[VII-3] 'Der Name Darien (Dariena, oder Tarena) scheint zunächst mit dem indianischen Namen des grossen Flusses Atrato, welcher sich in den Golf von Uraba ausgiesst, seinen Anfang genommen zu haben. Der erste Eroberer, der in diesen Golf einsegelte, war Bastidas 1501. Ob er schon den Fluss Darien gesehen und den Namen nach Europa gebracht hat, ist ungewiss. Gewiss ist es, das der Name des Flusses Darien bereits in den Dokumenten und Theilungspakten zwischen Nicuesa und Ojeda in Jahre 1509 genannt wird.' Kohl, Die Beiden ältesten General-karten von Amerika, 116. On Peter Martyr's map, India beyond the Ganges, 1510, is tariene; on the globe of Orontius, 1531, the gulf is called Sinus vraba, the river vrabe, and the Isthmus furna dariena. Salvat de Pilestrina, Munich Atlas, no. iv., 1515, places on the west side of the gulf of Urabá the word dariem. Maiollo, Munich Atlas, no. v., 1519, calls the place daryen; Fernando Colon, 1527, writes darien; Diego de Ribero, 1529, dariẽ; Munich Atlas, no. vi., 1532-40, dariem; Vaz Dourado, 1571, dariem; Robert Thorne, in Hakluyt's Voy., Darion; Mercator's Atlas, 1569; West-Indische Spieghel, 1624; Ogilby's Map of America, 1671; Dampier, 1699, and subsequent cartographers give the present form.
[VII-4] Ogilby, Am., 66, entertains a dim conception of the fact when he says, 'Ancisus pursuing, found in a Thicket of Canes, or Reeds a great Treasure of Gold.'
[VII-5] 'De que hoy no quedan ni vestigios,' says Acosta. Nor do I find laid down on any map in my possession the town of Santa María, or Antigua, or Darien, by which names this place has been severally designated. Puerto Hermoso, placed by Colon at the south-western extremity of the gulf of Urabá, p: hermosso, and also by Ribero, po hmoso, is supposed to have been the anchorage of Enciso and the harbor of Antigua. Oviedo, i. 4, in endeavoring to fasten upon the place the name La Guardia, confuses himself beyond extrication. 'En la cibdad del Darien (que tambien se llamó antes la Guardia) é despues santa Maria del Antigua.'
[VII-6] Carta dirigida al Rey por Vasco Nuñez de Balboa desde Santa María del Darien, 20 de Enero de 1513, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 358. That Enciso has been properly represented as a vain and shallow man is proved by a reference to his book, Suma de Geographia, 2, wherein he does not hesitate to patronize the boy-emperor 'whose youth had not permitted him to read much of geography.' 'Por tanto yo Martin Fernandez de Enciso alguazil mayor dela tierra firme delas Indias ocidentales llamada castilla dl oro. Desseando hazer algun seruicio a vuestra. s. c. c. m. que le fuesse agradable y no menos prouechoso, cõsiderando que la poca edad de vuestra real alteza no ha dado lugar a que pudiesse leer los libros que dela geographia hablan.' And that he was as beastly in his bigotry and cruelty as his less learned companions we may know from what he himself wrote the king, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 449, about the caciques who kept men dressed as women, and used as such, 'and when I took Darien, we seized and burned them, and when the women saw them burning they manifested joy.' Compare Oviedo, ii. 425-27, 472-76; and iii. 7; Herrera, dec. i. lib. viii. cap. v.-vii.; and lib. ix. cap. l; or, if one will have it in Dutch, Ezquebel, Aankomst, 30-8, in Gottfried, Reysen, i.; Acosta, Compend. Hist. Nueva Granada, 33-8; Drake's Voy., 157-58; Norman's Hist. Cal., 10; Patton's Hist. U. S., 11; Ogilby's Am., 399; March y Labores, Marina Española, i. 413-23; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, 41-5; Harper's Mag., xviii. 468; Bidwell's Panamá, 27-28; and Heylyn's Cosmog., 1087.
[VII-7] As I have before observed, there were alcaldes of various denominations, duties, and jurisdictions. In new discoveries, when the chief of the expedition had not contracted with the king for the appointing of authorities, the settlers met and elected one or more alcaldes and regidores. The alcalde, in the absence of the governor or military chief, presided over the municipal council, composed of regidores who governed the municipality, or regimiento, as it was then called. The alcalde was also the executive power, exercising the functions of judge, with original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal, those relating to the natives excepted. In the absence of the adelantado he was therefore chief in authority, and when the governor was present, the alcalde was second. Alcaldes in new settlements, and in early times, were different from those created later. Their duties covered the emergency. In the present instance, had Enciso continued to exercise the office of alcalde mayor, regidores might still have been elected to attend to the affairs of the municipality, in which case no alcaldes would have been elected, for Enciso himself would have presided.
[VII-8] Regidores, or members of the municipal council, were elected by the residents of a ward or district. Cities were entitled to twelve, towns to six, and villages or small settlements were limited to three or even less.
[VII-9] The name of a Spanish settlement midway between Cape de la Vela and Cartagena, and sometimes applied to the territory in that vicinity.
[VII-10] The procurador de la ciudad, called afterward síndico procurador, and later still síndico, was an officer of the municipal council, whose duty it was to see the city ordinances enforced, bring suit for and defend the city in any suit, performing the functions of city attorney, beside having a seat in the common council of the city.
[VII-11] Benzoni asserts that after leaving Antigua, Nicuesa followed the coast for some distance, but landing one day for water, he was seized by cannibals, who captured the vessel and devoured the men. 'E cosi Niquesa molto dolente se ne parti, e per quella costa andando salto in terra per piglior acqua, e su da paesani ucciso, e poi mangiato con tutti i suoi compagni, e questo su la fine della vita di Diego di Niquesa, con la sua armata di Veragua.' Hist. Mondo Nvovo, i. 47. A story was current for a time that they had been thrown on Cuba, where all perished, leaving inscribed upon a tree, 'Here ended the unfortunate Nicuesa.' Las Casas and Herrera, however, are of opinion that his vessel foundered at sea. 'Algunos imaginaron que aportò a Cuba, y que los Indios le mataron, porque andando ciertos Castellanos por la isla hallarõ escrito en un arbol: Aqui feneciò el desdichado Nicuesa: pero esto se tuvo por los hombres mas verdaderos, por falso, porque los primeros que entraron en Cuba, afermaron nunca aver oydo tal nueva. Lo que se tuvo por mas cierto, es, que como llenava tan mal navio, y las mares de aquellas partes son ton bravas, y vehementes, la mesma mar lo tragara facilmente, o que pereceria de hãbre, y de sed.' Herrera, i. viii. viii. But his fate must forever remain a mystery; and he one among the many whose visionary hopes have been buried beneath these waters; one among the many who, having left home with sanguine expectations, sailed over these seas in quest of gold or adventure, never again to be heard from! It is easy, after a failure, to find the mistake. Many of Nicuesa's misfortunes sprang not from any fault, and yet faults, in place of nobler qualities, were developed by his misfortunes.
[VIII-1] Oviedo, ii. 477, is obviously wrong in saying over six hundred.
[VIII-2] 'Il Baccelliero non poteva mostrare le Reali sue prouisioni per bauerle per dute nella naue, che si ruppe nel Golfo d'Vraua.' Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, i. 47. There were those who told Peter Martyr that Enciso was thus punished by providence for having advised the expulsion of Nicuesa.
