magistrate Valdivia, with a vessel laden with different stores; he
brought likewise great promises of abundant aid in provisions and men.
The succors, however, which Valdivia brought were speedily consumed;
their seed, destroyed in the ground by storms and floods, promised
them no resource whatever; and they returned to their usual
necessitous state. Balboa then consented to their extending their
incursions to more distant lands, as they had already wasted and
ruined the immediate environs of Antigua, and he sent Valdivia to
Spain to apprize the admiral of the clew he had gained to the South
Sea, and the reported wealth of these regions.
He discoursed with and animated his companions, selected 190 of the
best armed, and disposed, and, with a thousand Indians of labor, a few
bloodhounds, and sufficient provisions, took his way by the sierras
toward the dominion of Ponca. That chief had fled, but Balboa, who had
adopted the policy most convenient to him, desired to bring him to an
amicable agreement, and, to that end, dispatched after him some
Indians of peace, who advised him to return to his capital and to fear
nothing from the Spaniards. He was persuaded, and met with a kind
reception; he presented some gold, and received in return some glass
beads and other toys and trifles. The Spanish captains then solicited
guides and men of labor for his journey over the sierras, which the
cacique bestowed willingly, adding provisions in great abundance, and
they parted friends.
His passage into the domain of Quarequa was less pacific; whose chief,
Torecha, jealous of this invasion, and terrified by the events which
had occurred to his neighbors, was disposed and prepared to receive
the Castilians with a warlike aspect. A swarm of ferocious Indians,
armed in their usual manner, rushed into the road and began a wordy
attack upon the strangers, asking them what brought them there, what
they sought for, and threatening him with perdition if they advanced.
The Spaniards, reckless of their bravados, proceeded, nevertheless,
and then the chief placed himself in front of his tribe, drest in a
cotton mantle and followed by the principal lords, and with more
intrepidity than fortune, gave the signal for combat. The Indians
commenced the assault with loud cries and great impetuosity, but, soon
terrified by the explosions of the crossbows and muskets, they were
easily destroyed or put to flight by the men and bloodhounds who
rushed upon them. The chief and 600 men were left dead on the spot,
and the Spaniards, having smoothed away that obstacle, entered the
town, which they spoiled of all the gold and valuables it possest.
Here, also, they found a brother of the cacique and other Indians, who
were dedicated to the abominations before glanced at; fifty of these
wretches were torn to pieces by the dogs, and not without the consent
and approbation of the Indians. The district was, by these examples,
rendered so pacific and so submissive that Balboa left all his sick
there, dismissed the guides given him by Ponca, and, taking fresh
ones, pursued his road over the heights.
The tongue of land which divides the two Americas is not, at its
utmost width, above eighteen leagues, and in some parts becomes
narrowed a little more than seven. And, altho from the port of Careta
to the point toward which the course of the Spaniards was directed was
only altogether six days' journey, yet they consumed upon it twenty;
nor is this extraordinary. The great cordillera of sierras which from
north to south crosses the new continent, a bulwark against the
impetuous assaults of the Pacific Ocean, crosses also the Isthmus of
Darien, or, as may be more properly said, composes it wholly, from the
wrecks of the rocky summits which have been detached from the adjacent
lands; and the discoverers, therefore, were obliged to open their way
through difficulties and dangers which men of iron alone could have
fronted and overcome. Sometimes they had to penetrate through thick
entangled woods, sometimes to cross lakes, where men and burdens
perished miserably; then a rugged hill presented itself before them;
and next, perhaps, a deep and yawning precipice to descend; while, at
every step, they were opposed by deep and rapid rivers, passable only
by means of frail barks, or slight and trembling bridges; from time to
time they had to make their way through opposing Indians, who, tho
always conquered, were always to be dreaded; and, above all, came the
failure of provisions--which formed an aggregate, with toil, anxiety,
and danger, such as was sufficient to break down bodily strength and
depress the mind....
