Careta's tribe, who were ignorant of the intended uprising, but could
not, of course, be unaware that the expedition was proceeding against
some of their people with hostile purpose. But they asked no questions,
being reasonably certain that any such would be answered only by blows,
and exerted their strength to such good purpose that by nightfall of the
day in which they had embarked the Spaniards reached the vicinity of
Tichiri. It was probably at or near a place now indicated on the map as
"Punta Escondida," or Lost Point, and may have been thus named because
of its vague and misty appearance in the shades of evening-time.
The shore seemed formless, and the forests that came down to the water
stretched away black and forbidding, but the darkness was pierced by
numerous points of light, where blazed the Indian camp-fires, and the
"tam-tam-tam" of the drums proclaimed an assemblage for the purpose of
war or conference. Colmenares waited till the drums had ceased their
beating and the camp-fires had been swallowed up by the darkness, then
the canoes were guided stealthily to the shore and the soldiers landed.
The landing could not be made without some sound, such as the clanging
of armor against armor, or the striking of sword or lance against a
gunwale; yet the savages were so confident that no enemy was near that
they were not disturbed, and slumbered while the force formed on the
beach.
Preceded by the dogs of war, a pack of three having been brought by
Colmenares for this very purpose, the Spaniards crept towards the camp,
extending their line as they approached and perceived its great
proportions. As the scent of the quarry reached their nostrils, the dogs
could no longer be restrained, and leaped forward with deep-mouthed
howls into the midst of the slumbering foe. Instantly arose shrieks of
terror and pain as the beasts tore the inoffensive savages to pieces,
and these were followed by wild tumult when the reports of arquebuses
rose above all other sounds and the Spaniards burst from their
concealment with loud shouts.
The terrified Indians knew not which way to turn, and huddled together
in a mass, upon the outer skirts of which the hounds tore and ravened at
will, while the cross-bows and musketry played destructively. Finally,
perceiving that no opposition was offered, or likely to be, by the
terror-stricken savages, Colmenares ordered the trumpeter to sound the
recall, and the attendants to draw off the hounds; but it was a long
time before the detestable beasts could be made to quit their prey.
X
DISSENSIONS IN THE COLONY
1512
The savages surprised by Colmenares in Tichiri were under a captain, or
sub-chief, whose name has not been preserved, but who received swift
punishment at the hands of his own people for the crime of rebellion
against Balboa. As soon as the Spanish commander had ascertained in
which direction he was to look for the captain, he sent a small body of
men in search of him. One of his own followers handed Colmenares the bow
and spear that he usually carried, and, having presented this to the
most sagacious of the hounds for his inspection, the brute sniffed the
air an instant, then set off into the midst of the crowd. He and his two
companions had been dragged from their victims while yet their
blood-stained jaws held ghastly shreds and fragments of human flesh, and
it was with his ferocious instincts roused to the highest pitch that
the hound darted through the throng of Indians and leaped upon the
cowering chieftain.
He was expecting death, and had calmly prepared himself to meet his
fate; but such a terrible apparition as this he was unprepared for, and
as the hound's fangs sank into his quivering flesh he shrieked in agony
of pain and terror. It was with difficulty that the enraged animal was
induced to release his hold, and suffered repeated blows from the mailed
fists of his attendants before he would do so. Then the mangled savage
was conducted before Colmenares, who had cleared a space in the centre
of the camp and there held an impromptu court-martial upon the leaders
of the insurrection. The instigator of the rebellion, Zemaco, had
escaped, but four of the sub-caciques, including the captain of the
band, were captured, owing to the swift and secret movements of the
Spaniards.
With Colmenares acting in the capacity of judge, the proceedings of the
"court" were confined to the identification of the victims as leaders
and men of influence among the Indians. Their guilt was assumed from
the positions they held, and as soon as their identity was established
they were promptly sentenced: the captain to be shot to death with
arrows by his own followers, and the caciques to be hanged. The sentence
was carried out at break of dawn next morning. Scarcely had the sun
gilded with his first rays the topmost branches of the forest trees,
before the caciques were led out to meet their doom. A broad-based
ceiba-tree, or silk-cotton, reared its huge bulk near the centre of the
clearing, and up its buttressed trunk a pair of soldiers swarmed to its
lower-most limb, over which they swung ropes made of grass, with nooses
at their ends. These nooses were then slipped over the heads of the
caciques, and soon they were suspended in the air, gasping their lives
away, until they were naught but contorted corpses, upon which their
former subjects gazed in speechless horror.