[VIII-3] Martin Fernandez de Enciso first came to the Indies with Bastidas. After practising law for a time successfully at Santo Domingo, he was tempted to this expedition, as we have seen, by Ojeda, upon the promise of the office of alcalde mayor. Though a pettifogger in his profession, he was nevertheless possessed of worth and ability in other directions. In Darien, while in the main well meaning, he was unable to cope successfully with shrewder intellects sharpened by New World experiences. After his return to Spain he published a work, entitled Suma de geografiã q̃ trata de todas las partidas & prouincias del mundo: en especial de las indias, y trata largamẽte del arte del marear: Juntamete con la esphera en romãce: con el regimiento del Sol & del norte: nueuamente hecha. As the title indicates, the book purports to be a compendium of universal geography, treating of all parts of the world, but including the little that was then known of the Indies. That part relating to the New World was made up in a great measure from his own observations. And yet it resembles too nearly the usual summaries of the period to be of much value. The first third of the work is devoted to the science of geography, with astronomical tables and a résumé of early Spanish history. Then the physical features of Spain, and Europe generally, are given, and finally a rambling account of Asia, Africa, and America. It was printed at Seville by a German, Jakob Cromberger, in 1519. Other editions appeared in 1530 and 1546. My edition is dated 1530, the part relating to America occupying the last eight folios of the book. Bibliographers believe this the first book relative to the New World printed in the Spanish language. 'Livre curieux, parce qu'il est le premièr traité de géographie impr. en Espagne, où l'on trouve des détails sur l'Amérique.' Brunet, Manuel du Libraire. 'Apparently the first book printed in Spanish relating to America.' Rich, Bibliotheca Americana Vetus. 'L'ouvrage rare et très remarquable.' Humboldt, Examen Critique, iv. 306. 'A great hydrographer and explorer, his work is invaluable for the early geographical history of the continent.' Harrisse, Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima. Navarrete says: 'Escribió Enciso un papel muy curioso sobre si los conquistadores españoles podian tener y poseer indios encomendados, contra los frailes dominicos que decian que no, y se opusieron al despacho de la expedicion de Pedrarias Dávila, so pretexto de que el Rey no podia enviar á hacer tales conquistas.' And in his Epitome, Pinelo remarks: 'Trata en su Suma Geografia del Arte de Navegar, de la Esfera, y de las quatro partes del Mundo, especialmente de las Indias, i es el primero que imprimió Obra Geografica de ellas.' Indeed, this last was said in 1738, and subsequent bibliographers have repeated it.
[VIII-4] For definition see chapter xv. note 1, this volume.
[VIII-5] It was the cárcel, whether jail or pen. In newly settled towns, and in some country villages where jails were not built, it was customary to construct a small enclosure on the plaza near the casa consistorial, or municipal hall, in which to confine prisoners till sent to the capital of the province, or elsewhere, for trial. Those convicted of petty municipal offences were likewise incarcerated in this pen. Inside were stocks, the better to secure great offenders.
[VIII-6] In popular parlance, acogerse á santuario, or acogerse á sagrado, or tomar iglesia, the protection afforded criminals who sought refuge in a church or other sacred asylum. As we shall often meet with the custom in this history I will state briefly what it was. It is well known that from the earliest times, in both heathen and Jewish societies, the right of asylum, or right of sanctuary, has existed, in degrees more or less modified by time, down to the present day. In Spanish-America it was in vogue as late as a quarter of a century ago. Originally the idea implied the right of appeal from the judgment of men to the justice of God. The Creator himself, it is said, set the example by placing a mark on Cain, the first murderer, that none might kill him; and Moses and Joshua, under divine sanction, established cities of refuge, whither certain involuntary offenders might flee and find safety. Later, the founders of cities offered asylum to outlaws for the purpose of increasing the population. To this custom is attributed in a measure the existence, or at least the importance, of Athens, Thebes, and other cities. Instead of making the whole city an asylum, a certain locality was sometimes assigned for that purpose; thus tradition says that one of the first acts of Romulus preparatory to building his city was to set apart Palatine Hill as a place of refuge. Sacred groves were asylums; also temples to the gods, and religious houses. Notably the groves of the Grecians, and the Erechtheium of Athens, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and that of Apollon at Miletus. With the advent of Christianity, to increase their influence, the clergy secured this privilege for their churches. In the time of Constantine all Christian churches afforded refuge, and Theodosius II. included in this right all houses belonging to the church, with their courts and gardens. In France and Spain not only the church and its surroundings afforded protection, but all chapels, cloisters, abbeys, monasteries, cemeteries, tombs, crosses, and in short all religious monuments. Frequently a stone bench, called the stone of peace, was placed for refugees within the church near the altar. The priests assured the people that they would be visited by dire calamities if they violated this right. Gradually, however, the practice diminished. Though the culprit must not be forcibly dragged from the church, he might be enticed thence, or starved out, or smoked out. Then the more abhorred criminals, as heretics and murderers, were denied protection; and the number of places was reduced. Clement XIV., in 1772, limited the number to one or two in each town, though no one sheltered by the roof of a church might be torn thence without an order from the ecclesiastical judge. The right of churches to extend protection over minor offenders was recognized long after it became the custom for the clergy to deliver rank offenders for punishment. The superstition was respected, as we have seen, in the wilds of the New World by the distempered colonists of Darien. Nor was England free from it; to this day there are places in France, and in Scotland, Holyrood abbey and palace, where a debtor may not be arrested. For a good treatise on right of sanctuary, and on immunity of religious persons and places, see Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 288 et seq.
[VIII-7] Peter Martyr, dec. ii. cap. iv., thinks Valdivia carried away 300 pounds of gold. In the words of his quaint English translator:—'This pound of eight ounces, the Spanyardes call Marcha, whiche in weight amounteth to fiftie pieces of golde called Castellani, but the Castilians call a pound Pesum. We conclude therefore, that the summe hereof, was xv. thousande of those peeces of gold called Castellani. And thus is it apparent by this accompt, that they receiued of the barbarous kings a thousande and fyue hundred poundes, of eight ounces to the pounde: all the whiche they founde readie wrought in sundry kindes of ouches, as cheynes, braselets, tabletes, and plates, both to hang before their brestes, and also at their eares, and nosethrils.
[VIII-8] Quintana thinks the amount was too small, or that it never reached him; for as events unfolded Pasamonte proved himself no less friendly to Enciso than hostile to Vasco Nuñez. It seems never to occur to a Spaniard that a public officer could refuse a bribe. As it was, Pasamonte did favor Vasco Nuñez.
[VIII-9] We shall see everywhere, from Darien to Alaska, Indian towns and provinces frequently called by the name of the ruling chief. For instance, adventurers and geographers who knew only the chief's name, called his village Careta's village, or Careta; his country, Careta's country, or Careta. Maiollo, 1519, writes on his map, where the province of Careta should be, aldea de machin; and adjacent north-west, P. scatozes. Vaz Dourado, Munich Atlas, nos. x. and xi., 1571, labels the province careta; De Laet, 1633, gives Careta; Jefferys, 1776, Pta Carata; and Kiepert, 1858, Pto Carreto. Alcedo mentions the river Careti. 'De la Provincia y Gobierno del Darien y Reyno de Tierra-Firme: nace en las montañas del N. y sale al mar en la Ensenada de Mandinga.'