At length the Quarequanos, who served as guides, showed them, at a
distance, the height from whose summit the desired sea might be
discovered. Balboa immediately commanded his squadron to halt, and
proceeded alone to the top of the mountain; on reaching it he cast an
anxious glance southward, and the Austral Ocean broke upon his
sight.[3] Overcome with joy and wonder, he fell on his knees,
extending his arms toward the sea, and with tears of delight, offered
thanks to heaven for having destined him to this mighty discovery. He
immediately made a sign to his companions to ascend, and, pointing to
the magnificent spectacle extended before them, again prostrated
himself in fervent thanksgiving to God. The rest followed his example,
while the astonished Indians were extremely puzzled to understand so
sudden and general an effusion of wonder and gladness. Hannibal on the
summit of the Alps, pointing out to his soldiers the delicious plains
of Italy, did not appear, according to the ingenious comparison of a
contemporary writer, either more transported or more arrogant than the
Spanish chief, when, risen from the ground, he recovered the speech of
which sudden joy had deprived him, and thus addrest his Castilians:
"You behold before you, friends, the object of all our desires and the
reward of all our labors. Before you roll the waves of the sea which
has been announced to you, and which no doubt encloses the immense
riches we have heard of. You are the first who have reached these
shores and these waves; yours are their treasures, yours alone the
glory of reducing these immense and unknown regions to the dominion of
our King and to the light of the true religion. Follow me, then,
faithful as hitherto, and I promise you that the world shall not hold
your equals in wealth and glory."
All embraced him joyfully and all promised to follow whithersoever he
should lead. They quickly cut down a great tree, and, stripping it of
its branches, formed a cross from it, which they fixt in a heap of
stones found on the spot from whence they first descried the sea. The
names of the monarchs of Castile were engraven on the trunks of the
trees, and with shouts and acclamations they descended the sierra and
entered the plain.
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 Nuñez 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.
On the 29th of November they reached the Brazilian coast near
Pernambuco; and on the 11th of January they arrived at the mouth of La
Plata, which they investigated sufficiently to convince them that it
was a river's mouth, and not a strait. Three weeks were consumed in
this work. This course through February and March along the coast of
Patagonia was marked by incessant and violent storms; and the cold
became so intense that, finding a sheltered harbor with plenty of fish
at Port St. Julian, they chose it for winter quarters and anchored
there on the last day of March. On the next day, which was Easter
Sunday, the mutiny that so long had smoldered broke out in all its
fury.
The hardships of the voyage had thus far been what stanch seamen
called unusually severe, and it was felt that they had done enough. No
one except Vespucius and Jaques had ever approached so near to the
South Pole; and if they had not yet found a strait, it was doubtless
because there was none to find. The rations of bread and wine were
becoming very short, and common prudence demanded that they should
return to Spain. If their voyage was practically a failure, it was not
their fault; there was ample excuse in the frightful storms they had
suffered and the dangerous strains that had been put upon their
worn-out ships. Such was the general feeling, but when exprest to
Magellan it fell upon deaf ears. No excuses, nothing but performance,
would serve his turn; for him hardships were made only to be despised,
and dangers to be laughed at: and, in short, go on they must, until a
strait was found or the end of that continent reached. Then they would
doubtless find an open way to the Moluccas; and while he held out
hopes of rich rewards for all he appealed to their pride as
Castilians. For the inflexible determination of this man was not
embittered by harshness, and he could wield as well as any one the
language that soothes and persuades.
