passing wonder that they did not enter the mouth of the Amazon, and ascend that river, supposing it to be the much sought Strait. The next important name on the roll is that of Alfonso, or Alonzo, de Ojeda, already mentioned, one of the most brilliant and gallant of the cavaliers of Spain, and the hero of a thousand thrilling tales. Having shown his exceptional efficiency as a commander at St. Thomas, he was in 1508 appointed Governor of what is now the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The King of Spain, in shameful disregard of the rights of Diego Columbus, divided that region into two provinces, with a line of demarcation running north and south through the Gulf of Uraba. All eastward from that line, to Cabo de la Vela, he called Nueva Andalusia, or New Andalusia, and made Ojeda its governor, while all westward, to Cabo Gracias a Dios, he called Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile, and appointed as its governor Diego de Nicuesa, or Niquesa. In 1509 these governors set out for their provinces, with instructions to press diligently the search for the "Secret of the Strait." Concerning them, we may again quote Galvano: "In the year 1508, one Alfonso de Ojeda, with the favour of Don Ferdinand, purposed to go to Terra Firma, to conquer the Province of Darien. He went forth at his own charges, and discovered the Firm Land, where it is called Uraba, which he named Castilla del Oro, that is, Golden Castile, because of the gold which they found among the sand along the coast; and they were the first Spaniards that did this. Alfonso de Ojeda went first from the Island of Hispaniola and the City of San Domingo, with four ships and three hundred soldiers, leaving behind him the bachelor Enciso, who afterwards compiled a book of these discoveries. And after him. there also went a ship with victuals, ammunition, and one hundred and fifty Spaniards. He went on land to Carthagena; but there the people of the country took, slew, and ate seventy of his followers; whereupon he grew very weak. . . . In the year 1508, one Diego de Niquesa prepared seven ships in the Port of Beate, to go to Veraguas, and carried in them almost eight hundred men. When he THE COMING OF BALBOA 21 came to Carthagena, he found there Alfonso de Ojeda, much weakened by his former loss; but then they joined together, and went on land, and avenged themselves on the people. In this voyage Diego de Niquesa went and discovered the coast called Nombre de Dios, and went unto the Sound of Darien, and called it Puerto de Misas, which is upon the River Pito. When they were come unto Veraguas, he went on shore with his army, his soldiers being out of hope to return to Hispaniola. Alfonso de Ojeda began a fortress in Caribana against the Caribbees; which was the first town the Spaniards builded on the firm land; and in Nombre de Dios they builded another, and called it Nuestra Señora de la Antigua. They builded also the town of Uraba. And there they left for their captain and lieutenant one Francisco Pizarro, who was there much troubled. They builded other towns also whose names I here omit. But these captains had not that good success which they hoped for." Nicuesa died at sea. La Cosa was among those of Ojeda's men who were slain by the savages. Ojeda also died, leaving as his successor in command Francisco Pizarro, an Estremaduran adventurer, formerly a swineherd, and afterward the conqueror of Peru. Pizarro, despairing of accomplishing much on the Gulf of Darien, was actually abandoning the enterprise and leaving the place when he met Martin Fernandez de Enciso coming to him with succour. Enciso had been a partner of Ojeda, and, beside being a competent adventurer and administrator, was one of the ablest cosmographers of his time, and wrote in 1519 "Suma de Geografia," the first Spanish book ever published about America. With this aid and encouragement Pizarro returned to his place. There now came npon the scene the most important figure of all. This was an impoverished Hidalgo of Estremadura, by name Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. He had gone to the Isthmian coast in 1500, with Bastidas, and thence to Hispaniola. While Bastidas was arrested and imprisoned by Bobadilla, Balboa settled down as a farmer, at which occupation he had little success. Finally, overwhelmed with debts, he fled from his creditors concealed in a cask, which was put aboard one of Enciso's ships, and was thus conveyed to San Sebastian, which was the seat of Pizarro's government on the Gulf of Darien. There he got Enciso recognised as the successor of Diego de Niquesa as Governor of Castilla de Oro, and with Enciso founded the colony and city of Santa Maria del Antigua on the west coast of the Gulf, at the mouth of the Darien River, near the Atrato River. Balboa had visited those regions before, with Bastidas and La Cosa, and was thus better informed about it than the others; and he advised the building of the town on the west shore of the Gulf, because he knew the natives there were more friendly than those on the east shore, who had made such havoc with Ojeda's party. He himself became Alcalde of the town; and then presently quarrelled with Enciso, overthrew his government, and arrested him and sent him back to Spain. Enciso appears to have been a man of overbearing