In 1542 Bartolomé de Las Casas placed in the hands of the emperor the manuscript of his well known work on the destruction of the Indies, and through the exertions mainly of that never-tiring missionary a royal junta composed of ecclesiastics and jurists was held during the previous year at Valladolid for the purpose of drawing up regulations for the better government of the provinces. The great apostle of the Indies pleaded his favorite cause with all the fire of his eloquence, urging that the natives of the New World were by the law of nature free, and giving utterance to the now somewhat trite maxim "God does not allow evil that good may come."
It is somewhat singular, to say the least, to hear such doctrine from the lips of a Dominican,[XIV‑14] while yet the dark looming cloud of the inquisition cast, as from the wings of a fallen angel, the dun spectre of its huge eclipse athwart the hemispheres.
The ordinances framed by the junta received the emperor's approval, and after being somewhat amplified were published in Madrid in 1543, and thenceforth known as the New Laws.[XIV‑15] The code contains a large number of articles, many of them relating almost exclusively to the enslavement and treatment of the natives. It was provided that all Indian slaves should be set free, unless their owners could establish a legal title to their possession.[XIV‑16] None were thenceforth to be enslaved under any pretext.
Proprietors to whom the repartimientos had given an excessive number must surrender a portion of them to the crown. On the death of encomenderos[XIV‑17] the slaves were to revert to the crown. All ecclesiastics and religious societies and all officers under the crown must deliver up their bondsmen or bondswomen, not being allowed to retain them even though resigning office. Inspectors were appointed to watch over the interests of the natives, and were paid out of the fines levied on transgressors. Slaves were not to be employed in the pearl-fisheries against their will under penalty of death to the party so employing them, nor when used as pack-animals was such a load to be laid on their backs as might endanger their lives. Finally they were to be converted to the Catholic faith, and it was ordered that two priests should accompany all exploring parties, to instruct the Americans that his Majesty the emperor regarded them as his free subjects, and that his holiness the pope desired to bring them to a true knowledge of him the spread of whose doctrines had in less than half a century been attended with the depopulation of the fairest portions of the New World.
Among the provisions of the new code were others almost as distasteful to many of the Spaniards as were those relating to the enfranchisement of the natives. The audiencia of Panamá was abolished and two new tribunals were to be established, one at Los Reyes, which now first began to bear the name of Lima, and was thenceforth the metropolis of the South American continent; the other termed the audiencia de los Confines, at Comayagua, with jurisdiction over Chiapas, Yucatan, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the province of Tierra Firme, known as Castilla del Oro. From the decision of these tribunals and from those of the audiencias of Mexico and Santo Domingo, there was to be in criminal cases no appeal. In civil suits the losing party might demand a second trial, the benefit of which is not apparent, as no new evidence was admitted, and the case was conducted by the oidores who rendered the first judgment. If the amount exceeded ten thousand pesos de oro, there lay right of appeal to the council of the Indies. Moreover, the oidores[XIV‑18] were empowered to inquire into the administration of the governor and other civil functionaries, and to suspend them from office, their report being sent to the council of the Indies for final action.
Such were the main features of the new code which sought to strike the fetters from a nation which was fast disappearing from the family of man. Tidings of this remarkable piece of legislation soon spread throughout the New World, and from Mexico to Los Reyes the entire population was in a state of ferment bordering revolution. To deprive the settlers of their slaves was to reduce them to beggary. Slaves constituted the chief source of wealth throughout the provinces. Without them the mines could not be worked, towns could not be built, lands could not be tilled. The soldier urged his right of conquest, and many a scarred veteran, worn with toil and hardship, threatened to defend by the sword which had helped to win an empire for his sovereign the estates now threatened by these vexatious regulations.
The colonists were soon to learn that the new laws were not to remain a dead letter as had been the case with the royal ordinances. In January 1544 Vasco Nuñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru, arrived at Nombre de Dios, and finding there some Spaniards returning to their native country with stores of wealth acquired by the sale of their Peruvian slaves, ordered them to deliver up their treasure,[XIV‑19] and but for some doubt as to the legality of such a proceeding would certainly have confiscated it.
After crossing the Isthmus the viceroy liberated and sent back from Panamá at the expense of their proprietors, several hundred Indians who had been brought from Peru or were unjustly held in bondage. Bitter were the remonstrances against these high-handed measures, but Vela merely answered, "I come not to discuss the laws but to execute them." The condition of the natives was not improved, however, by their liberation, for we learn that numbers died on board ship from starvation and ill-usage, while others, cast ashore unarmed on a desolate coast, fell a prey to wild beasts or otherwise perished miserably.
