one puts on humility and curses one's self for an ass. Without offensive ostentation he assumed becoming forms of dignity, took upon himself the title of governor, appointed officers, and drilled soldiers in the tactics of Indian warfare.
Some twenty leagues westerly from Antigua, adjoining the lands of Cemaco, was an Indian province called Coiba, of which Careta[VIII-9] was chief. The governor, being informed that Careta was rich in gold and maize, despatched thither a small company under Pizarro, whom he had made captain. They were hardly on the march before Cemaco was encountered, at the head of four hundred men, all fired, like their chief, with ever-living rage. Never for an hour since the strangers landed to seize their homes had the eyes of the savages been removed from them. It was hopeless to fight, naked as they were; yet for what had they to live, with houses and lands and all their property taken from them? The mode of warfare, too, was against the natives; they did not fight here, as at San Sebastian, with poisoned arrows shot from behind rocks and trees, but engaged in hand-to-hand conflict, opposing their defenceless bodies to the steel weapons of the Spaniards, on whose coats of mail their darts and clubs fell harmless. A fight ensued nevertheless, and fiercely it was waged. It is somewhat difficult to believe Herrera when he says that Pizarro had with him but six men, who, when the four hundred closed with them, eviscerated one hundred and fifty savages, and put the remainder to flight. Hastening back to Antigua, leaving one man wounded on the field, Pizarro stood before the governor exhausted and bleeding. Balboa's anger at the desertion overpowered for a moment his admiration for the desperate courage displayed by the little band, and turning to Pizarro, he said sharply, "Go instantly and bring me Francisco Hernan, and, as you value your life, never again leave one of my soldiers alive upon a field of battle." Pizarro departed, and soon returned with his disabled comrade. Balboa immediately placed himself at the head of a hundred men, and started in pursuit of Cemaco, determined to extirpate the tribe; but, after ascending the river for some distance and finding no enemy, he abandoned pursuit. Scarcely had he returned, when the two brigantines sent to Nombre de Dios for the remainder of Nicuesa's men made their appearance at Antigua. They brought no news of Nicuesa, greatly to the disappointment of Balboa, who would now gladly have fortified himself in a less elevated position, and placed Antigua under the banner of the lawful governor of the territory.
Fresh accounts of the wealth of Coiba, by this arrival, soon dispelled the governor's misgivings, and turned his thoughts in other directions. It seems that as the vessels were returning from Nombre de Dios, they touched the shore of Coiba; and while there were greeted by two painted savages in plain Castilian. The riddle was solved when the men told them they were gentlemen renegades, escaped from Nicuesa's colony for fear of punishment for misdemeanor. After long and dangerous wanderings in the wilderness, they had thrown themselves, half-dead, upon the mercy of Careta, who received them with gentle courtesy, bestowing food and every kindness, which they were now ready to requite by betraying to the Spaniards the cacique's treasures, for he was very rich.
To this act of treachery the Spanish yielded a prompt compliance, and were ready for the adventure on the instant. Owing to their present weak condition Colmenares advised delay, and arranged that one of the miscreants should go with them to Antigua, while the other remained with Careta in readiness to betray him at the proper time. Nor had the governor the least scruple in availing himself of this villainy. With one hundred and thirty men he marched on Coiba, directing the two brigantines to meet him there. Acting under the direction of the fugitive whom he had made his confidant and counsellor, Careta went out to meet the Spaniards, brought them to his village, and entertained them to the best of his ability. Balboa began with the modest request for maize to fill his ships. Careta answered, that owing to war with his ever hostile neighbor, Ponca, he had this year planted nothing, and hence had no surplus. Careta's Spanish friend assured his countrymen that this was false, that the savage had abundance. It was enough. A heathen had lied to a Christian. Let the nation be anathema!
Bidding the chief a friendly farewell, with thanks for his hospitality, the Spaniards took their departure as if for Antigua; but about midnight they returned, attacked the village on three sides, slaughtered the inhabitants, burned the houses, loaded the brigantines with booty, and carried Careta and his family prisoners to Antigua. "Why should you do this?" asked Careta. "How have I wronged you? Take my gold, but restore me to my country. And as a pledge of my good faith, there is my daughter who shall remain a hostage in your hands. Take her and let us be friends." The proposal pleased the governor, not less from the advantage of the alliance, than from the influence thrown over him by the charms of the dusky maiden, for she was very beautiful, and had already given her heart to the Christian chieftain. And thus according to the usage of her people she became his wife, though not wedded after the Spanish fashion; and Vasco Nuñez ever cherished her with fond affection.
