Nunez

“ It was Medina-saroti who persuaded Nunez to face the blind surgeons.
"You do not want me," he said, "to lose my gift of sight?"
She shook her head.
"My world is sight."
Her head drooped lower.
"There are the beautiful things, the beautiful little things—the flowers, the lichens among the rocks, the lightness and softness on a piece of fur, the far sky with its drifting down of clouds, the sunsets and the stars. And there is you. For you alone it is good to have sight, to see your sweet, serene face, your kindly lips, your dear, beautiful hands folded together... ”

“ I never saw Nunez after the frigate Potomac arrived. The Enterprize and the Malek Adhel went into Rio together. Nunez was at liberty on shore after the Enterprize arrived. I saw Nunez three or four days before we sailed from Rio; he told me he was going to take command again of the Malek Adhel. Martin went with the rest of the crew before the consul. I saw him in the consul's office. I never saw Martin at Rio; we left him at Bahia. I saw both Curry and Sylvie at Rio, but do not know how they got there. A vessel bound direct from Bahia to Guayamas would not stop at Rio. ”

“ On the upper deck the fight was raging furiously. The Spaniards, furious and desperate, were massed together in a solid body, keeping back the Englishmen by sheer skill. Already between the gangways and the bulwarks lay a great heap of dead and dying. High above the combatants on the poop stood Nunez, his pale face set and drawn, watching the progress of the fight with gleaming eyes and compressed lips. From the tops the sharp-shooters were pouring showers of arrows into the English ship, but the guns had ceased, and the gunners lay dead beside them. ”

“ How would he be able to face all his friends in the future? Many dreadful days of doubt ensued. His hatred against the army and the marines was so deeply rooted in his heart that it could not be eradicated in a moment. Nevertheless, he was obliged to confess that the very noble behaviour of Captain Nuñez had influenced him to a great extent. The wish of seeing his daughters married was quite as strong as his dislike of the armed force. In his worry he deplored Nuñez having a commission in the infantry. ”

“ That is quite out of the question, said Nunez: your deportment is discreet and decent; you have not that supercilious and devil-take-the-hindmost sort of aspect which good keep communicates to the human face. The reverses of this checkered life, replied I, have brought me down to the level of the more modest virtues; I have taken a lesson in the school of adversity, to enjoy the possession of a good stud without riding the great horse.
Tell me then candidly, cried Fabricio, raising his head upon his hand with his elbow upon the pillow, what your present occupation can possibly be. ”

“ Landing, I walked across the sand to the house or hut of the captain of the port, and a few steps beyond saw the object of my journey, the boundless waters of the Pacific. When Nunez de Balboa, after crossing swamps and rivers, mountains and woods, which had never been passed but by straggling Indians, came down upon the shores of this newly-discovered sea, he rushed up to the middle in the waves with his buckler and sword, and took possession of it in the name of the king his master, vowing to defend it in arms against all his enemies. ”

“ They scarcely seemed to heed him. “Our fathers have told us men may be made by the forces of Nature,” said Correa. “It is the warmth of things, and moisture, and rottenness—rottenness.”
“Let us lead him to the elders,” said Pedro.
“Shout first,” said Correa, “lest the children be afraid. This is a marvellous occasion.”
So they shouted, and Pedro went first and took Nunez by the hand to lead him to the houses.
He drew his hand away. “I can see,” he said.
“See?” said Correa.
“Yes; see,” said Nunez, turning towards him, and stumbled against Pedro’s pail. ”

“ They went over it again.
"A strange creature, Correa," said the one called Pedro. "Feel the coarseness of his hair. Like a llama's hair."
"Rough he is as the rocks that begot him," said Correa, investigating Nunez's unshaven chin with a soft and slightly moist hand. "Perhaps he will grow finer." Nunez struggled a little under their examination, but they gripped him firm.
"Carefully," he said again.
"He speaks," said the third man. "Certainly he is a man."
"Ugh!" said Pedro, at the roughness of his coat.
"And you have come into the world?" asked Pedro. ”