A committee of the most noble and influential of the Spaniards waited on the new viceroy to gain from him, if possible, some concessions. They urged that, inasmuch as the Indians had been converted to Christianity, it would be a great loss to the church to enfranchise them, and that if enfranchised they would always be in danger of perishing from starvation. They dared not return to their own tribes, for the caciques inflicted the penalty of death on all who had become Christians. These arguments served but to rouse the wrath of the viceroy, who dismissed the deputation saying, "Were you under my jurisdiction I would hang you every one." Thenceforth none dared oppose him further. Even the oidores of the newly established audiencia of Los Reyes who had accompanied him from Spain made no protest, and on his departure for Peru remained for some time at Panamá before they could muster courage to follow.
In Tierra Firme and in the islands of the Spanish West Indies the new laws were partially obeyed, although complaints were still frequent of the ill-treatment of natives, of their being punished with stripes if they dared to complain, and of the arrival in Panamá of cargoes of slaves from Nicaragua. The priests were earnest in their protestations, and their reports to the emperor abounded in lofty expressions of concern for the cause of Christ and of humanity. The ecclesiastical and secular interests were ever at variance. Should the alcaldes render any decision that threatened to work adversely against the authority of the church, they were excommunicated, and thus rendered incapable, in the eyes of the people, of discharging the functions of their office. The governor and the bishop were continually at war, the latter cloaking under his pretended zeal for the conversion of the Indians, and the former under the pretext of upholding the dignity of the crown, the real purpose for which each was too often striving—that of gathering into his coffers the gold of his Majesty's vassals.[XIV‑20]
Administration of Doctor Robles—Interoceanic Communication—Proposed Change of the Site of Panamá—Nombre de Dios and its Trade—The Isthmus the Highway of Commerce between the Hemispheres—Vasco Nuñez Vela Lands in Peru—Gonzalo Pizarro at the Head of a Rebellion—Dissolution of the Audiencia of Los Reyes and Arrest of the Viceroy—His Release—His Defeat and Death at Añaquito—Gonzalo's Dreams of Conquest—He Despatches Bachicao to Panamá—Hinojosa's Expedition—His Bloodless Conquest of the Province—Melchor Verdugo's Invasion—Pedro de la Gasca—His Negotiations with the Revolutionists—Gasca Lands in Peru—Execution of Gonzalo Pizarro.
Of Pedro Vazquez, who succeeded Barrionuevo as governor of Castilla del Oro, little is known; but of Doctor Robles, the successor of Vazquez, under whose administration the government was continued till 1546, it is alleged, and probably with truth, that he wrought more harm to his fellow-man in a twelvemonth than the malign genius of a Pedrarias even could accomplish in a decade. In his greed for wealth he was rivalled only by the all-grasping Pedro de Los Rios, and in the astute cunning with which he cloaked his evil deeds he was without peer even in a community where the prevailing code of morals taught neither fear of God nor regard for man. Appointed oidor of the audiencia of Panamá, in 1538, he held office for several years, and the abolition of that tribunal was probably due in a measure to his malefeasance. There are no explicit details as to the precise charges which were brought against Robles, but we learn that in every instance he contrived to baffle the scrutiny of his judges. The licentiate Vaca de Castro was first ordered to bring the offender to justice, but called in vain on his fellow-oidores of the audiencia of Panamá to aid him in so doing. On the establishment of the audiencia of the Confines, the trial was yet unfinished, and as the aggrieved parties still clamored that it be brought to a conclusion, Ramirez, one of the oidores, and the first alcalde mayor of Panamá, was ordered to take his residencia. Robles appears to have escaped punishment, for he soon afterward figures as senior oidor of the audiencia of Lima. He returned before long to Panamá, and we learn that on the capture of that city in 1550, by Hernando and Pedro de Contreras, some of Gasca's treasure was captured at the house of Robles, who thenceforth disappears from the page of history.[XV‑1]
When Pedro de los Rios set out for Nicaragua he left orders with Captain Hernando de la Serna and the pilot Corzo to make a survey of the Rio de los Lagartos, now known as the river Chagre, for the purpose of facilitating communication between the two seas. They were directed also to examine the river Panamá, flowing in the opposite direction, and to explore the country between the highest navigable points on the two streams. This was done with a view of discovering the best route for a grand thoroughfare across the Isthmus, over which the tide of commerce might flow between Spain and the Spice Islands; and although this object was never realized, the discovery which reduced land carriage to a distance of nine leagues proved most useful in the subsequent intercourse of Spain and Peru.
