HORRIBLE FATE OF VALDIVIA.
And now comes another tale of wretchedness which might well grace the annals of Acheron. In their helpless condition they are carried by the currents for thirteen days; one third of their number die of thirst, and the survivors drift to a yet more horrible fate. Thrown on the Maya shore, they are seized by savages, placed in a pen, and well fed. After their sufferings at sea, this is not so bad; but one day Valdivia and four others are taken to the temple and sacrificed, and their roasted limbs eaten in honor of the gods; over which prospect for themselves the survivors are uncomfortable, and nerved by desperation, they break cage and escape to the forest, where they wander naked and starving until life is a burden. Then they cast themselves at the feet of Ahkin Xooc, cacique of Jamancana, neighbor and enemy of the Maya lord. He and his successor, Taxmar, make them serve as beasts of burden until two only are left alive, Gonzalo Guerrero, sailor, and Gerónimo de Aguilar, friar. In an interchange of captives, the sailor becomes the property of Nachan Kan, chief of Chetumal. Bold and buoyant-hearted, he rises to barbaric distinction, becomes a great general, marries a princess, and in after years, when opportunity offers, declines return to civilized life. The friar is rescued by Cortés, in 1519, in which connection we shall again meet him.[VIII-14]
DABAIBA AND ITS GOLDEN TEMPLE.
Cannibals are horrible things; but their teeth were hardly so sharp as Spanish steel, which, in following the law of survival common to the animal kingdom, was sacrificing freely about Antigua at this time. "Thirty caciques have already been slain in the attempted pacification of this country," writes Vasco Nuñez to Diego Colon, "and now that I am obliged to penetrate still further in search of food, I must kill all who fall into my hands; otherwise our colony can not exist while waiting relief." In pursuance of this humane measure, early in 1512—it was toward the close of 1511 that Valdivia had sailed for Española—the governor organized an expedition against Dabaiba,[VIII-15] a rich province some thirty leagues to the southward.
Startling stories were told of this place. At a temple lined with gold, slaves were sacrificed for the gratification of the gods, who returned in miracles the favors of their worshippers; so that Dabaiba became as Mecca in the wilderness. Of course, it was an outrage against heaven that the heathen gods should have so much gold and glory; though hunger and avarice lent as much assistance, perhaps, as piety, in instigating the contemplated raid.
Selecting one hundred and sixty men, Vasco Nuñez embarked in two brigantines for the mouths of the river.[VIII-16] There he divided his force, sending one third, under Colmenares, up the channel San Juan, while with the remainder he ascended the Rio de las Redes, the more direct route to Dabaiba, as he had been informed. But the eye of Cemaco, in restless hate, was still upon them. Rousing the country, he induced the caciques along the river to retire, and leave wasted fields to the invaders, a measure which defeated the expedition. Nevertheless, the Spaniards secured, a short distance up the river, two canoe-loads of plunder, valued at seven thousand pesos, but on reaching the gulf they were overturned in a storm, and the boatmen drowned. Balboa then proceeded to the Rio San Juan and joined Colmenares, after which the entire party ascended the Negro channel for six leagues, and captured a town of five hundred houses, governed by a cacique named Abenamechey, one of whose arms a Spaniard cruelly struck off after he had been made prisoner. Leaving there half the men in charge of Colmenares, with the remainder Balboa continued his ascent of the stream, until, on entering a small branch, he found himself within the domain of Abibeiba, whose people built their houses in the branches of palm trees, making the ascent by ladders drawn up at night for safety. A supply of stones was kept in the houses for artillery purposes. When they saw the Spaniards coming, the people ran like squirrels for their houses, and drawing up after them the ladders, fancied themselves in security.
Approaching the tree in which lived the chief, Balboa hailed him and ordered him down. "What brings you hither to molest me?" demanded the chief. "Go your way. I know you not as friends or foes. I have no gold. I desire only to be left in peace." The Spaniards answered by applying the axe to the tree, and when the chief saw the chips fly, while his stone showers fell harmless upon the mail-coated men below, he capitulated, and the village descended to earth.
A CONSPIRACY DIVULGED.
After further foraging and fighting with varied success, the governor returned to Antigua, leaving Bartolomé Hurtado with thirty-one men in possession of the country. Of these more than half fell sick, and Hurtado incautiously despatched them for Antigua with twenty-four captives in charge. They had not proceeded more than three leagues before Cemaco was upon them with one hundred warriors; and of the Spaniards only two escaped to carry the news to Hurtado, who hastened to Antigua with the further intelligence that five caciques, namely, Abibeiba of the high-tree house, Abenamechy of the severed arm, Dabaiba of the golden temple, Abraiba and Cemaco of Darien, had confederated with five thousand men to exterminate the Spaniards. The rumor was lightly regarded until Vasco Nuñez was informed by one of his mistresses, Fulvia he called her, that her brother had notified her to withdraw from the town on a certain night, so that she might not fall in the massacre intended. Love overruling duty, Fulvia thus divulged the secret. She saved the settlement, but she lost her country.
Poor heart of woman touched with love! Vasco Nuñez induced Fulvia to lure thither her brother, who thereupon was seized and forced to confess the plot. Furthermore, he told Balboa that then at work in his fields were forty men long pledged to assassinate him, but as he had always appeared before them armed and armored, and on a caparisoned horse, which was their greatest terror, they had feared to attack him. The rendezvous of the conspirators was Tichirí, not far distant. With seventy men, by a circuitous route, Balboa marched on the encampment, while Colmenares with an equal force ascended the river in canoes, guided by the traitress Fulvia's traitorous brother. Attacked thus unexpectedly from opposite sides, the confederates were thrown into confusion; many were killed and many taken prisoners. The chief general was honored by being shot to death with arrows, while the others were hanged. Cemaco escaped. So sudden and bold and severe was this blow, that, while Antigua existed, the savages never recovered from it, and the wooden fortress which Balboa immediately built as a guard against future surprise was scarcely necessary.