CHAPTER XI.

EXPEDITION OF DIEGO GUTIERREZ TO COSTA RICA.

1540-1545.

DIEGO GUTIERREZ APPOINTED GOVERNOR—DESERTION OF HIS SOLDIERS—HE PROCEEDS TO NICARAGUA—THE ADVICE OF CONTRERAS—THE EXPEDITION SAILS FOR THE RIO SAN JUAN—FRIENDLY RECEPTION BY THE NATIVES—HIS MEN DESERT A SECOND TIME—REËNFORCEMENTS FROM NICARAGUA AND NOMBRE DE DIOS—THE HISTORIAN BENZONI JOINS THE PARTY—GUTIERREZ AS AN EVANGELIST—HE INVEIGLES CAMACHIRE AND COCORI INTO HIS CAMP—HE DEMANDS GOLD UNDER PAIN OF DEATH—NOBLE CONDUCT OF THE CACIQUE COCORI—THE SPANIARDS MARCH INTO THE INTERIOR—THEIR SUFFERINGS FROM HUNGER—THEY ARE ATTACKED AND MASSACRED—BENZONI AND FIVE OTHER SURVIVORS RESCUED BY ALONSO DE PISA.

Between the Rio San Juan and the province of Veragua lay a territory whose rugged and densely wooded surface had hitherto proved a barrier to Spanish conquest and colonization. Costa Rica, or Nueva Cartago, by both of which names this region was known,[XI‑1] yet remained almost a terra incognita to Europeans. During his last voyage, in the year 1502, Columbus had touched at several points on its northern shore. At the Golfo Dulce, on its southern coast, it will be remembered that Gil Gonzalez and his band were glad to find shelter in the trees from storm and flood.[XI‑2] Vague reports of a settlement named Cartago, founded early in the sixteenth century by some band of roaming adventurers, are mentioned in several of the early chroniclers; but when and by whom it was established, is a question[XI‑3] on which there is no conclusive evidence.

[Sidenote: DIFFICULTIES OF GUTIERREZ.]

The exploration of the Rio San Juan, which had opened up a passage from the North Sea into the very heart of Nicaragua, awakened a more eager desire to possess this unknown region; and to the pride of conquest and discovery was added the all-pervading passion of the Spaniard, for it was believed that the armies of the great Montezuma had invaded the territory from a distance of more than six hundred leagues, and had brought thence many a rich specimen of gold. In 1540 Diego Gutierrez, a citizen of Madrid and brother to Felipe Gutierrez, who five years before had conducted the ill-fated expedition to Veragua, was appointed governor of this province, and soon afterward set forth on an enterprise which was destined to prove even more calamitous than the one conducted by his kinsman.

[Sidenote: MUTINY AND DESERTION.]

Gutierrez proceeded first to Española, where he raised a company of about two hundred men and sailed thence for Jamaica, the base of supplies for the colonies of Tierra Firme. Here a mutiny broke out among his men, causing the loss of all his military stores. Arriving at Nombre de Dios he fell sick, and while lying at the point of death his men deserted, and crossing over to Panamá took ship for Peru. Recovering from his illness he found himself with but five men and almost without means. He gathered courage, however, and fitting out a small barge sailed for the Rio San Juan, and so made his way to the city of Granada. Falling in with one Baena, a successful adventurer from Peru, he succeeded in borrowing from him three thousand castellanos with which he hoped to retrieve his fortunes.

Gutierrez now endeavored to enlist men in Nicaragua, but disputes between himself and Rodrigo de Contreras, the governor of that province, caused a further delay of two years. Contreras declared that his province extended to the border of Veragua and that there was no intervening territory for Gutierrez to colonize. Gutierrez on the other hand affirmed that the boundaries of Veragua and Castilla del Oro had been placed far south of those originally appointed, and that in consequence there existed a large domain of which he was appointed governor by a charter granted to him from the crown. Though the limits[XI‑4] of Costa Rica as set forth in this document were somewhat indefinite, Contreras at length admitted that his opponent was duly authorized to take possession of the newly created province. He then endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose, representing the country as rugged and his scheme as foolhardy and dangerous. "But if you persist in the occupation of that territory, take my advice," he said, "and keep one hundred well armed men upon the sea-shore, always ready to forage, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another, for the people are rich in gold, and in this way only can you obtain food."[XI‑5]