The project for interoceanic communication by way of the isthmus of Panamá was first mooted more than three hundred and fifty years ago, and to Charles V. probably belongs the merit of its suggestion. The plan first proposed was to unite the Rio Grande with the Chagre, which except in seasons of drought was navigable for vessels of light draught as far as the present town of Cruces, and so make the connection on the Pacific side near the modern city of Panamá. Andagoya, who has already been mentioned as the one who in 1522 conducted an expedition to Birú, was directed to make a survey and to furnish estimates of the probable cost. His report was unfavorable; for in a despatch addressed to the emperor, about 1534, he expresses his belief that there was no monarch in all Europe rich enough to furnish the means to carry out such an enterprise.[XV‑2]
In the same despatch Andagoya also reports adversely on a question which had been for several years under discussion—that of moving to another site the population of Panamá. In a letter addressed to Francisco Pizarro in 1531, Antonio de la Gama declares his intention of making such a change; for ever since the city had been founded by Pedrarias, complaints had been made of its unhealthy climate.[XV‑3] A royal cédula was afterward issued ordering that the citizens should meet and discuss the question, and Andagoya states that the matter was decided in the negative; for, he tells us: "There is no other port in all the South Sea where vessels could anchor alongside the streets." Moreover he affirms that "God himself had selected the site."
The chronicler Benzoni, who travelled in Darien between 1541 and 1556, mentions that the road from Panamá[XV‑4] to Nombre de Dios was about fifty miles in length, and that during the first day's journey it was tolerably smooth, but the remainder of the route lay over rugged and difficult ground, through forest and through streams sometimes almost impassable during the rainy season.[XV‑5] Merchants doing business at Nombre de Dios usually resided at Panamá. At the time of Benzoni's visit to the former town, about the year 1541, it contained but fifteen or twenty wholesale merchants, the remainder of the population being principally small tradesmen, innkeepers, and sailors.
The trade of Nombre de Dios was extremely fluctuating. Fourteen or fifteen Spanish vessels of various sizes, the largest being about three hundred and sixty tons burden, arrived there annually, with miscellaneous cargoes, but laden principally with wine, flour, biscuit, oil, cloth, silk, and household merchandise. The prices obtained for goods depended altogether upon the supply. When the market was overstocked, prices frequently ruled lower than first cost in Spain, and cargoes were sometimes forfeited by the consignee as not worth the freight. On the other hand, when an article was scarce, an enormous price could be obtained for it, sometimes its weight in gold.
When a ship arrived at Nombre de Dios the cargo was discharged into flat-bottomed boats, and carried by way of the Chagre as far as Cruces, about six leagues from the South Sea. Here the merchandise was delivered to muleteers, who conveyed it to Panamá, whence it was shipped in various directions, though the greater part of the trade was with Peru.[XV‑6]
About the middle of the sixteenth century the isthmus of Darien had become the gate-way between the two seas, and Panamá the most important city of America. Situated upon the world's highway and in the very centre of the Spanish colonial possessions, through its portals must flow the treasures of Peru from the south, the products of Mexico, Nicaragua, and Guatemala from the north, and the trans-oceanic traffic of the Spice Islands from the west. Thus Panamá became not only the metropolis of the two Americas, but the half-way house and toll-gate between western Europe and eastern Asia. There the raw adventurer who at the opening of his career pressed forward with eager expectation into a dark uncertain future met the returned fortune-seeker elated with success or broken-spirited through failure. Into the lap of this great central city poured untold wealth. Her merchants were princes; her warerooms were filled with rich merchandise of every kind and from every quarter of the globe. There were to be seen stacks of yellow and white ingots from the mines of Peru, the cochineal and dye-woods of Mexico, the richest wines of Spain and Portugal, the silks, velvets, and laces of France and Italy.
