While Pacra was still alive they asked him where his people obtained gold, but neither by persuasion nor threats nor tortures could they drag this secret from him. When asked how he had procured what he had possessed,––for he had offered a present of thirty pounds of gold out of his treasury––he answered that those of his subjects who, either in the time of his parents or in his own, had mined that gold in the mountain were dead, and that since his youth he had not troubled to look for gold. Nothing more could be obtained from him on this subject.
The rigorous treatment of Pacra secured Vasco the friendship of the neighbouring caciques, and when he sent for the sick, whom he had left behind to join him, a cacique, called Bononiama, whose country the route directly traversed, received them kindly and gave them twenty pounds of wrought gold and an abundance of provisions. Nor would he leave them until he had accompanied them from his residence to that of Pacra, as though they had been confided to his fidelity. He spoke thus to Vasco: "Here are your companions in arms, Most Illustrious Warrior; just as they came to me, so do I bring them to you. It would have pleased me had they been in better health, but you and your companions are the servants of him who strikes the guilty with thunder and lightning, and who of his bounty, thanks to the kindly climate, gives us yucca and maize." While speaking these words he raised his eyes to Heaven and gave it to be understood that he referred to the sun. "In destroying our proud and violent enemies you have given peace to us and to all our people. You overcome monsters. We believe that you and your equally brave companions have been sent from Heaven, and under the protection of your machanes we may henceforth live without fear. Our gratitude to him who brings us these blessings and happiness shall be eternal." Such, or something like this, was the speech of Bononiama, as translated by the interpreters. Vasco thanked him for having escorted our men and received them kindly, and sent him away loaded with precious gifts.
Vasco writes that the cacique Bononiama has disclosed to him many secrets concerning the wealth of the region, which he reserves for later, as he does not wish to speak of them in his letter. What he means by such exaggeration and reticence I do not understand. He seems to promise a great deal, and I think his promises warrant hope of great riches; moreover, the Spaniards have never entered a native house without finding either cuirasses and breast ornaments of gold, or necklaces and bracelets of the same metal. If anyone wishing to collect iron should march with a troop of determined men through Italy or Spain, what iron articles would they find in the houses? In one a cooking stove, in another a boiler, elsewhere a tripod standing before the fire, and spits for cooking. He would everywhere find iron utensils, and could procure a large quantity of the metal. From which he would conclude that iron abounded in the country. Now the natives of the New World set no more value on gold than we do on iron ore. All these particulars, Most Holy Father, have been furnished me either by the letters of Vasco Nuñez and his companions in arms, or by verbal report. Their search for gold mines has produced no serious result, for out of ninety men he took with him to Darien, he has never had more than seventy or at most eighty under his immediate orders; the others having been left behind in the dwellings of the caciques.
Those who succumbed most easily to sickness were the men just arrived from Hispaniola; they could not put up with such hardships, nor content their stomachs, accustomed to better food, with the native bread, wild herbs without salt, and river water that was not always even wholesome. The veterans of Darien were more inured to all these ills, and better able to resist extreme hunger. Thus Vasco gaily boasts that he has kept a longer and more rigorous Lent than Your Holiness, following the decrees of your predecessors, for it has lasted uninterruptedly for four years; during which time he and his men have lived upon the products of the earth, the fruits of trees, and even of them there was not always enough. Rarely did they eat fish and still more rarely meat, and their wretchedness reached such a point that they were obliged to eat sick dogs, nauseous toads, and other similar food, esteeming themselves fortunate when they found even such. I have already described all these miseries. I call "veterans of Darien" the first comers who established themselves in this country under the leadership of Nicuesa and Hojeda, of whom there remains but a small number. But let this now suffice, and let us bring back Vasco and the veterans from their expedition across the great mountain-chain.