The extent to which the Indians had been terrorized by the Spaniards was
more fully shown by what followed when the captain was brought to
execution. He was placed with his back against the ceiba-tree, his arms
and legs tightly pinioned, and compelled to face his slayers, who were
archers selected from his body-guard. He faced them dauntlessly, and,
calling upon the most skilful archer by name, directed him to shoot at
his heart and end his misery without unnecessary delay.
"I blame ye not," he said to his men, "for ye are compelled, I know.
Moreover, I shall the more gladly die, knowing that your weapons cause
my death, and not those of the foe. Shoot straight, and trouble not
thyself," he said to the foremost archer, who, as he was about to bend
the bow, craved pardon for his act. The bowstring twanged, the chief's
head drooped, and it was seen that the arrow had pierced his breast up
to the feather. As the body fell forward several Indians sprang to catch
it, and there was some confusion, during which it was perceived that the
savage who had slain his chief was placing another arrow on the string.
The quick eye of Colmenares caught him in the act, and fearing the shaft
was intended for himself--as doubtless it was--he ordered him disarmed.
One of the soldiers would have thrust him through with a lance, but the
commander prevented him from doing this, perhaps realizing that he had
committed atrocities enough, and had put upon this poor savage more
than weak human nature could endure.
In the midst of the hubbub that ensued, there sounded the roll of a
drum, followed by other noises, that proclaimed the approach of an armed
force from the direction of the hills. In fact, Balboa and his men, who
had been detained by the countless obstructions to a passage through a
virgin forest, made their appearance shortly, and soon the two
commanders met and embraced.
"Ha, Rodrigo," exclaimed Balboa, glancing at the grewsome objects
hanging from the limb of the ceiba-tree, "but you have forestalled me,
son, and saved me trouble. I had feared it might be necessary to swing
up a savage or two, and it seems you have done it with despatch. Sorry
am I that we were detained; but such is the fortune of those who seek to
penetrate these forests. All the day and the night we have struggled
against nature's impediments to our progress, and on my soul, Rodrigo,
we are worn down and famishing."
"That I can well believe," answered Colmenares. "And we are not so fresh
as we might be, nor have we had aught to eat since leaving the boats.
But, if the camp-master has attended to his duty, there should be
something, by this, awaiting us in shape of a breakfast. Let us seek him
and see."
"A fine _cavalgada_ [troop or herd] of captives you have, Rodrigo, and
they should be sufficiently impressed by the punishment of their chiefs
to behave well in the future."
"Doubtless they will," replied Colmenares, "for it was a conspiracy of
the caciques, and not of the people at large. These are spirit-less
wretches, most of them, and of themselves will be prone to keep the
peace, I trow."
"Still, I think we will build a fort here in this wood, for it is a fine
site for one, and the country at large is productive. Goldmines there
are, too, back in the hills, and while old Zemaco is at large there will
be no peace for us. Santa Maria! But I wish we could find that golden
temple and its idol. Perchance we may, with a strong fortress here, and
a garrison in command of a good man like thyself, Rodrigo."
Leaving Colmenares to erect a fortress on a commanding bluff overlooking
the gulf, and eighty soldiers to hold the Indians in check, Balboa, with
fifty of his own men, returned to Darien in the canoes. He arrived none
too soon, as it chanced, for, taking advantage of his absence, some
seditious fellows had stirred up a disturbance. He had left in command
that Bartolome Hurtado, who had been driven from Zemaco's country after
the disastrous ending of the Dobaybe expedition. He was a favorite with
the governor, but a man of no particular force (as may appear from his
having fled the country he was left to defend), and against him rose the
most unquiet spirits of the colony, led by one Alonzo Perez de la Rua.