The establishment of this commercial metropolis on the shores of the southern sea was the means of winning for Spain many of those provinces whose wealth was thus exchanged for the luxuries of the Old World. Without Panamá Francisco Pizarro could never have conquered Peru,[XV‑7] and after his conquest it is more than probable that but for prompt assistance from Panamá the brave Manco Capac would have succeeded in exterminating the Spaniards within his territory. While a central position and a command of both the oceans gave to the city her wealth and importance, the same causes exposed her not infrequently to social and political convulsions, and to attack from foreign powers. An insurrection in Guatemala, a rebellion in Peru, a system of restrictions on Asiatic trade were immediately felt in Panamá, and upon that city fell the heaviest blows aimed by the English, French, or Dutch against the Spanish possessions in the New World. Between 1545 and 1671, at which later date the old city of Panamá was burned, it was sacked and partially destroyed no less than four times. In other chapters I shall bring together such facts as I have been able to find relating to the lives and fortunes of the Spaniards of Darien and Central America during the three centuries which elapsed between the conquest of that country by the Spaniards and their renunciation of allegiance to parental authority. This epoch opened and ended in attempted revolution. The first was futile, the last successful. The first was attempted by brave, strong, and daring men, but Spain and Charles were stronger. The last was attempted by weak, degenerate Spaniards, but Spain and Fernando were weaker.
Upon the death of Francisco Pizarro, the Almagrist faction maintained the ascendency in Peru,[XV‑8] until dispersed by Vaca de Castro on the plains of Chupas. Young Almagro then fled to Cuzco, where he was arrested and beheaded as a traitor.[XV‑9] Vaca de Castro had but just arrived in Peru. He brought with him a commission from the crown to arbitrate upon and settle the discords between the rival factions; and in the event of the decease of Francisco Pizarro, he was instructed to assume the government. Gonzalo Pizarro, who had been appointed governor of Quito, was at the time of his brother's murder absent on an expedition of discovery to the river Amazon. On his return, learning of Francisco's tragic fate, he offered his services to Vaca de Castro, but they were declined by that official, who was fearful lest the turbulent and overbearing disposition of the last of the Pizarros should interfere with his administration of the government. Gonzalo, angered at the rebuff, retired to La Plata and engaged in working the rich silver-mines in that locality.
Up to this time Charles, occupied by the affairs of his vast empire at home, had paid but little attention to the welfare of the colonies. In general terms the Spanish government had set limits to the cruelty and oppression of the natives by the conquerors. The intentions of the sovereigns and their councils were from the beginning humane and praiseworthy as I have often observed. But as new issues were constantly growing out of these new conditions, and as very many of the royal decrees concerning the affairs of the Indies were impracticable and therefore inoperative, the conquerors were left in a measure to lay down their own rules of conduct according to their immediate necessities; or rather to act independent of all rule, being governed by the dictates of their judgment or interest. If success attended these lawless efforts, the misdeeds of these adventurers were obliterated by their gold. If unsuccessful, they usually fell victims to their cruelty or cupidity, and their bones were left to moulder in the wilderness; so that in the early history of the Spanish colonies it was only at rare intervals and in aggravated cases that any notice was taken of disobedience of the laws. To one crime, however—that of disloyalty—the Spanish monarchs were never insensible. So long as the prerogatives of the crown were strictly regarded, excesses were overlooked. The next most heinous offence was civil strife. Native Americans, a race midway between Castilians and brutes, might be slaughtered by the thousand upon slight cause;[XV‑10] but the lives of Spanish marauders were far too valuable to be given up to internecine strife.
In Peru, however, it was different. The passions of the populace had been roused by contending factions, and the license hitherto granted to the conquerors rendered them all the more impatient of restraint. Although the people were worse prepared for stringent measures than the more orderly colonists of Mexico, the person upon whom devolved the execution of the obnoxious laws lacked the wise and politic discrimination which governed the actions of Sandoval and Mendoza.
On the 4th of March 1544, Vasco Nuñez Vela landed at Tumbez on the Peruvian coast, and as the fame of his high-handed measures at Panamá had not preceded him, was accorded a loyal reception. His popularity was short-lived, for the viceroy immediately liberated a number of slaves and on his journey to Los Reyes would not even allow his baggage to be carried by Indians, or, if compelled to do so, he paid them liberally. Such conduct caused huge disgust throughout the province, but Nuñez was deaf to all remonstrance and even caused the arrest of some of the malecontents.
