but after a while, as his daughter did not return to consciousness, he
went to the side of Balboa, and, raising his manacled hands in the air,
exclaimed:
"What have I done to thee, O thou terrible stranger, that thou shouldst
treat me so cruelly? None of thy people ever came to my land that were
not fed and sheltered and treated with loving kindness. When thou camest
to my dwelling, did I meet thee with a javelin in my hand? Did I not set
forth meat and drink, and welcome thee as a brother? Set me free,
therefore, with my family and people, and we may yet remain as friends.
We will supply thee with provisions and reveal to thee the riches of
this land. But first restore to me my daughter, the light of my eyes,
the pearl of my household, whom thou and that dread beast of thine have
driven to the borderland of death."
During this impassioned speech by the outraged cacique, Balboa remained
gazing first at the chieftain, then at his daughter, without uttering a
word. The mother was chafing the wrists, bathing the forehead, and
whispering tender words into the ears of the maiden, but without
eliciting a response. A most pathetic spectacle mother and daughter
presented, despite the savagery of the parent, her lack of clothing, and
uncouth appearance, which but enhanced by contrast the beauty of the
maiden.
Balboa had thought her beautiful, in the brief glimpses afforded in the
moonlit forest, but now, with her form and features wrought upon
radiantly by the flickering flames, he saw that she was ravishingly
lovely. Touched by her beauty, then, and rendered compassionate by her
helplessness, he allowed his heart to go out to her, and so far as his
rough nature was susceptible to love he felt that sentiment for the
cacique's daughter. 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; and bugler, order the recall,
peradventure there be any in pursuit of our former enemies, now our
friends."
With his own hands he removed the manacles from Careta's wrists, then,
noting by the flickering of the maiden's eyelids that she was
recovering, he hastened to her side. As her eyes opened, they rested in
astonishment first upon the mailed cavalier, standing erect in the
firelight, clad in shining armor from throat to foot, and with a smile
upon his handsome features.
Then in the fulness of his manly powers, with a face and figure that
would have wrought havoc among the dames of his sovereign's court, had
he been favored with a presentation there, Vasco Nunez de Balboa carried
this untutored maiden's heart by storm. She uttered a low cry, and,
leaping from her mother's lap, darted into the cacique's dwelling, as if
for the first time realizing her lack of proper raiment and desiring to
conceal herself from the eyes of her lover. At a word from the cacique,
whose will was law with all his family, the mother went in after her
and soon reappeared, holding her daughter by one hand. During the brief
time at her disposal, she had found and arrayed herself in a flowing
robe of cotton, embroidered in gold, and gathered at the waist by a
golden girdle. This she clutched nervously, as, with dejected mien and
downcast eyes, she stood before the man in whose sight she had found
favor above all other women.
The marriage ceremony was simple and brief, consisting in the cacique's
joining the right hands of these two so strangely brought together, and
invoking his deity to bless the union, which, at a later period, Balboa
intended to have sanctioned by a priest. Whether this intention was
fulfilled, we will not at this moment inquire. Balboa was a man of many
good resolves and promises, most of which seem to have been made only to
be broken. But, in the sight of God, who sees into the souls of men, and
in the presence of more than one hundred witnesses, who looked on in
vast astonishment as the ceremony was performed, Vasco Nunez de Balboa
was "well and truly wedded" to the cacique's beautiful daughter. She,
the simple child of nature, untaught by art, and with no moral law to
guide her, knew and cared for naught except that she loved the gallant
cavalier and sought no further.
[Illustration: BALBOA AND THE INDIAN PRINCESS]
Short and fierce had been the wooing of the fair Cacica, wild and weird
the accessories of her wedding, with the accompaniment of burning
dwellings and attendance of rude soldiers in armor bearing flaming
torches. Brief and tempestuous was to be her life on earth thereafter.
Balboa may have reckoned upon this alliance as attaching to his service
one of the most powerful caciques of Darien; but by captivating the
affections of the beautiful Cacica he had incurred the hatred and
jealousy of certain young warriors, who were to cause him trouble in the
near future. He had captured the wild beauty of the wilderness, but in
so doing he enmeshed himself in troubles of far-reaching consequence.
They reached, indeed, across the sea and ocean even to Spain, and in
their train brought retribution, none the less certain because it was
delayed for years.