Hurtado may have been arrogant when he found himself invested with sole
authority in the settlement, and as Alonzo Perez was a cavalier of some
distinction when in Spain, he took offence at the upstart's assumptions
and refused to obey him. Not content with maligning Hurtado, he
proceeded to declaim against Balboa himself, denouncing him as a man of
low birth whom circumstance had invested with a brief authority, and who
was, he said, a creature of their own creation. "A soldier of fortune,"
and "absconding debtor who ought to be cooling his heels in jail," were
some of the milder things he said about the absent Balboa, who, as soon
as he arrived and learned what had been done, promptly arrested Alonzo
Perez and confined him in the calaboose.[2] As the testy cavalier had
many friends in the colony, a party was quickly formed of considerable
strength, which was opposed to Balboa, and for a time a collision seemed
imminent between the rival forces.
Balboa had his soldiers at his back, and doubtless could have restrained
the mutineers by resorting to force; but his penetrating mind looked
beyond the present, with its temporary evils, to the future and its
golden promises, so he released Alonzo Perez merely with a reprimand.
This action for a time appeased the factious followers of Perez; but for
a matter of hours only, and the next day they assembled anew. Taking
advantage of Balboa's absence in the fields, whither he had gone to
superintend the Indian laborers, they seized Hurtado, and possessed
themselves of weapons, which they threatened to turn against the
governor himself. Alonzo Perez was again in command, and being
supported in his pretensions by a lawyer, one Bachelor Corral, he
demanded that Balboa should at once deliver up for division among the
colonists the ten thousand pieces of gold then in the treasury.
In the estimation of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, this hoard of gold was of
small account, as he expected and intended to add to it at least ten
times that amount. Whatever happened, he was not willing to risk his
life in defence of it, and learning that the mutineers intended to throw
him into prison, provided they could secure his person, he hastily
withdrew from the scene of strife, giving out that he was going hunting
in the forest.
"Friend Hurtado," he said to his lieutenant, "I foresee that when those
scoundrels get possession of that bone of contention, the ten thousand
castellanos in our treasury, they will so abuse one another in the
division of it that the sober-minded members of our community will be
only too glad to recall me to restore order. Hence, let them have it. I
had hoped to send it to our lord the king--and in truth I yet shall do
so; but let them first have the fingering of it. Meanwhile, friend
Bartholomew, we will go hunting, you and I, for it is better, methinks,
to slay the beasts of the forest, which may aid in sustaining us, than
our own countrymen--which we shall certainly have to do if we remain."
This was the purport of a conversation the shrewd Balboa held with
Hurtado and his immediate followers, and his wisdom and foresight were
soon clearly shown by the manner in which his scheme worked itself out.
Alonzo Perez and his rabble seized the treasury, which he had left
purposely unguarded, and with great hilarity proceeded to share among
themselves the ten thousand pieces of gold. The result was what the
crafty Balboa had foreseen, for a furious dispute broke out at once, and
from words the mutineers came to blows.
There were still many adherents of Balboa in the community, but they had
been awed into silence by the rabble. When the latter began quarrelling
among themselves, however, and some of them even cried out, boldly, that
their self-exiled governor had always been fair in the apportionment of
the spoils, while Perez was extremely partial to himself, the friends
of Balboa ventured to proclaim their own opinions.
"Who won this gold," they said, "but our own Vasco Nunez by his
enterprise and valor? Knowing him as we do, we say he would have shared
it with the brave and deserving. [Probably meaning themselves.] But
these men have seized upon it by unfair and factious means, and would
squander it upon their minions. Out upon them, say we! Let us seize the
ringleaders of this foul conspiracy and cast them into prison. Then we
will send for our gallant governor and reinstate him in authority."
As most of the soldiers were absent with Balboa and Colmenares, and the
mutineers were really in the minority, the temperate members of the
community easily accomplished their purpose by seizing Perez, Corral,
and other ringleaders and placing them in irons. They were confined in
the fortress, where they had leisure to reflect upon their intemperate
behavior, while a special committee of reputable citizens, appointed
amid loud acclamations, was sent in search of the fugitive governor.
