[XI-15] Called the bay of Osa by Herrera; baia de oqua by Vaz Dourado; Munich Atlas, no. xi., b∴ deoqua; De Laet, Golfo de Salinas; and by Dampier, and Jefferys, G. Dulce, and Gulfe Dulce.
[XI-16] With singular fidelity to its original, this name has retained its proper orthography without regard to time or place. The chart-makers of every name and nation give only Panamá. Fernando Colon applies the word as to a province, but usually it is given as to a town. Dampier gives the Bay of Panama as well as the city. De Laet sends flowing into this bay R. Chiepo, R. Pacora, R. Tubanama, R. de la balsa, while to the north are R. Pequi, Venta de Cruzes, and Limaret.
[XI-17] Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. x., places Ponce at Panamá in 1516. Although the chronicles and relations are all exceedingly confused, yet I am satisfied that the establishment of a post at Panamá was not effected before January, 1517, since Espinosa was hunting for Paris in January, during the absence of Hurtado and Ponce upon the coast toward the north-west.
[XII-1] Authorities thus far for this chapter are for the most part the same as those last quoted. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 169-248, who, I think, gives the best account of any by contemporary writers; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. i. cap. iii.; Oviedo, iii. 6-8; Peter Martyr, dec. iii. cap. iii. and dec. iv. cap. ix.; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, 50. For Balboa's complaints to the king, see Carta dirigida al Rey, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 375. Brief or extended general accounts may be found in Voyages, Curious and Entertaining, 470-1; Panamá, Descr., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ix. 80; Morelli, Fasti Novi Orbis, 16; Andagoya's Nar., ii.-iii.; Galvano's Discov., 125-8; Ovalle, Hist. Rel. Chile, in Pinkerton's Voy., xiv. 151; Acosta, Hist. Compend. Nuevo Granada, 62; March y Labores, Marina Española, i. 400, portrait; Du Perier, Gen. Hist. Voy., 166; Martire, Summario, in Ramusio, Viaggi, iii. 349; Dic. Enc. de la Lengua Esp., i. 308; Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 526; Puente, Carta, in id., 538-49; Maglianos, St. Francis and Franciscans, 537-8; Pedrarias, Reys-Togten, 3-175, and Cordua, Scheeps-Togt, 26-35, in Aa, vii.; Hesperian Mag., ii. 32-3; Gomara, Hist. Ind., 83-5; Irving's Columbus, iii. 232-86; Uitvoerige Reys-Togten, 33-50, in Gottfried, Reysen, iii.; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 163; Gonzalez Dávila, Carta al Rey, Squier's MS., i. 16.
[XII-2] 'La llegada del obispo á Castilla no se verificó hasta en 1518; y por cierto que no guardó aquí á su amigo los respetos y consecuencia que le debia. En su disputa con Casas delante del emperador aseguró que el primer gobernador del Darien habia sido malo, y el segundo muy peor.' Quintana, Vidas, 'Balboa,' 35. In the matter of definite dates for the events of this chapter, authorities differ. All are more or less vague. Most of them end the career of Vasco Nuñez with the end of 1517; which, if correct, would fix the time of his departure from Antigua about May, 1516, for in his agreement with Pedrarias it was arranged that the time of absence on the South Sea expedition should be limited to eighteen months, and one of the principal charges of the governor was that Balboa had failed in this. Among the collection of documents in the royal archives of the Indies appears a petition presented by Fernando de Argüello to Pedrarias and his council, in behalf of Vasco Nuñez, requesting an extension of the time. At the foot of the petition is a decree, dated January 13, 1518, granting an extension of four months. Either the document is fictitious, or its date erroneous, or contemporary writers are in error. I am quite sure that Pedrarias never gave any extension, since the authorities are clear and positive on that point, and the incidents of the narrative hinge upon it. Compare copy of this document in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 556-8; Carta de Alonso de la Puente y Diego de Marquez, in id., 538-49; Moreri and Miravel y Casadevante in El Gran. Dic.; Burney's Discov. South Sea, i. 12; Naharro, Relacion, in Doc. Inéd. para Hist. Esp., xxvi. 232. As to the date of Quevedo's leaving Darien and his arrival in Spain there are grave differences. Herrera sends the bishop to Spain in 1518, to report the misgovernment of Pedrarias. Oviedo states that Quevedo left Darien soon after the reconciliation of Vasco Nuñez and Pedrarias, and yet does not speak of his being in Spain until 1519, 'era llegado.' It is known that Quevedo spent some time in Cuba, urging Diego Velazquez to apply for the governorship of Castilla del Oro. The petition of Argüello for the extension of the time of absence of Vasco Nuñez, before mentioned, contains the name of Quevedo as one of those who acted upon it, which only the more conclusively proves that document fictitious. Stranger than all this, however, is the statement in the royal cédula, dated June 18, 1519, ordering the ships of Balboa to be delivered to Gil Gonzalez, that Vasco Nuñez was then a prisoner. So singular is this culpable ignorance, or carelessness, or deception, regarding the death of Vasco Nuñez, on the part of the royal officials, as at first to raise grave doubts regarding the date of his death, were it not proved by many collateral incidents.
