The possibility of extending the commerce of the province by the opening of the port of Iztapa, ten or twelve leagues from Santiago, and the point where it will be remembered Alvarado's vessels were built and equipped for his promised expedition to the Spice Islands, was the subject of many petitions to the king. It seemed to present many facilities for an extensive traffic on the South Sea, and its contiguity to Guatemala would afford merchants and speculators an opportunity of dealing in the products of the country. Ship-building especially might become an important industry. Woods of finest quality and in limitless quantity could be had in the district. Large cedars were abundant; while cordage could be had in inexhaustible quantity. The pita, which furnished excellent material for ropes and cables, grew profusely all over the coast. Pitch and tar could also be procured in the valley of Inmais, only a short distance from the port. So far, however, little success had attended the various attempts made to utilize these advantages, but in after years further efforts were made. In 1591, measures were also taken for opening another port named Estero del Salto, seven leagues from Iztapa and capable of accommodating vessels of a hundred tons.[XXI‑60]
While thus struggling for new avenues of trade, the members of the cabildo were tenacious of those already in their possession. Neither the importation of slaves nor a reduction of the royal dues would satisfy them, while cacao, the only product which really did pay and thus preserved the balance of trade, was improperly taxed. Writing in 1575, they alleged that for two years past this once highly profitable trade had been nearly destroyed by excessive taxation and that in consequence the prosperity of Santiago had been greatly diminished.[XXI‑61]
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
But commercial decadence was not the only misfortune from which the province suffered. In 1575 and the two subsequent years earthquakes occurred in Guatemala,[XXI‑62] attended with great destruction of property. In December 1581 a violent eruption occurred in the volcano west of Santiago. The land for miles around was covered with scoriæ; the sun was darkened, and the lurid flames darting from the cone spread terror throughout the neighborhood. The inhabitants, believing that the day of judgment had come, marched in penitential procession loudly bewailing their sins. Presently a sharp north wind dispersed the gloom and scattered the ashes. On this occasion no lives were lost. In 1585 and 1586 there were numerous earthquakes, the most violent one occurring just before Christmas of the latter year. Hill-tops were rent, wide chasms appeared in the earth, and the greater part of the city was destroyed, many of the inhabitants being buried in the ruins. In 1587 we hear of another severe earthquake by which fifteen lives were lost and fifty buildings shaken down, among them the old Franciscan convent.[XXI‑63]
CHAPTER XXII.
AFFAIRS IN PANAMÁ.
1551-1600.
Revolt of the Cimarrones—Pedro de Ursua Sent against Them—A Second Revolt—Bayano Caught and Sent to Spain—Regulations concerning Negroes—Commercial Decadence—Restrictions on Trade—Home Industries—Pearl Fisheries—Mining—Decay of Settlements—Proposed Change in the Port of Entry—Its Removal from Nombre de Dios to Portobello—Changes in the Seat of the Audiencia—Tierra Firme Made Subject to the Viceroy of Peru—Defalcations in the Royal Treasury—Preparations for Defence against Corsairs and Foreign Powers.
THE CIMARRONES.
It has already been stated that Las Casas was the first to urge the substitution of African for Indian slavery, and as early as 1517 such a measure was authorized by the crown. The natives lacked the physical strength needed to meet the demands of their taskmasters, and negroes from the Portuguese settlements on the coast of Guinea were largely imported into the Spanish West Indies. Numbers of them were driven by ill-usage to take refuge in the forests and mountain fastnesses, where they led a nomadic life or made common cause with the natives, and when attacked by the Spaniards neither gave nor accepted quarter. About the middle of the sixteenth century the woods in the vicinity of Nombre de Dios swarmed with these runaways, who attacked the treasure-trains on their way across the Isthmus, defeated the parties sent against them by the governor of the province, and lurked in wait for passengers, assailing them with poisoned arrows, and cutting into pieces those who fell alive into their hands. Organized as marauding companies they became widely known as cimarrones[XXII‑1] or Maroons as they were called in Jamaica and Dutch Guiana. At times they would unite their forces and ravage a wide extent of country, leaving ruin on every side. Houses were burned, plantations destroyed, women seized, merchandise stolen, and settlers slain. Such was the attendant terror that masters dared not chastise their slaves, nor did merchants venture to travel the highways except in companies of twenty or more.[XXII‑2] In the year 1554 many hundreds of them were thus banded in Tierra Firme alone.
About this time the new viceroy of Peru, Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, marqués de Cañete, opportunely arriving at Nombre de Dios from Spain, en route for his capital, resolved on the subjugation of these outlaws. Not long before his arrival, Pedro de Ursua, a brave and distinguished soldier, had taken refuge from his enemies in the province of Cartagena, where he had founded the city of Pamplona and made discoveries. The viceroy, believing Ursua to be unjustly persecuted and recognizing his eminent fitness, authorized him to raise troops and march against the offenders. Accordingly Ursua equipped upward of two hundred men, and set out from Nombre de Dios. The cimarrones had mustered under Bayano,[XXII‑3] a man of their own race, of singular courage, who had been elected king by those occupying the mountains between Plagon and Pacora, and whose number now exceeded six hundred.
Bayano retreated slowly and warily, posting ambuscades at every favorable point, and engaging the foe in frequent encounters, the negroes fighting with desperation and the Spaniards advancing with the coolness of well disciplined soldiers. For two years Ursua[XXII‑4] carried on the campaign with unwearied patience, and at last surrounded the remnant of the cimarrones and compelled them to sue for peace. Bayano was sent a prisoner to Spain. In 1570 his followers founded the town of Santiago del Príncipe. A cédula of June 21, 1574, declared that on full submission and on condition of their leading a peaceful life the negroes should be free men. One of the articles of a treaty which was concluded at Panamá binds the emancipated slaves to capture runaways and return them to their masters.