[VIII-10] Map-makers give—Vaz Dourado, comogra, De Laet, Comagre, and Pta de Comagre, 'which according to Keipert,' says Goldschmidt, Cartography Pac. Coast, MS. i. 67; 'as near as I can determine, is now P. Mosquitos.'
[VIII-11] Peter Martyr, dec. ii. cap. iii., says this building measured 150 by 80 paces. See Bancroft's Native Races, i. 758.
[VIII-12] 'Estas palabras célebres,' says Quintana, 'conservadas en todas las memorias del tiempo, y repetidas por todos los historiadores, fueron el primer anuncio que los españoles tuvieron del Perú.' Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, 13. To which I would remark, first, that it is not certain Panciaco referred to Peru; and secondly, that vague allusions of a similar kind were made to Columbus, which historians apply to Peru.
[VIII-13] This on the authority of Herrera. Gomara places the king's fifth at 20,000 ducats, and Bernal Diaz at 10,000 pesos de oro.
[VIII-14] The strange story of Aguilar is given by Gomara, Hist. Mex., 21-22; Torquemada, i. 371; Cogolludo, Hist. Yucathan, 24-9; and by Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. v. He was kept seven years in this captivity.
[VIII-15] The name is variously rendered Dabaybe, Dabaibe, Davaive, Daibaba, Abibe, Abibeja, and d'abaibe. 'Auch der Rio Atrato wurde nicht selten Rio Dabeyba genannt. Das 'D' im Anfang dieses Namens ist nur eine Abbreviatur von 'de,' und das Wort sollte wohl eigentlich: d'Abaibe geschrieben werden.' Kohl, Beiden ältesten karten, 125. Maps mark the region, Colon and Ribero, dabaybe, at the southern extremity of the gulf, and De Laet gives the Montanas de Abibe.
[VIII-16] The Atrato discharges through several channels, one of which was called the Rio del Darien; one the Rio Grande de San Juan; one the Rio de las Redes, from the snares or nets found there for taking wild beasts; one the Rio Negro, from the color of its water. Often the Spaniards had scoured these parts in search of food and gold.
[IX-1] Galvano says 290, which for him is quite near the mark. Oviedo places the number at 800, which probably was intended to include the natives afterward added.
[IX-2] The Spaniards must have had quite accurate information from the natives as to the trend of the southern coast, though there was then little communication between the northern and southern seaboards. But, without such knowledge, Balboa naturally would have undertaken the ascent of the river Atrato, which flows directly from the south, rather than have sailed some distance to the north-west before attempting to cross. The direct march to the gulf of San Miguel, from which course a deviation would have almost doubled the distance, is another evidence of his having obtained the most reliable information before or during the march.
[IX-3] Enciso, Suma de Geographia, 57, calls the country 'tierra rasa y buena de muchos mãtenimientos y caças.' 'Experience had proved that moving a body of men sufficient to act as a protecting force and to carry the necessary provisions was attended with great risk and great delay.' Gisborne's Survey of Darien, in London Geog. Soc., Jour., xxvii. 193. 'Mr Hopkins was lately prevented by the Indians from ascending the Chepo river towards Mandinga, or San Blas Bay; and Dr Cullen was stopped likewise by the aborigines while endeavoring to ascend the Paya river.... Climate and natives are at present the only serious impediments to a regular survey.' Fitz-Roy's Isth. Cent. Am., in London Geog. Soc., Jour., xx. 161. 'The Panama railroad, a most stupendous work, considering the excessively swampy nature of the country over which it has been carried.' Cullen's Darien, 95. For obstacles overcome in surveying and constructing the Panamá railway, see Otis' Isthmus Panama, 15-36. The climate inclines 'to the wet extreme, for two thirds of the year, the Rains beginning in April.' Defence of the Scots Settlement at Darien, 64. On the Atrato 'the trees approach to the very edge of the stream, which their branches overhang. The trees are frequently concealed by dense masses of vines which entirely envelope them, and in certain lights present plays of color comparable only to those of the richest velvet.... But like the plumes and velvet of the funeral pageant, they serve but to conceal and adorn corruption. Behind them stretches, far away, the pestiferous swamp, through the dreary wilds of which even the birds refuse to sport; and whose silence is broken only by the sighing of the breeze, or the sullen growl of the roving tiger. Venomous reptiles often fall into the boats from the branches overhead; wasps' nests are frequent and troublesome; natural levees of soft mud stretch along the banks. Floods are common, and the houses are built on stilts.' Trautwine, in Franklin Inst., Jour., xxvii. 220-4. In 1853, Carl Scherzer, a German naturalist, travelling in Costa Rica with a civil engineer and a force of thirty-two men, attempted to make a survey for a road from Angostura to Limon Bay; but on account of scarcity of provisions, illness, and the difficulties of the route, they failed in their purpose; and after having penetrated to within eight leagues of their destination, they were obliged to return, having travelled only ten leagues in two weeks. See Wagner and Scherzer, Costa Rica, 358-407. In December of the same year, a party under J. C. Prevost, of H. M. S. Virago, set out with fourteen days' provisions from the gulf of San Miguel for Caledonia Bay, on the opposite side of the Isthmus. Their route was essentially that of Vasco Nuñez on his return. As he ascended the Sabana River, the attention of Captain Prevost was attracted by the débris on the overhanging branches, which marked the height of water attained during certain seasons. The dense foliage was enlivened by birds of gay plumage; brilliant flowers carpeted the ground; and the chattering monkeys, which they shot in great numbers, furnished the guides food. The country even then was as wild as when traversed by Vasco Nuñez; the natives, however, had exchanged their wooden weapons for fire-arms. Swamps and hills alternate, and 'dense was the forest we had cut our way through.' The flora then changed, and 'instead of the small underwood, we came on almost impenetrable thickets of the prickly palm or aloe, rather more than six feet in height, through which we with great difficulty cut our way.' They crossed 'deep ravines, whose steep and slippery sides caused many a tumble.' The attempt was finally abandoned. Returning, on arriving at one of their ranchos or encampments, where had been left three sailors to guard the provisions, they found the men murdered and the camp sacked. 'So toilsome was our journey,' says Captain Prevost, 'that we spent fifteen days in performing a distance of little more than twenty-six miles, having to force our slow and laborious path through forests that seemed to stretch from the Pacific to the Atlantic shores. The trees, of stupendous size, were matted with creepers and parasitical vines, which hung in festoons from tree to tree, forming an almost impenetrable net-work, and obliging us to hew open a passage with our axes every step we advanced.' London Geog. Soc., Jour., xxiv. 249. Nothing could more aptly illustrate the difficulties surmounted by the Spaniards than this narrative of failure, by a British officer of the nineteenth century, who operated under conditions far more favorable than those so successfully overcome by a company of ill-accoutred and poorly fed adventurers more than three hundred years before. With the material before me, these illustrations could be greatly multiplied; but I have given enough to show that the transit of the Isthmus, by a small party of Europeans, over an unknown or unexplored route, is even to-day esteemed a desperate undertaking.
[IX-4] Carta dirigida al Rey por Vasco Nuñez de Balboa desde Santa María del Darien, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 368.
[IX-5] A strategy which continues through the centuries. 'The Indians, although offering no direct hostility, abandoned their villages at our approach.' Gisborne's Survey of Darien, London Geog. Soc., Jour., xxvii. 193.