At length, on the 24th of August, with the earliest symptoms of spring
weather, the ships, which had been carefully overhauled and repaired,
proceeded on their way. Violent storms harassed them, and it was not
until the 21st of October (St. Ursala's day) that they reached the
headland still known as Cape Virgins. Passing beyond Dungeness, they
entered a large open bay, which some hailed as the long-sought strait,
while others averred that no passage would be found there. "It was,"
says Pigafetta, "in Eden's bredth. On both the sydes of this strayght
are Magellanus, beinge in sum place C.x. leaques in length: and in
breadth sumwhere very large and in other places lyttle more than halfe
a leaque in bredth. On both the sydes of this strayght are great and
hygh mountaynes couered with snowe, beyonde the whiche is the
enteraunce into the sea of Sur.... Here one of the shyppes stole away
priuilie and returned into Spayne." More than five weeks were consumed
in passing through the strait, and among its labyrinthine twists and
half-hidden bays there was ample opportunity for desertion. As
advanced reconnoissances kept reporting the water as deep and salt,
the conviction grew that the strait was found, and then the question
once more arose whether it would not be best to go back to Spain,
satisfied with this discovery, since with all these wretched delays
the provisions were again running short. Magellan's answer, uttered in
measured and quiet tones, was simply that he would go on and do his
work "if he had to eat the leather off the ship's yards." Upon the
_San Antonio_ there had always been a large proportion of the
malcontents, and the chief pilot, Estevan Gomez, having been detailed
for duty on that ship, lent himself to their purposes. The captain,
Mesquita, was again seized and put in irons, a new captain was chosen
by the mutineers, and Gomez piloted the ship back to Spain, where they
arrived after a voyage of six months, and screened themselves for a
while by lying about Magellan.
As for that commander, in Richard Eden's words, "when the capitayne
Magalianes was past the strayght and sawe the way open to the other
mayne sea, he was so gladde thereof that for joy the teares fell from
his eyes, and named the point of the lande from whense he fyrst sawe
that sea Capo Desiderato. Supposing that the shyp which stole away had
byn loste, they erected a crosse uppon the top of a hyghe hyll to
direct their course in the straight yf it were theyr chaunce to coome
that way." The broad expanse of waters before him seemed so pleasant
to Magellan, after the heavy storms through which he had passed, that
he called it by the name it still bears, Pacific. But the worst
hardships were still before him. Once more a sea of darkness must be
crossed by brave hearts sickening with hope deferred. If the
mid-Atlantic waters had been strange to Columbus and his men, here
before Magellan's people all was thrice unknown.
"They were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea";
and as they sailed month after month over the waste of waters, the
huge size of our planet began to make itself felt. Until after the
middle of December they kept a northward course, near the coast of the
continent, running away from the antarctic cold. Then northwesterly
and westerly courses were taken, and on the 24th of January, 1521, a
small wooded islet was found in water where the longest plummet-lines
failed to reach bottom. Already the voyage since issuing from the
strait was nearly twice as long as that of Columbus in 1492 from the
Canaries to Guanahani. From the useless island, which they called San
Pablo, a further run of eleven days brought them to another
uninhabited rock, which they called Tiburones, from the quantity of
sharks observed in the neighborhood. There was neither food, nor water
to be had there, and a voyage of unknown duration, in reality not less
than 5,000 English miles, was yet to be accomplished before a trace of
land was again to greet their yearning gaze. Their sufferings may best
be told in the quaint and touching words in which Shakespeare read
them:
"And hauynge in this tyme consumed all theyr bysket and other
vyttayles, they fell into such necessitie that they were inforced to
eate the pouder that remayned therof beinge now full of woormes....
Theyre freshe water was also putrifyed and become yelow. They dyd eate
skynnes and pieces of lether which were foulded abowt certeyne great
ropes of the shyps. But these skynnes being made verye harde by reason
of the soonne, rayne, and wynde, they hunge them by a corde in the sea
for the space of foure or fiue dayse to mollifie them, and sodde them,
and eate them. By reason of this famen and vnclene feedynge, summe of
theyr gummes grewe so ouer theyr teethe [a symptom of scurvy], that
they dyed miserably for hunger. And by this occasion dyed xix. men,
and ... besyde these that dyed, xxv. or xxx. were so sicke that they
were not able to doo any seruice with theyr handes or arms for
feeblenesse: So that was in maner none without sum disease. In three
monethes and xx. dayes, they sayled foure thousande leaques in one
goulfe by the sayde sea cauled Paciflcum (that is) peaceable, whiche
may well bee so cauled forasmuch as in all this tyme hauyng no syght
of any lande, they had no misfortune of wynde or any other tempest....