The advice of Contreras was cruel, unjust, and contrary to law, but it was such alone as would lead to success, and the event proved that it was sound and politic. In a lofty strain that ill consisted with his future conduct Gutierrez replied: "The government of this province was conferred upon me by the emperor that I might people and not pillage it; and if fortune has been adverse to others, I trust in God that to me it may be more propitious."[XI‑6] It was fine doctrine, but doctrine that here would not win. Collecting a force of sixty men, he soon set sail with two vessels for the mouth of the Rio Surre.[XI‑7]

After ascending the river for about three leagues the party came in sight of some deserted huts, and there encamping, were visited by several caciques, who brought gold to the value of seven hundred ducats, and received in return some rosaries of beads, a few bells and trinkets, and an earnest exhortation to join the true faith. The native chieftains were well pleased with their visit, and on returning to their homes sent presents of fruit, fish, and the dried flesh of wild boars. A gleam of success thus at first attended Gutierrez' effort at colonization, but he was not destined to escape the disasters which seemed almost inseparable from the attempts of the Spaniards to establish settlements in the New World. He was a man of great tenacity of purpose, but irascible, and singularly deficient in power of control. At Jamaica his soldiers mutinied; at Nombre de Dios they deserted; at Costa Rica, suffering from hunger and the privations of pioneer life, they abandoned the enterprise, and stole away to the sea-shore, where they fell in with two vessels from Nombre de Dios and so made their way back to Nicaragua.

Left with only six followers,[XI‑8] his nephew Alonso de Pisa, one sailor, and four servants, Gutierrez had no alternative but to follow his recreant band. Digging a hole in the earth, he buried there several jars of salt, honey, and other stores not needed for his voyage, and embarking in a small river-boat descended to the sea. Soon he descried approaching the mouth of the river a brigantine, which proved to be in command of one Captain Bariento, with men, arms, ammunition, and provisions from Nicaragua. Thereupon he turned back, conducted the vessel to his settlement, and handing to his nephew all the gold that had been collected, amounting to eight hundred castellanos, bade him return with the ship to Nombre de Dios and there purchase arms and procure recruits. Girolomo Benzoni, the Italian chronicler of the New World, was at Nombre de Dios when Captain Pisa arrived early in 1545, and being, as he says, young and strong, filled with high aspirations, and desirous of enriching himself, he determined to return with the vessel to Nueva Cartago.[XI‑9] Other adventurers, lured by the promise of wealth, determined to join the expedition, and soon twenty-seven men were pledged for the new colony.

On the return voyage the brigantine encountered a gale near the entrance of the river and was driven to the islands of Zorobaro, a short distance from the coast. There they remained for seventy-two days, exposed to incessant rains, three of their number being killed by lightning. Such was the blackness of the storm that during all this time they did not see four hours of sunshine. The captain of the vessel went ashore on the mainland to obtain provisions, but after eight days' search midst forest, swamp, and mountain, during which time he subsisted on snails and berries, he returned empty-handed. Finally the men made their way to the encampment of Gutierrez, who, being determined at all hazard to people his territory, immediately sent the ship back to Nombre de Dios for more recruits, supplying funds to the amount of fifteen hundred castellanos. The number of the colonists was thereby increased to eighty men. Thus reënforced he began the exploration of his province. With four canoes he ascended the Rio Surre, and after making a distance of about ten leagues, landed at an Indian village to which he gave the name of San Francisco in honor of the saint on whose natal day the spot was reached. Here the party was met by certain caciques, who brought presents of fruit but no gold. The governor received them kindly, informing them through an interpreter that the strangers had in their possession a secret which was of the utmost value; that they had come a great distance, and some of them for no other purpose than to reveal it. In return for this the Christians must have gold.

[Sidenote: GUTIERREZ PREACHES CHRIST.]

