[192] The events thus briefly alluded to by our author, will be made more intelligible by a short summary. The main land of the American continent was first discovered by Columbus during his third voyage in 1498, at Paria, opposite to the island of Trinidad. In 1499 one of his companions, Alonzo de Ojeda, accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci, touched the coast somewhere near Sarinam, and coasted along as far as the gulf of Maracaibo, naming a village at the mouth of that gulf Venezuela. In 1508 Ojeda, who was a brave soldier of great personal strength, obtained the government of the coast from Cabo de la Vela to the gulf of Uraba, which was called New Andalusia; and at the same time Diego Nicueza, a very different sort of person,—a polished courtier and good musician, was appointed governor of Veragua or Castille del Oro, a territory extending from the gulf of Uraba to Cape Gracias á Dios.
The two adventurers arrived at Hispaniola at the same time; but Ojeda set out first on his voyage of discovery, and landed at Carthagena in 1510. Advancing into the country he was surprised and defeated by the Indians in the bloody battle of Turbaco, losing seventy Spaniards, among them Juan de la Cosa, Ojeda’s lieutenant. At this time Nicuesa arrived, and, in spite of former jealousies and quarrels, offered assistance to Ojeda. The Indians were in their turn defeated, and all were put to the sword, neither age nor sex being spared.
Ojeda then took leave of Nicuesa, and, sailing to the westward, selected a spot on the east side of the gulf of Uraba or Darien as a site for a town. It consisted of about thirty huts surrounded by a stockade, and was called San Sebastian de Uraba. Here Ojeda was again defeated by the Indians, and, returning to Hispaniola for assistance, he died there in extreme poverty. The Spaniards at San Sebastian were left under the command of Francisco Pizarro, the future conqueror of Peru; they suffered from famine and disease, and at last Pizarro embarked them all in two small vessels. Outside the harbour they met a vessel which proved to be that of the Bachiller Enciso, Ojeda’s partner, coming with provisions and reinforcements. They all returned to San Sebastian, but found that the Indians had destroyed the fort, and Enciso determined to abandon it. One of the crew of Enciso’s ship, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the future discoverer of the South Sea, induced his commander to form a settlement on the other side of the gulf, called Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien. No vestige of it now remains. The troops, however, soon became discontented, Enciso was deposed, and Diego Colmenares, who arrived with provisions, was sent to offer the command to Nicuesa. This commander, after parting from Ojeda, had suffered most fearful hardships on a desert island, and Colmenares found him in a state of great misery, in a bay which he had called Nombre de Dios. When he arrived at Darien, the Spaniards had changed their minds, and refused to receive him, and he was finally obliged to sail in a wretched boat, and was never heard of again. This was in March 1511. Vasco Nuñez, a clever and courageous adventurer, then took command of the Darien settlement, and the Bachiller Enciso was sent back to Hispaniola. The new commander entered upon a career of conquest in the neighbourhood of Darien, which ended in the discovery of the Pacific Ocean on September 25th, 1513. In 1514 Pedrarias de Avila was appointed governor of Darien, an old man of rank and some reputation, but with no ability, and of a cruel disposition. He set out with a large expedition, the historian Oviedo, and the Bachiller Enciso being in his train; and superseded Blasco Nuñez in the government of Darien in June.
[193] In 1517.
[194] Don Pedro de Heredia was one of the most distinguished among the discoverers of New Granada, a firm, intrepid, enterprising man, gifted with the art of securing the confidence and obedience of his usually lawless followers. He commenced his career as lieutenant under Garcia de Lerma, the second governor of Santa Martha, and, returning to Spain with great wealth, he obtained the government of all the country between the mouth of the river Magdalena and the gulf of Darien, and set sail again with a hundred men in 1532. He founded the city of Carthagena in January 1533, and his brother Alonzo de Heredia established a settlement at Uraba in 1535.
Our author sailed from Spain, in the fleet of Pedro de Heredia, at the early age of thirteen. The lad seems to have accompanied Alonzo de Heredia to Uraba, and, with the interesting account of the Indians of that region which now follows, the personal narrative of his travels commences.
[195] Perico ligero, one of the sloth tribe (Bradypus didactylus). The snout is short, forehead high, eyes black and almost covered with long black eyelashes, no incisors in the upper jaw, legs ill-formed, thighs ill-shaped and clumsy, hind legs short and thick, the toes united, having three long curved claws on the hind and fore feet, twenty-eight ribs, and very short tail. The whole length of the body is between four and five feet. The animal is the very picture of misery, and covered with long shaggy hair like dried grass. Its motion is very slow, at each step it howls most hideously, and scarcely walks ten yards in as many hours. It feeds on leaves and buds, and when it has once gained the top of a tree it will remain there as long as a leaf is to be procured. Stevenson, ii, p. 237.
[196] The Peccary, or South American wild pig.
[197] What Cieza de Leon, and other old writers, called a navel, is a dorsal gland on the backs of these peccaries, which must be cut out soon after the animal’s death, or it soon vitiates the whole carcase.
[198] “Manzanillo de playa.” (Hippomane Mancinella Lin.), a euphorbiaceous plant. In the West Indies it is known as the manshineel tree.