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De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2) by Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt

T >> Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt >> De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2)




Hunger induced them to land at several places, and everywhere their
reception by the natives was hostile. The Spaniards were now reduced
by famine to such a state of weakness that they could no longer fight
against natives, even naked ones, who offered the least resistance.
Twenty of them died from wounds of poisoned arrows. It was decided to
leave one half of the company at Porto Bello, and with the other half
Nicuesa continued his voyage eastwards. Twenty-eight miles from Porto
Bello and near a cape which Columbus had formerly called Marmor, he
decided to found a fort, but the want of food had too much reduced
the strength of his men to permit this labour. Nicuesa nevertheless
erected a small tower, sufficient to withstand the first attacks of
the natives, which he called Nombre de Dios. From the day he had left
Veragua, not only during his march across the sandy plains but also
because of the famine which prevailed while he was constructing the
tower, he lost two hundred of the men who still survived. Thus it was
that, little by little, his numerous company of seven hundred and
eighty-five men was reduced to about one hundred.

While Nicuesa, with a handful of wretched creatures, struggled in
this manner against ill fortune, rivalry for the command broke out in
Uraba. A certain Vasco Nunez Balboa[3] who, in the opinion of most
people, was a man of action rather than of judgment, stirred up
his companions against the judge Enciso, declaring that the latter
possessed no royal patents giving him judicial powers. The fact of his
being chosen by Hojeda to act as governor was not enough. He succeeded
in impeding Enciso in his functions, and the colonists of Uraba chose
some of their own men to administer the colony; but dissension was not
long in dividing them, especially when their leader Hojeda did not
return. They thought the latter dead, of his wound, and disputed among
themselves as to whether they should not summon Nicuesa to take his
place. Some influential members of the council who had been friends of
Nicuesa and could not endure the insolence of Vasco Nunez thought they
ought to scour the country in search of Nicuesa; for they had heard it
reported that he had abandoned Uraba on account of the barrenness of
the soil. Possibly he was wandering in unknown places like Enciso and
other victims of wrecks; therefore they should not rest until they had
discovered whether he and his associates still lived.

[Note 3: Balboa was of a noble family of Xeres de los Caballeros,
and was born in 1475. He came to Hispaniola in 1500, where he suffered
extreme poverty. He went on board Enciso's vessel as a stowaway.]

Vasco Nunez, who feared to be deposed from his command on the arrival
of Nicuesa, treated those who still believed that the latter lived, as
foolish. Moreover, even were the fact proven, they had no need of him,
for did they not possess as good a title as Nicuesa? Opinions were
thus divided, when the captain of two large vessels, Roderigo de
Colmenares, arrived bringing a reinforcement of sixty men, a quantity
of foodstuffs, and clothing.

I must recount some particulars of the voyage of Colmenares. It was
about the ides of October in the year 1510 that Colmenares sailed from
Beata, the port of Hispaniola, where expeditions are usually fitted
out. The nones of November he reached the coast of that immense
country of Paria, between the port of Carthagena and the district of
Cuchibacoa, discovered by Columbus. He suffered equally during this
voyage from the attacks of the natives and from the fury of the sea.
Being short of water, he stopped at the mouth of the river called by
the natives Gaira, which was large enough for his ships to enter. This
river has different sources on a lofty snow-covered mountain, which
Roderigo's companions declared to be the highest they had ever seen.
This statement must be true, since the snow lay upon a mountain which
is not more than ten degrees distant from the equator. A shallop was
sent ashore at the Gaira to fill the water barrels, and while the
sailors were engaged in this task they saw a cacique accompanied by
twenty of his people approaching. Strange to behold, he was dressed in
cotton clothing, and a cloak, held in place by a band, fell from
his shoulders to the elbow. He also wore another trailing tunic of
feminine design. The cacique advanced and amicably advised our men
not to take water at that particular place, because it was of poor
quality; he showed them close at hand another river of which the
waters were more wholesome. The Spaniards repaired to the river
indicated by the cacique, but were prevented by the bad state of the
sea from finding its bottom, for the sands fairly bubbled as it were,
which indicated that the sea was full of reefs. They were obliged,
therefore, to come back to the first river, where at least they could
safely anchor. Here the cacique disclosed his treacherous intentions,
for while our men were engaged in filling their barrels, he fell
upon them, followed by seven hundred naked men, armed in the native
fashion, only he and his officers wearing clothing. He seized the
barque, which he smashed to pieces, and in a twinkling the forty-seven
Spaniards were pierced with arrow-wounds, before they could protect
themselves with their shields. There was but one man who survived, all
the rest perishing from the effects of the poison. No remedy against
this kind of poison was then known, and it was only later that the
islanders of Hispaniola revealed it; for there exists an herb in
Hispaniola of which the juice, if administered in time, counteracts
the poison of the arrows. Seven other Spaniards escaped the massacre,
and took refuge in the trunk of a gigantic tree hollowed by age, where
they concealed themselves till night. But they did not for that reason
escape, for at nightfall the ship of Colmenares sailed away, leaving
them to their fate, and it is not known what became of them.

