BALBOA'S RESOLVE.
This was as wormwood in Balboa's cup of joy. Yet it was not wholly unexpected; it was not wholly unmerited. There was one redeeming feature about it; the intelligence was private. He was still master of himself; ay, and governor of the colony. Might not some signal service be made to cover his transgressions, and win for him the royal favor? There was that mysterious sea to the southward, reported by Panciaco. The very thing, were men and means at hand for its achievement. Means! There was no time to talk of means; the next arrival would bring a warrant for his arrest. Do it without means, and so gain glory the more. Where was the true Spanish cavalier who would hesitate in such an emergency? Why, the very danger itself was a fascination. He would do it or die!
CHAPTER IX.
DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
1513.
Departure of Vasco Nuñez from Antigua—Careta's Welcome—Difficulties to be Encountered—Treacherous Character of the Country—Historical Bloodhounds—Ponca Reconciled—Capture of Quarequá—First View of the Pacific from the Heights of Quarequá—The Spaniards Descend to Chiapes—Take Formal Possession of the South Sea—Form of Taking Possession—The Names South Sea and Pacific Ocean—Further Discoveries—Perilous Canoe Voyage—Gold and Pearls in Profusion—Tumaco Pacified—The Pearl Islands—The Return—Teoca's Kindness—Ponca Murdered—Pocorosa Pacified—Tubanamá Vanquished—Gold, Gold, Gold—Panciaco's Congratulations—Arrival at Antigua.
Revolving matters in his mind, plans quickly unfolded. Winning for the project a few staunch friends, Vasco Nuñez selected with great care one hundred and ninety men.[IX-1] More could have been taken, but he had determined on a rapid march of discovery rather than pacification and occupation. Hence he preferred only tried men, those inured to fatigue, men resolute and reckless, with heart and head hard, and sinews of steel. He also provided from among his captives and the neighboring nations one thousand natives, to serve as warriors and beasts of burden. These, might live or die, as it should happen: no great matter what became of them. A pack of bloodhounds completed the company.
EMBARKATION OF THE EXPEDITION.
The men were armed with crossbows, swords, arquebuses and targets, and provisions for the expedition were placed on board a brigantine and ten large canoes. Before embarking, the hazardous nature of the enterprise was made known to the soldiers. Wealth and glory awaited success; the reward of failure, death; opportunity was then offered for any one to withdraw without prejudice or injury.
Sailing with his little armament from Antigua on the first day of September, 1513, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa followed the coast of Darien north-westward to Careta's province, where the expedition disembarked on the fourth day. The chieftain's dusky daughter, whom the governor continued to regard with great affection, was still a bond of friendship between this nation and the Spaniards. Careta added to their stock of provisions and furnished them with guides; and some of his warriors joined the expedition, in the hope of witnessing the downfall of their enemies beyond the mountains. The boats were left in charge of a guard; and after invoking divine favor the expedition was ready to move.
I know the tendency of the historian, warmed by his theme, to magnify merit, and the obstacles it overcomes; and I have elsewhere said as much. While I endeavor to confine myself to the plain words of a simple story, those who have sat at ease, sipping iced champagne, during a delightful ride of three or four hours across this sometime terrible neck, may find in this chapter expressions appearing strong. But I do assure the reader that it is difficult to magnify in the present instance. Vasco Nuñez now stood on the northern coast, opposite the gulf of San Miguel, which, breaking the shore of Panamá Bay, narrows the isthmus of Darien to a width of fifty miles.[IX-2] But such is the infamous character of the country, that even modern efforts to penetrate the unexplored interior from either side have met disaster and ruin.[IX-3] Inaccessible forests filled with noxious reptiles and wild beasts, tangled jungles through which man must cut his way foot by foot; rugged mountains, slippery slopes, and rocky precipices, over and round which the weary traveller threads his way under a blooming tropical canopy; frequent and sudden rains and inundations; treacherous morasses, and the malarious exhalations from putrid vegetation, unite with warlike savages to render this spot one of the most difficult on the globe to explore. Add to these obstructions the weight of heavy armor and cumbrous weapons, and some conception may be formed of a military march through an equatorial wilderness.
QUALITY OF THE BAND.