Vasco Nuñez de Balboa

by Frederick A. Ober

But again, the sovereign was involved in a complication which arose from the conflicting accounts from Darien. That there was dissension there, that the colony was threatened with extinction through the quarrels of unscrupulous men, he was well assured. The leader of those men, he had also been assured, was none other than Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. Accompanying the reports of dissension in the colony had come, as well, most convincing proofs of its prospective value to the crown in the richness of its resources. "And as the adventurers who went to America dreamed of nothing but gold—as gold was the object of their pursuit—as it was gold which they took forcibly from the Indians—and gold alone by which the latter purchased their friendship—gold which resounded in their letters and despatches to court—and gold which at court was become the sole subject of conversation and desire—the Darien, which appeared so rich in this coveted metal, lost its first name of New Andalusia, and was commonly called, and even named in the despatches, the 'Golden Castile.'"

Though it was mainly owing to Balboa's efforts that the isthmus won its new appellation, Golden Castile, and though he had in a measure retrieved himself, yet the king was unwilling to intrust him with its government. Casting about for some one to represent the crown with dignity and credit, he selected a cavalier who had served with distinction in the wars against the Moors, Don Pedro Arias de Avila, more commonly known as Pedrarias. He was an elderly man, who had won a reputation in his youth as a jouster in the tournaments, and who, beneath a chivalrous and courtly demeanor, concealed a nature narrow, mean, and warped by prejudice. He had certainly no qualifications for the office of governor; but he possessed the patronage of the powerful Bishop Fonseca, who then ruled the colonial affairs of Spain, and that sufficed to land him in the executive chair at Darien.

He sailed from Spain about the middle of April, 1514, and entering the Gulf of Urabá the last of June, cast anchor before the town of Antigua del Darien. His fleet was composed of five large vessels, and contained a gallant company, with everything needed for conquest and colonization. Balboa had asked the king for only a thousand soldiers, but Pedrarias sailed with a company of two thousand, some of them cavaliers of distinction, many wealthy hidalgos, and all well provided with arms, equipment, and money. They had heard the exaggerated reports from Darien, of gold that was caught in nets, which might be obtained almost without effort from the waters of every mountain stream, and were eager to join the fortunate adventurers under Balboa.

The king himself thought so well of the venture that he had expended upon the armada more than fifty thousand ducats, and had sent out with Pedrarias a number of friars, over whom was placed his favorite preacher Juan de Quevedo. He was consecrated as bishop of Antigua del Darien, which was elevated to the dignity of a metropolitan city, as capital of the Golden Castile. While the sovereign provided for the spiritual interests of the colony in this manner, at the same time he ordained that no lawyers should be permitted to practise there, as experience had shown they were detrimental to the welfare of new settlements. In spite of this inhibition, however, one lawyer went out to Darien as alcalde mayor, or chief judge, where he fully justified the king's apprehensions regarding men of his profession. His name was Gaspar de Espinosa, and though he knew little of the law, he knew enough to make a deal of mischief in the colony, and eventually became a tool in the hands of Pedrarias, by which he effected the downfall of his enemies, among whom he soon reckoned Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.

The fleet swarmed with cavaliers and men of distinction, but there was only one lady of importance aboard the flag-ship, the wife of Governor Pedrarias, Doña Isabel de Bobadilla, a distant relative of royalty and formerly a favorite at Queen Isabella's court. So attached was she to the crusty old cavalier, her husband, that, notwithstanding she was mother of several children, she chose to abandon them all and accompany the governor to his capital in the wilderness. Needless to say, she was a lady of grace and refinement, and deserved better of fate than to be wedded to a sanguinary monster such as Pedrarias soon proved himself to be. She has left no record of her sorrows; but they must have been great, since the crimes she was compelled to witness were frequent, and revolting even to the hardened soldiery of Darien.

XV
PEDRARIAS, THE SCOURGE OF DARIEN
1515

AT the time of the fleet's arrival at Darien, the town of Antigua consisted of about two hundred huts thatched with straw, with five hundred white men and fifteen hundred Indians composing its population. It was badly situated, in a deep valley between high hills which cut off the salutary sea-breeze, but the soil was rich, and, owing to the exertions and example of Balboa, gardens of fruits and vegetables were already numerous and well tilled.

Since his return from the sea beyond the mountains, Balboa had devoted himself assiduously to the improvement of the colony: erecting huts for dwellings, extending the area of cultivated ground, and devising means for inspiriting the lonely inhabitants of this isolated post in the wilderness. The demands upon his time were constant and pressing, for he was looked up to as the savior of the colony, while the simple natives regarded him almost as a father, and came to him for advice on all occasions. Having heard nothing from Spain since the sailing of Arbolancha, the arrival of Pedrarias and his fleet took him by surprise; but it did not destroy his balance. If he had but known that, at that very time, his messenger was being received at court, and that the old king, charmed by the story of discovery, the pearls and the gold, already repented of the slight he had put upon him, Balboa might have assembled his veterans and prevented the landing of Pedrarias. They were only one-fourth the number of the new arrivals, but every man was a seasoned soldier, and there would have been little doubt as to the result of an encounter.

But fate played Vasco Nuñez false again, for Arbolancha had passed Pedrarias on the ocean and arrived in Spain too late to change the decision of the king, who then regretted that he had not rewarded Balboa with the governorship of Darien. He was the governor, in fact, elected to office by the votes of his adoring comrades; but Pedrarias came with royal authority, and Balboa bowed to the decree of the king.

There was doubt in the mind of Pedrarias as to the nature of his reception by Balboa; for he knew himself as a usurper, who had come out to reap the rewards of another, so he sent an envoy to announce his arrival and ascertain the sentiment ashore. This emissary, says the old chroniclers, expected to find the governor of the Golden Castile seated, of course, on a golden throne and lording it over a horde of captive slaves. What, then, was his astonishment to find the redoubtable Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, Conqueror of the Mountains, and Pacificator of the Indians, overseeing a group of natives who were engaged in thatching his humble hut with straw! He wore no robe of state, but merely a cotton shirt over one of linen, cotton pantolones, or wide trousers, and hempen sandals, called alpargatas, on his feet.