So that in fine, if god of his mercy had not gyuen them good wether,
it was necessary that in this soo greate a sea they shuld all haue
dyed for hunger. Whiche neuertheless they escaped soo hardely, that it
may bee doubted whether euer the like viage may be attempted with so
goode successe."
One would gladly know--albeit Pigafetta's journal and the still more
laconic pilot's logbook leave us in the dark on this point--how the
ignorant and suffering crews interpreted this everlasting stretch of
sea, vaster, said Maximilian Transylvanus, "than the human mind could
conceive." To them it may well have seemed that the theory of a round
and limited earth was wrong after all, and that their infatuated
commander was leading them out into the fathomless abysses of space,
with no welcoming shore beyond. But that heart of triple bronze, we
may be sure, did not flinch. The situation had got beyond the point
where mutiny could be suggested as a remedy. The very desperateness of
it was all in Magellan's favor; for so far away had they come from the
known world that retreat meant certain death. The only chance of
escape lay in pressing forward. At last, on the 6th of March, they
came upon islands inhabited by savages ignorant of the bow and arrow,
but expert in handling their peculiar light boats. Here the dreadful
sufferings were ended, for they found plenty of fruit and fresh
vegetables, besides meat. The people were such eager and pertinacious
thieves that their islands received the name by which they are still
known, the Islas de Ladrones, or isles of robbers.
On the 16th of March the three ships arrived at the islands which some
years afterward were named Philippines, after Philip II of Spain. Tho
these were islands unvisited by Europeans, yet Asiatic traders from
Siam and Sumatra, as well as from China, were to be met there, and it
was thus not long before Magellan became aware of the greatness of his
triumph. He had passed the meridian of the Moluccas, and knew that
these islands lay to the southward within an easy sail. He had
accomplished the circumnavigation of the earth through its unknown
portion, and the remainder of his route lay through seas already
traversed. An erroneous calculation of longitudes confirmed him in the
belief that the Moluccas, as well as the Philippines, properly
belonged to Spain. Meanwhile in these Philippines of themselves he had
discovered a region of no small commercial importance. But his brief
tarry in these interesting islands had fatal results; and in the very
hour of victory the conqueror perished, slain in a fight with the
natives, the reason of which we can understand only by considering the
close complication of commercial and political interests with
religious notions so common in that age....
Meanwhile, on the 16th of May, the little _Victoria_, with starvation
and scurvy already thinning the ranks, with foretopmast gone by the
board and fore-yard badly sprung, cleared the Cape of Good Hope, and
thence was borne on the strong and friendly current up to the equator,
which she crossed on the 8th of June. Only fifty years since Santarem
and Escobar, first of Europeans, had crept down that coast and crossed
it. Into that glorious half-century what a world of suffering and
achievement had been crowded! Dire necessity compelled the _Victoria_
to stop at the Cape Verde Islands. Her people sought safety in
deceiving the Portuguese with the story that they were returning from
a voyage in Atlantic waters only, and thus they succeeded in buying
food. But while this was going on, as a boat-load of thirteen men had
been sent ashore for rice, some silly tongue, loosened by wine, in the
head of a sailor who had cloves to sell, babbled the perilous secret
of Magellan and the Moluccas. The thirteen were at once arrested, and
a boat called upon the _Victoria_, with direful threats, to surrender;
but she quickly stretched every inch of her canvas and got away. This
was on the 18th of July, and eight weeks of ocean remained. At last,
on the 6th of September--the thirtieth anniversary of the day when
Columbus weighed anchor for Cipango--the _Victoria_ sailed into the
Guadalquivir, with eighteen gaunt and haggard survivors to tell the
proud story of the first circumnavigation of the earth.