DARIEN EXPEDITIONS UNDER PEDRARIAS.
1515-1517.
GONZALO DE BADAJOZ VISITS THE SOUTH SEA—WHAT HE SEES
AT NOMBRE DE DIOS—HIS DEALINGS WITH TOTONAGUA—AND WITH
TATARACHERUBI—ARRIVES AT NATÁ—THE SPANIARDS GATHER MUCH
GOLD—THEY ENCOUNTER THE REDOUBTABLE PARIS—A DESPERATE
FIGHT—BADAJOZ LOSES HIS GOLD AND RETURNS TO DARIEN—PEDRARIAS
ON THE WAR-PATH—HE STRIKES CENÚ A BLOW OF REVENGE—ACLA
FOUNDED—THE GOVERNOR RETURNS ILL TO ANTIGUA—EXPEDITION
OF GASPAR DE ESPINOSA TO THE SOUTH SEA—THE LICENTIATE'S
ASS—ROBBERY BY LAW—ESPINOSA'S RELATION—A BLOODY-HANDED
PRIEST—ESPINOSA AT NATÁ—HE COURTS THE ACQUAINTANCE OF
PARIS—WHO KILLS THE AMBASSADORS—HURTADO SURVEYS THE
SOUTHERN SEABOARD TO NICOYA—PANAMÁ FOUNDED—AN ABORIGINAL
TARTARUS—RETURN OF ESPINOSA'S EXPEDITION.
While these expeditions were directed to the east side of Panamá Bay,
other captains were equally active on the west side.
Gonzalo de Badajoz embarked at Antigua for the South Sea in March, 1515,
with one hundred and thirty men.[XI-1] Landing at Nombre de Dios, where
no white man had touched since Nicuesa's departure, a dismal spectacle
was there presented. The dismantled fort stood surrounded by tenantless
dwellings, whose walls were once the silent witnesses of despair; while
crosses, heaps of stone, and dead men's scattered bones, seemed to tell
how restless were these adventurers even in their last resting. The
most impassive of all that callous company was struck by a momentary
shudder as he gazed on these ghastly portents of his own probable fate;
and they would have turned back on the spot had not their leader hurried
the ships away beyond their reach.
[Sidenote: ADVENTURES OF BADAJOZ.]
The versatile adventurer quickly recovers himself, however, and what is
more wonderful is the indifference with which sanguinary recitals often
repeated are soon received. The homely adage that familiarity breeds
contempt is nowhere more strikingly true than in our own intercourse
with danger, pain, and death. It is not altogether a Hibernicism to
say that men get used to these things, even to hanging. And when the
oft-repeated disasters are distant, and only the survivors with their
prizes are present, the terrible tale makes still less impression. That
colony after colony in the New World occupation should be swept away or
divided by death, and divided yet again, ten times, or twenty times cut
in twain; or that expedition after expedition should return to Antigua,
leaving half or two thirds of its number rotting on the heated plain,
or scattered in the mountains furnishing food for carrion-birds, and
yet new colonists continue to come out, and new expeditions continue
to be organized by those willing to take the same even chances of never
returning, shows an ignorance, or indifference, or both, to which fear
of consequences is as inaccessible as ever was the feeling of love to
Narcissus.
The mission of Badajoz was the usual one. He was to cross the Isthmus
at its narrowest part, take possession of the country, and gather in
its treasures. We all know what this implied. Were any but civilized
Christians so to do it would be called murder, robbery, treachery,
violation, and the rest.
Totonagua was the first victim on this occasion. His dominions were
of great extent and thickly peopled, the village where he resided
standing on the mountains opposite Nombre de Dios. Surprised by night
he surrendered gold to the value of six thousand pesos. Tataracherubi,
a wealthy cacique on the southern side, was similarly relieved of gold
to the value of eight thousand pesos. Seeing the Spaniards so deeply
in love with gold, Tataracherubi told them of a chief named Natá, some
distance to the south-west, very rich and with few fighting men. Thirty
men under Alonso Perez de la Rua were deemed ample for the adventure,
but after a night's march the Spaniards found themselves, as morning
broke, in the midst of a cluster of villages belonging to a numerous
and warlike people. Retreat was impossible, and not a moment was to
be lost. Rushing for the principal village they seized the leading
cacique, Natá,[XI-2] and were masters of the situation. For when the
savages pressed them hard in the fight that followed, and would have
slain them all, they threatened Natá with instant death if he did not
cause his men to lay down their arms. Natá obeyed. Presently Badajoz
joined Perez, and the chief was released to collect for his captors
gold in value to fifteen thousand castellanos. After remaining at Natá
two months the conquerors surprised the village of Escoria, ten leagues
to the southward, and secured gold[XI-3] to the value of nine thousand
pesos. Westward from Escoria lived Biruquete[XI-4] and a blind neighbor,
who were relieved of six thousand pesos worth of gold. In the vicinity
were the villages of Taracuri, Pananome, Tabor, and Chirú, where the
Spaniards obtained another considerable quantity of gold.