The chiefs were then invited to a feast, the viands consisting of fowl and salt pork; but they had little relish for such food, and merely tasting it handed it to their attendants to be cast to the dogs. After the meal came an exhortation in which, as Benzoni relates, Gutierrez thus harangued his guests: "My very dear friends and brothers, I am come hither to free you from the chains of idolatry, by which through the influences of your evil spirits you have until now been bound. I am come to teach you the way to heaven, whence Jesus Christ, the son of God, descended to save you. With me I have brought holy men to teach you this faith, which to accept, and implicitly to obey our sovereign emperor Charles V., king of Spain and monarch of the world, and us his representatives, comprises your whole duty." To these words the chieftains bowed their heads, but without making answer, neither assenting to nor rejecting the munificent and disinterested offer of the Christians, who for a little yellow earthly metal gave in return the ineffable joys of heaven.

[Sidenote: GUTIERREZ ROBS AND TORTURES.]

Nevertheless, the savages were slow to bring in their gold, and the governor, forgetting the lofty sentiments with which he had regaled Contreras prior to his departure from Nicaragua, looked about him for some means by which to enforce his injunctions. Being informed that two of the caciques, named Camachire and Cocori,[XI‑10] who had before presented him with treasure to the value of seven hundred ducats, were now encamped on the opposite side of the river, he summoned them into his presence, at the same time pledging his word for their safety. Reluctantly the chieftains came, and no sooner had they placed themselves in the power of the Spaniards than Gutierrez ordered a strong iron collar to be fastened round their necks, and chaining them to a beam in his dwelling, taxed them with stealing the buried jars of salt and honey, and demanded restitution, or, as an equivalent, a large amount of gold. They answered that they knew nothing of the matter, and had no need to pilfer articles of which they possessed an abundant store. Camachire procured gold to the value of two thousand ducats, which was greedily appropriated by the governor, but served only to whet his appetite. In place of thanks, baptism, and restoration to liberty, the cacique was dragged before a burning fire; a large basket was placed beside him, and he was told that unless, within four days, he obtained gold enough to fill it six times he should be burned to death.[XI‑11] The trembling native promised to comply, and sent out his slaves to collect the treasure. Perceiving the Indian to be tractable, and believing him anxious to comply in good faith with the demand, Gutierrez permitted him to be led every day to the stream to bathe, as was his daily habit. Returning on one occasion from the bath, the soldier having the captive in charge neglected to secure him properly, and the following night he made his escape.

Cocori, who yet remained a prisoner, had now to bear the brunt of the governor's wrath. After being frequently importuned for gold, which he always declared himself unable to obtain, he was led daily to a spot where blood-hounds were chained; bid to observe well their huge teeth and gleaming eyes; and threatened that unless gold were soon forthcoming he should be torn and devoured by these ferocious brutes. At length the indignation of the chieftain overcame his fear. "You lie, bad Christians," he exclaimed, "for often have you made the same threat and yet I live; besides I would rather die than live in bondage among such vipers which I greatly wonder how the earth can bear." The noble native was then reserved for use as a pack animal. Thus did Diego Gutierrez fulfil his promise to people the province and not to pillage it.

It was soon noised abroad that the strangers who had brought to the shores of Costa Rica the glad tidings of the gospel were more to be dreaded than the evil spirits which they had come to exorcise; and the neighboring caciques, fearing to attack the Spaniards, laid waste their own lands, destroyed their crops, burned their dwellings and withdrew to the mountains, until starvation should compel the intruders to abandon the territory. The governor soon found himself in evil plight; moreover he possessed a temperament singularly adapted to inspire distrust, discontent, and melancholy among his followers. Again they threatened to desert him and return to Nombre de Dios or Nicaragua, leaving him in sole possession of the boundless forests, sole ruler over naked and hostile natives. He had but one alternative—to push on boldly into the heart of the province in the hope of finding gold or at least a store of provisions. After some persuasion the men agreed to accompany him. The sick and disabled were sent back to the sea-shore, where Alonso de Pisa was stationed with twenty-four men, bearing orders that he should march through the forest along a track which would be designated by placing crosses along the route. Dividing a scanty stock of grain among his soldiers, now mustering but forty capable of bearing arms, Gutierrez plunged blindly into the wilderness.