[IX-6] Among the dogs which accompanied the expedition was one, the property of the commander, whose pedigree and physical and metaphysical traits and mighty deeds are minutely recorded by contemporary historians. His name was Leoncico, little lion, descendant of Becerrico, of the Island of San Juan. He was in color red with black snout, of medium size and extraordinary strength. In their foragings Leoncico counted as one man, and drew captain's pay and share of spoils. Upon these conditions his master frequently loaned him; and during the wars of Darien he gained for Vasco Nuñez more than one thousand pesos de oro. He was considered more efficient than the best soldier, and the savages stood in the greatest terror of him. He readily discriminated between wild and tame Indians. When a captive was missing from the fields, and Leoncico was told, 'He is gone; seek him!' the dog tracked the poor fugitive, and did not harm him if he returned quietly, but if the Indian resisted, the dog would destroy him. The hero of many a conflict, he was covered with wounds; but like Cæsar he escaped the wars to meet his death by treacherous hands. He was poisoned. See Oviedo, iii. 9-10.
[IX-7] Again a general difference occurs in an important date, and, according to my custom, I am governed by the authorities I deem most reliable. Oviedo follows the expedition from day to day, noting places and dates; and he says, iii. 10: 'Y un mártes, veynte é cinco de septiembre de aquel año de mill é quinientos y trece, á las diez horas del dia,' at 10 o'clock in the morning. So Gomara also writes, Hist. Ind., 77: 'Vio Valboa ala mar del Sur a los veynte y cinco del Setiembre del año de treze;' and Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 109: 'Llegaron á la cumbre de las más altas sierras á 25 dias de Setiembre de dicho año de 1513;' and Herrera, i. x. i.: 'A veynte y cinco de Setiembre, deste año, de donde la mar se parecia.' Careful writers following these first authorities also name the day correctly, as Humboldt, Exam. Crit., i. 319, who says: 'Vasco Nuñez de Balboa vit la Mer du Sud, le 25 septembre 1513, du haut de la Sierra de Quarequa;' and Acosta, Compend. Hist. Nueva Granada, 50: 'Esto pasó el dia 25 de setiembre del año de 1513 poco antes de medio dia y forma una de las épocas notables en el descubrimiento de la América;' and Quintana, Vidas de Españoles Célebres, 'Balboa,' 20: '25 de setiembre;' and Chevalier, L'Isthme de Panama, 15: 'Le vingt-cinquième jour, le 25 septembre;' and Campbell, Hist. Span. Am., 23: 'the 25th of Septembre;' and Helps, Span. Conq., i. 361: '25th of September;' etc. In the face of which, Irving, Columbus, iii. 198, shows gross carelessness when he writes 'the 26th of September.' To support him he has Ramusio, who, Viaggi, iii. 29, falls into a mistake of Peter Martyr's, 'alli ventisei adunque di Settembre,' and Du Perier, Cen. Hist. Voy., 139, and, to copy his error, Dalton, Conq. Mex. and Peru, 43, and a host of others. Not quite so often mentioned as Columbus' voyages is this discovery of Vasco Nuñez, though nearly so. After Oviedo and Las Casas probably Peter Martyr gives the best original account. Herrera copied from all before him. The following popular accounts are most of them meagre and unreliable:—Nouvelles An. des Voy., cxlviii. 11-12; Goodrich's Man upon the Sea, 201-8; Voyages, New Col., i. 180-6; World Displayed, i. 153-9; Monson's Tracts, in Churchill's Voy., iii. 372; March y Labores, Marina Española, i. 413-50; Dufey, Résumé Hist. Am., i. 75-86; Gottfriedt, Newe Welt, 239-41; Juarros, Guat., 122; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, 66-72; Ogilby's Am., 69-72; Norman's Hist. Cal., 10-11; Patton's Hist. U. S., 11; Pim's Gate of Pacific, 99; Hazlitt's Gold Fields, 3; Roberts' Nar. Voy., xx.; Isth. Panama, 5; Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 17; Lallement, Geschichte, i. 25; Bidwell's Panamá, 23-7; Andagoya's Nar., 19; Galvano's Discov., 123-4; Cavanilles, Hist. España, v. 290-1; Greenhow's Mem., 22; Farnham's Adv., 119; Fédix, L'Orégon, 67-8; Span. Emp. in Am., 23; Burney's Discov. South Sea, i. 8-9; Niles' S. Am. and Mex., 14-15; Kerr's Col. Voy., ii. 67-8; Colton's Jour. Geog., no. 6, 84; Douglas' Hist. and Pol., 44; Holmes' Annals Am., i. 32-3; Inter-Oceanic Canal and Monroe Doct., 11; Hesperian, ii. 27-33; Lardner's Hist. Discov., ii. 40-1; Harper's Mag., xviii. 469-84; Macgregor's Prog. Am., i. 10-11; Mofras, L'Orégon, i. 88-9; Ovalle, Hist. Rel. Chile, in Pinkerton's Col., xiv. 142-4; Mesa y Leompart, Hist. Am., i. 88-94; Mavor's Am. Hist., xxiv. 52-5; Holinski, Cal., 62-4; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, 47-8; Morelli, Fasti Novi Orbis, 15; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 20.
[IX-8] The testimonial with the sixty-seven names attached, as given by Oviedo, iii. 11-12, is as follows:—'Diré aqui quién fueron los que se hallaron en este descubrimiento con el capitan Vasco Nuñez, porque fué servicio muy señalado, y es passo muy notable para estas historias, pues que fueron los chripstianos que primero vieron aquella mar, segund daba fée de ello Andrés de Valderrábano, que allí se halló, escribano real é natural de la villa de Sanct Martin de Valdeiglesias, el qual testimonio yo vi é lei, y el mismo escribano me lo enseñó. Y despues quando murió Vasco Nuñez, murió aqueste con él, y tambien vinieron sus escripturas á mi poder y aquesta decia desta manera:' Los cavalleros é hidalgos y hombres de bien que se hallaron en el descubrimiento de la mar del Sur, con el magnífico y muy noble señor el capitan Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, gobernador por Sus Altezas en la Tierra Firme, son los siguientes: 'Primeramente el señor Vasco Nuñez, y él fué el que primero de todos vido aquella mar é la enseñó á los infrascriptos. Andrés de Vera, clérigo; Françisco Piçarro; Diego Albitez; Fabian Perez; Bernardino de Morales; Diego de Texerina; Chripstóbal de Valdebuso; Bernardino de Cienfuegos; Sebastian de Grijalba; Françisco de Ávila; Johan de Espinosa; Johan de Velasco; Benito Buran; Andrés de Molina; Antonio de Baracaldo; Pedro de Escobar; Chripstóbal Daça; Françisco Pesado; Alonso de Guadalupe; Hernando Muñoz; Hernando Hidalgo; Johan Rubio de Malpartida; Álvaro de Bolaños; Alonso Ruiz; Françisco de Luçena; Martin Ruiz; Pasqual Rubio de Malpartida; Françisco Gonçalez de Guadalcama; Françisco Martin; Pedro Martin de Palos; Hernando Diaz; Andrés Garçia de Jaen; Luis Gutierrez; Alonso Sebastian; Johan Vegines; Rodrigo Velasquez; Johan Camacho; Diego de Montehermoso; Johan Matheos; Maestre Alonso de Sanctiago; Gregorio Ponçe; Françisco de la Tova; Miguel Crespo; Miguel Sanchez; Martin Garçia; Chripstóbal de Robledo; Chripstóbal de Leon, platero; Johan Martinez; Valdenebro; Johan de Beas Loro; Johan Ferrol; Johan Gutierrez de Toledo; Johan de Portillo; Johan Garçia de Jaen; Matheo Loçano; Johan de Medellin; Alonso Martin, asturiano; Johan Garçia Marinero; Johan Gallego; Françisco de Lentin, siciliano; Johan del Puerto; Françisco de Arias; Pedro de Orduña; Nuflo de Olano, de color negro; Pedro Fernandez de Aroche.' Andrés de Valderrábano, escribano de Sus Alteças en la su córte y en todos sus reynos é señorios, estuve pressente é doy fée dello, é digo que son por todos sessenta y siete hombres estos primeros chripstianos que vieron la mar del Sur, con las quales yo me hallé é cuento por uno dellos; y este era de Sanct Martin de Valdeiglesias.