Love and diplomacy went hand-in-hand, so far as Balboa could perceive,
and as few men ever succeed in reconciling these two, he affected to
believe that he had achieved a victory of great moment. Returning to
Darien with his bride, he there entertained his friend and father-in-law
with jousts and tourneys, showed him the ships, and surprised him with
the thunder of artillery. Nothing delighted, as well as alarmed, the old
chieftain so much as the war-horses, upon the back of one of which he
was mounted, only to be thrown heavily to the sands and receive a rude
awakening. 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. Two brigantines
had been laden with the provisions and spoils obtained in Careta's
territory, in the securing of which the lovely Cacica was largely
instrumental. She induced her father to reveal to her new master the
treasure-vaults amid the sepulchres of her ancestors; but when she
witnessed the rapacity and brutality of the conquerors in ravaging the
graves and desecrating the revered remains, she was grieved to the
heart. Perhaps she then had a foreboding of the evils she was to bring
upon her people, for she became pensive and sad, rarely smiling or
singing during several days thereafter. Upon the warriors of the tribe
the ravage had a different effect, rendering them surly and restive, so
that the cacique was hardly able to restrain them from making reprisals,
and avenging the indignities offered their ancestors by shedding the
blood of the Spaniards.
The attachment of these people to the memory of their dead caciques and
former rulers is shown by the fidelity of their wives and servants, who
immolated themselves upon their graves, in order that they might
continue to serve them in the next life as they had done in this on
earth. They fully believed, says the old chronicler, that "the souls
which omitted this act of duty either perished with their bodies or were
dispersed in air. They consigned their dead to earth, though in some
provinces, as soon as a chieftain died he was seated on a stone, and, a
fire being kindled around him, the corpse was kept till all moisture was
dried, and nothing but skin and bones remained. In this state it was
placed in a retired apartment dedicated to this use, or fastened to a
wall, adorned with plumes, jewels, and even robes, by the side of the
father or ancestor immediately preceding. Thus, with the corpse of the
warrior, was his memory preserved to his family, and if any of them
perished in battle, the fame of his prowess was consigned to posterity
in the songs of the areitos."
Shortly after the return of the cacique to his village, Balboa missed
his mistress one day, and, setting scouts on her trail, traced her to
the Indian cemetery. His emissaries had strict orders to bring her to
him at once, if they found her; but they returned empty-handed, and when
he rated them for disobedience one of the scouts replied: "Senor
Comandante, had you seen what we have seen, you yourself would not have
taken the Cacica from her people. For she and they were engaged in
paying honors to the dead, whose tombs we have, in their opinion,
desecrated by robbing them of their jewels. All the warriors of her
father, the cacique, were gathered around the cemetery, armed with
weapons and painted as if for war. Sooth, they were fierce and warlike,
and it needed but a small provocation to kindle the flames of their
resentment into a blaze that might sweep this colony into the sea. They
had gathered the bones of their deceased rulers together and reinterred
them carefully, those who were dried like mummies by heat having been
affixed against the walls whence they were wrested by our soldiers. When
we arrived--and, truly, we dared not enter the place, but hovered unseen
on the verge of the forest--they were engaged in various ways. The women
and younger folks were singing and dancing their barbarous areito,
performing steps in unison to the beat of a drum made from a hollowed
log with the skin of a jaguar stretched over one end of it. It was a
strange, unearthly sound, and reverberated through the forest like the
roll of distant thunder. The warriors, in a circle apart and enclosing
the whole, were drinking deeply of fermented liquors, produced from the
palm and the maize, which ever and anon they shared with the dancers.
This they would do, we were told, until all had drunken themselves into
a frenzy, and the dancers became exhausted from fatigue and drunkenness
combined. Judge, then, O Comandante, if we should have been justified
in attempting to bring away the cacique's daughter, thy mistress and
spouse."
"And she was there, also? Was my Cacica there, performing in those
horrid ceremonies so barbarous and so vile?"
"Truly was she, one of the foremost in ladling out the liquor and
entreating the warriors to drink. But, so far as we could observe, she
did not herself partake thereof. Nor did she allow, nor was there
offered her, any indignity; but great respect seemed accorded her, as
the daughter of the chief."
Balboa groaned in spirit, but his pride forbade him making audible
comment on the strange proceedings of his bride. Another day he waited,
expectant of her coming; but he did not remain idle meanwhile, since,
having little faith in the friendship of the cacique, he ordered out all
his men-at-arms and prepared to receive the savages with fire and sword,
provided they should rouse themselves to frenzy and attack the
settlement.
Nothing of a disturbing character occurred, however, and when, on the
evening of that day, Balboa sought his hut, worn down with fatigue and
sorely perplexed in his mind, his still beloved Cacica came forth to
greet him. How she had come he knew not, nor did he ever discover,
though the settlement was surrounded by sentinels specially charged to
watch for and detect her presence. Like a spirit, or an invisible bird
of the night, she had flitted through the cordon of sentinels and gained
her house without being detected by one of them. They declared
afterwards, one and all, that she must have been in league with the
powers of the air and, presumably, evil--endued of the devil--to have
accomplished this feat. But none durst say a word of this to their
commander, for he was still infatuated with the beautiful princess--sure
token, the soldiers affirmed among themselves, that she was a witch, for
whom burning at the stake might be too mild a punishment.
