_Demoniac Reign._
Giles Gonzales.--Unsuccessful Contest of De Soto with
Gonzales.--Bold Reply of De Soto to the Governor.--Cruelty
of Don Pedro to M. Codro.--Assassination of Cordova.--New
Expedition of Discovery.--Revenge upon Valenzuela.--Reign of
Don Pedro at Nicaragua.--Unwise Decision of De Soto.
It was supposed at that time that there must be a strait somewhere
north of Panama across the narrow isthmus, which would connect the
waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Several expeditions had
been fitted out in search of this all-important passage. Almost
invariably a company of priests joined these expeditions, who exerted
all their energies to convert the Indians to nominal Christianity. A
fanatic adventurer by the name of Giles Gonzales, acquired much
celebrity for his success in inducing the natives to accept the
Christian faith and to acknowledge fealty to the king of Spain. He was
at the head of one hundred steel-clad warriors. His mode of
persuasion, though unique, was very potent. When he approached the
seat of the chief of Nicaragua, he sent a courier to him with the
following message:
"I am coming as a friend to teach you the only true religion, and to
persuade you to recognize the most powerful monarch on the globe. If
you refuse to yield to my teachings, you must prepare for battle, and
I challenge you to meet me in the field."
The gentle and peace-loving natives contemplated with consternation
these fierce Spaniards mounted on powerful war horses, animals which
they had never before seen, and glittering in coats of mail. They had
no religious creed to which they adhered with any tenacity. The
Nicaraguan chief unhesitatingly expressed his readiness to accept the
new faith, and in token of friendship, sent Gonzales a quantity of
gold, equal it is said in value to seventy-five thousand dollars of
our money. The Spanish historian Herrera, whose record is generally
deemed in the main accurate, says that the chief, his family, and nine
thousand of his subjects, were baptized and became Christians.
Influenced by this example, and by the glowing representations of the
rewards which were sure to follow the acceptance of the Christian
faith, more than thirty-six thousand of the natives were baptized
within the space of half a year. The baptismal fees charged by
Gonzales amounted to over four hundred thousand dollars.
While Gonzales was engaged on his own responsibility in this career of
spiritual conquest, with its rich pecuniary accompaniment, Don Pedro
sent two of his generals, Ferdinand de Cordova and Ferdinand De Soto,
to explore Nicaragua and take possession of it in his name. He assumed
that Gonzales, acting without authority, was engaged in a treasonable
movement. The two parties soon came into collision.
De Soto, with a party of fifty men, twenty of them being well mounted
cavaliers, encamped at a small village called Torebo. Gonzales was in
the near vicinity with a little army of three hundred men, two hundred
of whom were Indians. In the darkness of the night, Gonzales fell upon
De Soto, and outnumbering him six to one, either killed or took
captive all the thirty footmen; while the cavaliers, on their horses,
cut their way through and escaped. Gonzales lost fifty of his best men
in the conflict, and was so impressed with the military vigor of De
Soto, that he was not at all disposed again to meet him on the field
of battle. He therefore retired to a distant part of the province,
where he vigorously engaged in the work of converting the natives,
never forgetting his baptismal fee.
De Soto and Cordova established themselves in a new town which they
called Grenada. Here they erected a church, several dwelling houses,
and barracks for the soldiers. They also surrounded the village with
a trench and earthworks, as protection from any sudden assault.
Gonzales was a fugitive from justice, having assassinated an officer
sent by Hernando Cortes to arrest him.
Cordova was a mild and humane man. Under his sway the Indians were
prosperous and happy. Two flourishing towns grew up rapidly quite near
each other, Leon and Grenada. The climate was delightful, the soil
fertile, the means of living abundant. Many of the inhabitants of
Panama emigrated to this more favored region.
De Soto, leaving Cordova in command of Nicaragua, returned to Panama
to report proceedings to Don Pedro. It was not till then that he
learned, to his extreme regret, that the Governor had selected
Nicaragua as a place for his future abode. He knew that the presence
of the tyrannical governor could only prove disastrous to the
flourishing colony, and ruinous to the happiness of the natives. The
gloom with which the contemplation oppressed his mind spread over his
speaking countenance. The eagle eye of the suspicious governor
immediately detected these indications of discontent. With an air of
deference, but in a tone of mockery, he said:
"I judge from your appearance, captain, that my Nicaraguan enterprise
does not meet with your cordial approbation."