[IX-9] Herrera calls the second Blas de Atiença, but that name is not in Oviedo's list. Irving refers to Herrera, but fails to reproduce him correctly in his text. Compare Oviedo, iii. 11-12; Herrera, i. x. ii.
[IX-10] The form of taking possession, or the declaration of proprietary rights to the lands seized by Europeans, as we have seen, differs with different discoverers, and with the same discoverer at different times. Sometimes mass was said; sometimes a cross was erected; sometimes prayer was offered, of which the following is said to have been the prescribed form used by Columbus, Vasco Nuñez, Cortés, and Pizarro: Domine Deus æterne et omnipotens, sacro tuo verbo cœlum, et terram, et mare creâsti; benedicatur et glorificetur nomen tuum, laudetur tua majestas, quæ dignita est per humilem servum tuum, ut ejus sacrum nomen agnoscatur, et prædicetur in hac altera mundi parte. But always this seizure, whether by Spanish, English, French, or Dutch, and by whatsoever other formalities attended, was accompanied by a loud proclamation, before God and man, of the deed then and there consummated. This proclamation was made with drawn sword, by the commander of the party taking possession, and sometimes attended by the throwing of earth toward the four cardinal points, as was common, and is now in Spanish America, in giving judicial possession in granting lands, and planting the royal standard. All present were called upon to witness the act, which was done for and in the name of the sovereign authority recognized by the party. Then the notary, or, if none were present, a clerk, or a person or persons appointed to act as such, took down in writing what had been done, and each member of the party signed it. Examples might be multiplied indefinitely. We have seen what Columbus did in one or two instances, and how Vasco Nuñez conducted himself on the mountain overlooking Panamá Bay. That which I have just given in the text is a literal translation of Balboa's address to the four corners of the Pacific Ocean as reported by Oviedo, iii. 11-12. At the beginning the meaning of the orator is clear enough, but toward the latter part he lapses into verbiage. It is likely that he had in view, while taking possession of that sea or so much of it as his sovereigns should at any future time please to claim, the papal bull which divided the heathen world between Spain and Portugal, and a desire to avoid all words and acts which might prejudice the Spanish claim. A lengthy account is given of the taking possession of the province of Paque, on the Pacific shore of the Isthmus, west of Panamá, in 1519, by Pedrarias Dávila. The party was standing at the head of an inlet, two notaries, a clergyman, several captains, soldiers, and seamen, beside the commander, being present. First, Pedrarias called on the notaries and all present to witness the acts he was about to perform. Then he took in his right hand a white silk flag, on which was represented the image of the Virgin Mary, and holding it aloft all knelt; the trumpet sounded, and in loud tones the commander offered the following prayer: 'Oh! mother of God, quiet the sea, and render us worthy of being and of moving under thy protection. May it please thee that under it we may discover these seas, and lands of the southern sea, and convert the people thereof to our holy Catholic faith.' Following the prayer was a long speech by Pedrarias, declaring possession after the usual form, similar to that employed by Vasco Nuñez, interspersed with divers acts in consummation of what he said. He declared the possession previously taken renewed, especially the 'possession vel casi of all the coast of the new land and of the southern sea, and of all the ports and inlets and coves and roadsteads ... being as I am, in the name of their highnesses and as their lieutenant-general in the said coast of the said southern sea, from the stones of the rivers to the leaves of the forests, eating the grass and drinking the waters, and razing, devastating, and cutting the woods of the said coast, upon the said site and province of Paque.' As a token of possession and seizure thereof, civilly, naturally, and bodily, he continued: 'I raise this royal standard of the said Queen Doña Juana and King Don Cárlos, her son, our lords, which is of red damask having thereon painted and stamped the royal arms of their highnesses the said kings, our lords;' the trumpeters were then ordered to sound; after which, in concert with Pedrarias, all said, 'Castilla del Oro and Tierra Firme, and new land, and southern sea, and coasts thereof, and island and islands, and all land and provinces that may be therein, for the most high and most illustrious Queen Doña Juana, our lady, and the King Don Cárlos, her son, our lord; and after them for their successors to Castile.' 'All of which new lands and southern sea and coast thereof and the whole Tierra Firme and kingdoms of Castilla del Oro, and all thereunto annexed and appertaining, and all that has been or may be hereafter discovered therein, is and must be of the royal crown of Castile, and you must testify how I, Pedrarias Dávila, in the name of the said kings, our lords, and of their successors to the royal crown of Castile, cut trees, and mow the grass in said land, and enter the water of the said southern sea, corporeally and standing on my feet therein, and stamp the new land and waters of the said southern sea.' Again the trumpets were sounded, and again Pedrarias reiterated in a loud voice his claims; and he called upon the notaries to witness as further proof of their possession that four ships had been built and navigated on the southern sea. Another flourish of trumpets, and by way of doxology three times repeated, 'Viva la muy alta é muy poderosa reyna doña Juana,' etc., concluded the ceremony. Testimonio de un acto de posesion que tomó el Gobernador Pedrárias Dávila, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 549-56. Although the custom was universal from the beginning, Philip II. deemed best to decree, in 1568, that all captains or others discovering any island or mainland should, on landing, take possession in the king's name. Recop. de Indias, ii. 7.
[IX-11] Colon gives g. de san migel; Agnese, G. de S. miguell; Vaz Dourado, Saö migell; Mercator, S. Miguel; Hondius, in Drake's World Encompassed, Michael; Ogilby's Am., G. S. Miguel; Jacob Colom, G. del S. Miguel; Jefferys, G. de St. Miguel, and emptying into it R. Canty, R. Savanas, R. Congo.
