For the building of churches in Castilla del Oro, the king gave large alms; his annual donation to the hospital was three hundred pesos,[XV-3] while the royal treasury covered the cost of an organ and a clock for the Panamá cathedral. About the time of the removal, Francisco de Lizaur, procurador of the new settlement for providing the Indians as well as the Spaniards with food, procured an order requiring the governor to attend to planting; likewise barter must be opened with the natives, and negro slaves were not allowed to accompany expeditions. The boundaries of the municipality extended about forty-five leagues in every direction from the three leagues of city lands in the centre.
The natives of the New World, and they alone, were expected to support the new city, and through Panamá to send great wealth to Spain. The object of the Spaniards was not agriculture, except to save themselves from hunger; nor even mining, except as they could force the natives to dig; it was unadulterated robbery, with only the lame excuses of civilization and Christianity, and Panamá was but a pirates' nest.
By no means the worst of the band was Pascual de Andagoya, who but for the bad company he kept might have been pronounced an honest man. He assisted Pedrarias, and acted as the forerunner of Pizarro, but when it came to wholesale infamies he had no zeal for them.
EXPEDITION OF ANDAGOYA.
A faithful retainer of the governor, he was in 1522 sent by him to explore the southern coast beyond the limits of the discovery of Vasco Nuñez. Landing at the gulf of San Miguel, Andagoya visited a province called Chochama, where he was informed that during the periods of the full moon, a fierce people infested its shore, driving the inhabitants from their fisheries, slaying them if they resisted, and spreading terror generally. This people came from a province called Birú, which name was corrupted by the Spaniards into Pirú, and finally into the Peru of Francisco Pizarro. Chochama begged Andagoya to protect his subjects from this scourge, and having obtained reinforcements from Panamá, Andagoya set out in company with his host and his warriors for the dreaded region. Ascending a large river for twenty leagues, the Spaniards found a number of villages and caciques, and on the outskirts of the province, near the junction of two rivers, they discovered a strong native fortress, well garrisoned, which on being attacked was defended with skill and bravery. But superior tactics soon prevailed, and after a struggle the stronghold was reduced and the inmates were brought to terms.
The subjugation of Birú being thus effected, Andagoya continued his voyage, the ships keeping well off shore, while the commander reconnoitred the coast in canoes navigated by friendly Indians. It happened one day, while thus employed, that his boat was caught in the surf and overturned. He was saved by the brave efforts of one of the natives whose cause he had espoused; but a rheumatic fever which followed determined him to abandon the discovery, and on the following day he turned his face toward Panamá, where he arrived in safety with a few captives.[XV-4]
Permission was then given to Juan Basurto to continue the discovery of Andagoya; but his sudden death cut short the preparations, and there the matter rested until taken up by Francisco Pizarro.
BRAVERY OF URRACÁ.
Leaving for the moment affairs to the southward, let us return to the western side of Panamá Bay. There was a cacique named Urracá, whom the Spaniards sought to kill, whose domain was the sierra of Veragua, and whose crime was the love of liberty. Indeed so villainously depraved was this savage that he would not accept Spanish salvation and domination when offered him in return for his gold; he even thought to kill the good men who invaded his territory to kill him. Urracá was fierce and strong; his mountains were rugged, and his home almost inaccessible to the hostile invader. Therefore he must be approached with caution, and his capture intrusted only to picked men. As he was reported rich, and worth the trouble, two companies were fitted out against him, one by water under Espinosa, and one by land under Francisco Pizarro. The former embarked at Panamá in two vessels, and, after touching at the island of Cebaco, passed over to the mainland of Veragua and began his march on the redoubtable mountaineer. Urracá was not afraid of him, and after placing the women, the children, and the aged of his people in safety, with his warriors he marched boldly out against the enemy. He first encountered the Indian vanguard of Espinosa, and falling on them slew them to a man. Then he fiercely attacked the horsemen, of whom there were two or three, and the foot-soldiers, fighting with such determination that but for Hernando de Soto, who with thirty men had been sent forward by Pizarro to seek a pass, the licentiate would have been cut to pieces. Pizarro, who was near at hand, had not reached the place without hard fighting. And now Urracá defied them all. With every advantage of a rugged and well-known country on his side, he rallied his men and attacked the combined force with such desperate energy that when night came the Spaniards endeavored to withdraw secretly to the open plain. To this Urracá objected. He permitted them to break up camp, it is true, and to begin their march; but, when within the darkest pass, he was on them again like a trap, and from the black craggy defile they could not move, except against the lances and war-clubs that hemmed them in. With morning the question faced them, whether they should die there or escape? And thus the captains placed the matter before the men. Summoning all their strength, they threw their united force against the living obstructions at the opening toward the sea, and, treading down the enemy, escaped to their ships, and spreading sail directed their course toward Panamá. But it would not do to return empty-handed. So landing at Borrica they plundered the town, and took the inhabitants captive, though the licentiate finally released the women. While Espinosa with the main body of his troops proceeded to Natá, Francisco Compañon with fifty men surprised by night a peaceful village in the neighborhood. It was palisaded, and the Spaniards were repulsed. Hiding themselves, they waited until the inhabitants had come forth in the morning, and had scattered themselves about the fields. At a signal they sprang upon them. The poor natives ran for shelter from the merciless steel, and arriving at the gateway in a body they so blocked it as to be easily butchered. Those not killed were carried captives to Natá.
NATÁ AND CHIRIQUÍ.