listened to them, and placed himself in their Book V. hands. But no sooner had they got him into Ch. 2. their power than, it is said, they made him swear that he would go away, and not stop until he should appear before the King of Spain and his Council. This, I imagine, was meant for mockery. - In vain the wretched Nicuesa reminded them that they were in his territory, and protested before God, as he could not before the King, against their cruelty in sending him away so illprovisioned as he was for any voyage. Their They cruelty to Nicuesa. paid no attention to his entreaties, but turned him adrift in the most wretched brigantine that was there.* Hopeless of moving his enemies, or indignant at their mockery, Nicuesa set sail from Darien, and was never heard of more. The last words that he was heard to utter as he left the shore were, "Show thy face, O Lord, and we shall be saved."+ Some suppose that he perished at sea, others that he either went to, or was driven upon, some island on the coast of Veragua, and was destroyed by hunger or by the natives, perishes. as it was reported that these words were found cut out in the bark of a tree, " Aqui anduvó perdido el desdichado Diego de Nicuesa❞—(Here went lost the unfortunate Diego de Nicuesa). But, even if le * Indeed, PASCUAL DE ANDA- Relacion.-Nav., Col., tom. 3, GOYA says that the brigantine P. 395. was caulked with iron, as the wretch who did it, told him. "Y aún decian que calafateado con ferro groso esto al mismo calafate que le aderezó se lo oí yo."-PASCUAL DE ANDAGOYA, +"De personas que se hallaron pressentes supe que oyeron deçir en su partida, con lágrimas, llamando á Dios: Ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus.”OVIEDO, Hist. Gen. y Nat., lib. 29. Prohemio. Nicuesa BOOK V. such an inscription were ever found, it might Ch. 2. have been made at the time of his former cala mity, when he was left on the desert island. It was on the 1st of March, 1511, that he set sail in his crazy vessel; and he was accompanied by seventeen companions who still remained faithful to him. It is sad, notwithstanding their lamentable errors, to see how these adventurous commanders one after another drop from the scene. I say their lamentable errors, because, with our modern notions at least, it is impossible to regard their conduct towards the Indians as otherwise than infamous; but we must not let this blind us to any merits they might have had. And certainly their sad fate, and the fate of those under them, seem to afford some retribution for their sins towards the Indians.* Ojeda, as we have already seen, died in the utmost poverty; Nicuesa perished either from hunger or shipwreck: of the companions whom Sad fate they brought out with them, full of hope and proud designs, only forty-three remained of Nicuesa's men, and thirty or forty of Ojeda's. The men who were now at Darien, were those who had come in the reinforcements brought by Enciso to Ojeda, and by Colmenares to Nicuesa. of the Spanish captains in the New World. * Vasco Nuñez, in one of his letters to Charles the Fifth, discusses the fate of Nicuesa, and attributes it to his tyranny to wards his own men, which was, evidently, the proximate cause of his destruction. NAV., Col., tom. 3, p. 360. CHAPTER I. VASCO NUÑEZ'S DEALINGS WITH THE NEIGHBOURING CACIQUES FIRST NOTICE OF THE PACIFIC-FACTIONS AT DARIEN-VASCO NUÑEZ RESOLVES TO DISCOVER THE SOUTH SEA SUCCEEDS IN HIS ENTERPRIZE, AND TAKES POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC FOR THE KINGS OF CASTILLE HIS CHAPTER I. VASCO NUÑEZ'S DEALINGS WITH THE NEIGHBOURING THE HE facts in history often form themselves Book VI. into groups so much resembling one another Ch. 1. as to give the impression of the same play being acted over and over again, only with a change of names and with new scenery. This is especially the case in the events I am recounting; and, knowing beforehand the fate that generally awaits the principal actors, it appears to me as if I were but presenting new versions of the same story. The principal interest of the narrative is now concentered in Vasco Nuñez. The valorous Ojeda, the polished Nicuesa, and the flourishing lawyer, Enciso, little dreamed that the conduct of their enterprize was to devolve upon a man who should furtively come out in a cask to evade his creditors. He had, however, most of the qualities Vasco necessary for a great commander in those times. Nuñez's He was clever, crafty, courageous, forward in character. |