TAKING POSSESSION.
On the 29th of September, St Michael's day, Vasco Nuñez with twenty-six men set out for the border of the sea, accompanied by Chiapes with a numerous train. Arriving there they found the tide out, and seated themselves upon a grassy slope beneath the overhanging foliage, waiting the return of the waters. Presently, when the sand was covered to the depth of one or two feet, all arose, and Vasco Nuñez, armed and armored cap-a-pie, drew his sword and, taking from the hand of an attendant a banner, on one side of which were pictured the virgin and child and on the other the arms of Castile and Leon, marched into the water, and waving aloft his banner cried in a loud voice: "Long live the high and powerful monarchs Don Fernando and Doña Juana, sovereigns of Castile, and of Leon, and of Aragon, in whose name, and for the royal crown of Castile, I take and seize real and corporeal actual possession of these seas and lands, and coasts and ports and islands of the south, with all thereto annexed; and kingdoms and provinces which belong to them, or which may hereafter belong to them, in whatever manner and by whatever right and title acquired, now existing or which may exist, ancient and modern, in times past and present and to come, without any contradiction. And if any other prince or captain, christian or infidel, of whatever law or sect or condition he may be, pretends any right to these lands and seas, I am ready and prepared to contradict him, and to defend them in the names of the present and future sovereigns of Castile, who are the lords paramount in these Indies, islands and firm land, northern and southern, with their seas, as well in the arctic pole as in the antarctic, on either side of the equinoctial line, within or without the tropics of cancer and capricorn, according to what more completely to their majesties and their successors belongs and is due, for the whole and any part thereof; as I protest in writing shall or may be more fully specified and alleged on behalf of their royal patrimony; now and in all time while the earth revolves, and until the universal judgment of all mankind."[IX-10] To which grandiloquent harangue there came no reply; no armed Poseidon appeared to dispute possession; only the mighty ocean dashed from its face the blinding glare of this new doctrine, heaved its bosom in long glassy swells, and gently growled its perplexity to the sympathizing beach.
THE NAME PACIFIC OCEAN.
The followers of Vasco Nuñez, however, even if all did not comprehend better than the sea what their leader had said, swore with loud acclamations to defend the claim of the sovereign who would thereby have so much more land to bestow, and to follow their gallant leader to the riches and honor he had so freely promised them. Andrés de Valderrábano, the notary of the expedition, was then called upon to draw up a certificate of the act of taking possession, to which all present subscribed their names. This being the day of St Michael,[IX-11] the archangel, the gulf before them was called El golfo de San Miguel, which name it bears to this day. Tasting the water they found it salt, which proved it a true ocean sea that they had found; then they cut crosses on the trees in honor of the holy trinity, and with longings satisfied and hearts singing their high hopes, the party returned to Chiapes, richer, according to their pretensions, by one Pacific Ocean,[IX-12] ten thousand islands, and twenty-five hundred leagues of continental seaboard.
The grand event being so happily consummated, the Spaniards thought that, before returning to Antigua, they might indulge in a little exploration. Luckily the powerful Chiapes was not only their friend, but he could furnish them a goodly list of enemies having an abundance of gold and pearls. Under his direction they crossed a large river, fell upon a chieftain called Cocura, and returned to Chiapes with six hundred and fifty pesos. Then they decided to explore an arm of the gulf, which involved a short but dangerous canoe voyage. In vain Chiapes protested against the project. "Our God will protect us," replied the devout Vasco Nuñez, as with eighty Spaniards, and a dusky band under Chiapes, he stepped into the canoes, the 17th of October. Soon they found themselves in a sea so tempestuous that they were glad to escape upon an island whose uncertain soil threatened every moment to dissolve beneath their feet. There they remained up to their waists in water all that night. Fortunately before morning the waters of the gulf subsided, else the discoverers of the Pacific Ocean never would have returned to tell their tale. Daybreak presented a dismal spectacle. Some of the canoes were split, others embedded in the sand; and all the provisions and clothing had been swept away. But to such hardships these men were inured. Since leaving Spain they had lived chiefly on maize bread, wild herbs, fruit, roots, sometimes fish, seldom meat. This was their best diet. In times of scarcity, which were frequent, they were glad to get reptiles, insects, or anything that would sustain life. They had no salt; and their only drink was river water, frequently putrid and unwholesome. Yet while life lasted, the brain worked inexhaustible resources. In the present emergency, for example, when both sea and land proved treacherous, they by no means yielded to despair. Stripping the glutinous bark from certain young trees which they found, they bruised it with stones, added to it fibrous sea-plants reduced in like manner, and, after binding their broken boats firmly with cords, they calked the seams with the mixture. Again they committed themselves to the mercy of the sea, and after two days of hazardous navigation, half naked and half starved, they ran into a small creek which flowed through a province called Chitarraga, and landed about midnight near an Indian village governed by a cacique named Tumaco.[IX-13]
PEARL GATHERING.