However Vasco Nunez may have been vexed by this misadventure of his
beloved, he gave no sign of it, or, if he did, was soon soothed by her
blandishments into apparent forgetfulness. But in the minds of both had
been begotten a distrust that was destined to work havoc with the good
understanding that should ever exist between people situated as were
they. Soon after, seeming confidence was restored between the settlers
and the Indians, who came and went as formerly, bringing provisions from
their gardens, which they exchanged for knives, beads, and toys from
Spain. They gained access to the settlement as simple traffickers,
intent on adding to their store of trinkets and trifles; but Balboa
divined that they had other incentives, in fact, and came as spies.
Still, he did not allow his suspicions to become apparent to Careta,
with whom he had formed an offensive and defensive alliance for their
mutual protection.
In the mountains resided a cacique already mentioned named Ponca, a
rival and adversary of Careta, who wished the Spaniards to join with him
in an invasion of his territory. There was no immediate necessity for
the Spaniards to make war upon Cacique Ponca, as he had not offended
them in any particular, nor were they in need of a further extension of
territory, since the valley they had occupied, situated between the
sierras and the cordillera of the Andes, was extremely fertile and
capable of sustaining a great number of inhabitants. It was not only
excellent for planting, with rich soil and abundant natural resources,
which came early to perfection beneath the ardent sun of the tropics,
but abounded in game, while its rivers and the bordering gulf teemed
with fish in great variety.
But the Spaniards were less inclined to agriculture than to war, and
would rather ravage their neighbors' territory for gold than extract
from the fertile soil the products it so generously yielded to the
cultivator. Had they been less covetous and restless, less avaricious
and rapacious, they might have avoided contact with the ferocious tribes
of the interior, and perhaps have prospered. There was, however, an
unseen force at work constantly against them which they could not
successfully combat. This was the climate, which made terrible inroads
upon the health and constitutions of the Spaniards, by the great heat
and humidity of the air, and the heavy, almost incessant rains, which
came down at times as plunging torrents.
Nothing less than the most unquenchable ardor and the most marvellous
resolution, says the historian, could support the Spaniards under so
many discouragements and overcome so many difficulties. Perhaps it was
because they possessed this ardor in an excessive degree that they
continually panted for fresh conquests and desired to come into conflict
with the savages. Their great incentive, as already remarked, was the
acquisition of gold, and, learning that Cacique Ponca possessed the
precious metal in abundance, they were easily induced to join with
Careta in an attack upon him. Taking his troops by sea to the point
nearest to Ponca's capital, Balboa marched rapidly upon the village,
which, finding it deserted, he sacked and burned. He obtained
considerable booty, to which his ally, Careta, laid no claim, being
content with having humbled his adversary and driven him still farther
into the mountains, whence Ponca sent messengers imploring a cessation
of hostilities.
Having "pacified" the country, Balboa was for returning to Darien, but
was persuaded by Careta to diverge to his own province, where he was
royally entertained by the cacique. The latter had a neighbor, one
Comogre, who was yet more powerful than himself, having about ten
thousand Indians under him, three thousand of whom were warriors. His
province comprised an extensive plain and beautiful valleys, situated at
or near the foot of a very lofty mountain, which rose far above the
general altitude of the cordillera, or backbone of the isthmus.
Messengers sent by Comogre guided Balboa to this province, in the
capital of which the cacique awaited his coming. As the Spaniards
approached, Comogre came out to welcome them, attended by a train of
sub-chiefs, and followed by a vast number of his subjects. Included in
his suite were seven stalwart young men, his own sons by as many
different wives, of whom he was inordinately proud. Each son had a
habitation of his own, but that of the cacique surpassed anything of the
sort the Spaniards had seen in the land, for it was "an edifice of an
hundred and fifty paces in length and fourscore in breadth, built on
stout posts, surrounded by a lofty wall, and on the roof an attic story
of beautiful and skilfully interwoven woods. It was divided into several
compartments, and contained its markets, its shops, and a pantheon for
the dead, where the dried corpses of the cacique's ancestors were hung
in ghastly rows."
These corpses were in a retired and secret part of the structure, says
the historian, set apart for that special purpose. The bodies had been
dried by fire (as already narrated in the account of Careta's
ancestors), so as to free them from corruption, and afterwards wrapped
in mantles richly wrought and interwoven with pearls and jewels of gold,
and with certain stones considered precious by the Indians. There they
hung about the hall, suspended by cords of cotton, and were regarded not
only with reverence, but apparently with religious devotion. The
Spaniards gazed upon them in amazement, not unmingled with a burning
desire to despoil this hall of fame and secure for themselves its
wonderful treasures.
