GUTIERREZ PREACHES CHRIST.
The chiefs were then invited to a feast, the viands consisting of fowl and salt pork; but they had little relish for such food, and merely tasting it handed it to their attendants to be cast to the dogs. After the meal came an exhortation in which, as Benzoni relates, Gutierrez thus harangued his guests: "My very dear friends and brothers, I am come hither to free you from the chains of idolatry, by which through the influences of your evil spirits you have until now been bound. I am come to teach you the way to heaven, whence Jesus Christ, the son of God, descended to save you. With me I have brought holy men to teach you this faith, which to accept, and implicitly to obey our sovereign emperor Charles V., king of Spain and monarch of the world, and us his representatives, comprises your whole duty." To these words the chieftains bowed their heads, but without making answer, neither assenting to nor rejecting the munificent and disinterested offer of the Christians, who for a little yellow earthly metal gave in return the ineffable joys of heaven.
GUTIERREZ ROBS AND TORTURES.
Nevertheless, the savages were slow to bring in their gold, and the governor, forgetting the lofty sentiments with which he had regaled Contreras prior to his departure from Nicaragua, looked about him for some means by which to enforce his injunctions. Being informed that two of the caciques, named Camachire and Cocori,[XI‑10] who had before presented him with treasure to the value of seven hundred ducats, were now encamped on the opposite side of the river, he summoned them into his presence, at the same time pledging his word for their safety. Reluctantly the chieftains came, and no sooner had they placed themselves in the power of the Spaniards than Gutierrez ordered a strong iron collar to be fastened round their necks, and chaining them to a beam in his dwelling, taxed them with stealing the buried jars of salt and honey, and demanded restitution, or, as an equivalent, a large amount of gold. They answered that they knew nothing of the matter, and had no need to pilfer articles of which they possessed an abundant store. Camachire procured gold to the value of two thousand ducats, which was greedily appropriated by the governor, but served only to whet his appetite. In place of thanks, baptism, and restoration to liberty, the cacique was dragged before a burning fire; a large basket was placed beside him, and he was told that unless, within four days, he obtained gold enough to fill it six times he should be burned to death.[XI‑11] The trembling native promised to comply, and sent out his slaves to collect the treasure. Perceiving the Indian to be tractable, and believing him anxious to comply in good faith with the demand, Gutierrez permitted him to be led every day to the stream to bathe, as was his daily habit. Returning on one occasion from the bath, the soldier having the captive in charge neglected to secure him properly, and the following night he made his escape.
Cocori, who yet remained a prisoner, had now to bear the brunt of the governor's wrath. After being frequently importuned for gold, which he always declared himself unable to obtain, he was led daily to a spot where blood-hounds were chained; bid to observe well their huge teeth and gleaming eyes; and threatened that unless gold were soon forthcoming he should be torn and devoured by these ferocious brutes. At length the indignation of the chieftain overcame his fear. "You lie, bad Christians," he exclaimed, "for often have you made the same threat and yet I live; besides I would rather die than live in bondage among such vipers which I greatly wonder how the earth can bear." The noble native was then reserved for use as a pack animal. Thus did Diego Gutierrez fulfil his promise to people the province and not to pillage it.
It was soon noised abroad that the strangers who had brought to the shores of Costa Rica the glad tidings of the gospel were more to be dreaded than the evil spirits which they had come to exorcise; and the neighboring caciques, fearing to attack the Spaniards, laid waste their own lands, destroyed their crops, burned their dwellings and withdrew to the mountains, until starvation should compel the intruders to abandon the territory. The governor soon found himself in evil plight; moreover he possessed a temperament singularly adapted to inspire distrust, discontent, and melancholy among his followers. Again they threatened to desert him and return to Nombre de Dios or Nicaragua, leaving him in sole possession of the boundless forests, sole ruler over naked and hostile natives. He had but one alternative—to push on boldly into the heart of the province in the hope of finding gold or at least a store of provisions. After some persuasion the men agreed to accompany him. The sick and disabled were sent back to the sea-shore, where Alonso de Pisa was stationed with twenty-four men, bearing orders that he should march through the forest along a track which would be designated by placing crosses along the route. Dividing a scanty stock of grain among his soldiers, now mustering but forty capable of bearing arms, Gutierrez plunged blindly into the wilderness.
TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS.
On setting out upon this hazardous raid, Benzoni, who affirms that he realized fully the situation, remarked to a comrade, "We are going to the shambles." Whereupon the other, a man of more sanguine temperament, made answer: "Thou art one of those who, we intend, shalt have a principality in spite of thyself."[XI‑12] For six days no human habitation was seen. Through dense woods they journeyed, climbing the mountain sides by clinging to the roots of trees, and making the descent by sliding down their steep declivities. Leaves were their chief food, and some half-picked bones, which the wild beasts had abandoned, furnished them a rich repast.
The temper of the governor was no more happy than his situation. Arriving at a spot where the path divided, Gutierrez demanded of an Indian belonging to the train which route to pursue in order to arrive at some native villages of which they were in search. He replied that he did not know; whereupon the governor taking it for granted that the answer was false ordered his head to be stricken off by a negro slave. The same question was then put to Cocori, who now served the Spaniards as a beast of burden;[XI‑13] and the same reply was made. Again the cruel governor gave the order to kill. As the executioner approached him the brave cacique instantly laid down his burden, bowed his head, and calmly awaited the expected blow. Struck by the noble bearing of the cacique and his own infamous conduct, Gutierrez countermanded the order, and the chieftain's life was spared to further misery. On the spot where these incidents occurred three soldiers were obliged from exhaustion to rest, while the company advanced. They were soon afterward massacred by the Indians. The dogs were now killed and their carcasses divided among the men, the governor refusing to share with them the more wholesome viands which he had reserved for his own use.[XI‑14]
But the career of Diego Gutierrez was well-nigh closed. The party was now upon the southern slope of the cordillera, on the banks of a large stream which flows into the South Sea[XI‑15] and the time was July 1545. A small band of disaffected men miserably clad, and destitute of food, had thus wandered far into the interior of a wilderness. Whither were they bound, and what the insane hope that urged them forward? Gutierrez who had been twice abandoned by his soldiers, was now resolved that these men whom he had brought with so much labor and expense from Nicaragua and Nombre de Dios should not escape him. Alarmed by their loud murmuring at the place called San Francisco, he had hastily departed, cutting off, as many other Spanish leaders had done before him, all hope of ever returning except as a successful man. Could he have pilfered from the natives and thereby obtained food and gold, thus keeping his men in heart until the arrival of Alonso de Pisa, all would have been well. But until reaching the southern declivity of the mountains the country was everywhere deserted. So rugged had been their path, and so toilsome their march, that they were now exhausted, and the natives whom before they had so much longed to meet and make their prey were now congregating to prey upon them.