Gonzalo de Badajoz was gathering a rich harvest. Thus far his
accumulations reached eighty thousand castellanos, equivalent to
more than half a million of dollars at the present day. It was not a
disagreeable way of making money. It was quite honorable stealing in the
eyes of the plunderers themselves, although the stupid savages never
could wholly make out the right of it. In addition to gold there were
always plenty of women for slavery, and so the adventurers who for these
benefits had staked their lives were happy.
[Sidenote: THE CACIQUE PARIS.]
Elated by their successes, the conquerors continued the good work. Not
far from Chirú were the dominions of a cacique called by the Spaniards
Parizao Pariba, subsequently abbreviated into Paris.[XI-5] Advised
of their approach Paris fled to the mountains with all his people and
treasure. Badajoz sent a message threatening to put the dogs upon his
track unless he returned. Paris returned word that he was exceedingly
occupied and hoped the Spanish captain would excuse his coming. He
begged him, however, to accept an accompanying gift from his women,
and wished him a prosperous journey out of the country. The gift so
carelessly presented was carried by four principal men in baskets made
of the withes of palm-leaves and lined with deerskins. In dimensions
they were about one and a half by two feet, and three inches in depth.
The contents consisted of fabricated gold, breast-plates, bracelets and
ear-rings, valued, as the Spaniards affirmed, at forty or fifty thousand
castellanos.
[Illustration]
So much treasure so royally presented only excited their cupidity the
more. Thanking the savages, Badajoz retired with his men, but as soon
as Paris returned to the village, he surprised it at night and obtained
as much more gold as had already been sent. This greediness resulted
in their ruin. Paris sent out upon the road one of his principal men
who was instructed, when captured, to pass himself off as belonging
to an adjoining village, three leagues distant, and to say that it
was well stocked with gold. He was on his way to the river to fish,
but would show them his town. The strategy succeeded. Badajoz sent
a portion of the men under his guidance to bring in the treasure.
Meanwhile Paris had raised an army of four thousand warriors, and the
invaders being now divided, as had been designed, he fiercely attacked
and almost exterminated one part before the other could join it. The
Spaniards fought until seventy of their number were slain, whereupon
they abandoned the treasure, cut their way through the savages, and
fled to the territory of Chame.[XI-6] Thence they crossed to an island
occupied by Tabor, and afterward to Taboga Island, where they remained
for thirty days recruiting their strength for the desperate attempt to
reach Darien. This they finally accomplished, but Perez de la Rua lost
his life immediately on returning to the mainland. Since they failed to
bring home the gold of which their stories were full, we may each of us
believe them according to our faith.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: ATTACK ON CENÚ.]
The year 1515 was now drawing toward its close. It had been clouded with
more than one disaster, and Pedrarias was anything but pleased. Himself
a fighting man as well as civil officer, he determined to show his young
captains what an old man could do in the field; for whatever his general
character, and it was detestable enough, Pedrarias was not a coward.
His first blow was to be directed against the Cenú people, toward whom
he had not felt kindly since the slaughter of the two companies under
Vallejo and Becerra. What right had these savages to kill Spaniards? And
yet were his purpose known of entering within range of those poisoned
arrows he would have few followers to the wars. An expedition of three
hundred men was therefore organized ostensibly against Pocorosa, and
with this he coasted westward until after night-fall, when he ordered
the pilots to turn back and make for Cenú, whose tristful shore the next
morning saw them close approaching. Anchoring, Hurtado was sent with two
hundred men to fire the village and do what killing was convenient. He
managed to cut in pieces a few women and children as they escaped the
flames, and secure some captives for slaves, but the poisoned arrows
soon terminated the sport, and the expedition turned again toward the
province of Pocorosa.