Carrying the village, though not without resistance, Vasco Nuñez, as usual, sought the friendship of the fleeing Tumaco, who was induced to return, bringing gold valued at six hundred and fourteen pesos, and a basin of pearls, two hundred and forty of which were of extraordinary size. This was indeed something worthy of an oriental India, thought the Spaniards, as their hearts danced enraptured over the beautiful baubles. Tumaco could not understand what power his gift possessed that it should so charm these heavenly strangers. To him the oyster which he could eat was seemingly worth more than the pearl which he could not eat; for in roasting the bivalve he had spoilt pearls enough to make him rich in the eyes of any potentate in Christendom. When once he knew that pearls were wealth, Tumaco became eager to show the Spaniards how much he had at his command, and set his men to fish; and in four days they returned with twelve marks' weight, or ninety-six ounces of pearls. Six Spaniards accompanied them to see whence came the gems, and they showed the natives how to open oysters without heat, which discolored the pearl. Likewise gold hereabout was plentiful and lightly esteemed.
Vasco Nuñez endeavored to gain all the information possible concerning the nature and extent of the sea-coast. He was told by Tumaco that the ocean and the mainland extended southward without end; that far distant in that direction dwelt a great nation whose riches were immense, who navigated the ocean in ships, and employed beasts of burden. In order the better to describe these animals, Tumaco moulded in clay a figure of the llama, which seemed to the eyes of the Spaniards a species of camel. "And this," says Herrera, "was the second intimation Vasco Nuñez had of Peru, and of its wealth." Nor did Francisco Pizarro, who was present, fail to hold these things in remembrance.
Balboa now felt his mission accomplished. Had the new sea and its border been made for him it could not have pleased him better. Columbus had found a new continent; he had found a new sea; and wealth on this south side seemed illimitable. But before returning he deemed it prudent to supplement his deed of possession by the enactment of that ceremonial on the shore of the main ocean, for his exploits had hitherto been confined to the gulf of San Miguel. Applying to Tumaco for the requisite means, an immense canoe was produced, the barge of state, with oarsmen, and oars inlaid with aljófar, an inferior kind of pearl; and Vasco Nuñez called on the notary to write it down, that boats on this Southern Sea were propelled by oars inlaid with pearl, so that his sovereigns might thereby place a greater value on it and on his own great services.
In pursuance of this plan, on the 29th of October, the Spaniards embarked in Tumaco's barge, and, proceeding to the shore of the main ocean, landed near an island called by the natives Crucraga, but to which Vasco Nuñez gave the name of San Simon. Here with banner and buckler, with drawn sword and high-sounding declamation, and amidst the lordly waves which had rolled their unimpeded course from far beyond the ever lifting horizon, the vaunting cavalier again affirmed ownership, swearing to defend he knew not what against he knew not whom; but "herein," according to Herrera, "he used all the formalities that could be imagined, for he was brave, subtle, diligent, and of a generous temper, a commander fit for mighty enterprises."