[IX-12] It was not for some years after this discovery that the name Pacific was applied to any part of the ocean; and for a long time after parts only of it were so termed, this part of it retained the original name of South Sea, so called because it lay to the south of its discoverer. The lettering of the early maps is here significant. All along from this time to the middle of the seventeenth century, the larger part of the Pacific was labeled Oceanus Indicus Orientalis, or Mar del Sur, the Atlantic, opposite the Isthmus, being called Mar del Norte. Sometimes the reporters called the South Sea La Otra Mar, in contradistinction to the Mare Oceanus of Juan de la Cosa, or the Oceanus Occidentalis of Ptolemy, as the Atlantic was then called. Indeed, the Atlantic was not generally known by that name for some time yet. Schöner, in 1520, terms it, as does Ptolemy in 1513, Oceanus Occidentalis; Grynæus, in 1532, Oceanus Magnus; Apianus, appearing in the Cosmography of 1575, although thought to have been drawn in 1520, Mar Atlicum. Robert Thorne, 1527, in Hakluyt's Voy., writes Oceanus Occiden.; Bordone, 1528, Mare Occidentale; Ptolemy, 1530, Occean Occidentalis; Ramusio, 1565, Viaggi, iii. 455, off Central America, Mar del Nort, and in the great ocean, both north and south, Mar Ociano; Mercator, 1569, north of the tropic of cancer, Oceanius Atlanticvs; Hondius, 1595, Mar del Nort; West-Indische Spieghel, 1624, Mar del Nort; De Laet, 1633, Mar del Norte; Jacob Colon, 1663, Mar del Nort; Ogilby, 1671, Oceanus Atlanticum, Mar del Norte, and Oceanus Æthiopicus; Dampier, 1699, the North or Atlantick Sea. The Portuguese map of 1518, Munich Atlas, iv., is the first upon which I have seen a name applied to the Pacific; and there it is given, as I have elsewhere remarked, as Mar visto pelos Castelhanos, Sea seen by the Spaniards. On the maps of Baptiste Agnese, Vallard de Dieppe, Diego Homem, and others, is the name Mar del Sur, but the lettering is small, and seems applied only to the waters between Peru and Guatemala. We have noticed on the globe of Martin Behaim, 1492, a multitude of islands, scattered and in groups, situated between the coast lines of western Europe and eastern Asia. In that part of the globe where the north Pacific Ocean should be represented, are the words Oceanus orientalis Indie. On the globe of Johann Schöner, 1520, the two continents of America are represented with a strait dividing them at the Isthmus. The great island of Zipangri, or Japan, lies about midway between North America and Asia. North of this island, and in about the same locality as on the globe of Behaim, are the words Orientalis Oceanus, and to the same ocean south of the equator the words Oceanus Orientalis Indicus are applied. Diego Homem, in 1558, marks out upon his map a large body of water to the north-west of Terra de Florida, and west of Canada, and labels it Mare leparamantium. Neither Maiollo nor Vaz Dourado gives a name to either ocean. Colon and Ribero call the South Sea Mar del Svr. In Hakluyt's Voy. we find that Robert Thorne, in 1527, wrote Mare Australe. Ptolemy, in 1530, places near the Straits of Magellan Mare pacificum. Ramusio, 1565, Viaggi, iii. 455, off Central America, places Mar del Sur, and off the Straits of Magellan, Mar Oceano. Mercator places in his atlas of 1569 plainly, near the Straits of Magellan, El Mar Pacifico, and in the great sea off Central America Mar del Zur. On the map of Hondius, about 1595, in Drake's World Encompassed, the general term Mare Pacificvm is applied to the Pacific Ocean, the words being in large letters extending across the ocean opposite Central America, while under it in smaller letters is Mar del Sur. This clearly restricts the name South Sea to a narrow locality, even at this date. In Hondius' Map, Purchas, His Pilgrimes, iv. 857, the south Pacific is called Mare Pacificum, and the central Pacific Mar del Sur.
[IX-13] In his Novus Orbis, i., De Laet inserts a map on which he places Tumaco to the north of Chiapes. North of Tumaco is Quareca. The northern cape of G. de S. Miguel he calls Pta de Garachine. Debouching here is the R. de Congos. See Goldschmidt's Cartography Pac. Coast, MS. ii. 5.
[IX-14] Colon and Ribero mark the group y: de perlas and y∴a de plas; Vaz Dourado, I∴ de perollas; West-Indische Spieghel, I Perles; De Laet, Ias de Perlas; Jacob Colom, I de Perlas; Jefferys, I del Rey or Perlas, Toboga, I. Keipert in 1858 calls the group Archipielago de las Perlas, and the largest, that which Balboa called Isla Rica, I. S. Miguel; others of the group he calls I. St. Elmo, I. Galera, I. Pajaros, I. Chapera, I. Contradora, I. Pacheca, I. Saboga, I. Bayoneta, I. Pedro Gonzales, and I. S. José. 'Da die Haupt-Insel mehrere guten Schutz gewährende Ankerplätze hatte, so wurde sie bald das Rendezvous und der Ausgangs-Punkt der Flotten, die vom Golfe von Panama zur Entdeckung des Westens (Nicaragua) und des Südens (Peru) ausliefen. Auch war ihre Anhöhe stets für alle von Panama auslaufenden Flotten ein Merkzeichen zur Orientirung.' Kohl, Beiden ältesten karten, 104.
[IX-15] Sabana. See note 3, this chapter.
[IX-16] It is impossible from the rambling narratives which constitute the groundwork of Central American history to locate with certainty these two villages. Thus of Pocorosa Vasco Nuñez, in a letter to the king, says, 'Está un cacique que se dice Comogre y otro que se dice Pocorosa, estan tan cerca de la mar el uno como el otra;' and of Tubanamá, 'Hase de hacer otra fuerza en las minas de Tubanamá, en la provincia de Comagre.' Carta por Vasco Nuñez in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 366, 369.
[IX-17] A hundred thousand castellanos, Gomara says. 'Passo muchos trabajos y hambre, traxo sin las perlas, mas de cien mil castellanos de buen oro, y esperança, tornando alla, de auer la mayor riqueza, que nũca los nacidos vieron, y con esto estaua tan vfano, como animoso.' Hist. Ind., 82.
[X-1] According to Oviedo, iii. 4, 'hermano de Johan Arias Dávila, que despues fué el primero conde de Puñoenrostro.'
[X-2] Though it was never popularly so designated. 'Gobernar á Castilla del Oro en la Tierre Firme,' write the chroniclers; but in his instructions the king says, Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 343, 'é agora la mandamos llamar Castilla Aurifia.' Oviedo, iii. 4, gives Pedrarias a broad domain, from Cape de la Vela to Veragua, and from ocean to ocean; 'señalándole por gobernaçion desde el Cabo de la Vela hasta Veragua, y desde estos limites, que son en la costa del Norte, corriendo la tierra adentro háçia la parte austral, todo aquello que oviesse de mar á mar, con las islas que en ello concurriessen.'
[X-3] 'Caicedo and Colmenares reached Spain in May, 1513; the date of Pedrarias' appointment is July 27, 1513, so that it is very probable, especially since Enciso and his complaints reached the court of Spain before these deputies, that the appointment of a governor was settled before they arrived.' Helps' Span. Conq., i. 373. See Título de Capitan general y Gobernador de la provincia del Castilla del Oro en el Darien, expedido por el Rey-Católico á Pedrarias Dávila, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 337.
[X-4] The Licenciado Zuazo, in a letter to M. De Xevres, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 304-32, places the cost of the outfit at 40,000 ducats; Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 138, at 54,000 ducats; 'y lo que en aquel tiempo se hizo y suplió con 54,000 ducados es cierto que hoy no se supliera con 158,000 castellanos.' Balboa in his letter to the king, 16th October, 1515, implies that the cost was 40,000 pesos de oro. Navarrete, iii. 377.
[X-5] Herrera, i. x. vii., and Pascual de Andagoya, Relacion de los sucesos de Pedrarias Dávila, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 393, say 1,500 men and nineteen ships; Gomara, Hist. Ind., 84, seventeen ships; Galvano, Discov., 125, seven ships. Peter Martyr, iii. v., places the number of ships at seventeen, with 1,200 men assigned; but affirms that surreptitiously or otherwise 1,500 sailed, and 2,000 remained behind pensive and sighing who gladly would have gone at their own cost. Oviedo, who, one would think, should know, as he was of the number, testifies in one place, iii. 22, to twenty-two, 'naos é carabelas,' and 2,000 men, and in another place, iv. 473, to seventeen or eighteen.