The purpose of the governor was to found at least two posts of the line
ordained by the king, but which his captains had failed to establish.
Pedrarias resolved that the termini of the intended line on either ocean
should be at once selected and town-building begun. Coasting westward
in search of a site he came to a pleasant port, northward of Careta,
beyond which extended a dry and fertile plain with timber suitable
for ship-building, and from which led a now well-known route across
the Isthmus. The natives called the place Acla,[XI-7] that is to say,
'Bones of Men.' There the governor began to build a wooden fort with
such enthusiasm as not only to direct the laborers, but to assist them
with his hands, until excess of zeal brought on a fever which rendered
it necessary for him to be carried bedridden to Antigua. Gabriel de
Rojas was left in command of the unfinished enterprise, and Gaspar de
Espinosa with a stout force was permitted to try the fortunes of war on
that permanent object of the spoiler, Pocorosa.
[Sidenote: THE LICENTIATE'S ASS.]
It seems that the youthful magistrate on finding his official duties
spiritless without the mellow growl and inane wit of pettifogger or
pundit, had laid aside the long-robe and buckled on the sword, this
being in his opinion the more significant emblem in the arbitration of
Indian affairs. And as the highest wisdom is that which adapts learning
to the duties of the day, the licentiate would not be bound by the
mechanical restrictions which governed the illiterate cavaliers in their
encounters with the natives. There are some whom travel improves but
little, though like Haddad Ben Ahab, they should climb to the top of the
world's wall and look down the other side. Our juvenile judge was not
one of these. _Bonum est fugienda adspicere in alieno malo_, was his
motto. It is good to note in the misfortunes of others what we should
avoid, for so Publius Syrus has said. He would go to the wars as a
warrior, not plodding his way wearily over mountain and through morass,
like a common foot-soldier, but he would enter the domain of the enemy
mounted, and in a manner becoming a general and a judge. Athena went to
war mounted on a lion, Alexander on a horse, Espinosa on—an ass. History
gives the licentiate this honor, and as an honest man I cannot deny it
him; he was the first to cross the Isthmus on an ass. Some horses had
of late been brought to Antigua, which were employed to a very limited
extent in the wars of Tierra Firme and also on the present occasion; but
the alcalde mayor preferred to bestride an ass; it was a more judicial
beast, not say surer-footed or more safe. Moreover, it was staid, and
not liable to rush recklessly into battle. There was another advance.
Several pieces of artillery were dragged across the Isthmus in this
expedition.
When the savages first beheld the conquering hero borne triumphantly
through crowds of admiring spectators, they fell back dumbfounded. They
knew the force of Spanish steel; bloodhounds they knew, and arquebuses
vomiting fire and hurling thunderbolts. But what was this? Its eyes were
not fiery, nor its nostrils distended, nor its teeth flesh-tearing.
Its countenance betokened mildness, and mind-absence, such as attend
benevolent contemplation; there was in it nothing of that refined lust
or voracious piety which characterized the faces of the Spaniards. And
surely Apollo was in error when he gave Midas such ears because he could
not appreciate music. For listen to its notes. Ah, that voice! When Sir
Balaam lifted up his voice the savages fled in terror. Tremblingly they
returned and enquired for what the creature was asking. The Spaniards
replied that he was asking for gold; and during the campaign his musical
beast brought the licentiate more gold than did ever Leoncico earn for
Vasco Nuñez. And throughout that region the learned licentiate became
known to the natives by the noble animal that he bestrode, so much so
that those who entered the Spaniard's camp to see the general used to
announce their object by braying like an ass, an appeal to which the
chief officer ever obligingly responded.
* * * * *
As alcalde mayor it was the duty of Espinosa at all times and in all
places to administer the law. For so God and the king had commanded;
so he had sworn to do. Now it was often somewhat inconvenient to rob
and murder at pleasure, even under the liberal provisions of the king's
Requirement, according to the governor's ideas of business. Therefore
it was deemed wise and prudent to issue an edict from the imperial city
of Antigua declaring all Americans in arms against the Europeans to be
outlaws, doomed to slavery, mutilation, or death. Those who had taken
part in the destruction of Santa Cruz should be burned; and it was quite
remarkable in so young a jurist how quickly he determined, no matter
how distant the evidence, whenever the destruction of a people, while
promoting the sovereignty of law, would at the same time yield profit
to the lawgiver.
