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Page 27
They arrived at some bohios, which formed the population of a chief,
called Chiapes, who had prepared to defend the pass with arms. The
noise of the muskets and the ferocity of the war-dogs dispersed them
in a moment, and they fled, leaving many captives; by these and by
their Quarequano guides, the Spaniards sent to offer Chiapes secure
peace and friendship if he would come to them, or otherwise the ruin
and extermination of his town and his fields. Persuaded by them, the
cacique came and placed himself in the hands of Balboa, who treated
him with much kindness. He brought and distributed gold and received
in exchange beads and toys, with which he was so diverted that he no
longer thought of anything but contenting and conciliating the
strangers. There Vasco Nu�ez sent away the Quarequanos, and ordered
that the sick, who had been left in their land, should come and join
him. In the meanwhile he sent Francisco Pizarro, Juan de Ezcarag, and
Alonzo Martin to discover the shortest roads by which the sea might be
reached. It was the last of these who arrived first at the coast, and,
entering a canoe which chanced to lie there, and pushing it into the
waves, let it float a little while, and, after pleasing himself with
having been the first Spaniard who entered the South Sea, returned to
seek Balboa.
Balboa with twenty-six men descended to the sea, and arrived at the
coast early in the evening of the 29th of that month; they all seated
themselves on the shore and awaited the tide, which was at that time
on the ebb. At length it returned in its violence to cover the spot
where they were; then Balboa, in complete armor, lifting his sword in
one hand, and in the other a banner on which was painted an image of
the Virgin Mary with the arms of Castile at her feet, raised it, and
began to march into the midst of the waves, which reached above his
knees, saying in a loud voice: "Long live the high and mighty
sovereigns of Castile! Thus in their names do I take possession of
these seas and regions; and if any other prince, whether Christian or
infidel, pretends any right to them, I am ready and resolved to oppose
him, and to assert the just claims of my sovereigns."
The whole band replied with acclamations to the vow of their captain,
and exprest themselves determined to defend, even to death, their
acquisition against all the potentates in the world; they caused this
act to be confirmed in writing, by the notary of the expedition,
Andres de Valderrabano; the anchorage in which it was solemnized was
called the Gulf of San Miguel, the event happening on that day.
[1] Quintand's account of this expedition is the best we have in
Spanish literature. It forms part of his "Lives of Celebrated
Spaniards" (1807-1833), a standard work of the encyclopedia class.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa was born at Xerxes, in Spain, in 1475, and
died in Panama about 1517. His first visit to America was made in
1500. Ten years later he went to Darien, where he became alcalde
of a new settlement. In 1512 he was made governor of San Domingo.
While Governor of San Domingo Balboa learned from the Indians that
there was a great sea lying to the south and west, and in
September, 1513, set out from Darien to discover it. After an
adventurous journey he reached, on September 25th, a mountain top
from which he first saw the Pacific. After building some ships for
use on the Pacific and transporting them with immense labor across
the Isthmus, launching two of them, Balboa was arrested by the
governor of the colony on a charge of contemplated revolt and
beheaded.
[2] Careta was an Indian chief whose friendship Balboa secured.
[3] The date of this view of the Pacific by Balboa was September
25, 1513. Readers of the poems of Keats are familiar with the
error in his sonnet "On First Looking Into Chapman's 'Homer,'"
where, by a curious error, never corrected, he makes Cortez,
instead of Balboa, the Spaniard who stood "silent upon a peak in
Darien."
THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN TO THE PACIFIC
(1520)
JOHN FISKE'S ACCOUNT[1]
Our chief source of information for the events of the voyage is the
journal kept by a gentleman from Vicenza, the Chevalier Antonio
Pigafetta, who obtained permission to accompany the expedition, "for
to see the marvels of the ocean." After leaving the Canaries on the 3d
of October, the armada ran down toward Sierra Leone, and was becalmed,
making only three leagues in three weeks. Then "the upper air burst
into life" and the frail ships were driven along under bare poles, now
and then dipping their yard-arms. During a month of this dreadful
weather, the food and water grew scarce, and the rations were
diminished. The spirit of mutiny began to show itself. The Spanish
captains whispered among the crews that this man from Portugal had not
their interests at heart, and was not loyal to the Emperor. Toward the
captain-general their demeanor grew more and more insubordinate; and
Cartagena one day, having come on board the flag-ship, faced him with
threats and insults. To his astonishment, Magellan promptly collared
him, and sent him, a prisoner in irons, on board the _Victoria_ (whose
captain was unfortunately also one of the traitors), while the command
of the _San Antonio_ was given to another officer. This example made
things quiet for the moment.
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