Before dismissing the new allies with presents to their homes, care was taken to excite their admiration by showing them the arms and implements of civilization, and unfolding to them the doctrines of the true faith. These doctrines must have appeared in strange contrast to the blood-thirsty deeds of the Spaniards.
A joint expedition against Ponca, in which Balboa participated with eighty men, overran that chieftain's domain with great damage to him, and with some gain to the Spaniards in provisions and gold.
Adjoining Careta's lands, on the seaboard to the west, were those of Comagre,[VIII-10] whose nation numbered ten thousand souls, and mustered three thousand warriors. Balboa visited him peaceably, upon the arrangement of a friendly interview by a native jura, or official, a deserter from Careta's council, who had become offended with his master, and joined Comagre. The jura was a statesman in a rude way, and a diplomat. He knew of the Spaniards, of their fearful doings, and of their alliance with Careta; and being an honest, well-meaning savage withal, he thought to avert disaster by interposing friendly relations.
With a train of attendants, Comagre met his distinguished guest, and with much ceremony conducted him to the palace,[VIII-11] which for size, durability, and rude excellence, far exceeded anything the Spaniards had seen in the New World. Among the numerous descendants of Comagre, for he was much married, were seven sons, remarkable for their valor, and nobleness of demeanor. The eldest, Panciaco, united with a haughty bearing exceptional sagacity. He saw at once the superiority of steel weapons; he saw that the Spaniards coveted gold; and he thought he saw an easy way open for purchasing their good-will. Collecting four thousand ounces of the metal finely wrought, he presented it with seventy slaves to the Spaniards, and watched the effect. The king's fifth was first solemnly set aside. Then they began to divide the remainder of the gold among themselves; and in this division arose a dispute which made Panciaco's lip curl in scorn as he watched them weighing the stuff. Louder grew their altercations, which were followed by blows. Overcome at length by disgust, Panciaco darted forward and struck the scales a violent blow which sent their precious contents flying. "Why quarrel for such a trifle!" he exclaimed. "Is it for this you leave your country, cross seas, endure hardships, and disturb the peace of nations? Cease your voracious brawl and I will tell where you may obtain your fill of gold. Six days' march across yon mountain will bring you to an ocean sea, like this near which we dwell, where there are ships as large as yours, and cities, and wealth unbounded."
Forgetting in the matter the manner of the discourse, the Spaniards listened with eager attention. "How say you?" said Vasco Nuñez. "What proof have you of this?" "Listen to me," replied Panciaco. "You Christians seem to prize this metal more than body, life, or soul; more than love, hate, revenge. Some mysterious virtue it must possess to charm men so! We who can not translate its subtle power, love better friends, and sweet revenge. My father has an ancient enemy, Tubanamá, who lives beyond the mountains fronting the other sea. From time immemorial our people have fought his people; many have been killed on either side, and many enslaved. Could we for once bring low this hated Tubanamá, no sacrifice would be too dear. Be yours the gold; give us revenge. The path is difficult, the enemy fierce. One thousand Spaniards are none too many successfully to cope with him. Prepare your army. I myself will accompany you with all the warriors of our nation; bind me fast; keep me in close custody; and if my words prove false, hang me to the nearest tree."[VIII-12] Vasco Nuñez pondered. The area of his destiny seemed suddenly to have enlarged. If this the young man had said were true, and he might tap the mystery, and bring to the light of nations this other side of Tierra Firme, the temporary governor of a handful of heterogeneous colonists might achieve everlasting fame as one of the world's great discoverers, and realize the dream of Columbus, to rule the Aurea Chersonesus of King Solomon. To him who can execute comes opportunity. "God has revealed the secrets of this land to me only," he piously writes the 20th of January, 1513, "and for this I never shall cease to thank him." But whence were to come the requisite one thousand men? After closely interrogating Comagre, Careta, and other chieftains concerning the tramontane regions, the Spaniards returned to Darien; but not until many of the natives had renounced idolatry and received baptism at the hands of the priests. There they found Valdivia returned from Santo Domingo, after an absence of six months, with a small store of provisions, and what was of the highest consequence to Vasco Nuñez at this juncture, the commission from Diego Colon as governor of Antigua.