The judge had not proceeded far upon his new circuit before he met
Badajoz, who was returning dejectedly to Antigua, suffering from the
effects of excessive cupidity. Informed of the immense treasure Badajoz
had failed to bring back, Espinosa wrote Pedrarias for more men that
he might go and gather it. Badajoz claimed the command as a right; but
Pedrarias said, "Not so; Espinosa is alcalde mayor; furthermore, Captain
Badajoz brings back neither slaves nor gold wherewith to purchase
favor." With this the licentiate received one hundred and thirty
additional men under Gerónimo Valenzuela. So great was becoming the
abhorrence of the colonists for these hazardous and unholy adventures
that this captain, in conformity to his instructions, scuttled his ship
on reaching Acla, in order to deprive the men of the means for returning
to Antigua.
* * * * *
Cæsar's Commentaries on the Gallic wars are not more minute in detail
than the narration[XI-8] of incidents during this expedition as given
by Espinosa to the governor. The licentiate was exceedingly careful
in every instance, first of all to propitiate the law by observing its
smallest letter, such as reading and expounding the king's Requirement,
and never to rob or kill the natives except in the name of the king of
Spain, and the rights of man. His judicial conscience thus quieted, he
went to work with a will.
[Sidenote: DEPOPULATION OF THE PROVINCES.]
The provinces of Pocorosa and Comagre were at this time almost
depopulated, and the licentiate could with difficulty obtain food for
the men or exercise for his arms. On the approach of the Spaniards,
the poor remnants of these once happy nations fled affrighted to
their hiding-places. This the learned licentiate ruled _ipso jure_ a
declaration of hostilities; in a word, if the law could not be twisted
to fit the occasion, the chief guardian of the law, himself turned
law-breaker and spoiler, was as ready to throw overboard the law as
was the most lawless cavalier. Whole nations, I say, were declared
outlaws by the honorable chief judge, because they would not come
forward and embrace slavery of their own free will. If any fugitives
were particularly hard to catch, that was proof of participation in the
Santa Cruz affair, and they were burned according to law.
The caprice of the law, however, does not exhibit the pretensions
of civilization and Christianity in these parts in their grossest
absurdity. In the outrageous raids under Pedrarias, the most revolting
crimes were committed in the name of religion. The itching palm of
Quevedo, the bishop, has been more than once referred to; and now we see
his dean actually enter the field of inhumanity in person against the
unhappy natives. The licentiate writes: "We proceeded on our way about
one league and a half to Poquina's land, where the Indians set fire to
their huts and ran away. I sent the dean with one squad, and Ojeda with
another, and they brought back some Indians, the number whereof will
appear in the distribution. I gave Chiarna some of these Indians, and
that overpaid him for the provisions he had furnished us." Unfortunately
this is not the only instance we are doomed to encounter in this
history, of a priest disgracing the faith by placing himself beside
bloodhounds and bloody-minded men, and joining a hunt, in Christ's name,
to bring innocent men and women and children to slavery and death.
After sending to Santa Cruz in the hope of finding provisions from
Antigua, "we went to the province of Tamame," continues Espinosa,
"whence I sent all the captains to explore the Rio Grande,[XI-9] on both
banks, as I had been informed that Pocorosa's people were there hiding.
Some Indians were caught, as will appear in the distribution, five
of whom were burnt to ashes, on confessing their participation in the
murders of Santa Cruz." Indeed, "I used to send men after the Indians,
and justice was done upon all those who had participated in the Santa
Cruz outrage, either by hanging or burning, and two were shot off from
the cannon's mouth the more to frighten them."
[Sidenote: ESPINOSA ON THE PACIFIC.]