Many now bidding defiance to the vicegerent took up arms and urged Gonzalo Pizarro, the sole surviving brother of the conqueror, to place himself at their head. Nothing loath, Gonzalo proceeded at once to Cuzco, and having good store of wealth accumulated by mining and pillage soon mustered a numerous band.[XV‑11] The royal banner of Castile was planted before his quarters, and he loudly affirmed that he was a true and lawful subject of the king, that the viceroy had exceeded his instructions, and that he only aimed to hold in check his iniquitous purposes until the will of the emperor could be ascertained. Vasco Nuñez at length drew upon himself the indignation of his own partisans, who at the instigation of the bachiller Cepeda, a member of the audiencia, mutinied and decided to place the viceroy upon a vessel to be conveyed back to Spain.
Meanwhile the colonists flocked to the standard of Gonzalo from every direction, until he soon found himself at the head of twelve hundred brave and disciplined troops. On the 28th of October 1544, amidst the acclamations of the populace, he entered Lima[XV‑12] at the head of his army, and the royal audiencia was dissolved. Scarcely had the ship which was to carry Vasco Nuñez to Panamá set sail from Lima, when Álvarez, the official in charge, not daring to appear in Spain with a viceroy as a prisoner, threw himself at his feet, begged forgiveness, and placed the ship and all on board under his command. Being thus unexpectedly released, he disembarked at Tumbez, raised a small force, and marching northward as far as Quito, called upon all loyal subjects to rally for the protection of the king's authority. He then marched at the head of about five hundred men to San Miguel.[XV‑13]
Gonzalo Pizarro, who had been narrowly watching the movements of the viceroy, now determined to bring matters to an issue. On the 4th of March 1545, he departed from Lima and marched against his opponent. Vasco Nuñez, fearful of the result, abandoned the town and fled to Añaquito, whither he was followed by the revolutionists, and on the 18th of January 1536 a hotly contested battle was fought, resulting in the defeat and death of the viceroy.[XV‑14]
Even before this event Gonzalo Pizarro had assumed the dictatorship of Peru and resolved to make himself master of Panamá, his dreams of conquest extending even to the provinces north of Tierra Firme.[XV‑15] Enlisting in his service one Hernando Bachicao,[XV‑16] he placed him in command of six hundred men and a fleet of twenty-seven ships.[XV‑17] Arriving at Tumbez, Bachicao landed a hundred troops, whereupon Vasco Nuñez, though in command of two hundred well trained veterans, fled to Añaquito, a portion of his forces deserting him and joining the standard of the revolutionists. Proceeding thence to Puerto Viejo and elsewhere, he seized several vessels and enlisted a hundred and fifty recruits. Calling at the Pearl Islands he was met by two messengers from Panamá, sent to request that he would forbear to land an armed force in Tierra Firme. Bachicao replied that he intended but to land his passengers and revictual his fleet.
The people of Panamá had been repeatedly warned by Vaca de Castro and others that their city was in danger of falling into the hands of Gonzalo Pizarro and had levied a force of seven hundred men, though ill-equipped and without experience or discipline. Thrown off their guard however by Bachicao's answer they allowed him to enter the harbor without opposition. He landed a portion of his forces and almost without resistance seized all the arms and ammunition in the arsenal and delivered up the city to pillage. The ship-masters in port were ordered to join his fleet, and those who refused were hanged at the yard-arm. A captain named Pedro Gallego was also executed for disobeying his order to shorten sail and cry Viva Pizarro![XV‑18]
All law and order were for the time at an end. Men were put to death without the formality of a trial, and it is even said that Bachicao beheaded some of his own officers on the merest suspicion of their disaffection or even for pastime.[XV‑19]
On receiving news of his lieutenant's misconduct accompanied with letters of remonstrance from the citizens of Panamá, Gonzalo at once deposed him from the command.[XV‑20] He was resolved, however, to gain control of the Isthmus, and despatched for this purpose Pedro de Hinojosa, at the head of two hundred and fifty men, with instructions to seize and hold both Panamá and Nombre de Dios. Hinojosa, who had first landed in Peru in 1534, and had done good service under Francisco and Hernando Pizarro, was a man of no mean abilities. Endowed by nature with a clear intelligence, honest of purpose and faithful to his trusts, with a judgment sharpened by long intercourse with the stirring scenes of the New World, he was eminently fitted for command, and enjoyed in no small degree the confidence of his soldiers.
The expedition sailed northward as far as Puerto Viejo, whence a vessel was sent in charge of Rodrigo de Carbajal with letters from Gonzalo to the principal residents of Panamá begging their favor and coöperation, disclaiming all connection with Bachicao's outrages, and stating that Hinojosa was now on his way with means sufficient to indemnify all who had suffered loss. If the force by which he was accompanied appeared to them somewhat large for the purpose, it should be remembered that Gonzalo's enemies were on the alert, and that it would be unsafe to navigate the ocean with a smaller fleet.