De Soto boldly, and with great deliberation of words, replied:
"Governor Don Pedro, I confess that I feel but little interested in
any of your movements or intentions, except when they encroach upon
the rights of others. Nicaragua is at this time well governed by
Ferdinand de Cordova. The change you propose to make, is to be
deprecated as one of the greatest misfortunes that could befall not
only the Indian inhabitants of that district, but our own countrymen
likewise, who have flocked thither to escape from your jurisdiction."
The countenance of Don Pedro became pallid with rage. Struggling,
however, to suppress the unavailing outburst of his passion, he said,
with a malignant smile:
"I thank you, Captain De Soto, for giving me this opportunity which I
have so long desired. Were I to permit such insolence to go
unpunished, my authority in this colony would soon be at an end."
"It is at an end," replied De Soto. "You must be aware that your
successor, De Los Rios, is now on his way to Panama."
"I do not choose," replied Don Pedro, "to debate this matter with you.
I still claim the right to command you as your superior military
officer. I now command you to hold yourself and your company in
readiness to march. When we arrive at Leon, I promise you that full
justice shall be done to your friend De Cordova, and to yourself."
De Soto fully comprehended the significance of these threats. He wrote
immediately to Cordova, urging him to be on his guard. The inhabitants
of Leon and Grenada, learning of the intention of Don Pedro,--to take
the government into his own hands,--entreated De Cordova to resist the
tyrant, promising him their unanimous and energetic support. But De
Cordova declined these overtures, saying, that all the authority to
which he was legitimately entitled was derived from Don Pedro, and
that it was his duty to obey him as his superior officer, until he
should be deposed by the Spanish crown.
Just before Don Pedro, with his suite, left Panama for Nicaragua, M.
Codro returned from Spain. He brought dispatches to the governor, and
also secretly a letter from Isabella to De Soto. The spies of the
governor, in his castle in Spain, watched every movement of M. Codro.
The simple minded man had very little skill in the arts of duplicity.
These spies reported to Don Pedro that M. Codro had held a secret
interview with Isabella, and had frankly stated that he was entrusted
with a private message to her. Don Pedro knew that such a message
could have gone only from De Soto; and that unquestionably M. Codro
had brought back from his daughter a response. We may remark in
passing, that the letter from Isabella to De Soto informed him of the
inflexible fidelity of Isabella, and filled the heart of De Soto with
joy.
The malignant nature of Don Pedro was roused by these suspicions to
intensity of action, and he resolved upon direful revenge. As the new
governor was hourly expected, he could not venture upon any open act
of assassination or violence, for he knew that in that case summary
punishment would be his doom. Calling M. Codro before him, he assumed
his blandest smile, thanked the artless philosopher for the services
he had rendered him in Spain, and said that he wished to entrust him
with the management of a mineralogical survey of a region near the
gulf of San Miguel.
The good man was delighted. This was just the employment which his
nature craved. He was directed to embark in a vessel commanded by one
of the governor's tools, an infamous wretch by the name of De
Valenzuela. This man had been for many years a private, and was then
engaged in kidnapping Indians for the slave trade. He was ordered as
soon as the vessel was at sea, to chain M. Codro to the foremast, to
expose him to all the tortures of the blaze of a tropical sun by day
and chilling dews by night. The crew were enjoined to assail him with
insulting mockery. Thus exposed to hunger, burning heat, and incessant
abuse, he was to be kept through these lingering agonies until he
died.
For ten days the good man bore this cruel martyrdom, when he breathed
his last, and was buried on a small island about a hundred miles
southwest of Panama. This brutal assassination was so conducted, that
De Soto at the time had no knowledge of the tragedy which was being
enacted.
Early in the year 1526, Don Pedro, surrounded by a large retinue of
his obedient soldiery, left Panama to assume the government of
Nicaragua, to which he had no legitimate title. De Soto accompanied
the governor. Much as he detested his character, he could not forget
that he was the father of Isabella. When Don Pedro approached the
little town of Leon, he sent a courier before him, to order De Cordova
to meet him in the public square, with his municipal officers and his
clergy, prepared to give an account of his administration.
De Soto with his horsemen was ordered to form in line on one side of
the square. The foot soldiers of Don Pedro surrounded the governor on
the other side. All the vacant space was filled with citizens and
natives. By the side of the governor stood his executioner; a man of
gigantic stature and of herculean strength, whose massive sword few
arms but his could wield. De Cordova advanced to meet Don Pedro, and
bowing respectfully before him, commenced giving an account of the
state of affairs in the province. Suddenly he was interrupted in his
narrative by Don Pedro, who with forced anger exclaimed:
"Silence, you hypocrite! Your treasonable projects cannot be hidden
under these absurd pretensions of loyalty and patriotism: I will now
let your accomplices see how a traitor should be punished."