Crossing the Cordillera by way of Tubanamá and Chepo to Panamá, where he
hoped to obtain food, but found only some huts and one woman, Espinosa
passed on to Chirú, sending out his captains in every direction for
plunder. At Chame the Spaniards found only four Indians; and as the
chief had furnished corn to Badajoz, they did not molest him. The
cacique of Chirú was captured with his women and gold, by Hurtado, but
appearing peaceable he was liberated, and made the custodian of some
slaves, and ornaments for the mass, for a church was to be organized on
the shores of Pacific. Chirú sent Espinosa iguanas to eat, and _chicha_,
fish, deer, and salt, and was given some hammocks in return.
After this the Spaniards charged on Natá one night, securing one hundred
captives, and gold to the value of fifteen hundred castellanos. The
cacique escaped, and rallying his warriors prepared to attack the
Spaniards; but when the natives saw the horses they fled in terror,
fearing that they would be torn in pieces by them. As it was, the
horsemen pursued the fugitives and hewed them down in great numbers.
Espinosa marvelled at the multitudes of people he here encountered, and
at the number of their villages. He found also an abundance of maize,
fish, and deer, and there were geese and turkeys. Four months' supply of
corn was at once secured for the army; and for better protection during
the sojourn palisades were erected.
One morning while the licentiate was reposing in his lodge, Natá with
one attendant rushed unceremoniously into his presence, desperation
depicted in their countenances, and with empty quivers in their hands.
"You are too strong for me," cried the chief. "You have taken my
warriors, my wives, my children; do with me as you please." Espinosa
received him kindly, returned him his wives and children, and told
him to bring his people from their hiding-places and fear nothing. The
gold which had been taken from Badajoz was then demanded of him, but
Natá denied having any of it, saying that Paris had kept it all. Being
well established here the Spaniards proceeded against the neighboring
provinces. The people fled, but were compelled by hunger to return.
Among the captives taken some were employed in planting, and if any
became unruly they were hanged. Others assisted in building a little
chapel, for the zealous dean had now sheathed his bloody sword to preach
through an interpreter the glad tidings of good-will to man, and many
were baptized.
Meanwhile a deputation composed of the natives of Natá was sent to the
cacique Paris, demanding his allegiance to the king of Spain, and the
restoration of the gold taken from Badajoz. Paris replied by hanging
all the ambassadors, save two, by whom he sent back word that every
Christian caught within his territories would be treated in like manner.
The licentiate prepared immediately to march against the redoubtable
chieftain.
On the 29th of July, 1516, every member of the army was confessed by
the priest. Vows were made to Our Lady of Antigua, "and in the name
of God," says the licentiate, "we began our journey." Hurtado had been
sent with fifty men to Escoria, and the ruler of that province together
with Chirú and Natá was forced to accompany the expedition against
Paris.[XI-10] The inhabitants melted before the invaders, and it was
with difficulty that men could be captured for guides. The Spaniards
had not advanced far before they learned that a council had been held
by the chiefs confederated for self-protection, to determine whether
the gold taken from Badajoz should be returned. Some were in favor of
restoring it; but others objected that, this being given up, as much
more would be demanded, and since fight they must in either case, it
was agreed to do so before surrendering the treasure. It so happened
that Diego Albites with eighty men was marching in advance, and coming
to a rivulet he espied some Indians hidden under the bank and undertook
to capture them. Instantly the country was alive with savages; Albites
found himself surrounded by four thousand of the enemy, wholly cut off
from the main body. The Spaniards fought desperately for six hours,
and would have been destroyed had not Espinosa appeared and let loose
upon the assailants the bloodhounds and the horsemen. Twenty caciques
and a host of warriors were slain, and many of the Spaniards were badly
wounded. "That night we slept upon the battle-field," says Espinosa,
"and next day I threw up a protection of palisades and sent out in
search of the cacique Paris." The cunning chief had burned his village
and fled, thus leaving the invaders neither gold nor provisions.
Albites went out to forage, with instructions to fire a cannon in case
of danger. Nine times that night the licentiate heard the report of a
gun, and was not a little alarmed for the safety of the captain. Great
was his joy, therefore, when early in the morning Valenzuela appeared
with reinforcement of one hundred men from Antigua and informed the
licentiate that it was he who had fired the guns while in search of the
commander's camp.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: VALENZUELA JOINS ESPINOSA.]
Espinosa having now three hundred men felt himself strong enough to
prosecute discovery according to the full tenor of his instructions,
which were to explore the coast westward as far as practicable. As a
first step he sent a detachment of eighty men under Valenzuela into the
province of Guararí, near the seashore, in search of trees for canoes.