To guard against the scarcity of food which had thus far been one of the chief causes of failure in every attempt to colonize Tierra Firme, the governor had this year caused to be planted a large tract adjacent to Antigua, the labor of course being performed by captives. "Food has been our great necessity rather than gold," said Vasco Nuñez in a letter to the king. But a hurricane, followed by inundation, destroyed the crop, and Valdivia was again sent with the caravel to Santo Domingo for provisions. In a letter to Diego Colon, the governor set forth in extravagant terms his further knowledge of the country, dwelling upon the information received of a great sea to the southward, and begging assistance in raising a thousand men for its discovery. Gold to the value of fifteen thousand pesos[VIII-13] was, by this departure, remitted the king's officers as the royal share for the last six months. Large sums were also sent by private persons to their friends and creditors in Española and Spain. But all to no end. For when near Jamaica, the vessel was struck by a squall, carried westward, and thrown on some rocks off Yucatan. Ship and cargo were all lost. Twenty men, without water, or food, or sail, or oars, in an open boat, escaped with bare life.
And now comes another tale of wretchedness which might well grace the annals of Acheron. In their helpless condition they are carried by the currents for thirteen days; one third of their number die of thirst, and the survivors drift to a yet more horrible fate. Thrown on the Maya shore, they are seized by savages, placed in a pen, and well fed. After their sufferings at sea, this is not so bad; but one day Valdivia and four others are taken to the temple and sacrificed, and their roasted limbs eaten in honor of the gods; over which prospect for themselves the survivors are uncomfortable, and nerved by desperation, they break cage and escape to the forest, where they wander naked and starving until life is a burden. Then they cast themselves at the feet of Ahkin Xooc, cacique of Jamancana, neighbor and enemy of the Maya lord. He and his successor, Taxmar, make them serve as beasts of burden until two only are left alive, Gonzalo Guerrero, sailor, and Gerónimo de Aguilar, friar. In an interchange of captives, the sailor becomes the property of Nachan Kan, chief of Chetumal. Bold and buoyant-hearted, he rises to barbaric distinction, becomes a great general, marries a princess, and in after years, when opportunity offers, declines return to civilized life. The friar is rescued by Cortés, in 1519, in which connection we shall again meet him.[VIII-14]
Cannibals are horrible things; but their teeth were hardly so sharp as Spanish steel, which, in following the law of survival common to the animal kingdom, was sacrificing freely about Antigua at this time. "Thirty caciques have already been slain in the attempted pacification of this country," writes Vasco Nuñez to Diego Colon, "and now that I am obliged to penetrate still further in search of food, I must kill all who fall into my hands; otherwise our colony can not exist while waiting relief." In pursuance of this humane measure, early in 1512—it was toward the close of 1511 that Valdivia had sailed for Española—the governor organized an expedition against Dabaiba,[VIII-15] a rich province some thirty leagues to the southward.
Startling stories were told of this place. At a temple lined with gold, slaves were sacrificed for the gratification of the gods, who returned in miracles the favors of their worshippers; so that Dabaiba became as Mecca in the wilderness. Of course, it was an outrage against heaven that the heathen gods should have so much gold and glory; though hunger and avarice lent as much assistance, perhaps, as piety, in instigating the contemplated raid.
Selecting one hundred and sixty men, Vasco Nuñez embarked in two brigantines for the mouths of the river.[VIII-16] There he divided his force, sending one third, under Colmenares, up the channel San Juan, while with the remainder he ascended the Rio de las Redes, the more direct route to Dabaiba, as he had been informed. But the eye of Cemaco, in restless hate, was still upon them. Rousing the country, he induced the caciques along the river to retire, and leave wasted fields to the invaders, a measure which defeated the expedition. Nevertheless, the Spaniards secured, a short distance up the river, two canoe-loads of plunder, valued at seven thousand pesos, but on reaching the gulf they were overturned in a storm, and the boatmen drowned. Balboa then proceeded to the Rio San Juan and joined Colmenares, after which the entire party ascended the Negro channel for six leagues, and captured a town of five hundred houses, governed by a cacique named Abenamechey, one of whose arms a Spaniard cruelly struck off after he had been made prisoner. Leaving there half the men in charge of Colmenares, with the remainder Balboa continued his ascent of the stream, until, on entering a small branch, he found himself within the domain of Abibeiba, whose people built their houses in the branches of palm trees, making the ascent by ladders drawn up at night for safety. A supply of stones was kept in the houses for artillery purposes. When they saw the Spaniards coming, the people ran like squirrels for their houses, and drawing up after them the ladders, fancied themselves in security.