He made a sign to his executioner. His gleaming sword flashed through
the air, and in an instant the dissevered head of Cordova rolled in
the dust. The headsman grasped the gory trophy by the hair, and
raising it high above his head exclaimed,
"_Behold the doom of a traitor._"
All this took place in an instant. The spectators were horror
stricken. De Soto instinctively seized his sword, and would doubtless
have put spurs to his horse, rushed upon the governor, and plunged the
weapon to the hilt in his breast, but for the restraining memories of
the past. Hesitatingly he returned his sword to its scabbard.
But Don Pedro had not yet finished the contemplated work of the day.
Another victim he had doomed to fall. A file of soldiers, very
resolute men, led by a determined officer, crossing the square,
approached De Soto, at the head of his troops. Don Pedro then
exclaimed in a loud voice,
"Ferdinand De Soto, you are ordered to dismount and submit yourself to
the punishment which you have just seen inflicted on your traitorous
comrade. Soldiers! drag him from his horse if he refuse to obey."
The officer reached forth his hand to seize De Soto. Like lightning's
flash, the sword of the cavalier fell upon the officer, and his head
was cleft from crown to chin. The spurs were applied to the fiery
steed. He plunged through the soldiers, knocking several of them down,
and in an instant De Soto had his sword's point at the breast of the
governor. Shouts of "kill the tyrant," rose from all parts of the
square, which were echoed even from the ranks of Don Pedro's soldiers.
Again De Soto held back his avenging hand; but in words which made Don
Pedro quake in his shoes, he said,
"You hear the expression of public sentiment. You hear the wishes of
those who are subject to your authority. It is the voice of justice
speaking through these people. In refusing to obey the call, I am
scarcely less guilty than yourself. But remember, Don Pedro, that in
sparing your life at this moment, I discharge all the obligations I
have owed you. Miserable old man! Be thankful that the recollection of
one that is absent, can make me forget what I owe to my murdered
friend.
"I will now sheathe my sword, but I solemnly declare by the sacred
emblem of the cross which it bears, that I will never draw it again in
your service."
The assassination, for it could hardly be called execution, of De
Cordova, excited the general indignation of the Spanish settlers. They
all knew that Don Pedro had no authority from the king of Spain to
assume the government of Nicaragua, and that he was therefore an
usurper. The noble character which De Soto had exhibited, and his
undeniable ability and bravery, had won for him universal regard. The
Spaniards generally rallied around him, and entreated him to assume
the command, promising him their enthusiastic support. They could not
comprehend why De Soto so persistently refused their solicitations.
They knew nothing of the secret reasons which rendered it almost
impossible for De Soto to draw his sword against the father of
Isabella.
As we have mentioned, it was generally supposed that there must be
some strait between the Isthmus of Darien and the southern frontiers
of Mexico, which connected the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. The king of Spain had offered a large reward for the discovery
of this passage. Several of the wealthy citizens of Leon organized an
expedition in pursuit of this object. De Soto was placed at its head.
He selected, from his cavalry troop, five of his most intelligent and
energetic young men. They started from Leon, and followed along the
coast of the Pacific, in northwesterly course, penetrating every bay
and inlet. They travelled on horseback and encountered innumerable
difficulties from the rugged and pathless wilderness, through which
they pressed their way. They also had much to fear from the unfriendly
character of the natives, whose hostility had been aroused by the
outrages which companies of vagabond Spaniards had inflicted upon
them.
De Soto, however, and his companions, by their just and kindly spirit,
soon won the regards of the Indians. They found that the natives
possessed large quantities of gold, which they seemed to esteem of
little value. Eagerly they exchanged the precious metal for such
trinkets as the explorers took with them. Upon this arduous
expedition, which De Soto managed with consummate skill, he was absent
eleven months. Seven hundred miles of sea-coast were carefully
explored, and he became fully convinced that the looked-for strait did
not exist. Though in this respect the expedition had proved a
failure, he returned to Leon quite enriched by the gold which he had
gathered. With honesty, rarely witnessed in those days, he impartially
divided the treasure among the projectors of the enterprise.
As De Soto was returning, he discovered a small Spanish vessel
anchored near the present site of San Salvador. As his men and horses
were worn down by their fatiguing journey, he engaged a passage in the
vessel to Leon. Upon embarking he found the captain and crew consisted
of some of the most depraved and brutal men who had ever visited the
New World. They were cruising along the coast, watching for
opportunity to kidnap the natives, to convey them to the West Indies
as slaves. The captain was the infamous Valenzuela, who, as agent of
Don Pedro, had tortured M. Codro to death.