[X-6] Icazbalceta, in Dic. Univ., i. 429, says that she was cousin-german to the marchioness, who was a great favorite with Queen Isabella.
[X-7] Appointed to succeed Juan de Caicedo 'que iba proveido en el oficio de Veedor de las fundiciones del oro de la Tierra Firme.' José Amador de los Rios, Vida de Oviedo, in Oviedo, i. xxii. Caicedo died in Seville before sailing. The duties of the office were to assay and stamp the gold and take charge of the king's fifth. Oviedo was also escribano general or chief notary of Tierra Firme.
[X-8] Or as Oviedo, iii. 22, has it, 'con título de obispo de Sancta Maria de la Antigua é de Castilla del Oro.'
[X-9] Gonzalo Fernandez writing from Santo Domingo the 25th of October, 1537, to the Council of the Indies, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 522-9, says that this order proved inoperative, 'pues que los que lo habian de ejecutar lo disimulaban,' since those who should have executed it dissembled. For a time, however, no lawyer was allowed to plead in the Indies, the alcalde mayor speaking on both sides, and finally deciding according to the evidence; 'sentenciaba por aquel por quien en el pleito habia mejor hablado.'
[X-10] Instruccion dada por el Rey á Pedrarias Dávila para su viage á la provincia de Castilla del Oro, que iba á poblar y pacificar con la gente que llevaba, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 342-55; Las Casas, Hist. Gen., iv. 139-42; Herrera, ii. i. xiii.
[X-11] Helps, Span. Conq., i. 385, and Irving, iii. 230, say 12th April. Robertson, Hist. Am., i. 207, stigmatizes Ferdinand for elevating Pedrarias, and abasing Vasco Nuñez; in which the learned historian is wholly wrong. We who know the merits of Vasco Nuñez may be disposed to excuse his faults, but the king could not do otherwise, from a ruler's standpoint, than depose the unknown adventurer guilty of unlawful excesses.
[X-12] Five or six months later Pedrarias instituted formal proceedings to prove his insubordination. The people murmured against that hasty justice, and attributed it to some former displeasure of the governor against the man. Oviedo, iii. 25. Part of the vessels returned to Spain; several of the old and worm-eaten were sunk in Urabá Gulf; one foundered at sea, on the voyage back, the crew escaping to Española. Oviedo, iv. 471-3; Herrera, ii. i. vii.; Andagoya's Nar., 1-3; Ramusio, Viaggi, iii. 208.
[X-13] It was a desperate game Vasco Nuñez had been playing; and although success up to this time had been varied, it was sure in the end to be against him. According to the Licenciado Zuazo, al muy ilustre señor Monsieur de Xevres, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 312-13, Pasamonte was guilty of double-dealing, now receiving Balboa's presents and writing the king in his favor, and at another time seconding the persistent efforts of Enciso against him.
[X-14] Capitulo de casta escrita por el Rey-Católico á Pedrarias Dávila, sobre los medios de facilitar la comunicacion entre la costa del Darien y la mar del sur, y que para continuar en él los descubrimientos se hagan alli tres ó cuatro carabelas, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 355-7.
[X-15] Carta de Vasco Nuñez, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 375. Oviedo enumerates the following chiefs with whom Balboa had made peace: Careta, Ponca, Careca, Chiapes, Cuquera, Juanaga, Bonanimana, Tecra, Comagre, Pocorosa, Buquebuca, Chuyrica, Otoque, Chorita, Pacra, Thenoca, Tubanamá, Teaoca, Tamaca, Tamao and others. The Licenciado Zuazo says, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 315, that Vasco Nuñez with his judicious policy had won over about thirty caciques.
[X-16] From the most high and mighty Catholic defender of the Church, always triumphant and never vanquished, the great King Don Fernando, the fifth of that name, King of the Spains, of the two Sicilies, and of Jerusalem, and of the Indies, isles and firm land of the ocean sea, tamer of barbarous peoples; and from the very high and puissant lady, the Queen Doña Juana, his dearest and most beloved daughter, our sovereigns; I, Pedrarias Dávila, their servant, messenger, and captain, notify and make known to you as best I can, that God, our Lord, one and triune, created the heavens and the earth, and one man and one woman, from whom you and we and all mankind were and are descended and procreated, and all those who shall come after us. But from the multitudes issuing out of that generation during the five thousand and more years since the world was made, it became necessary that some should go one way and some another, dispersing over many kingdoms and provinces, as in one alone they could not sustain nor preserve themselves.
All these peoples God, our Lord, gave in charge to one person, called Saint Peter, that he should be prince, lord, and superior over all men in the world, whom all should obey, and that he should be the head of all the human lineage, wheresoever man might live or be, and of whatever law, sect, or belief; and to him is given the whole world for his kingdom and lordship and jurisdiction. And although he was ordered to place his chair in Rome, as the most suitable spot whence to rule the world, yet was he also permitted to be and place his chair in any other part of the world, and judge and govern all peoples, Christians, and Moors, and Jews, and Gentiles, of whatever sect or belief they might be. And him they called Pope, that is to say, Admirable, Supreme, Father, and Keeper, because he is father and keeper of all men. And this Saint Peter was obeyed and held in reverence as lord, and king, supreme in the universe, by those who lived in that time, likewise others who after him were elected to the pontificate were so esteemed, and so it has continued until now and will continue to the end of the world.
One of the pontiffs who succeeded as prince and lord of the world, to the chair and dignity aforesaid, made a donation of these isles and firm land of the ocean sea to the said King and Queen, our sovereigns, and to their successors, with all therein contained, as it appears in certain writings made therefor, which you can see if desirable. So that by virtue of said donation their highnesses are kings and lords of these isles and firm land, and as such have been recognized, and obeyed, and served by the inhabitants of almost all the islands to whom notification has been made, who still obey and serve them as subjects should; and of their free will, without resistance, immediately, without delay, as soon as informed of the aforesaid, they obeyed and recognized the learned men and friars who were sent by their highnesses to preach and teach our holy Catholic faith; doing this of their free and spontaneous will, without pressure or condition of any kind; and they became Christians and are now, and their highnesses received them gladly and benignantly, and ordered that they should be treated in every respect as their own subjects and vassals; and you are held and obliged to do likewise. Therefore, as best I may, I pray and require you well to understand what I have told you; to take the time which may be necessary to comprehend it and to deliberate upon it; and to recognize the Church as Supreme Mistress of the Universe, and the Supreme Pontiff, called Pope, and the King and Queen in his place as monarchs and supreme sovereigns of these isles and firm land, by virtue of the donation aforesaid, and to consent and allow these religious fathers to explain and preach to you as aforesaid. If thus you do, you will do well, and do that which you are held and bound to do, and their highnesses, and I in their name, will receive you with all love and charity; and your wives, and children, and property will be freely left to you without lien, that you may do with them and with yourselves, whatever you may please. You will not be compelled to turn Christians, except when informed of the truth you desire to be converted to our holy Catholic faith, like almost all the inhabitants of the other isles. And besides this their highnesses will grant you many privileges and exemptions, and do you many favors. But if you do not thus, or maliciously delay to do it, I certify to you that with the help of God I will invade your lands with a powerful force, and will make war upon you in all parts, and in every manner in my power, and will subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and their highnesses; and I will take your persons, and those of your wives and children, and will make them slaves, and as such will sell them and dispose of them as their highnesses shall order; and I will take your property, and I will do you all possible harm and evil, as to vassals who do not obey or recognize their lord, but who resist and oppose him. And I protest that the deaths and damage which from such conduct may result will be at your charge and not at that of their highnesses, nor at mine, nor at that of the gentlemen who come with me. And now to that which I have said I require the notary here present to give me a certificate. Episcopus Palentinus, comes; F. Bernardus, Trinopolitanus episcopus; F. Thomas de Matienzo; F. Al. Bustillo, magister; Licenciatus de Sanctiago; El Doctor Palacios Rubios; Licenciatus de Sosa; Gregorius, licenciatus. The original in Oviedo, iii. 28-9. To the astute Enciso belongs the honor of first reading this requerimiento to the savages in America. The place was the port of Cenú; and when the lawyer had finished, the chief, whose name was Catarapa, and his people laughed at him; these benighted barbarians laughed at the learned bachiller, and said that the Pope must have been drunk when he did it, for he was giving what was not his; and that the King who asked and took such a grant must be a crazy one, since he asked for what was another's. 'Dixeron q̃ el papa deuiera estar borracho quãdo lo hizo; pues daualo q̃ no era suyo, y q̃ el rey q̃ pedia & tomaua tal merced deuia ser algun loco pues pedia lo que era & de otros.' Enciso, Suma de Geografia, 56. A copy of this precious document was filed in the Casa de Contratacion, at Seville. Memorial que dió el bachiller Enciso, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 442-7. Herrera, i. vii. xiv., gives the text of the requerimiento made for Ojeda and others in 1508. See also Real Cédula, in Doc. Inéd., i. 111-2; Zamora y Coronado, Bib. Leg. Ult., iii. 21-31; Juan y Ulloa, Voy., i. 114-20; Acosta, Hist. Compend. Nueva Granada, 23-6, where is also given the text of Nicuesa's requisition; Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 154-6; Helps' Span. Conq., i. 242; Carta dirigida al Rey por Vasco Nuñez, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 375-86.
