III. 1513. should enjoy a spectacle which he had so long de- BO O K sired. As soon as he beheld the South Sea stretching in endless prospect below him, he fell on his knees, and, lifting up his hands to heaven, returned thanks to God, who had conducted him to a discovery so beneficial to his country, and so honourable to himself. His followers, observing his transports of joy, rushed forward to join in his wonder, exultation, and gratitude. They held on their course to the shore with great alacrity, when Balboa, advancing up to the middle in the waves with his buckler and sword, took possession of that ocean in the name of the King his master, and vowed to defend it, with these arms, against all his enemies. That part of the great Pacific or Southern Ocean, which Balboa first discovered, still retains the name of the Gulf of St. Michael, which he gave to it, and is situated to the east of Panama. From several of the petty Princes, who governed in the districts adjacent to that gulf, he extorted provisions and gold by force of arms. Others sent them to him voluntarily. To these acceptable presents, some of the caziques added a considerable quantity of pearls; and he learned from them, with much satisfaction, that pearl oysters abounded in the sea which he had newly discovered. ceives in Together with the acquisition of this wealth, He rewhich served to soothe and encourage his followers, formation he received accounts which confirmed his sanguine concern © Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 1, &c. Gomara, c. 62, &c. P. Martyr, dec. p. 205, &c. III. 1513. BOOK hopes of future and more extensive benefits from the expedition. All the people on the coast of the South Sea concurred in informing him that there ing a more was a mighty and opulent kingdom situated at a opulent country; considerable distance towards the south-east, the inhabitants of which had tame animals to carry their burdens. In order to give the Spaniards an idea of these, they drew upon the sand the figure of the llamas or sheep, afterwards found in Peru, which the Peruvians had taught to perform such services as they described. As the Ilama in its form nearly resembles a camel, a beast of burden deemed peculiar to Asia, this circumstance, in conjunction with the discovery of the pearls, another noted production of that country, tended to confirm the Spaniards in their mistaken theory with respect to the vicinity of the New World to the East Indies. obliged to return. But though the information which Balboa received from the people on the coast, as well as his own conjectures and hopes, rendered him extremely impatient to visit this unknown country, his prudence restrained him from attempting to invade it with an handful of men exhausted by fatigue and weakened by diseases. He determined to lead back his followers, at present, to their settlement of Santa Maria in Darien, and to return next season with a force more adequate to such an arduous enterprise. In order to acquire a more extensive knowledge of the isthmus, he marched back by a different route, which he found to be no less dangerous and difficult than that which he had formerly d Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 2. See NOTE XXIV. III. ~ 1514. taken. But to men elated with success, and ani- BOOK mated with hope, nothing is insurmountable. Balboa returned to Santa Maria, from which he had been absent four months, with greater glory and more treasure than the Spaniards had acquired in any expedition in the New World. None of Balboa's officers distinguished themselves more in this service than Francisco Pizarro, or assisted with greater courage and ardour in opening a communication with those countries in which he was destined to act soon a most illustrious part'. governor Balboa's first care was to send information to Pedrarias Spain of the important discovery which he had "ppointed made; and to demand a reinforcement of a thousand of Darien. men, in order to attempt the conquest of that opulent country concerning which he had received such inviting intelligence. The first account of the discovery of the New World hardly occasioned greater joy, than the unexpected tidings that a pas sage was at last found to the great southern ocean. The communication with the East Indies, by a course to the westward of the line of demarcation drawn by the Pope, seemed now to be certain. The vast wealth which flowed into Portugal from its settlements and conquests in that country, excited the envy and called forth the emulation of other states. Ferdinand hoped now to come in for a share in this lucrative commerce, and, in his eagerness to obtain it, was willing to make an effort beyond what Balboa required. But even in this exertion, his jealous policy, as well as the fatal anti f Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 3-6. Gomara, c. 64. P. Martyr, dec. p. 229, &c. BOOK pathy of Fonseca, now Bishop of Burgos, to every III. man of merit who distinguished himself in the New 1514. World, was conspicuous. Notwithstanding Bal boa's recent services, which marked him out as the most proper person to finish that great undertaking which he had begun, Ferdinand was so ungenerous as to overlook these, and to appoint Pedrarias Davila, governor of Darien. He gave him the command of fifteen stout vessels and twelve hundred soldiers. These were fitted out at the public expense, with a liberality which Ferdinand had never displayed in any former armament destined for the New World; and such was the ardour of the Spanish gentlemen to follow a leader who was about to conduct them to a country where, as fame reported, they had only to throw their nets into the sea and draw out gold, that fifteen hundred embarked on board the fleet, and, if they had not been restrained, a much greater number would have engaged in the serviceh. Pedrarias reached the Gulf of Darien without any remarkable accident, and immediately sent some of his principal officers ashore to inform Balboa of his arrival, with the king's commission, to be governor of the colony. To their astonishment, they found Balboa, of whose great exploits they had heard so much, and of whose opulence they had formed such high ideas, clad in a canvass jacket, and wearing coarse hempen sandals used only by the meanest peasants, employed, together with some Indians, 8 Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 14. h Ibid. c. 6, 7. P. Martyr, dec. p. 177, 296. III. 1514. in thatching his own hut with reeds. Even in this B O O K simple garb, which corresponded so ill with the expectations and wishes of his new guests, Balboa received them with dignity. The fame of his discoveries had drawn so many adventurers from the islands, that he could now muster four hundred and fifty men. At the head of those daring veterans, he was more than a match for the forces which Pedrarias brought with him. But though his troops murmured loudly at the injustice of the King in superseding their commander, and complained that strangers would now reap the fruits of their toil and success, Balboa submitted with implicit obedience to the will of his sovereign, and received Pedrarias with all the deference due to his character', between Notwithstanding this moderation, to which Pe- Dissention drarias owed the peaceable possession of his govern- him and ment, he appointed a judicial inquiry to be made Balboa. into Balboa's conduct, while under the command of Nicuessa, and imposed a considerable fine upon him, on account of the irregularities of which he had then been guilty. Balboa felt sensibly the mortification of being subjected to trial and to punishment in a place where he had so lately occupied the first station. Pedrarias could not conceal his jealousy of his superior merit; so that the resentment of the one and the envy of the other gave rise to dissentions extremely detrimental to the colony. It was threatened with a calamity still more fatal. Pedrarias had landed in Darien at a most July. i Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 13, 14. |