But the deity would not at the price sell deliverance from the corsairs, who could be as Christian as any of them upon occasion. In 1679 Portobello was plundered by pirates, the spoils amounting to a hundred and sixty pesos per capita; and during the same year a buccaneer fleet assembled at the Boca del Toro, where lay two English privateers.[XXIX‑2] From them intelligence was received that the Darien Indians had rendered aid to the French captain, Bournano, in an attack on the town of Chepo. Repulsed before that place, they had offered to guide him to a large and rich city named Tocamora, but as this enterprise called for a stronger armament than he had at his disposal, he went in search of reënforcements, promising to return in three months.
The pirates who had sacked Portobello agreed to take part in the contemplated foray, and at once set about careening and refitting their vessels. As soon as the necessary preparations were completed the fleet sailed eastward along the coast to the Samballas, or isles of San Blas, where they were visited by the natives.[XXIX‑3] The Indians dissuaded the leaders of the party from making a raid on Tocamora, suggesting instead a descent on Panamá, to within a few leagues of which city they could guide them undiscovered. This proposition, backed by the argument that the march to Tocamora was difficult and provisions almost unattainable, while at Panamá they could not fail of immense booty, inclined the majority to follow the Indians' counsel.[XXIX‑4]
The French contingent considered so long a land journey too hazardous, and parted company, while the remainder of the fleet, numbering seven vessels, with thirty-six guns and three hundred and sixty-six men, sailed under the guidance of the Cacique Andrés to the Golden Island, the most easterly of the Samballas, where this chief had his head-quarters,[XXIX‑5] arriving there the 3d of April 1680. The Indians now proposed an attack upon the town of Santa María, situated on a large river of that name, which flows into the gulf of San Miguel. Here was maintained a garrison of four hundred men, for it was the entrepôt through which passed the gold on its way from the neighboring mines to the vaults of Panamá. If Santa María failed in booty, they could sail to Panamá, where success was certain. This plan was generally approved, and on April 5th they landed a strong force, divided into seven companies, each marching under its distinctive banner and led by its own captain, the supreme command being intrusted to Captain Bartholomew Sharp. The native allies accompanied the column under Andrés who acted as guide.
OVERLAND MARCH.
However perilous this expedition may appear, there were those among the rovers whose hopes soared higher than a mere swoop on Panamá, and who meditated a triumphant return through the straits of Magellan in a fleet of prizes freighted not with the gold of Panamá alone, but with the wealth of the South American coast. Burdened only with their weapons and a slender stock of provisions the buccaneers began their march on Panamá. After passing through the outskirts of a wood, they crossed a marsh[XXIX‑6] about a league in length, and struck into a well wooded valley which they ascended by a good path for two leagues more, reaching the bank of a river for the most part dry at this time of year. Here they constructed huts and encamped. They were now visited by a cacique who recommended them to carry out their proposed raid on Santa María, and volunteered to lead them in person, informing them naively that "he would have joined them at once, but his child was very ill; however, he was assured it would die by next day," when he would overtake them. The chieftain then departed, cautioning them against lying in the grass, on account of the snakes, which were poisonous and of great size. Stones found in the bed of the river when broken showed traces of gold, a harbinger of the yellow harvest toward which their steps were bent; but this was not enough to prevent four of the company from returning to the ships, thus early discouraged at the prospect of a long and tedious journey.
The following morning they climbed a steep hill, on the other side of which appeared a river, said by Andrés to be that on which Santa María was situated. The line of march then led over another hill, more precipitous than the former, where at times the path would admit of but one man in file, until with evening they reached the foot and encamped upon the same river, having marched that day six leagues. Next day they followed the course of the stream; the current was extremely strong, and the depth varied from knee to waist deep, A short though fatiguing day's march brought the column to a halt at an Indian village. This was the abode of Andrés' son, Antonio, styled Bonete de Oro, or King Golden-cap, by the same whimsical buccaneer nomenclature which dignified his father with the title of emperor. Messengers had been sent forward to announce their approach and the presence of Andrés with the column. Preparations were made for the reception of the corsairs. Golden-cap visited them in state, accompanied by his queen, his children, and his retinue. The monarch wore a golden circlet round his head, gold rings in his ears, and a gold crescent depending from his nose. He was modestly clad in a long cotton robe, which reached his ankles, and he carried a long lance. His three sons, each armed with a lance and wearing a cotton garment, stood uncovered in his presence, as did his retinue.
The queen was tastefully attired in a pair of red blankets, one girt about her waist, the other draped over her shoulders. She carried a young child, and was accompanied by two daughters, both of marriageable age, their faces streaked with red paint and their arms and necks loaded with variously colored beads. His Majesty did not disdain to barter his stock of plantains for knives, pins, and needles. He was generous enough, however, to present three plantains and some sugar-cane to each man, gratis.[XXIX‑7] The band halted at this village all the following day, when a council of war was held to determine how they might best reach Santa María undiscovered. It was resolved to embark in canoes, but to provide a sufficient quantity taxed the resources of the chief, as the number was now increased by a hundred and fifty Indians, all armed with bow, arrows, and lance, and under the immediate command of their caciques. At this council Captain Sawkins was appointed to lead the forlorn hope, consisting of eighty picked men. Resuming the march next day, April 9th, they continued to follow the course of the river, occasionally passing a solitary house, at which times the owner would generally come to his door to watch them pass by, and give each either a ripe plantain or some cassava-root. That night they halted at three large Indian huts, where a quantity of provisions and some canoes had been collected by Golden-cap's orders. Early next morning, before breaking camp, a quarrel arose between Coxon and Harris, when the former levelled his fusil and fired, but without effect. Harris was about to return the fire, but was restrained by Captain Sharp, who succeeded in adjusting the difficulty, and the fifth day's travel began.
Captains Sharp, Coxon, and Cook, with about seventy men, were detached from the main body and embarked in fourteen canoes. Andrés and Antonio accompanied them, and with two Indians to navigate each canoe put off down the Santa María River.
Canoeing, however, was found no more comfortable than trudging afoot, as the crews were continually obliged to leap out and haul the boats over shoals, rocks, or fallen trees, and sometimes to make portages over the land itself. These vexations attended the voyage for three days, and were varied only by the visit of a wild animal to one of their camps, at which they dared not fire lest the report should betray their presence to the Spaniards.[XXIX‑8] As they did not fall in with their comrades of the main body on April 12th, Sharp and Coxon's detachment began to suspect treachery on the part of the Indians, who might have designed to divide their forces and betray them into the hands of the Spaniards. Happily these fears proved groundless, for the next day they reached a point of land at the confluence of another branch of the river, a rendezvous of the Indians in their warfare with the Spaniards, and halting there in the afternoon were joined by their brethren in arms, who had been provided with canoes the day before, and were also in a state of anxiety as to the fate of their comrades.[XXIX‑9] The entire company, thus reunited, pitched their camp on this spot to get their arms in order and prepare for action, which was now believed imminent. Meanwhile the commissariat department was not neglected, for several canoes arrived with a supply of plantains and peccary pork.[XXIX‑10]
Very early the next morning they all embarked, the flotilla numbering sixty-eight canoes. The "emperor" and the "king," says Captain Sharp, continued their voyage, the former "Cloathed with a loose Robe or Mantle of pure Gold, which was extraordinary Splendid and Rich. The King was in a White Cotton Coat fringed round the bottom, about his Neck a Belt of Tygers Teeth, and a Hat of pure Gold, with a Ring and a Plate like a Cockle Shell hanging at it of Gold in his Nose, which is the Fashion in this Country for the people of Quality."