Meanwhile the treasure lost by Badajoz must if possible be found before
abandoning these parts. Companies were sent out in various directions
under Albites, Hurtado, and Pedro de Gamez, between whom arose no small
rivalry for securing the honor of the capture. Their purpose was to
seize the caciques and wring from them the secret by torture. At length
Gamez came upon the scent, and followed it into the province of Quema.
He was even so fortunate as to capture the chief, but for want of an
interpreter nothing definite could be learned. He nevertheless reported
favorably to Espinosa, who ordered Albites and Hurtado to go to his
assistance. Under the gentle persuasion of the rack Quema disclosed
the place where part of the gold, some thirty thousand castellanos,
was hidden, but denied any knowledge of the remainder. With this gold
and other plunder, the three captains rejoined their commander, who had
passed on to Guararí.
Two canoes being completed, each capable of carrying seventy men, and
three smaller ones having been brought by Pablo Mejía from Chirú, they
were placed in charge of Bartolomé Hurtado, who with eighty or ninety
men coasted south and westward, while Espinosa with the remainder of
the company followed by land. The rain fell in torrents, and the worthy
licentiate was soon tired of wading through the thick mud; and so, after
four days' march to a small port called Huera,[XI-11] in the province
of Vera, a council was held which arranged that Hurtado should continue
the survey with one hundred men, in boats, while the land party should
return to Quema and search for the remainder of the Badajoz treasure.
[Illustration]
The first province at which Hurtado landed was called Guanata, whence
the inhabitants had fled, and where by reason of continuous rains
the Spaniards rested seven days. Securing guides they then passed on
to an island, called by the natives Caubaco, or Cebaco,[XI-12] three
days distant. Hurtado was acquiring experience, and found it better to
treat these wild people gently. This policy succeeded, and, although
his landing was at first opposed, he and the islanders soon became the
best of friends. Their ruler was absent on the mainland, fighting; and
when he returned his subjects introduced the strangers with such warmth
that he at once extended his good-will, giving Hurtado a golden armor
valued at one thousand castellanos. Indeed, he proved most affable
and accommodating, willing to acknowledge the king of Spain, accept
Christianity, or anything they desired; so much so that the Spaniards
called him Cacique Amigo. An expedition was organized against the
inhabitants of a neighboring island, named by the Spaniards Isla de
Varones, in which they were joined by Pequeari, brother of Cebaco,
with nine canoes. These islanders were found entrenched in a log
fortress, surrounded by a ditch, and so difficult to carry that the
assailants were repeatedly thrown back and must have failed but for
their artillery. Seven leagues to the westward was an island called
Cabo,[XI-13] where the Spaniards found a little gold. Thence they kept
along the mainland, but the inhabitants were so fierce they dared not
land. Some boatmen told them, however, that through the lands of the
adjoining provinces, Torra and Tabraba, the distance to the North Sea
was but three days' journey. And here they met with rumors of a rich and
powerful nation to the westward, with double faces and rounded feet—an
allusion probably to the table-land civilization. There are people with
the former characteristic even to-day, and among our superior European
culture.
[Sidenote: SOUTH SEA EXPLORATIONS.]
Hurtado explored the coast as far as the gulf of Nicoya,[XI-14]
about one hundred and forty leagues from Natá. In the vicinity of
the Golfo Dulce,[XI-15] the people were called Chiuchires. The beauty
and fruitfulness of the country proved a constant temptation to the
Spaniards to land and dispute possession with the owners, who appeared
along the shore with drum and trumpet to frighten the visitation. But
such was not Hurtado's purpose, nor his ability; from Nicoya he returned
to join Espinosa.
* * * * *
After due deliberation it was determined at Antigua that the fishing
station of Panamá[XI-16] should be the site of the chief city, the
terminal post of the transcontinental line on the shore of the South
Sea. And after the return of Hurtado, which was early in 1517, Espinosa
proceeded, under present instructions from Pedrarias, to place an
establishment there. Its first commander was Hernan Ponce, who had just
returned with Hurtado from the Nicoya expedition.[XI-17]
[Sidenote: GOLD HUNTING.]