disposition, with whom it was difficult for any one to remain on friendly terms. Balboa owed him no thanks, either, although he had made his escape from his creditors on one of Enciso's ships; for Enciso was not privy to that trick, but was angry when he learned of it, and was with difficulty restrained from marooning Balboa on a desert island where he would have perished miserably. Thus Balboa became Governor of Castilla del Oro, getting a commission from the Royal Treasurer at Hispaniola; he married the daughter of Careta, a powerful native prince of Darien, and made an alliance with Comogre, another native prince; and was on the high road to distinction. Enciso, however, on arriving in Spain got the ear of the King, and poured into it a tale which, in spite of the excuses of Balboa's friend Zamudio, moved His Majesty to send for Balboa to return to Spain and to explain his extraordinary conduct. This was awkward. It would be impossible to give a satisfactory explanation, and Balboa would probably be removed from the governorship which he had usurped, and perhaps be cast into prison. In this desperate predicament Balboa determined to do, if possible, some great deed which DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 23 would command the favour of the King-or perish in the attempt. He had heard from the chieftain Comogre and other natives various tales of a great water lying not far to the south and west, and also of a land where gold was so abundant that people made bowls and cups of it, instead of pottery. The reference was, of course, to the Pacific Ocean and Peru. He shrewdly assumed that if he could discover those regions, the King would overlook that irregular episode with Enciso. Accordingly he organised an expedition for the purpose. He sailed, on September 1, 1513, for Coiba, on the coast of the Gulf of Darien, between Punto Tiburon and Caledonian Bay, with a company of 290 men. Leaving half of his force with the ships, and securing 100 Indian guides and bearers, he started inland on September 6. Privations and difficulties were great in those savage jungles and progress was slow. But at last, on September 25, "With eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific,-and all his men He was still some distance from that new-found sea, but thereafter more rapid progress toward it was made. On September 29 he reached the shore, strode into the water, and proclaimed possession of it in the name of the King of Spain. It was the day of St. Michael, wherefore he named the water the Golfo de San Miguel, or Gulf of St. Michael, as it is called to this day. He had by happy chance crossed the Isthmus at its very narrowest part, by the route long afterwards surveyed for a canal and known as the Caledonian Canal route the shortest route but not at the lowest level. He spent some time exploring the coast, and saw afar the beautiful Pearl Islands in the Bay of Panama. "He embarked himself," says Galvano, "against the will of Chiapes, who was lord of that coast, who wished him not to do so because it was very dangerous for him. But he, desirous to have it known that he had been upon those seas, went for ward, and came back again to land in safety, and with great content, bringing with him good store of gold, silver, and pearls, which they there took." The "seas" upon which he sailed were the Gulf of St. Michael. He landed upon the northern shore of that gulf, and secured the friendship of a powerful chief of that region, named Tumaco, or Tumaccus. Balboa then returned to his capital, and, instead of proceeding to Spain in answer to the royal summons, he sent thither an account of his great achievement. He had not hoped too much for its effect. The King, appreciative and grateful, reckoned that the man was doing too profitable a work to be interrupted by coming home to Spain to answer Enciso's charges, so he sent him word to stay where he was, not merely as Governor but also as Adelantado of the new coast and lands he had discovered. Unfortunately, however, Balboa's messenger did not reach Spain until after the King had despatched the infamous Pedrarias Davila to the Isthmus to supersede him and to hurry him to Spain. "In the year 1514," says Galvano, citing Peter Martyr, "and in the month of May, there went out of St. Lucar, one Pedro Arias de Avila, at the command of Don Ferdinand. He was the fourth Governor of Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile, for so they named the countries of Darien, Carthagena, and Uraba, and that country which was newly conquered. He carried with him his wife, the Lady Elizabeth, and 1,500 men, in seven ships; and the King appointed Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Governor of the South Sea, and of that coast." Pedro Arias de Avila is variously known in history as Pedrarias Davila and as Pedrarias. There are now some most estimable people living in Panama who bear the name of Arias, for whose sake we shall do well not to identify them more than we can help, through similarity of name, with that "Timour of the Indies;" wherefore let him be disguised as Pedrarias. He was one of the worst of the early conquistadors, having little real ability to counterbalance his infernal cruelties and wickednesses, the best thing about him being his old age, which made his days |