Accompanied by fifteen men, Carbajal landed at Ancon, a small cove two leagues from Panamá. There he was informed by some planters residing in the vicinity that two captains of the viceroy, Juan de Guzman and Juan de Illanes, were in the city enlisting troops under a commission from their chief, who awaited their coming at Quito. They had thus far succeeded in raising a company of one hundred men and in collecting a considerable quantity of arms, including six pieces of field artillery. "But," continued his informers, "although they have been ready to sail for many days, they appear to be in no haste to depart, and it is now believed that it is their intention to remain and defend the city against the insurgents." Under the circumstances, Carbajal did not think it prudent to land. He therefore despatched an emissary secretly by night with the letters from Pizarro.
The citizens to whom they were addressed were not to be duped however, and at once placed them before the authorities. The messenger was arrested, and forced to disclose all he knew respecting Hinojosa and his visit. The guard of the city was increased, and two well armed brigantines were sent to capture the vessel then at Ancon. But Carbajal was too quick for them; suspecting from the delay of his messenger the true state of affairs, he slipped away, and hiding his vessel among the Pearl Islands, there awaited the approach of his commander.[XV‑21]
In the mean time Hinojosa continuing his course northward touched at Buenaventura. There he learned that Vasco Nuñez Vela was then engaged, with the assistance of Benalcázar, in recruiting his army in that neighborhood. Landing a party of soldiers, he captured eight or ten of the inhabitants, who gave information that the viceroy was at Popayan, and that owing to the delay of his captains, Juan de Illanes and Juan de Guzman, he had determined to send his brother, Captain Vela Nuñez, accompanied by efficient officers, to hasten the arrival of troops from Panamá. Moreover he had ascertained that the viceroy was building a brigantine, now almost completed, on board of which he intended to place his brother, in charge of all his treasure,[XV‑22] and to send to Panamá, in the hope of obtaining a heavy ransom from some of Hinojosa's partisans, an illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, then a captive in his hands. Vela Nuñez, together with his officers and a detachment of men in charge of young Pizarro, were then marching to the coast by different routes, to embark on board the vessel. By a clever stroke of strategy Hinojosa captured both parties, seized the treasure, and placed Vela Nuñez and his command as prisoners on board the fleet. Then taking with him young Pizarro, whom he liberated and treated with marked consideration, he set sail for Panamá, and after being joined by Carbajal, cast anchor in the bay with eleven ships[XV‑23] and the two hundred and fifty men already mentioned. This was in October 1545.
The city was divided as to the policy of admitting the insurgents. The merchants and all who derived profit from the Peruvian trade saw everything to gain by the arrival of a large and richly laden fleet. Many of them furthermore held property in Peru, and transacted business through their factors, upon whom Gonzalo Pizarro would not fail to inflict summary punishment if he heard of opposition at Panamá. On the other hand Doctor Robles, the governor, with his political adherents and all who derived place and profit from the crown, loudly disclaimed against the rebels, and called on the people to assist him in the defence of the city, under penalty of the royal displeasure.[XV‑24] In the end the governor's party prevailed, the opposite faction yielding in appearance at least, and the corregidor Pedro de Casaos receiving the appointment of captain general[XV‑25] marched forth to oppose the landing of Hinojosa. The entire forces of the royalist party now mustered, apart from some small reënforcements from Nombre de Dios, nearly eight hundred men, only ninety of whom were disciplined troops, the remainder being an ill-armed crew of citizen-soldiers. The army was well supplied with field artillery.[XV‑26]
Dropping down with his fleet to the cove of Ancon, Hinojosa disembarked two hundred men under cover of his cannon, landing them on a rocky projection of the shore, inaccessible to the enemy's cavalry. He then began his march on Panamá, ordering the fleet to keep him company at a short distance from the shore with guns trimmed ready for action.[XV‑27]
At this juncture the ecclesiastics of the city issuing forth in a body, with mournful chants and sad countenances, their garments covered with crosses and the insignia of mourning, began to expostulate with both armies. "Is it necessary," they cried, "for Christians to imbue their hands in each other's blood!" At length an armistice of one day was agreed on. Hostages were given on either side, and the efforts of the priests to bring about an agreement between the parties were redoubled.