During the absence of Hurtado, Espinosa had proceeded to Quema in his
search for Paris, and the gold that Badajoz had lost, but he was soon
obliged to leave that province on account of the scarcity of provisions.
Two days' journey inland brought the Spaniards to a village governed by
a cacique called Chiracona, who was accused of having been instrumental
in the defeat of Badajoz, and who now held in his possession two of the
baskets of gold. Into this province, famous for the bravery of its men
and the beauty of its women, and also as being haunted by _tuyraes_, or
devils, Diego de Albites was sent forward with sixty men, the remainder
of the company following at a slower march while feeding on reed roots.
"By God's will," says the pious licentiate, "the cacique was captured
with his women and children." Chiracona at first denied the impeachment,
but when tortured he promised to produce the gold.
The poor fellow really knew nothing of the treasure, but he saw that it
was necessary for him to confess something if he would live. And under
the pressure his wits quickened. According to tradition the rendezvous
of devils was a mountain fastness, ten leagues distant, into which
Tartarean retreat no man had ever ventured. "If," thought the sadly
battered Chiracona, "these infernal Christians can be enticed thither,
there will be a happy end of them." But when he told them of the beauty
and fertility of the place, and of the vast stores of wealth the ages
had garnered there, a woman of Escoria, whom the chaste licentiate
regarded with tender favor, besought her master not to enter that
dangerous recess, for she had heard say that Chiracona sought only the
destruction of the Spaniards, confident that the earth would open to
swallow them. But the licentiate replied, "Have no misgivings, amiga
mia; Christians fear not devils; devils fear Christians, and fly before
them." And so Pedro de Gamez was sent with seventy men to the abode of
the devils. The night following there was a terrible earthquake: both
heathen and Christian believed his hour had come; and as Chiracona rode
in his house the oscillating earth, as in a canoe he rode the billowy
ocean, he smiled to think how well his plan was working.
Next day Gamez returned without the gold; whereat both white men and red
were disappointed, the former because the treasure was not forthcoming,
the latter because the Spanish had returned unharmed, since this would
beside require Chiracona to invent some new pastime for their greedy
avarice. The Spaniards remained at this place two months, living on
supplies forced from Chiracona, and urging upon him Christianity,
allegiance to Spain, and the delivery of the gold. Finding him obdurate
on all these points, they gave him to the dogs and went their way. Paris
being heard of at Quema, Diego de Albites was sent thither, but was
unsuccessful in the primary object of his mission. The 2d of January,
1517, all passed into Escoria, whence Albites was despatched on a three
days' journey to the northward to capture a cacique named Tabraba.
He was successful, and secured gold to the value of four thousand
castellanos.
[Sidenote: RETURN OF ESPINOSA TO ANTIGUA.]
Espinosa now made ready for returning to the North Sea. It filled him
with indignation to witness the ingratitude of the few caciques whose
lives he had spared. Natá apostatized, burned the Spaniards' palisades,
destroyed their growing grain, and joined a hostile confederacy.
The people of Chirú and elsewhere retired, thus adding insult to the
failure to supply articles for plunder. While passing through Tubanamá,
Espinosa overthrew a chief named Chamna, who had been hostile to Vasco
Nuñez. In Comagre he found Serrano, sent again to scourge that almost
desolate province. Half famished the Spaniards arrived at Acla, and were
overjoyed to find Vasco Nuñez, who gave them food and provided them a
vessel in which to return to Antigua.
The alcalde mayor's were the mightiest stealings of them all. Herrera
estimates the returns of gold at eighty thousand pesos, and two thousand
captives for slaves. After giving the king his fifth, and the governor
and officials each a liberal share, there was enough distributed among
the soldiers to make each esteem himself rich. Then followed days and
nights of glorious debauch, in which, beside women and wine, gambling
was conspicuous. A second distribution of capital was speedily effected
under the auspices of the goddess unfathomable. It was paltry to
bet less than a peso on any game, while a slave was a common wager.
The governor, his council, and the soldiers took jovial parts in the
exercise, and it is said that Pedrarias at one sitting played away a
hundred slaves. It was of great avail, indeed, with such servants and
subjects, for the king to forbid playing-cards to be sent to the New
World, and for the Council of the Indies to restrict a twenty-four
hours' loss at play to ten castellanos.