“ A young and statesmanlike ruler, instead of a cruel and passionate old dotard, would have settled the Isthmus of Panama; and the humane and enlightened Vasco Nuñez, instead of the ruthless and illiterate Pizarro, would have been the conqueror of Peru. But this was not to be. Vasco Nuñez returned to Darien, from the coast of that mighty ocean which he had discovered, only to receive the tidings that old Pedrarias, with fifteen hundred men, was coming out from Spain to supersede him. ”

“ Thus Vasco Nuñez is left to reign alone; and every effort is made by him firmly to secure his government. While cementing his friends, he conciliates his enemies; above all he strives to deal justly by everybody, and with fair success. By caring for their comfort and exercising strict impartiality in the division of spoils, he wins the hearts of the fighting men. ”

“ The Spanish leader next repaired to Coyba, to assist Careta against a neighbouring chief called Ponca, whom he obliged to take refuge in the mountains. Whilst on a friendly visit to the cacique of Comagre, Nuñez heard from the son of that chieftain of a region beyond the mountains, on the shores of a mighty sea, which might be discerned from their summits, where gold was as plentiful as was iron with the Spaniards. In reply to his anxious inquiries, Vasco Nuñez learned that the task of penetrating to this sea, and to the golden region by its shores, was difficult and dangerous. ”

“ Vasco Nuñez was now the ally of the governor, whose jealousy was lost sight of in his desire to further the interests of his daughter’s future husband. Nuñez was authorised to build brigantines and to make the necessary preparations for an expedition of discovery on the Southern Sea. A town named Acla was founded at a point to the west of Darien, whence there was supposed to be the most convenient route across the mountains.{59} Here Nuñez commenced his operations, having two hundred men placed under his command and being aided by an advance from the treasury. ”

“ CHAPTER IX. VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, THE DISCOVERER OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
Among the many adventurers who found their way to the New World after its discovery was one named Balboa. He was a very bold, brave man, always ready for adventure and eager for gold and fame, as were all the Spaniards of that time. But Nunez de Balboa, besides being bold and brave, was also very cruel when he had the chance, and sometimes dishonest. Whenever he could he robbed the Indians of their gold, and often cruelly murdered them ”

“ Segundo, annoyed, said with some vehemence:
"And Campoamor? And Nuñez de Arce? And Grilo? Are they not famous poets? Are they not popular?"
"Campoamor? They read him because he is very witty, and he sets the girls thinking and he makes [pg 122] the men laugh. He has his merit, and he amuses while he philosophizes. But remember that neither he nor Nuñez de Arce lives by writing verses. Much prosperity that would bring them! ”

“ What! you hand in glove with the prime minister? I on one side, and Don Rodrigo de Calderona on the other, answered I; and according to all appearance, my fortunes will move higher. Truly, replied he, this is admirable. You are cut out for every occasion. What a universal genius! To borrow an expression from the tennis-court, you have a racket for every ball; nothing comes amiss to you. At all events, my lord, I am sincerely rejoiced at your lordship's prosperity. The deuce and all, Master Nunez! ”

“ Paco played with the peevish condescension, of a man in advance of his time, making many stupid mistakes, which showed the inattention characteristic of superior beings. Nuñez, on the contrary, was all there. Never was a man more at home in such matters, nor one who entered into them more thoroughly. His bright intelligence had penetrated all the secrets of the game of forfeits, and he knew how to get the best out of everybody according to the circumstances in question. ”

“ Senor Nunez is a good and pious son of Mother Church, and he will wipe out a score or [Pg 81] two of sins by presenting the stake with two English heretics.”
After that I thought again for a time.
“Pharaoh,” I said at last, “we will not die very willingly. I have a good deal to live for. There is my sweetheart and my uncle to go back to, and also I have an account to settle with Jasper Stapleton. ”

“ Vasco Nuñez fully explained the difficulties which surrounded him, to the Spanish Government, in a long letter dated January 1513 from Darien, six months before his discovery of the South Sea; and the words of the man himself convey the best idea of his position. ”