De Soto had no knowledge, as we have mentioned, of the dreadful doom
which had befallen his friend. One day the fiendlike captain was
amusing his crew with a recital of his past deeds of villany. He told
the story of the murder of Codro.
"He was," he said, "an old wizard whom Don Pedro, the governor of
Panama, commissioned me to torture and to put to death, in consequence
of some treachery of which he had been guilty while on a mission to
Spain."
The words caught the ear of De Soto. He joined the group, and listened
with breathless attention and a throbbing heart, to the statement of
Valenzuela.
"I chained the old fellow," said the captain, "to the mainmast, and
the sailors amused themselves by drenching him with buckets of cold
water, till he was almost drowned. After several days, he became so
sick and exhausted, that we saw that our sport would soon be at an
end. For two days he was speechless. He then suddenly recovered the
use of his voice, and endeavored to frighten me by saying:
"'Captain, your treatment has caused my death. I now call upon you to
hear the words of a dying man. Within a year from this time, I summon
you to meet me before the judgment seat of God.'"
Here the captain burst into a derisive and scornful laugh. He then
added:
"Come comrades, we'll have a hamper of wine, and drink to the repose
of M. Codro's soul."
De Soto stepped forward, and repressing all external exhibition of the
rage which consumed his soul, said calmly to the captain,
"You say that the astrologer prophesied that you should die within the
year. When will that year expire?"
"In about two weeks," the captain replied. "But I have no fear but
that the prophet will prove to be a liar."
"He shall not," De Soto added. And drawing from his scabbard his keen,
glittering sword, with one blow from his sinewy arm, severed the
captain's head from his body. The ghastly trophy rolled gushing with
blood upon the deck. These wild and savage men were accustomed to such
scenes. They admired the courage of De Soto, and the marvellous skill
with which, at one blow, he had struck off the head of the captain. De
Soto then turned to the crowd and said:
"Gentlemen, if any of you are disposed to hold me accountable for what
I have just done, I am ready to answer you according to your desires.
But I consider myself bound, in reason and in courtesy, to inform you,
that M. Codro, the man whom this villain murdered, was my friend; and
I doubt not that he was condemned to death for doing me an important
service."
All seemed satisfied with this explanation. These sanguinary scenes in
those days produced but a momentary impression.
De Soto and Don Pedro no longer held any intercourse with each other.
The reign of the usurping governor was atrocious beyond the power of
language to express. With horses and bloodhounds he ran down the
natives, seizing and selling them as slaves. Droves of men, women and
children, chained together, were often driven into the streets of
Leon.
The assumption then was that a nominal Christian might pardonably
inflict any outrages upon those who had not accepted the Christian
faith. Several of the Indian chiefs had embraced Christianity. Don
Pedro compelled them all to pay him a tribute of fifty slaves a month.
All orphans were to be surrendered as slaves. And then the wretch
demanded that all parents who had several children, should surrender
one or more, as slaves to the Spaniards. The natives were robbed of
their harvests, so that they had no encouragement to cultivate the
soil. This led to famine, and more than twenty thousand perished of
starvation. Famine introduced pestilence. The good Las Casas declares
that in consequence of the oppressions of the Spaniards, in ten years,
more than sixty thousand of the natives of Nicaragua perished.
About this time Francisco Pizarro had embarked in a hair-brained
enterprise for the conquest of Peru, on the western coast of South
America. Very slowly he had forced his way along, towards that vast
empire, encountering innumerable difficulties, and enduring frightful
sufferings, until he had reached a point where his progress seemed to
be arrested. His army was greatly weakened, and he had not sufficient
force to push his conquests any farther. Threatened with the utter
extermination of his band, he remembered De Soto, whom he had never
loved. He knew that he was anxious for fame and fortune, and thought
that his bravery and great military ability might extricate him from
his embarrassments.
He therefore wrote to Don Pedro, praying that De Soto, with
reinforcements, might be sent to his aid. For three years there had
been no communication whatever between the governor and the lover of
his daughter. But Don Pedro regarded the adventure of Pizarro as
hazardous in the extreme, and felt sure that all engaged in the
enterprise would miserably perish. Eagerly he caught at the idea of
sending De Soto to join them; for his presence was to Don Pedro a
constant source of annoyance and dread. He therefore caused the
communication from Pizarro to be conveyed to De Soto, saying to the
messenger who bore it:
"Urge De Soto to depart immediately for Peru. And I pray Heaven that
we may never hear of him again."
De Soto, not knowing what to do with himself, imprudently consented,
and thus allied his fortunes with those of one of the greatest
villains of any age or country.