Lest I should weary you if I related all the particulars, Most Holy
Father, I omit mention of the thousand perilous adventures through
which Colmenares finally reached the Gulf of Uraba. He anchored off
the eastern coast, which is sterile, and from that point he rejoined
his compatriots on the opposite bank several days later. The silence
everywhere amazed him; for he had expected to find his comrades in
those parts. Mystified by this state of things, he wondered whether
the Spaniards were still alive or whether they had settled elsewhere;
and he chose an excellent means for obtaining information. He loaded
all his cannon and mortars to the muzzle with bullets and powder, and
he ordered fires to be lighted on the tops of the hills. The cannon
were all fired together, and their tremendous detonation made the very
earth about the Gulf of Uraba shake. Although they were twenty-four
miles distant, which is the width of the gulf, the Spaniards heard the
noise, and seeing the flames they replied by similar fires. Guided
by these lights Colmenares ordered his ships to cross to the western
shore. The colonists of Darien were in a miserable plight, and after
the shipwreck of the judge Enciso it was only by the greatest efforts
they had managed to exist. With hands raised to heaven and eyes
overflowing with tears of mingled joy and sadness, they welcomed
Colmenares and his companions with what enthusiasm their wretched
state allowed. Food and clothing were distributed to them, since they
were almost naked. It only remains, Most Holy Father, to describe the
internal dissensions which broke out among the colonists of Uraba over
the succession to the command, after they had lost their leaders.



BOOK III


The chief colonists of Uraba and all the friends of order decided to
recall Nicuesa from wherever he was, and as the judge, Enciso, was
opposed to this measure, they deprived him of the brigantine he had
built at his own expense. Contrary to his will and against that of
Vasco Nunez, the adventurer, they decided to go in search of Nicuesa
in order that he might settle the dispute about the commandership.
Colmenares, whom I have mentioned above, was commanded to search along
those coasts where it was thought Nicuesa wandered abandoned. It was
known that the latter had left Veragua, because of the sterility of
the soil. The colonists instructed Colmenares to bring Nicuesa back as
soon as he could find him and to assure him they would be grateful to
him if, on his arrival, he succeeded in calming the dissensions which
rent the colony. Colmenares accepted this mission, for he was a
personal friend of Nicuesa, and boldly announced that the provisions
he had brought were intended as much for Nicuesa as for the colonists
of Uraba. He, therefore, fitted out one of his ships and the
brigantine, which had been taken from Enciso, loading them with a
part of the provisions he had brought. He coasted carefully along the
neighbouring shores, and finally came upon Nicuesa engaged in building
his tower on Cape Marmor.

Nicuesa was the most wretched of men, reduced to a skeleton, covered
with rags. There remained barely sixty of the seven hundred and more
companions who had started with him, and the survivors were more to
be pitied than the dead. Colmenares comforted his friend Nicuesa,
embracing him with tears, cheering him with words of hope for a change
of fortune and speedy success. He reminded him that the best element
of the colonists of Uraba wished for his return, because his authority
alone could quiet the dissensions which raged. Thanking his friend, as
became the situation, Nicuesa sailed with him for Uraba.

It is a common thing to observe amongst men that arrogance accompanies
success. After having wept and sighed and poured out complaints for
his miseries, after having overwhelmed his rescuer, Colmenares, with
thanks and almost rolled at his feet, Nicuesa, when the fear of
starvation was removed, began, even before he had seen the colonists
of Uraba, to talk airily of his projects of reform and his intention
to get possession of all the gold there was. He said that no one had
the right to keep back any of the gold, without his authorisation, or
that of his associate Hojeda. These imprudent words reached the ears
of the colonists of Uraba, and roused against Nicuesa the indignation
of the partisans of Enciso, Hojeda's deputy judge, and that of Nunez.
It therefore fell out that Nicuesa, with sixty companions, had
hardly landed, so it is reported, before the colonists forced him to
re-embark, overwhelming him with threats. The better intentioned of
the colonists were displeased at this demonstration, but fearing a
rising of the majority headed by Vasco Nunez, they did not interfere.
Nicuesa was therefore obliged to regain the brigantine, and there
remained with him only seventeen of his sixty companions. It was the
calends of March in the year 1511 when Nicuesa set sail, intending to
return to Hispaniola and there complain of the usurpation of Vasco
Nunez and the violent treatment offered the judge, Enciso.

He sailed in an evil hour and no news was ever again heard of that
brigantine. It is believed the vessel sank, and that all the men were
drowned. However that may be, Nicuesa plunged from one calamity into
another, and died even more miserably than he had lived.