[X-17] I follow the Novus Orbis of De Laet, who places Pocorosa and S. X. (Santa Cruz) north and west of Comagre; although Oviedo, iii. 37, says, 'el puerto de Sancta Cruz que es en tierra del caçique Comogre.' It is often impossible to reconcile the self-contradictions of a writer, to say nothing of the conflicting statements of the several chroniclers. Oviedo usually places the native towns and provinces where most convenient for his narrative.
[X-18] I do not know that it is necessary here to catalogue Ayora's crimes. One which the Licenciado Zuazo mentions, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 315-16, if sufficiently pluralized, will answer for all. Met one day, on approaching a village, by natives bearing presents of venison, fowl and fish, wine and maize, who thought the white tiba to be their friend, Vasco Nuñez, Ayora seized the cacique and his chief men, tortured them with fire and dogs until all their gold was given up, and then burned them alive. 'This infernal hunt lasted several months,' says Oviedo.
[X-19] 'Los quales luego fueron vendidos en almoneda é herrados, é los mas dellos se sacaron de la tierra por mar, é los llevaron á otras partes.' Oviedo, iii. 39. 'Poi mandò ancora lui altri Capitani per quella Costa, come fu Bartolomeo Vrtado in Achla, e saltato in terra, sotto colore di pace, pigliò tutti gl'Indiani, che potè, e gli vendè per ischiaui.' Benzoni, Hist. Nvovo Mondo, 49.
[X-20] Carta al Rey, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 376. Oviedo states that Pedrarias sent a ship after Ayora to Santo Domingo, but before it reached that port Ayora had sailed for Spain, where, soon afterward, he died, leaving the bishop, the alcalde mayor, and the governor responsible for his crimes. Even if this were true, these functionaries may have winked at Ayora's escape.
[X-21] Theodore de Bry and Benzoni give graphic engravings of the cutting and roasting and eating of Spaniards. Says the latter, 'Quegli, che pigliauano vini, spetialmente il Capitani, legategli le mani e i piedi, gettatigli in terra, colauano loro dell'oro in bocca, dicendo, mangia, mangia oro Cristiano.' Hist. Nvovo Mondo, 49. Nor has Las Casas failed to improve the subject, as may be seen in the curious illustrations and extreme denunciations of his Regionvm Indicarum devastatorum, 18-22 et seq.
[X-22] Herrera, ii. i. ii.; Peter Martyr, iii. 6. Oviedo, iii. 46, asserts that Panciaco joined Pocorosa in the attack on Santa Cruz, and that not a single Spaniard escaped. Andagoya, in Nar., 12, says that all were killed save one woman, whom Pocorosa kept several years as his wife. She was finally killed through jealousy by an Indian woman who reported her to have been eaten by a crocodile while bathing.
[X-23] Oviedo calls this place Tamao.
[X-24] This was the site of old Panamá. Aboriginally fish in large quantities were dried there. 'Que es provincia adonde los ayres son buenos quando vienen dela mar,' says Herrera, ii. ii. x., 'y malos quando procedẽ de tierra.' In Purchas, His Pilgrimes, iv. 883, is written, 'It might haue had a better seate, and more wholesome, and to the purpose for the trafficke of the South Sea, not going very farre from whence the Citie now stands.' See Juan and Ulloa, Voy., i. 99; Heylyn's Cosmog., 1085; Lloyd, in London Geog. Soc., Jour., i. 85; Findlay's Direct., i. 213; Griswold's Panama, 11; Viagero Univ., xii. 303-30; Andagoya's Nar., 23. Ambiguously Gomara writes, Hist. Ind., 254, 'Deste golfo a Panama ay mas de cinquenta, que descubrio Gaspar de Morales Capitan de Pedrarias de Auila.' Still more indefinite is Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, 81, 'Questa prouincia di Panama soleua essere habitata da molti popoli Indiani, e per tutti quei siu mi v'era abbondanza d'oro; ma gli Spagnuoli hanno consumato ogni cosa.'
[X-25] It may be the same as Poncra; from the authorities it is impossible with certainty to determine.
[X-26] Peter Martyr speaks of four attempts to gain the golden temple. The first attained a distance up the river of forty leagues, the second of fifty leagues, and the third of eighty leagues. Again they crossed the river and proceeded by land, 'but oh! wonderful mischance, the unarmed and naked people always overcame the armed and armored.' Jacobo Álvarez Osorio, a friar of the priory of Darien, spent many years in search of the province of Dabaiba.
[X-27] Balboa says eighty. Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 530.
[X-28] Gomara, Hist. Ind., 84, gives the island or the chieftain yet another name, 'y diose buena maña en la ysla de Terarequi a rescatar perlas.' Oviedo, iii. 16, calls the island Toe.
[X-29] Writing the king, Vasco Nuñez tells the tale somewhat differently. 'No sooner had they arrived at Isla Rica,' he says, 'than entering a village they captured all the Indians they could. The cacique prepared for war, but retired for several days, during which time the Christians burned half the houses with all the provisions. Afterward the cacique peaceably returned with fifteen or sixteen marks of pearls and four thousand pesos in gold. Then he took the Spaniards to the place where they obtained the pearls, and made his people gather them, and remain at peace. Notwithstanding all this the captain without conscience gave away as slaves all the men and all the women whom he brought away from the Rich Island.' The statement may be taken with allowance as from a man smarting under wrong; and it is not a little amusing to see how suddenly tender becomes the conscience of the ingenuous Vasco, who never stole anything from the natives, or burned their houses, or made them slaves!