Vasco Núñez de Balboa

“ The reward, then, of exploration and discovery mainly inheres in the accomplishment itself, for few of the world's great explorers have lived to receive the fruits of their labors, as witness Magellan and Hudson and Cook. Of them all, however, perhaps there was none who was so basely requited as Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. Were it not for the fact that there was in Darien, at the time Pedrarias wreaked his vengeance upon Balboa, a veracious chronicler of events, whose name has survived as author of a great history, we should be loath to accept as true this story of revenge, ingratitude, and crime. ”

“ Such thoughts as these kept Vasco Nuñez de Balboa awake while his soldiers slept. So absorbing were they that he hardly heard the groans of the wounded, the cries of anguish from the poor wretches on the battlefield. Wives, mothers, and children of the dead warriors were groping in the darkness for their loved ones, and when they found the objects of their search they rent the air with piteous lamentations. ”

“ He then conceived an intense admiration for the beings, like his son-in-law, who could mount and control those wonderful animals, and never tired of sounding their praises. As he had disclosed to Balboa the hiding-places of his provisions and treasure, and as the latter had lost no time in transferring them to Darien, he was instrumental in keeping starvation from the colony until supplies arrived from Spain or Santo Domingo, and also of enriching every man in the army. ”

“ But there was that to the minds of the impetuous and impressible Spaniards, there is that to our own minds, in first things and first views of things, our first view, our country's first awakening, that stirs the soul and sets faster beating the heart. Reduced to words, the sentiment is the pleasure the mind derives from improving surprises; it is the joy of development, the ecstasy of evolution.
If such be commonly the case, how much more reason had Vasco Nuñez de Balboa to be impassioned on this occasion. ”

“ He resolved to return, in the first place, to Darien, to raise the spirits of his companions there with these brilliant hopes, and to make all possible preparations for realizing them. He remained, nevertheless, yet a few days with the caciques, and so warm was the friendship he contracted with them that they and their families were baptized, Careta taking in baptism the name of Fernando, and Comogre that of Carlos. Balboa then returned to Darien, rich in the spoils of Ponca, rich in the presents of his friends, and still richer in the golden hopes which the future offered him. ”

“ While another and less intrepid spirit might have been overwhelmed by the prospects before him, Balboa was animated to new daring, and impelled to yet higher enterprises. Should he permit another to profit by his toils, to discover the great South Sea, and to ravish from him the wealth and glory which were almost within his grasp? No, a thousand times no! He had won the information at risk of his life; he would realize the profit of it, even at the risk of his life. At least, no other man should avail of it, to cheat him of his dues. ”

“ Enjoining Tubanamá to gather gold, and ever 383 remain true to the Spaniards, Balboa returned in triumph to Pocorosa's town, with a long train of enslaved captives. About this time Vasco Nuñez fell sick; and no wonder when we consider the strain on mind and body during the past four months. First in every action, bearing exposure and privation in common with the poorest soldier, with the responsibility of the adventure resting wholly on him, he was a fit subject for fever. ”

“ He then called a servant, who, in obedience to his whispered order, went into another room and soon returned with the pearls.
"By your leave, lady, let me show you these," said Balboa to Doña Isabel, who, at sight of the pearls, exclaimed outright, in pure ecstasy of delight: "Why, they are the most perfect and beautiful in all the world! None like these have I seen, even at the court of my queen." ”

“ Distressed by the silence with which his appeal had been received, the cacique added:
"Dost thou doubt my faith? Behold my daughter. I give her to thee, provided she shall be restored, as a pledge of friendship. Thou mayst take her for thy wife, and be thus assured of the friendship of her family and her people."
Balboa then awoke, as from a trance, and, grasping Careta's right hand, exclaimed: "I accept her, if she will but ratify thy offer, and henceforth there shall be no enmity between us. Men, cast off the chains from these people. Set them free ”

“ They were only one-fourth the number of the new arrivals, but every man was a seasoned soldier, and there would have been little doubt as to the result of an encounter.
But fate played Vasco Nuñez false again, for Arbolancha had passed Pedrarias on the ocean and arrived in Spain too late to change the decision of the king, who then regretted that he had not rewarded Balboa with the governorship of Darien. He was the governor, in fact, elected to office by the votes of his adoring comrades; but Pedrarias came with royal authority, and Balboa bowed to the decree of the king. ”

“ Shown into the presence of Captain Balboa, they eagerly offered to lead him to Coyba, where, they said, he would find an immense booty in gold as well as vast quantities of provisions.
"And this cacique Careta, you say, treated you well?" he asked.
"As well as he could, being a savage," answered one of the men. "He is naught but an Indian, half the time going naked, and with manners not of the best; but such as he had he freely gave us, and saved us both from death by starvation, most likely." ”

“ I go to tell him now to sharpen his axe for four!"
"For four?" exclaimed Balboa, as the old man retreated from the cell. "Who else have you enmeshed in your net, base wretch? Will not one victim suffice you? Who are they? Tell me."
"Who?" repeated the old man, mockingly, peering at his victim through the bars. "Why, who but Hernan de Arguello, Hernan Muños, Valderrabano, and Botello. Were they simply your friends, it were enough; but they are more: they are traitors to the king, and to me, Pedrarias de Avila, governor-in-chief of Darien, whose authority you have endeavored to usurp." ”

“ Among those who, though powerful and warlike, Balboa had overcome and compelled to sue for peace was the mountain cacique Tubanamá. He was blunderingly attacked, by orders of Pedrarias, and not only repulsed the Spaniards from his stronghold, but drove them, bootless, back to Darien, where the survivors arrived breathless and panic-stricken. Stripping the slain Spaniards as they lay in the forest, Tubanamá displayed their bloody shirts on poles as banners, and marched his warriors around the walls, striking terror and dismay to the hearts of all within the settlement. ”