Approaching the tree in which lived the chief, Balboa hailed him and ordered him down. "What brings you hither to molest me?" demanded the chief. "Go your way. I know you not as friends or foes. I have no gold. I desire only to be left in peace." The Spaniards answered by applying the axe to the tree, and when the chief saw the chips fly, while his stone showers fell harmless upon the mail-coated men below, he capitulated, and the village descended to earth.
After further foraging and fighting with varied success, the governor returned to Antigua, leaving Bartolomé Hurtado with thirty-one men in possession of the country. Of these more than half fell sick, and Hurtado incautiously despatched them for Antigua with twenty-four captives in charge. They had not proceeded more than three leagues before Cemaco was upon them with one hundred warriors; and of the Spaniards only two escaped to carry the news to Hurtado, who hastened to Antigua with the further intelligence that five caciques, namely, Abibeiba of the high-tree house, Abenamechy of the severed arm, Dabaiba of the golden temple, Abraiba and Cemaco of Darien, had confederated with five thousand men to exterminate the Spaniards. The rumor was lightly regarded until Vasco Nuñez was informed by one of his mistresses, Fulvia he called her, that her brother had notified her to withdraw from the town on a certain night, so that she might not fall in the massacre intended. Love overruling duty, Fulvia thus divulged the secret. She saved the settlement, but she lost her country.
Poor heart of woman touched with love! Vasco Nuñez induced Fulvia to lure thither her brother, who thereupon was seized and forced to confess the plot. Furthermore, he told Balboa that then at work in his fields were forty men long pledged to assassinate him, but as he had always appeared before them armed and armored, and on a caparisoned horse, which was their greatest terror, they had feared to attack him. The rendezvous of the conspirators was Tichirí, not far distant. With seventy men, by a circuitous route, Balboa marched on the encampment, while Colmenares with an equal force ascended the river in canoes, guided by the traitress Fulvia's traitorous brother. Attacked thus unexpectedly from opposite sides, the confederates were thrown into confusion; many were killed and many taken prisoners. The chief general was honored by being shot to death with arrows, while the others were hanged. Cemaco escaped. So sudden and bold and severe was this blow, that, while Antigua existed, the savages never recovered from it, and the wooden fortress which Balboa immediately built as a guard against future surprise was scarcely necessary.
The natives being thus pacified, the Spaniards were at liberty to evolve fresh projects. Gold and grain in the vicinity of Antigua were well-nigh exhausted, and new fields must be found. The time for Valdivia's return had elapsed; and doubts respecting the integrity of the regidor were entertained by Vasco Nuñez, with fears for the safety of his treasure. Unable to endure the suspense he resolved on visiting Spain and pleading his own cause before the king. But the colony demurred. Friends declared his presence necessary, while enemies saw danger in his absence. It was finally arranged that Colmenares and Caicedo, both worthy men who had been faithful to Nicuesa as long as Nicuesa had been faithful to himself, and faithful to Vasco Nuñez, should take the only remaining vessel fit for service and embark for Spain in the general interests of the colony. The reasoning by which the mistrustful populace arrived at this agreement was, that if Balboa went he would secure all the advantages to himself, or never return; while Colmenares, who left large property in lands and laborers, and Caicedo, a genuine Spanish wife to whom he was devotedly attached, would be sure to return.
Again the governor wrote Pasamonte soliciting his favor; not forgetting, in addition to the king's fifth, a valuable present in gold for the king's treasurer. The commissioners sailed from Darien in October, 1512, and reached Spain the May following.
Meanwhile times at Antigua ran their varying course. At first nothing of interest occurred; and such were the composite elements of this society that inactivity invariably resulted in spontaneous combustion. Again it centred round the ruling powers. "Who is this Vasco Nuñez that he should lord it over us? a renegade! an absconding debtor! he of the cask!" The immediate cause of the outbreak was the investiture of Hurtado, an unpopular person, with authority; and the more specific charges were partiality in the division of spoils, and the unlawful assumption of powers pertaining to a royally appointed ruler.
