CHAPTER II

_The Sighting of the Pacific_

With his wild crew Balboa sailed from Santa Maria up the coast to Coyba, where he left half his men to guard the brigantine and canoes, and started out, after offering up fervent prayers to God to grant him success in his mission. Through a country which might have caused dismay to the boldest of adventurers, struggling through pathless bush which seemed almost impenetrable, over steep rocks with the sun blazing down upon them, encumbered with their heavy armour, and with supplies for only two days, they pushed their way, until they reached a forsaken Indian village, where almost overcome by their exertions they were compelled to rest for a time. Many of the band had fallen sick, and after recovering somewhat, were compelled to return to the boats. Fresh guides had to be procured who knew the country through which they were now to pass, and on the twentieth of September, 1513, they started off again through a country covered with a dense growth of forest, streams and water-courses often barring their path.

So slow was their progress that it took four days to go ten leagues. Hunger and thirst consumed them, but they kept on, until they arrived in the province of a warlike cacique who contested their progress. But when the Indians found their companions falling around them, shot down by the fire-arms of the invaders, they were terrified. Guns were new to them; in their ignorance they looked upon them as strange demons who threw out fire and thunder, and when the dogs were loosened on them they turned and fled. Many were overtaken and torn to pieces by the half-famished hounds, others were cut down by the sword, till over six hundred lay dead upon the field.

The conquerors marched into the village and gathered their spoil, gold and jewels, rested themselves from fatigue and tended

their wounded. The village lay at the foot of a high mountain, and on the following morning, conducted by guides selected from among the prisoners, Balboa leaving his wounded behind him, started the ascent, with his remaining followers. When they had nearly reached the summit the leader gave orders to his men to halt, and forbade any man to stir. Then all alone he climbed and reached the topmost peak, from whence he was able to discern the ocean he had passed through such trials to behold. Often during the long and tedious journey doubts must have passed through his mind regarding the existence of the sea now lying in front of him, but all the strange tales and rumours which for years had been whispered amongst mariners were, after all, true, and he was the first European to know it! This bold adventurer, accustomed to bloodshed and wild disaster, knelt down and gave thanks to God for having privileged him to make this great discovery. Then, calling his men to ascend and share his vision, he addressed them. “Behold, my friends, that glorious sight which we have so much desired. Let us give thanks to God that He has granted us this great honour and advantage. Let us pray to Him to guide us and aid us to conquer the sea and land which we have discovered, and which Christian has never entered to preach the holy doctrine of the evangelists. As to yourselves, be, as you have hitherto been, faithful and true to me, and, by the favour of Christ, you will become the richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies. You will render the greatest services to your King that ever vassal rendered to his lord, and you will have the eternal glory and advantage of all that is here discovered, conquered, and converted to our Holy Catholic Faith.”

This perfervid utterance, the incongruity of which strikes us to-day as almost blasphemous, aroused enthusiasm in his followers, who swore to stand by their intrepid leader and follow him to the death in pursuit of their new prospects. They all knelt down, and led by de Vara the priest, who accompanied them, lustily chanted the “_Te Deum_.” Speculation ran high as to the possibilities that lay before them, but they were all convinced that they were at length on the right road to become possessors of the riches of the Indies. Summoning the notary of the expedition, Balboa called all present to witness that he took possession of all the sea, its islands and surrounding hills, in the name of the Sovereigns of Castile, and had a deed prepared to that effect, which those of his followers who were present signed. The curious ceremonies of piety and plunder were not completed until a tree had been cut down, formed into a cross, and erected on the spot from which Balboa had first viewed the ocean, the names of Ferdinand and Isabella being roughly carved on the trees surrounding the spot. The band then made their way down the hillside, and after massacring another tribe of hostile Indians, and forcing into their service fresh guides, they came to the domain of the warlike cacique, named Choapes, who, after a short resistance, was induced by the arguments of fire-arms and bloodhounds to submit. It is recorded that Balboa, doubtless softened by his religious exercises on the mountain, enjoined his followers to refrain from needless slaughter.

Meanwhile, Balboa sent out scouting parties to discover the best route to the coast, and when the successful one returned, they related how they had reached the ocean and found canoes, into one of which Alonzo Martin had stepped, calling on his companions to bear witness that he was the first European to embark on the newly discovered sea.

Balboa and his men went forward, and on coming to the border of a great bay gave it the name of San Miguel. As the tide was far out, they waited under the shade of the trees until it should flow in. When it did Balboa arose, and, taking a banner on which were painted the arms of Castile and Leon, he, with his sword drawn, waded into the water until it was above his knees, and in a loud voice took possession, in the names of Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, of all the seas and lands and coasts and ports and islands of the South, kingdoms and provinces, and, in fact, everything he could think of naming.

The exaggerated accounts which reached Spain of the wealth and riches of the new colony, of the gold which was to be found lying on the surface of the ground or taken from the rivers in nets, inspired Ferdinand with such enthusiastic pride in his new possessions that he christened them “Golden Castile.” Santa Maria was honoured by being made the capital city, and a bishop was appointed and sent out with all the necessary equipment of friars and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia.

A new Governor was sent out in the person of Don Pedrarias Davilla, with a magnificently furnished expedition to fittingly equip the new capital with all the pomp and pageantry so dear to the Spanish heart. Many youthful caballeros of high descent but low in funds were allured by the prospects of the new land, and flocked to join the expedition in such numbers that only the most favoured and influential could obtain a passage.