[XII-3] There are several streams of this name between the Atrato and the Colorado, but none of them suit the occasion. Modern maps give a Rio Balsas flowing into the gulf of San Miguel from the south, its source turned the farthest possible away from Acla. On a map of Joannis de Laet, 1633, Nov. Orb., 347, midway between the gulf of San Miguel and Panamá, are the words R de la balsa. They are placed opposite Acla; the mouth of a river only is given, the stream not being laid down. The same may be said of the R. de la balse of Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, 1671, which is in about the same locality. The Rio Chepo is the only stream approaching the description in that vicinity. In my opinion both of these map-makers were wrong; neither the Rio Chepo nor any other stream in that neighborhood was the Rio Balsas of Vasco Nuñez. The head-waters of the Rio Chucunaque are nearer the old site of Acla than those of the Rio Chepo, or of any other southward flowing stream; and yet I do not think the Chucunaque the Balsas of Vasco Nuñez. Says Pascual de Andagoya, Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 404, 'Le envió á la provincia de Acla á poblar un pueblo, que es el que agora está que se dice Acla, y de allí le dió gente que fuese al rio de la Balsa, y hiciese dos navíos para bajar por él á la mar del sur ... y bajados al golfo de S. Miguel se anegaban,' etc.; from which, and from the objects and incidents of the enterprise, as given by various authors, I am inclined to believe the Rio de las Balsas of Vasco Nuñez to be the stream now known as the Rio Sabana. The fact of distance alone, commonly estimated at 22 leagues, but which Las Casas makes '24 y 25 leguas de sierras altísimas,' inclines me to this opinion, not to mention several others pointing in the same direction, which will clearly appear in the text.
[XII-4] 'Yo ví firmado de su nombre del mismo Obispo, en una relacion que hizo al Emperador en Barcelona el año de 1519, cuando él de la tierra firme vino, como más largo adelante, placiendo á Dios, será referido, que habia muerto el Vasco Nuñez, por hacer los bergantines, 500 indios, y el secretario del mismo Obispo me dijo que no quiso poner más número porque no pareciese cosa increible, pero que la verdad era que llegaban ó pasaban de 2,000.' Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 233-4. 'No se hallo que Castellano ninguno muriesse, ni negro, aunque de los Indios fueron muchos los que perecieron.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. xi.
[XII-5] Pascual de Andagoya asserts that the worm-eaten timber was put together on the Balsas and navigated, though with great difficulty, to the gulf of San Miguel, and thence to the Pearl Islands; and that there they soon foundered. Relacion de los sucesos de Pedrarias Dávila, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 404. This statement, though entitled to great weight, is not sustained by the other authorities.
[XII-6] If I have applied strong terms of denunciation to Pedrarias Dávila, it is because he unquestionably deserves it. He is by far the worst man who came officially to the New World during its early government. In this all authorities agree. And all agree that Vasco Nuñez was not deserving of death. Andagoya, Relacion, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 403-5, is an excellent authority. Says Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 240, 'Dijeron que esta falsedad ó testimonio falso, ó quizá verdad, escribió Garabito á Pedrarias porque Vasco Nuñez, por una india que tenia por amiga, le habia de palabra maltratado.' Some of the more knowing among the chroniclers say that God punished Vasco Nuñez with this death for his treatment of Nicuesa. Will they at the same time tell us for what God permitted Pedrarias to live? 'Desta manera acabó el adelantamiento de Vasco Nuñez, descubridor de la mar del Sur, é pagó la muerte del capitan Diego de Nicuesa; por la qual é por otras culpas permitió Dios que oviesse tal muerte, é no por lo quel pregon deçia, porque la que llamaban traycion, ninguno la tuvo por tal.' Oviedo, iii. 60. Herrera everywhere speaks in the highest terms of Vasco Nuñez, and pronounces the character and conduct of Pedrarias detestable. Says Gomara, Hist. Ind., 85, 'Ni pareciera delante del gouernador, aunque mas su suegro fuera. Juntosele con esto, la muerte de Diego de Nicuesa, y sus sesenta compañeros. La prision del bachiller Enciso, y que era vãdolero reboltoso, cruel, y malo para Indios.' Of Balboa's denial of guilt, in Hist. Mondo Nvovo, i. 51, Benzoni writes, 'Valboa con giuramento negò, dicendo, che in quanto toccaua alla informatione che contra lui s'era fatta di solleuargli la gente che l'era à torto, e falsamente accusato, e che considerasse bene quello che faceua, e se lui hauesse tal cosa tentata, non saria venuto alla presentia sua, e similmente del resto, si difese il meglio che puote ma dove regnano le forze, poco gioua defendersi con la ragione.' And Peter Martyr, dec. iv. cap. ix., testifies, 'Vaschum ab Austro accersit Petrus Arias: paret dicto Vaschus, in catenas conjicitur. Negat Vaschus tale consilium cogitasse. Testes quæruntur malefactorum, quæ patraverat: ab initio dicta colliguntur, morte dignus censetur, perimitur.' And 'what stomach' he further adds, 'Pedrarias Dávila may have, should he ever return to Spain, let good men judge.'
[XIII-1] The city or town council, composed of the alcalde, regidores, and other officers having the administration or economical and political management of municipal affairs. The word cabildo has essentially the same signification as ayuntamiento, regimiento, consejo, municipalidad, and consejo municipal. A cabildo eclesiástico is a bishop's council or chapter. The authority invested in this body at Antigua at this time, to check Pedrarias, was wholly unusual and extraordinary.