[Sidenote: TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS.]

On setting out upon this hazardous raid, Benzoni, who affirms that he realized fully the situation, remarked to a comrade, "We are going to the shambles." Whereupon the other, a man of more sanguine temperament, made answer: "Thou art one of those who, we intend, shalt have a principality in spite of thyself."[XI‑12] For six days no human habitation was seen. Through dense woods they journeyed, climbing the mountain sides by clinging to the roots of trees, and making the descent by sliding down their steep declivities. Leaves were their chief food, and some half-picked bones, which the wild beasts had abandoned, furnished them a rich repast.

The temper of the governor was no more happy than his situation. Arriving at a spot where the path divided, Gutierrez demanded of an Indian belonging to the train which route to pursue in order to arrive at some native villages of which they were in search. He replied that he did not know; whereupon the governor taking it for granted that the answer was false ordered his head to be stricken off by a negro slave. The same question was then put to Cocori, who now served the Spaniards as a beast of burden;[XI‑13] and the same reply was made. Again the cruel governor gave the order to kill. As the executioner approached him the brave cacique instantly laid down his burden, bowed his head, and calmly awaited the expected blow. Struck by the noble bearing of the cacique and his own infamous conduct, Gutierrez countermanded the order, and the chieftain's life was spared to further misery. On the spot where these incidents occurred three soldiers were obliged from exhaustion to rest, while the company advanced. They were soon afterward massacred by the Indians. The dogs were now killed and their carcasses divided among the men, the governor refusing to share with them the more wholesome viands which he had reserved for his own use.[XI‑14]

But the career of Diego Gutierrez was well-nigh closed. The party was now upon the southern slope of the cordillera, on the banks of a large stream which flows into the South Sea[XI‑15] and the time was July 1545. A small band of disaffected men miserably clad, and destitute of food, had thus wandered far into the interior of a wilderness. Whither were they bound, and what the insane hope that urged them forward? Gutierrez who had been twice abandoned by his soldiers, was now resolved that these men whom he had brought with so much labor and expense from Nicaragua and Nombre de Dios should not escape him. Alarmed by their loud murmuring at the place called San Francisco, he had hastily departed, cutting off, as many other Spanish leaders had done before him, all hope of ever returning except as a successful man. Could he have pilfered from the natives and thereby obtained food and gold, thus keeping his men in heart until the arrival of Alonso de Pisa, all would have been well. But until reaching the southern declivity of the mountains the country was everywhere deserted. So rugged had been their path, and so toilsome their march, that they were now exhausted, and the natives whom before they had so much longed to meet and make their prey were now congregating to prey upon them.

A day or two later the Spaniards were approaching the verge of a forest. An Indian hidden behind the trees to watch their movements was observed running off at full speed to give the alarm. Next morning at daybreak they were attacked by a horde of natives who "advanced," as Benzoni relates, "with horrid howls and screams and noises with the buccinus—shells and drums—all painted red and black, adorned with feathers, and golden trinkets round their necks." "In one half of a quarter of an hour," continues the chronicler, "during which we killed and wounded a great many Indians, we made them turn their shoulders."[XI‑16] They soon returned, however, and renewed the conflict. The Spaniards, worn with toil and fasting, were quickly overpowered and all but six were slain. Gutierrez fell[XI‑17] mortally wounded, and his head, hands, and feet were afterward severed from his body and borne as trophies through the region which he had proposed to subjugate.

[Sidenote: GIROLAMO BENZONI.]

Benzoni stumbled upon the helmet of a dead comrade, but for which circumstance no history of the New World would ever have been produced by him. "For," says he, "the stones from the savages hailed upon it with such force that it looked as if it had been hammered by a smith." After some hair-breadth escapes on which the historian fondly lingers, he was rescued together with his five comrades by the timely arrival of Alonso de Pisa's detachment, and marching night and day the survivors made their way back to the Rio San Juan, and thence embarked for Nombre de Dios.[XI‑18]