Hardly had this magnificent fleet set sail when news arrived of Balboa’s latest discovery, and the revulsion of feeling in his favour would have prevented the King giving such high powers to Pedrarias had the tidings only reached him in time. On the arrival of the new Governor at Santa Maria he was met by Balboa, who had returned from the Pacific shores, with every courtesy, and entertained in the palm-thatched habitation which served the latter as a palace.

Pedrarias contrived to hide behind a mask of friendship his real intentions regarding the new province, and through dissimulation gained as complete a knowledge as possible of all things pertaining to the country and the discoveries of Balboa, who, off his guard, was anxious enough to put the new Governor in possession of all the information he had gathered. But no sooner did Pedrarias feel that he had no more to learn from the pioneer of the Isthmian route than his attitude completely changed, and he ordered a judicial inquiry into the previous conduct of Balboa. The result of the trial was the acquittal of the accused, much to the chagrin of the new Governor, who from the first seems to have been determined to get rid at all costs of the man who, he felt, overshadowed and threatened his prospects in the colony.

Later news which came from the court of Spain, announced Balboa’s promotion to be Governor of the South Seas and the Province of Panama, and Pedrarias, fearful lest Balboa’s influence and popularity should again place him in the ascendancy, and in order to keep a hold over him and join their interests, proposed an alliance between his daughter and the Adelantado; the marriage settlements were drawn up, but before the young lady could arrive from Spain events happened which prevented the union.

The interest of Balboa having been secured to him, Pedrarias was now willing and anxious that further discoveries should be added to the already formidable list, and that more treasure should flow into the insatiable coffers of Spain, and to this end he permitted and assisted Balboa to fit out a new expedition to make further discoveries in the South Seas.

Acla, established and built by Balboa as a settlement near Careta,

was now fixed upon as the port best adapted as a starting-point for this expedition, one of the boldest and most considerable yet attempted by the Spaniards in Terra Firma. The plan was to carry from this port all necessary materials for the building of four brigantines upon the Pacific shore. The transporting of stores and materials over a country which, when traversed previously by Balboa, unencumbered with superfluous baggage, had presented serious enough difficulties, was a task of almost overwhelming magnitude; yet these hardy Spaniards under the leadership of the intrepid Balboa accomplished it. They were assisted by the more friendly Indians and negroes, but many lives were lost ere the first two brigantines were successfully launched on the River Balsas, which flows into the Pacific.

Their first cruise was to the Pearl Islands, and but for contrary winds, the discovery of Peru might have been added to the list of Balboa’s achievements, but he was anxious to complete the building of the other two brigantines which he had provided material for, and returned to proceed with the work. Whilst busy upon it, he heard rumours that a new Governor was expected to arrive from Spain, to displace Pedrarias, and apprehensive lest a new ruler should be opposed to the schemes he had in hand, he sent a trusted messenger back to Acla, to watch events and report, but was very unfortunate in selecting Garabito, upon whose loyalty he relied, but who ultimately betrayed him.

On his arrival at Acla, Garabito, learning that Pedrarias was still in command at Santa Maria, was indiscreet enough to arouse the suspicions of the colonists, who arrested him, and sent all his papers and letters to the Governor, whilst, under threats of punishment, they obtained from him a confession of the secret of his mission.

The antipathy and distrust of Pedrarias were deepened by the slanders he was only too willing to believe, and he ordered the absent Adelantado back to Acla, ostensibly to talk over the new expedition, but really to stand his trial. Balboa, on his arrival, was cast into prison, where he was visited by Pedrarias, who, with characteristic dissimulation, avowed friendship, and said that the proceedings which he had instigated were merely formal and necessary to clear Balboa’s character of the slanders and charges which had been brought against it.

The charge made was that of treasonable conspiracy to cast off all allegiance to the Crown, under a determination to sail, operate, and trade in the South Seas entirely for private benefit. The evidence rested largely on the testimony of the traitorous Garabito, and eavesdroppers, who stated that they had overheard Balboa and his officers planning to sail on their own account and ignore the authority of the Governor. In vain Balboa indignantly pointed out the flimsiness of the accusation, maintaining that, were there the slightest truth in the charges made, it was very unlikely he would have returned and put himself in the power of the Governor, when he could easily have sailed away in the ships he now had on the Pacific and found a land or island to supply him and his men with safe subsistence, far away from the chances of interference from the power it was alleged he was anxious to cast off.

The trial dragged along for many days, and the verdict of guilty was accompanied by a recommendation to mercy, on account of the prisoner’s great services, while the hope was expressed that permission would be granted to him to appeal to a higher tribunal in Spain.

Pedrarias, glad of the opportunity of clearing from his path a man of whom he was inordinately jealous, would listen to no entreaties from the many advocates of the claims of the prisoner to consideration, and the day following the verdict Balboa, with three of his principal officers, preceded by the public crier, walked in chains to meet his fate at the block erected in the Public Square; and for days afterwards his gory head, stuck on the end of a pole, met the gaze of the sorrowing inhabitants of the town of Acla.

Pedrarias soon found out the futility of attempting to maintain a prosperous colony at Santa Maria, for the implacable hostility of the Indians and the depredations in his ranks by sickness, combined with the disappointment of his expectations of finding the treasure he sought, drove him to shift his headquarters to a more advantageous spot.

Having got rid of the Governor of Panama, in the person of Balboa, he proceeded to establish himself within that territory, and fixing a site upon the bay in which are situated the Pearl Islands, he there founded a city to which he gave the name of Panama, and thither he transferred the seat of government, so that it became the capital of Terra Firma.