Hinojosa declared that he could not see why he was denied entrance into the city.[XV‑28] He came not to make war but restitution. Gonzalo Pizarro harbored no evil design; but he was master of Peru, and he intended to be master of the only thoroughfare to Peru—that which traversed the continent from Nombre de Dios to Panamá. If the people of the Isthmus would resign themselves to the sway of Pizarro while he wielded supreme power in Peru, or until matters were settled by the crown, all would be well; otherwise war must inevitably follow.
Pedro de Casaos and the men of Panamá were not satisfied.[XV‑29] They had just experienced a foretaste of what they might expect should another of Gonzalo's captains obtain possession of the city, but their only alternative was compromise, or the arbitration of the sword. It was finally agreed that the loyal colonists who had come over from Nombre de Dios to render assistance should return, and that Hinojosa should be allowed to enter the city with a guard of thirty men, there to remain for forty-five days.[XV‑30] His ships meanwhile were to retire to Taboga or to the Pearl Islands, to be revictualled and repaired. The articles of agreement were drawn up by a notary and signed by the respective parties who bound themselves by oath to adhere faithfully to the terms stipulated.
Although Hinojosa was thus restricted by the terms of his compact and for the moment could strike no blow for the conquest of Panamá, he was by no means idle during the interval. Maintaining a strict watch against surprise and assassination,[XV‑31] he took up his quarters in a comfortable well furnished house, loaded his table with choice viands, and throwing open his doors entertained all comers with lavish hospitality. His apartments soon became the resort of soldiers and adventurers of every clique. Gonzalo Pizarro and the affairs of Peru were discussed over brimming goblets. Brilliant stories concerning the discovery and opening of mines of fabulous richness[XV‑32] fired the cupidity of the listeners, while a free passage was offered to all, and liberal pay promised from the first day of enlistment.
By these shrewd measures Hinojosa had the satisfaction of seeing his forces daily increase, while those of Pedro de Casaos proportionately diminished. The soldiers of Juan de Illanes and Juan de Guzman did not prove insensible to the wiles and genial hospitality of Hinojosa, and those captains, seeing themselves abandoned by the greater part of their recruits, secretly stole from the city and seizing a vessel attempted to make their escape to Peru. They were, however, captured by one of the watchful captains stationed in the harbor, and not long after voluntarily joined themselves to Hinojosa and became his faithful adherents. Such was the influence which Hinojosa acquired by his careless and apparently unintentional display of wealth, and by his skill in throwing tempting baits to men who never flinched from danger when they saw prospect of gain, that in a few weeks and by a silent and bloodless revolution he became master of the city. At the expiration of the forty-five days he seized the batteries and made a formal entry into Panamá at the head of his entire force, amidst the acclamations of the greater part of the inhabitants.
Hinojosa took no advantage of his easily won victory. He strove to maintain the strictest discipline among his followers, treated the citizens with the utmost liberality, and ordered that the soldiers should respect their rights and in no wise interfere with their affairs.[XV‑33] He then despatched his son-in-law, Hernando Mejía de Guzman, in company with Pedro de Cabrera, to take possession of Nombre de Dios and guard the interests of Gonzalo Pizarro in that quarter.
While the province of Panamá thus quietly passed into the hands of Hinojosa the partisans of the viceroy were not idle. Melchor Verdugo,[XV‑34] to whom as one of the conquerors of Peru had been assigned the province of Caxamalca, proffered his services to Vasco Nuñez Vela, on his first landing in Peru. Becoming afterward implicated in a plot devised by the royalist party to gain possession of Lima, he was arrested in that city by order of Gonzalo Pizarro. Escaping thence he proceeded to Trujillo, where he was fortunate enough to seize one of Bachicao's vessels, laden with the spoils of Panamá. With the proceeds of this capture, and with funds realized from his own estate, he enlisted a company in the service of the viceroy. He then sailed for Nicaragua and requested from the governor, as a loyal servant of the king, men and means to assist him in quelling the insurrection on the Isthmus. Failing to draw from him a hearty response he next applied to the audiencia of the Confines. With the magistrates of that tribunal he was more successful. Licentiate Ramirez de Alarcon, one of the members, took an active part in recruiting men and collecting arms and horses.
