Meanwhile a deputation composed of the natives of Natá was sent to the cacique Paris, demanding his allegiance to the king of Spain, and the restoration of the gold taken from Badajoz. Paris replied by hanging all the ambassadors, save two, by whom he sent back word that every Christian caught within his territories would be treated in like manner. The licentiate prepared immediately to march against the redoubtable chieftain.

On the 29th of July, 1516, every member of the army was confessed by the priest. Vows were made to Our Lady of Antigua, "and in the name of God," says the licentiate, "we began our journey." Hurtado had been sent with fifty men to Escoria, and the ruler of that province together with Chirú and Natá was forced to accompany the expedition against Paris.[XI-10] The inhabitants melted before the invaders, and it was with difficulty that men could be captured for guides. The Spaniards had not advanced far before they learned that a council had been held by the chiefs confederated for self-protection, to determine whether the gold taken from Badajoz should be returned. Some were in favor of restoring it; but others objected that, this being given up, as much more would be demanded, and since fight they must in either case, it was agreed to do so before surrendering the treasure. It so happened that Diego Albites with eighty men was marching in advance, and coming to a rivulet he espied some Indians hidden under the bank and undertook to capture them. Instantly the country was alive with savages; Albites found himself surrounded by four thousand of the enemy, wholly cut off from the main body. The Spaniards fought desperately for six hours, and would have been destroyed had not Espinosa appeared and let loose upon the assailants the bloodhounds and the horsemen. Twenty caciques and a host of warriors were slain, and many of the Spaniards were badly wounded. "That night we slept upon the battle-field," says Espinosa, "and next day I threw up a protection of palisades and sent out in search of the cacique Paris." The cunning chief had burned his village and fled, thus leaving the invaders neither gold nor provisions. Albites went out to forage, with instructions to fire a cannon in case of danger. Nine times that night the licentiate heard the report of a gun, and was not a little alarmed for the safety of the captain. Great was his joy, therefore, when early in the morning Valenzuela appeared with reinforcement of one hundred men from Antigua and informed the licentiate that it was he who had fired the guns while in search of the commander's camp.

VALENZUELA JOINS ESPINOSA.

Espinosa having now three hundred men felt himself strong enough to prosecute discovery according to the full tenor of his instructions, which were to explore the coast westward as far as practicable. As a first step he sent a detachment of eighty men under Valenzuela into the province of Guararí, near the seashore, in search of trees for canoes. Meanwhile the treasure lost by Badajoz must if possible be found before abandoning these parts. Companies were sent out in various directions under Albites, Hurtado, and Pedro de Gamez, between whom arose no small rivalry for securing the honor of the capture. Their purpose was to seize the caciques and wring from them the secret by torture. At length Gamez came upon the scent, and followed it into the province of Quema. He was even so fortunate as to capture the chief, but for want of an interpreter nothing definite could be learned. He nevertheless reported favorably to Espinosa, who ordered Albites and Hurtado to go to his assistance. Under the gentle persuasion of the rack Quema disclosed the place where part of the gold, some thirty thousand castellanos, was hidden, but denied any knowledge of the remainder. With this gold and other plunder, the three captains rejoined their commander, who had passed on to Guararí.

Two canoes being completed, each capable of carrying seventy men, and three smaller ones having been brought by Pablo Mejía from Chirú, they were placed in charge of Bartolomé Hurtado, who with eighty or ninety men coasted south and westward, while Espinosa with the remainder of the company followed by land. The rain fell in torrents, and the worthy licentiate was soon tired of wading through the thick mud; and so, after four days' march to a small port called Huera,[XI-11] in the province of Vera, a council was held which arranged that Hurtado should continue the survey with one hundred men, in boats, while the land party should return to Quema and search for the remainder of the Badajoz treasure.

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The first province at which Hurtado landed was called Guanata, whence the inhabitants had fled, and where by reason of continuous rains the Spaniards rested seven days. Securing guides they then passed on to an island, called by the natives Caubaco, or Cebaco,[XI-12] three days distant. Hurtado was acquiring experience, and found it better to treat these wild people gently. This policy succeeded, and, although his landing was at first opposed, he and the islanders soon became the best of friends. Their ruler was absent on the mainland, fighting; and when he returned his subjects introduced the strangers with such warmth that he at once extended his good-will, giving Hurtado a golden armor valued at one thousand castellanos. Indeed, he proved most affable and accommodating, willing to acknowledge the king of Spain, accept Christianity, or anything they desired; so much so that the Spaniards called him Cacique Amigo. An expedition was organized against the inhabitants of a neighboring island, named by the Spaniards Isla de Varones, in which they were joined by Pequeari, brother of Cebaco, with nine canoes. These islanders were found entrenched in a log fortress, surrounded by a ditch, and so difficult to carry that the assailants were repeatedly thrown back and must have failed but for their artillery. Seven leagues to the westward was an island called Cabo,[XI-13] where the Spaniards found a little gold. Thence they kept along the mainland, but the inhabitants were so fierce they dared not land. Some boatmen told them, however, that through the lands of the adjoining provinces, Torra and Tabraba, the distance to the North Sea was but three days' journey. And here they met with rumors of a rich and powerful nation to the westward, with double faces and rounded feet—an allusion probably to the table-land civilization. There are people with the former characteristic even to-day, and among our superior European culture.

SOUTH SEA EXPLORATIONS.