BOOK [III]
During the thirty days he stopped in Pacra's village, Vasco strove to conciliate the natives and to provide for the wants of his companions. From there, guided by subjects of Taocha, he marched along the banks of the Comogra River, which gives its name both to the country and to the cacique. The mountains thereabouts are so steep and rocky, that nothing suitable for human food grows, save a few wild plants and roots and fruits of trees, fit to nourish animals. Two friendly and allied caciques inhabit this unfortunate region. Vasco hastened to leave behind a country so little favoured by man and by Nature, and, pressed by hunger, he first dismissed the people of Taocha, and took as guides the two impoverished caciques, one of whom was named Cotochus and the other Ciuriza. He marched three days among wild forests, over unsealed mountains and through swamps, where muddy pitfalls gave way beneath the feet and swallowed the incautious traveller. He passed by places which beneficent Nature might have created for man's wants, but there were no roads made; for communication amongst natives is rare, their only object being to murder or to enslave one another in their warlike incursions. Otherwise each tribe keeps within its own boundaries. Upon arriving at the territory of a chief called Buchebuea, they found the place empty and silent, as the chief and all his people had fled into the woods. Vasco sent messengers to call him back, notifying them not to use threats, but, on the contrary, to promise protection. Buchebuea replied that he had not fled because he feared harsh treatment, but rather because he was ashamed and sorry he could not receive our compatriots with the honour they deserved, and was unable even to furnish them provisions. As a token of submission and friendship he willingly sent several golden vases, and asked pardon. It was thought this unfortunate cacique wished it to be understood that he had been robbed and cruelly treated by some neighbouring enemy, so the Spaniards left his territory, with mouths gaping from hunger, and thinner than when they entered it.
During the march, some naked people appeared on the flank of the column. They made signs from a hilltop and Vasco ordered a halt to wait for them. Interpreters who accompanied the Spaniards asked them what they wanted, to which they replied "Our cacique, Chiorisos, salutes you. He knows you are brave men who redress wrongs and punish the wicked, and though he only knows you by reputation he respects and honours you. Nothing would have pleased him better than to have you as his guests at his residence. He would have been proud to receive such guests, but since he has not yet had this good fortune and you have passed him by, he sends you as a pledge of affection these small pieces of gold." With courteous smiles they presented to Vasco thirty patenas of pure gold, saying they would give him still more if he would come to visit them. The Spaniards give the name patena to those balls of metal worn on the neck, and also to the sacred utensil with which the chalice is covered when carried to the altar. Whether in this instance plates for the table or balls are meant, I am absolutely ignorant; I suppose, however, that they are plates, since they weighed fourteen pounds, at eight ounces to the pound.
These natives then explained that there was in the neighbourhood a very rich cacique, who was their enemy, and who yearly attacked them. If the Spaniards would make war upon him, his downfall would enrich them and would deliver friendly natives from incessant anxiety. Nothing would be easier, they said through their interpreters, than for you to help us, and we will act as your guides. Vasco encouraged their hopes and sent them away satisfied. In exchange for their presents he gave them some iron hatchets, which they prize more than heaps of gold. For as they have no money––that source of all evils––they do not need gold. The owner of one single hatchet feels himself richer than Crassus.[1] These natives believe that hatchets may serve a thousand purposes of daily life, while gold is only sought to satisfy vain desires, without which one would be better off. Neither do they know our refinements of taste, which demand that sideboards shall be loaded with a variety of gold and silver vases. These natives have neither tables, tablecloths, or napkins; the caciques may sometimes decorate their tables with little golden vases, but their subjects use the right hand to eat a piece of maize bread and the left to eat a piece of grilled fish or fruit, and thus satisfy their hunger. Very rarely they eat sugar-cane. If they have to wipe their hands after eating a certain dish, they use, instead of napkins, the soles of their feet, or their hips, or sometimes their testicles. The same fashion prevails in Hispaniola. It is true that they often dive into the rivers, and thus wash the whole of their bodies.
[Note 1: Possibly a mis-copy of Crœsus.]
Loaded with gold, but suffering intensely and so hungry they were scarcely able to travel, the Spaniards continued their march and reached the territory of a chief called Pochorroso, where during thirty days they stuffed themselves with maize bread, which is similar to Milanese bread. Pochorroso had fled, but, attracted by coaxing and presents, he returned, and gifts were exchanged. Vasco gave Pochorroso the usual acceptable articles, and the cacique gave Vasco fifteen pounds of melted gold and some slaves. When they were about to depart, it transpired that it would be necessary to cross the territory of a chief called Tumanama, the same formerly described by the son of Comogre as the most powerful and formidable of those chiefs. Most of Comogre's servants had been this man's slaves captured in war. As is the case everywhere, these people gauged the power of Tumanama by their own standard, ignorant of the fact that these caciques, if brought face to face with our soldiers commanded by a brave and fortunate leader, were no more to be feared than gnats attacking an elephant. When the Spaniards came to know Tumanama they quickly discovered that he did not rule on both sides of the mountain, nor was he as rich in gold as the young Comogre pretended. Nevertheless they took the trouble to conquer him. Pochorroso, being the enemy of Tumanama, readily offered Vasco his advice.