In the mean time tidings of Verdugo's doings in Peru and Nicaragua and his intended expedition to the northern coast of Darien reached Panamá. Hinojosa, fearing that Verdugo might raise a force sufficient to cause him trouble, sent Juan Alonso Palomino with two vessels and one hundred and twenty arquebusiers in pursuit. Arriving at Nicaragua Palomino captured Verdugo's vessel without difficulty, but on attempting to land found himself confronted by all the available men in the province arrayed under the royalist banner, under the command of Verdugo and the licentiate. After hovering about the coast for several days, watching in vain for a chance to disembark, he seized all the ships on the coast, and burning those which were unserviceable, returned with the remainder to Panamá, not knowing that his design was suspected. Verdugo made ready on Lake Nicaragua three or four frigates, and with two hundred choice and well armed troops[XV‑35] sailed through the river San Juan to the North Sea, and creeping stealthily along the coast, hoped to surprise the rebels before his presence in that quarter became known. At the Rio Chagre he captured a vessel manned by negroes, from whom he obtained valuable information as to the condition of affairs at Nombre de Dios, the number of men stationed there, the names of their commanders, and a minute description of the building in which the officers were quartered.
Hinojosa was on the alert, but not so his captains. Though warned of the approach of the loyal party, they were taken by surprise. Landing at midnight, Verdugo stole quietly to the house where Hernando Mejía, Pedro Cabrera, and other officers were peacefully slumbering, surrounded the premises, and fired the dwelling. The dilatory captains, maddened at thus being entrapped in their own beds, sprang up, and seizing their weapons rushed out of the blazing edifice, and cutting their way through the enemy made their escape to the woods and finally to Panamá.[XV‑36]
Had Verdugo thenceforth conducted his affairs with the skill and discretion which characterized Hinojosa's movements at Panamá he would have caused that commander no little trouble, but he had none of the tact or generalship of Gonzalo's officer. He imprisoned the alcaldes, levied arbitrary assessments upon the merchants, demanded heavy ransom for his prisoners, and soon made himself so obnoxious to the people that with one accord they petitioned Doctor Ribera, the mayor, to ask protection from Hinojosa. The appeal was not in vain. Ribera at once entered into negotiations with Hinojosa,[XV‑37] and it was agreed that while the former levied troops at Nombre de Dios, the latter should at once march from Panamá with a strong force. Verdugo impressed into his service every available man, and withdrawing from the town, took up a position on the shore, where he was to some extent covered by the guns of his vessels. There he awaited Hinojosa, who with a small but picked company of veterans[XV‑38] was now crossing the Isthmus to join battle with the royalist forces.
As soon as the rebel troops debouched from the woods surrounding Nombre de Dios, Ribera sallied from the town and opened a lively fire on the forces of Verdugo, the citizens taking fright at the first noise of the fray and scampering to a hill near by. Hinojosa's brigade advanced meanwhile with the steady measured tramp of trained soldiers, whereupon the men of Nicaragua, led by Verdugo, took to their heels also, leaving but one of their number wounded on the field,[XV‑39] and regained their ships, whence a brisk cannonade was opened on the town, but without visible result save loss of ammunition. The royalist captain then set sail for Cartagena, there to await a more favorable opportunity to serve his king. Hinojosa severely reprimanded Mejía and the other fugitive officers, and leaving them at Nombre de Dios in charge of a stronger garrison returned with Ribera to Panamá.
Nothing could have happened that would draw the attention of the court of Spain to the affairs of the New World more effectually than rebellion, as I have before intimated. The discovery and conquest of America cannot be classed as an achievement of the nation. It was a magnificent accident, in the busy reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, and Charles. Those sovereigns, absorbed in wars and involved in ambitious intrigues at home, with a vast continent thrust upon them by a Genoese navigator, could scarcely find time to do more than grant permits to adventurers to subjugate, at their own cost, new territories in the western world, and to receive when remitted to them the royal fifth of the returns. But rebellion, of whatsoever magnitude or shape, is always distasteful to a sovereign. Therefore when tidings reached Spain that the emperor's representative in Peru had been maltreated, and that a powerful body of insurgents held possession of that province, the monarch and his ministers were aroused. The affairs of Peru occupied for a time their careful consideration. Lengthy debates and close councils followed. At first, the king's counsellors in their deliberations consulted only the honor of the nation and strongly advocated sending an armed force against Pizarro; but insurrection at home and insurrection in Peru were two very different things. The Spanish government could more easily make war against a hundred thousand men in Spain or Germany than against one thousand in the wilds of that distant province.[XV‑40]