As may be supposed, they did not have great difficulty in finding him,
for he had kept in touch with the proceedings through his scouts, and
had not penetrated the forest so far that he could not be readily
recalled. He was discovered in camp, surrounded by his faithful
soldiers, and the whole company seemed in high spirits over their
success in the chase. Wigwams had been built beneath the wide-spreading
branches of umbrageous trees, and hammocks swung in which Balboa and
Hurtado were lazily reclining--the time being in the heat of the day,
when the delegates approached them with the proffer of reinstatement.
They had travelled fast and far, since early morning, and, having
provided no refreshments for the journey, were faint, thirsty, and
hungry. They looked longingly at the rude table made of palm-leaves
spread upon the ground, and supplied with every kind of food and drink
known to the colony. Indian cooks were busy at a barbecue over a
camp-fire, the savory odors from which were simply maddening to the
hungry delegates. They saw other Indians engaged in tapping the wild
palms and ladling out calabashes full of palm-wine, while others still
were preparing foaming chicha for their masters.
Now, the throat of the committee's spokesman was dry, and his tongue
also, so that when he essayed to speak his voice entirely failed him,
and he looked helplessly at his companions. Perceiving the condition of
the delegates, Balboa, who had been watching them narrowly from the
corner of his eye, hastily leaped from his hammock and exclaimed: "Not a
word, Don Pedro, not a word, until you and your friends have slaked your
thirst with draughts of our native wine. Cruel it was of me to keep you
standing there, while this _desayuno_ [breakfast] was being prepared, at
which you must sit down, though it be so humble and poor of quality.
Nay, I insist," he added, as the committee hesitated. "I know not your
mission, _caballeros_; but, certes, you are faint and hungry, perchance
thirsty also, so sit down, and answer not. Hither, mozos, with the
calabashes of chicha and wine. Give my _companeros_ to drink, without
delay."
The delegates gratefully accepted the food and drink so liberally
profferred, and when they were refreshed the spokesman began his speech
again: "Your excellency, we have come to ask you to return. The
government goes ill without you--in truth, there is no government at
all."
"Ha? But what of Don Alonzo and the Bachelor Corral?"
"They are in the calaboose, your excellency, and in irons."
"So? But how long will they remain, if I return. And what of the gold?"
"They will remain there at your excellency's pleasure; and the gold
shall be collected and returned to the treasury."
"_Bueno_--good, very good. But how long, think ye, gentlemen, will ye
continue in this chastened frame of mind? Not a month, not a week,
before some low-born sons of Belial will provoke an outbreak against the
authority of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and declare he hath no authority to
govern. If I go, gentlemen, to Darien, then it must be under a pledge
that ye all will unitedly stand by me, and sustain me in every effort
for the public weal. What say ye?"
"We will, we will, your excellency. Only return!"
XI
BALBOA STRENGTHENS HIS ARM
1512
Balboa stretched himself in his hammock, and looking at the delegates
through half-closed eyes, as though he would resume his siesta,
rejoined: "Gentlemen, I do not wish to return! But here is Don
Bartolome, who might be induced to act in my place. Let him go with you
and assume the reins of government."
The delegates looked the confusion they felt, but said nothing, though
Hurtado hastily exclaimed, "No, no; I care not to do so."
"Neither care I," said Balboa. "For what do I get by returning? Only the
semblance of a shadow of authority. All the labors, all the insults
attending the office; but never a _gracias_, _senor_--never a thank you,
sir, get I. But here--ah, here I have my liberty. I ask no man whether I
shall come or shall go. Here I can live free from restraint--I and my
merry men. What say, companeros, shall we return?"
"Never, no never!" came in a chorus from the soldiery.
"We are content here, are we not? The forest gives us sustenance--as ye
see, gentlemen; it gives us shelter. Now that I am no longer compelled
to hunt the red savage, and only the wild beast when I choose, rest and
happiness have come to me."
The committee consulted together for the space of five or ten minutes,
then the spokesman said, with a new note in his voice and a twinkle of
triumph in his eyes: "Your excellency, we have a letter for you, which I
herewith deliver. We know not what it contains, for, as you may witness,
the seal is still unbroken; but from what tidings we have received from
some high in authority at Hispaniola, we divine it refers to the great
displeasure of his majesty, the king, as respects your doings at Darien.