“ Some who returned were suffering from fevers and wounds received in conflicts with the Indians; but notwithstanding, it was declared that the expedition of Balboa to the shores of the great Southern Sea was the most successful of any that had ever been made in America. And when the plunder was displayed: gold by the thousand pieces, pearls by the hundred, brought in by scores and scores of captives who would serve in the future as slaves, the transports of the people knew no bounds. He was hailed as "Conqueror of the Mountains, Pacificator of the Isthmus, and Discoverer of the Austral Sea." ”

“ Balboa's former messengers, Caicedo and Colmenares, had arrived in Spain during his absence from Antigua, bearing to the king the tidings communicated by the cacique Comogre, and a request for reinforcements to the extent of a thousand men. Their testimony as to Balboa's unswerving loyalty to the crown, and the vast significance of the intelligence they brought respecting the existence of an ocean beyond the mountains, turned the tide of sentiment at court in his favor, and excited the swelling ambition of King Ferdinand. ”

“ Having captured a son of Tumaco, he loaded him with gifts, such as a shirt made in Castile, and other trifles valued by the savages, and sent him in search of his father. The chief had sought refuge in a wild den among the rocks, deep in the forest; but he was very much impressed by the beautiful presents brought by his son, and consented to emerge from his retreat. When he appeared before Balboa he had with him six hundred pieces of gold, and pearls to the number of two hundred and forty. ”

“ The bugle sounded, the drum beat, and the veterans went to meet Pedrarias at the shore.
As the boat touched ground a plank was thrown out and across it walked Pedrarias, followed by his wife, the bishop, and the alcalde, behind them a train of cavaliers who formed a body-guard and led the way to the town, preceded by the veterans of Darien. Balboa doffed his helmet, and extended a hand to assist Doña Isabel ashore, as he said: "Thy servants greet and welcome thee, lady. To serve thee we are here; but we regret we have so little to offer one who deserves so much." ”

“ Balboa was probably one of the most generous and high-minded of the Spanish-American conquerors. While he sometimes treated the Indians with barbarity, and his exactions bore heavily upon them, yet he was never unfair to his comrades when it came to a division of spoils. He was known to have relinquished his own share on more than one occasion, in order that his followers might not lose their reward for the toils and dangers of an arduous campaign. ”

“ With the weight of my armor upon me, I should be suffocated, methinks."
"Nay, master, turned over thou shalt not be, for I shall give instructions to the crew to keep the top-end uppermost."
"But they may not observe them," groaned Balboa, as he clambered into the cask and settled himself in position.
"They will, master; trust me," said the faithful Miguel. "In the lading, they may roll thee about a bit, to be sure. Still, it will be better than to be squeezed by thy creditors." ”

“ Rodrigo and I will go forth, the one by water and the other by land; but there must perforce be a great gap of forest between us, through which the savages may come by stealth and fall upon the town. So, I say, keep watch by night and by day; and inasmuch as all are engaged in a common defence, and all entitled to equal shares in the spoils, even so shall it be."
Balboa was moved thus to deliver himself, because of ten thousand pieces of gold in the treasury, remaining undivided, which his enemies declared he intended to seize for himself and send as a donative to the king. ”

“ The idol and the temple were of themselves sufficient to arouse the predatory instinct of the Spaniards; but not alone was their cupidity appealed to, for Balboa was informed that his old enemy Zemaco had retreated to the province of Dobaybe, and was engaged in arousing its cacique to resistance. Inflamed, then, by a lust for gold and their desire for revenge, the followers of Balboa volunteered so readily for the desperate enterprise that he had difficulty in retaining any able-bodied soldiers for the defence of the settlement. ”

“ Full of his new project, Balboa broached it to his counsellors without delay, but to his surprise they would not hear of it, neither would any person whatever in the colony. "No, no," they all exclaimed. "You shall not leave us, Vasco Nuñez. You are not alone our governor, but our guide and leader. You, only, are respected by the soldiers, feared by the savages, and we cannot do without you. Stay here with us you must ”

“ A famous discovery had been made, before the arrival of Pedrarias and his train of officers and lawyers, by one of the greatest men that the age of Spanish conquest in America produced. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, in March 1511, found himself the leading and most popular man in the forlorn colony of Darien. The expeditions of Nicuesa and Ojeda had failed, chiefly through the incompetence of their unfortunate leaders. [2] The man who, a few short months before, had been a fugitive debtor headed up in a cask, was now the commander of a great enterprise. ”

“ Since his return from the sea beyond the mountains, Balboa had devoted himself assiduously to the improvement of the colony: erecting huts for dwellings, extending the area of cultivated ground, and devising means for inspiriting the lonely inhabitants of this isolated post in the wilderness. The demands upon his time were constant and pressing, for he was looked up to as the savior of the colony, while the simple natives regarded him almost as a father, and came to him for advice on all occasions. ”

“ As for those who went with him: being all of them gallant souls, and generous to a fault, more disposed to fight for treasure than to quarrel over its division afterwards, they acquiesced without a murmur. Colmenares had already embarked his force of sixty men, when Balboa set off and lost himself in the forest with his seventy, so that the settlement appeared quite deserted. ”

“ But Balboa was persistent. He cared not for the storms. "My God will protect me," he said. "For am I not fighting the good fight and converting the infidels to the true faith? Go get the canoes."
Cacique Chiapes shook his head and said, "Perhaps your God may be stronger than my god; but no god that the Indians serve can protect us from the waves at this season of the year."
"That is because the god you worship is not the true God, whom we reverently serve," answered Balboa. "He hath protected us, 'mid dangers many, and will continue to do so." ”