VI
FIRST TIDINGS OF THE PACIFIC
1512
Cacique Comogre's sons were young men of whom any father, savage or
civilized, might have been proud, but especially distinguished for his
intelligence and sagacity (says the Spanish biographer of Balboa, Senor
Quintana) was his eldest son, who was also his father's favorite. He
took note of the glances exchanged by Balboa and his lieutenant,
Colmenares, when they were inspecting the pantheon, and rightly
construed their meaning, which was, of course, that they would give much
for the privilege of sacking the place and depriving the sacred dead of
their rich ornaments. He had been informed of what had taken place in
his neighbor Careta's province, and knew that neither the opposition to
their rapacity of argument or force, nor any consideration for religion
or the dead, could restrain them were they to conceive the desire to
ravish the sepulchres of his ancestors.
His father had three thousand warriors, ferocious and reliable; but,
from what he had been told by Cacique Careta, who had tasted their
quality and tested their valor, they could not stand for an hour before
the two hundred Spaniards then in his province. The mailed men, Careta
said, would scatter them like chaff, and, with the fire from their
muskets and cannon, devour them as the flames consumed the grass of the
plains. Then he conceived the idea of purchasing exemption from ravage
by bribing the commanders, in the hope that by so doing they would
refrain from desecrating the tombs he held in such regard. But he did
not know, what he was later to learn, that the more the Spaniard
obtained the greater grew his appetite, and that by displaying the
wealth of the land he was but hastening its ruin. Simple son of Comogre!
He had, then, much to learn.
After consulting with his father, who was elated that a son of his
should possess such sagacity and penetration, the young cacique sent for
Balboa and Colmenares, who met him in the great square of the town.
"Great and worthy ones," he said, "here are sixty slaves, male and
female are they--all are yours, to be divided between you as may seem
desirable to both. And here, great and worthy ones, are golden
ornaments, taken from the hoard saved by our fathers. To us they are of
use only as mementos of the dead, for to the accumulation of riches we
are not given, being content with what we can eat and what we need to
protect us from the elements. We give you these things freely, because
we see that you value gold above all else, and because we would find
favor in your eyes and desire your friendship."
Balboa and Colmenares were at first overcome with astonishment, but when
they recovered speech they thanked the cacique and his son in
extravagant language--and then began to quarrel over the division of the
treasure. The slaves were of some account, but the chief treasure
consisted in the gold, which, when they had weighed and carefully
estimated its value, was found to amount to four thousand crowns. Most
of it was in the shape of animals of various sorts, and must have caused
the native artisans great labor; but of this the avaricious Spaniards
took no account, and all went into the melting-pot, greatly to the
grief of the young cacique.
Having always the fear of his sovereign in mind, and the potentiality of
gold to buy the king's favor, Balboa first set aside a fifth part for
royalty, which was to be despatched to Spain at the first opportunity.
Then he attempted to divide the remainder between himself and
companions; "but this division begat a dispute that gave rise to threats
and violence, which, being observed by the high-minded Indian, he
suddenly overthrew the scales in which they were weighing the precious
metal, exclaiming: 'Why quarrel for such a trifle? If such is your
thirst for gold that for sake of it you forsake your own country and
come to trouble us in ours, I will show you a province where you may
gather it up by the handful--yea, and carry it off by the backload!'"
When, by a blow of his fist, the spirited savage had overturned the
scales and scattered the gold on the ground, the Spaniards standing by
were greatly enraged; but when his speech was finally translated to them
they were exceedingly astonished, and desirous of learning more
respecting that golden province of which he told them.
[Illustration: QUARREL FOR THE GOLD]
"Where is it?" demanded Balboa and Colmenares, in a breath. "Show us the
way, and we will follow you at once."
"Nay, nay," answered the young man, with a shake of his head. "It lies
beyond those lofty mountains, far to the south. Beyond them, again,
extends a mighty ocean, a glimpse of which may be gained from the
mountain-peaks, but it is many days distant to the west and the south.
To succeed in getting there, you should be more numerous than you now
are, and will need at least a thousand men, even though with coats like
those you have on, which neither spears nor arrows can pierce. For you
will have to contend with powerful kings, who will defend their
dominions with vigor. You will first find a cacique who is very rich in
gold, who resides at the distance of six suns from here. Climbing the
mountains, ever climbing, climbing, you will reach their summits, and
then behold the sea, which lies in that part." And he pointed to the
south. "There you will meet with people who navigate in barks with sails
and oars, not much less than your own in size, and who are so rich that
they eat and drink from vessels made from the metal which you so much
covet."
This was the first information conveyed to the Spaniards of the Pacific
Ocean and Peru, and they were vastly excited over it, endeavoring to get
the young man to furnish them further details of the country
intervening, as well as of the great sea, its extent and situation.