“ During the war between Vasco Nuñez and Pedrarias he pictured to himself political dissolution, and sent to Spain Andres Niño, a pilot, and two thousand castellanos to purchase for him a South Sea government. Better skilled in navigation than in diplomacy Niño returned 471 without the office and without the money. At another time, while left in command at Acla during Vasco Nuñez' absence at the South Sea, Albites slipped cable and sailed for Española, where he applied for authority to build a town at Nombre de Dios or establish a colony on the coast of Veragua. ”

“ In the public gardens the azalias were covered with white blossom, and in the private gardens between the houses the wisteria was also resplendent, so too were camellias and oranges. One of the finest houses, standing in its own grounds, was that of Admiral Mendez Nuñez; it is here that our English admirals who come with the fleet are usually entertained. ”

“ Nunez then showed Cardatas the note he had made, and remarked that, of course, it could not refer to the present voyage of the brig, for it could not take her five months to come from Acapulco to this port.
"No," said the other, musing, "it oughtn't to, but, on the other hand, it is not likely she is on her second voyage to Rio, and both times in ballast. That's all stuff about ballast. No man would be such a fool as to sail pretty nigh all around this continent in last. He could, find some cargo in Mexico that he could sell when he got to port. ”

“ On the other side were recognized talents of so exceptional an order as to make the possessor the most popular man in the colony. This is what kept his irascible adversary on nettles. Vasco Nuñez was the hero of this conquest. He was to Pedrarias as Loki to Baldur, or as Hyperion to a satyr; and in their strangely assorted friendship they were more unequally yoked than in their enmity they were divided. He was the mirror in which by comparison the governor most clearly saw his own infirmities. Like Othello he was of that free and open nature which thinks men honest that but seem so. ”

“ Rich men are not always open-handed; and I know some who are downright curmudgeons; but Don Bertrand has behaved in the most handsome manner. Besides a salary of two hundred pistoles, I receive some little occasional perquisites from him, sufficient to set me above the world, and enable me to live on an equal footing with some choice spirits of the literary circles, who are willing, like myself, to set care at defiance. But then, resumed I, has your treasurer critical skill enough to distinguish the beauties of a performance from its blemishes? The least likely man in the world, answered Nunez ”

“ On deck we heard the Spaniards rushing hither and thither, the mates and boatswain shrieking and yelling orders to the crew, the armorer and the soldiers making ready the ordnance and small arms. Now and then we caught the [Pg 191] voice of Nunez, cool and collected as usual, but very fierce and determined; and once the pale face of Frey Bartolomeo appeared, and we heard him admonishing the overseers to lay on with their whips.
“We are like to be flayed alive if this goes on much longer,” muttered Pharaoh as the lash curled about his shoulders again. ”

“ Nuñez pursued his undertaking with his accustomed energy, and had in a short time constructed the materials of four brigantines. The timber was felled in the forest of Acla, and was then, with the anchors and rigging, transported to the opposite shore of the Isthmus. On this service were engaged Spaniards, negroes, and Indians. As there were no other roads save Indian paths through the primeval forests or up the rugged defiles, the work of transportation was similar to that with which the journals of Mr. Stanley in Africa have made us familiar in our own day. ”

“ Of the invariable poor but noble family, a native of Jerez de los Caballeros, Vasco Nuñez was reared in the service of Pedro Puertocarrero, the deaf lord of Moguer. Drawn with the crowd to the New World, upon the abrupt termination of the voyage of Bastidas, he obtained a repartimiento of Indians, and applied himself to agriculture at Salvatierra, 325 a town of Española. Becoming embarrassed by debts, and disgusted with the plodding life of a farmer, he determined to try fortune in the new colony of Alonso de Ojeda. ”

“ What! exclaimed I, is it the author of the "Count of Saldagna" who holds this language? A man with an annuity of two thousand crowns? Gently, my friend, interrupted Nunez: I am no longer a pensioned poet. The affairs of the treasurer Don Bertrand are all at sixes and sevens: he has been at the gaming table, and played with the public money: an extent has issued, and my rent-charge is gone posthaste to the devil. ”