The new faction was led by one Alonso Perez de la Rua, who for fancied insult pawed the earth and bellowed vengeance. The agitation becoming troublesome Perez was arrested and placed in confinement. The insurgents rushed to arms and demanded the release of their leader, and this being denied they prepared to rescue him by force. The governor placed himself at the head of his adherents, and the two parties prepared for battle. At this juncture peaceful measures were interposed by a third party, consisting of those who had taken no active part in the disputes, and embracing many respectable colonists. Perez was released; but the gnawings of hate continuing he roused his party and made prisoner Hurtado, who in his turn was given liberty at the hands of the conciliators.
Chivalry having had its brief day, avarice came in for a share of public attention. Among the yet undivided plunder was gold obtained in the late Atrato River raids, equivalent in value to ten thousand castellanos. Of this the disaffected demanded immediate division.
The governor well knew that in their present mood it was beyond the power of man to satisfy them. Though omniscient justice distributed this treasure, new troubles would grow out of it. He determined therefore to adopt a non-committal policy, retire from the scene, and freely give them the opportunity, for which they were so ready, to shed blood. Quitting the town at night, ostensibly on a hunting tour, he remained away for several days, leaving them to their destruction. The result was as he had anticipated. Finding themselves free the rioters elevated to the command Perez of the wounded honor, and Bachiller Corral. Then breaking into the public plunder-house, they brought out the gold and placed it in the hands of their leaders for distribution. Proof that the division was fair lay in the fact that every one was dissatisfied. Each, rating his own services superior to most and inferior to none, thought he received too little and another too much. They began to suspect their mistake. A dim perception of the infelicities that mix with the rapturous sweets of governing entered their stolid brains. Balboa's party quickly assumed the ascendency, and thrusting the ringleaders of the insurgents into prison they awaited the return of the governor.
"Your highness must know," writes Vasco Nuñez of this affair to the king, January 20, 1513, "that some days ago little differences occurred here, because the alcaldes, filled with envy and falsehood, attempted to arrest me. Failing in this they brought against me false accusations and false witnesses. Hereof I complain to your highness, for if these men go unpunished, no governor that your highness may hereafter send will be free from this evil. That your highness may know the truth in the matter, and of my great and loyal services in these parts of the Indies and Tierra Firme, I have appointed two judges to investigate my conduct, and report to your majesty all that I have done. I hope," concludes the modest cavalier, "that your majesty will read all this, and reward my great services according to their value."
About this time there arrived at Antigua two vessels, in command of Cristóbal Serrano, sent by Diego Colon, with one hundred and fifty men and provisions for the colony. But what gave Vasco Nuñez the greatest joy was a royal commission, signed by Pasamonte, the treasurer, investing him with the supreme command of the colony. Thus established in authority, and being of a generous temper, the governor at the solicitations of their friends readily pardoned the rebels and set them at liberty.
Another communication, however, which Vasco Nuñez received by this arrival, caused him no little anxiety. This was a letter from Zamudio informing him of his failure to conciliate the royal favor. As had been feared, the bachiller Enciso, burning under a sense of injuries, had denounced the alcaldes before the Council of the Indies, and aroused the king's wrath by a recital of Nicuesa's banishment and probable death. The Council had decreed that Enciso should be indemnified, and that Vasco Nuñez should be summoned to court to answer graver charges. Moreover, Zamudio with difficulty escaped the arrest imposed on him by the Council.
This was as wormwood in Balboa's cup of joy. Yet it was not wholly unexpected; it was not wholly unmerited. There was one redeeming feature about it; the intelligence was private. He was still master of himself; ay, and governor of the colony. Might not some signal service be made to cover his transgressions, and win for him the royal favor? There was that mysterious sea to the southward, reported by Panciaco. The very thing, were men and means at hand for its achievement. Means! There was no time to talk of means; the next arrival would bring a warrant for his arrest. Do it without means, and so gain glory the more. Where was the true Spanish cavalier who would hesitate in such an emergency? Why, the very danger itself was a fascination. He would do it or die!