Here is the letter, your excellency."
Balboa took the letter without remark, and broke the seal. As he read, a
serious expression came over his face, and he frowned severely, seeing
which the delegates nudged one another and chuckled inwardly. He had
good cause, in truth, to frown, for the letter was from his friend at
court, Zamudio, whom he had sent to Spain to plead his cause. It
informed him of the king's indignation, kindled by the charges against
him lodged at court by the lawyer Enciso, by whom he was accused of
being an intruder and usurper at Darien. He was held responsible for all
the disasters to the colony, and though in reality its founder, and
pacificator of the savages, he was to be prosecuted on criminal charges,
and might consider himself fortunate if he escaped with his life.
Such was the tenor of the letter, and such the purport of the
information the committee had received before they left the settlement.
This being so, it behooved Balboa to comport himself more in accordance
with his changed position in the eyes of the committee, and after he had
finished reading the letter he said: "This is an important
communication, gentlemen, and to answer it properly I shall be compelled
to return to Darien. If, then, it be your minds still to support me, we
will soon set forth. But only on that understanding shall I go."
"We shall support you," answered the spokesman. "But let it be
understood, however, that our support is given only as between you and
other subjects of his majesty, the king. Should there be conflict of
authority, as between you, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and his majesty, there
will be no question which direction we should take."
"Nor would I, as a loyal subject of his majesty, ask more of you,"
rejoined Balboa, fervently. "Soldiers, companions, we will depart.
Prepare for the march to town. Mozos, bring hither the wine and the
chicha. Gentlemen, before we start let us drink to the health of his
majesty. Long live the king!"
Then a wild scene ensued. Mingling promiscuously--cavaliers, soldiers of
the ranks, and civic functionaries--the company all joined in drinking
the health of their sovereign. They seized the brimming calabashes, and,
lifting them to their lips, drank deeply to the toast, "Long live the
king."
"Now fill again!" shouted one of the delegates. "Here's to the health of
his majesty's most loyal subject, Vasco Nunez de Balboa. May he live
long as governor of Darien!"
"_Viva! viva!_" shouted the excited soldiery. "Long life to our
governor!"
"And to his loyal supporters, these our friends," added Balboa, grimly
smiling, and waving his right hand towards the delegates. "May they
remain loyal--for the space of a week, and may they never have to choose
between his majesty and myself, his most devoted subject and servant!"
The wine was soon gone, to the dregs, and with this as the parting toast
the company broke camp and set out for town, where a new surprise
awaited Balboa, in the arrival of two ships from Santo Domingo. They
were laden with provisions and brought a reinforcement of two hundred
soldiers and settlers, sent by the admiral, Don Diego Columbus. At the
same time arrived, by the hands of the fleet's captain, a commission for
Balboa as governor and captain-general. This had come from Miguel de
Pasamonte, the royal treasurer of Hispaniola, a favorite of the king,
sent out as a check upon the ambition of Don Diego, of whom his majesty
was extremely jealous.
In this manner did fate seem to play at cross-purposes with Vasco Nunez
de Balboa, sending him tidings by one messenger of the king's disfavor,
and by another of his esteem; though, to tell the truth, Pasamonte had
assumed his majesty's approbation of his act, without right to do so. He
had received from Balboa a large sum of gold, by a previous remittance,
and this was the manner in which he requited the favor.
"Gold is most powerful, of a truth," whispered Balboa to himself,
smiling the while, as he thought of the title it had won from Miguel de
Pasamonte. "If, now, I could get to the king the ten thousand golden
castellanos which I have recovered from those robbers, Perez and Corral,
methinks such a donative might purchase exemption from the penalties
which his majesty seems disposed to place upon me for my presumption in
setting poor old Nicuesa adrift and sending Enciso back to Spain. Ha, I
have it! I will myself go to court with the gold in my hand, and beard
the royal lion in his den. Ten thousand pieces I have; at least ten
thousand more may be raked and scraped in the colony, and, moreover,
these shall be, to the king, but an earnest of much more to come."