After the shameful expulsion of Nicuesa, the colonists consumed the
provisions Colmenares had brought, and soon, driven by hunger, they
were forced to plunder the neighbourhood of the colony like wolves of
the forest. A troop of about one hundred and thirty men was formed
under the leadership of Vasco Nunez, who organised them like a band
of brigands. Puffed up by vanity, he sent a guard in advance, and had
others to accompany and follow him. He chose Colmenares[1] as his
associate and companion. From the outset of this expedition he
determined to seize everything he could find in the territory of the
neighbouring caciques, and he began by marching along the shore of
the district of Coiba, of which we have already spoken. Summoning the
cacique of that district, Careca, of whom the Spaniards had never had
reason to complain, he haughtily and threateningly ordered him to
furnish provisions for his men. The cacique Careca answered that it
was impossible, because he had already at different times helped
the Christians and consequently his own provisions were well-nigh
exhausted. Moreover, in consequence of a long-drawn-out war with a
neighbouring cacique called Poncha, he was himself reduced to want.
The adventurer admitted none of these reasons, and the wretched Careca
saw his town sacked. He himself was put in irons and brought with his
two wives, his sons and all his familia to Darien.[2] In the house of
Careca they found three of Nicuesa's companions, who, when his ships
were at anchor, during his search for Veragua, had deserted him
because they feared to be tried for certain crimes. As soon as the
fleet sailed away, they took refuge with Careca who received them
amicably. Eighteen months had elapsed since that time, so they were
as naked as the natives, but plump as the capons women fatten in dark
places, for they had lived well at the cacique's table during that
period; nor did they concern themselves about _meum_ and _tuum_, or
as to who gave and who received, which is the cause of the crimes of
violence that shorten human life.

[Note 1: The memoir of Colmenares on this expedition is contained
in Navarrete's _Coleccion de Viajes_, tom. iii., pp. 386-393. Also
Balboa's letter to King Ferdinand in the same volume.]

[Note 2: Balboa's description of his treatment of the natives,
which he penned to the King, is just the contrary. He prides himself
on having won their friendship, and ascribes to their affection for
him his success in discovering the treasures and secrets of the
country.]

These Spaniards nevertheless preferred to return to a life of
hardship. Provisions were brought from the village of Careca to the
people left behind at Darien, for the first consideration was to stave
off the famine that was imminent. Whether before or afterwards I am
not certain, but in any event it was shortly after the expulsion of
Nicuesa that quarrels broke out between the judge, Enciso, and Vasco
Nunez, each being supported by his own partisans. Enciso was seized,
thrown into prison, and all his goods sold at auction. It was alleged
that he had usurped judicial functions never granted him by the King
but merely by Hojeda, who was supposed to be dead, and Vasco Nunez
declared that he would not obey a man on whom the King had not
conferred authority by a royal patent. He allowed himself, however, to
be influenced by the entreaties of the better colonists and modified
his severity, even releasing Enciso from his chains and permitting him
to go on board a ship which would carry him to Hispaniola. Before the
vessel sailed, some of the better people of the colony sought out
Enciso and implored him to come on shore again, promising to effect a
reconciliation with Vasco Nunez and to reinstate him in his position
of judge. Enciso refused and left; nor are there wanting people who
whispered that God and His Saints had themselves shaped events to
punish Enciso for Nicuesa's expulsion, which he had counselled.

Be that as it may, these discoverers of new countries ruined and
exhausted themselves by their own folly and civil strife, failing
absolutely to rise to the greatness expected of men who accomplish
such wonderful things. Meanwhile it was decided by common agreement
among the colonists to send their representatives to the young
Admiral,[3] son and heir of Columbus, the first discoverer, who was
viceroy of Hispaniola, and to the other government officials of the
island. These envoys were to solicit reinforcements and a code of laws
for the new colonies. They were to explain the true situation, the
actual poverty of the colonists, the discoveries already made, and all
that might still be hoped for, if the officials would only send them
supplies. Vasco Nunez chose for this office one of his adherents,
Valdivia, the same who had prosecuted the suit against Enciso.
Associated with him was a Catalonian, called Zamudio. It was agreed
that Valdivia should return with provisions from Hispaniola, when his
mission was accomplished, and that Zamudio should proceed to Spain
and see the King. Both left the same time as Enciso, but it was the
latter's intention to present a memorial to the King contradicting the
representations of Valdivia and Zamudio. Both these men came to see me
at Court, and I will elsewhere recount what they told me.

[Note 3: Diego, son of Christopher Columbus and his wife, Dona
Moniz de Perestrello. He was married to Dona Maria de Toledo.]

During this time the wretched colonists of Darien liberated the
cacique of Coiba, Careca, and even agreed to serve as his allies
during a campaign against the cacique called Poncha, who was a
neighbour of Careca on the continent. Careca agreed to supply the
Spaniards with food, and to join them with his family and subjects.
The only arms these natives used were bows and poisoned arrows, as we
have already described was the case amongst those in the eastern part
beyond the gulf. As they have no iron, they use in hand-to-hand combat
long wooden swords, which they call _machanas_. They likewise use
pointed sticks hardened in the fire, bone-tipped javelins, and other
projectiles. The campaign with Poncha began immediately after they had
sown their fields as well as they could. Careca acted both as guide
and commander of the vanguard. When his town was attacked Poncha
fled, and the village and its surroundings were sacked. Thanks to the
cacique's provisions, nothing was to be feared from hunger, but none
of these supplies could be taken to the colonists who remained behind,
for the distance between Darien and Poncha's village was more than a
hundred miles, and everything had to be carried on men's backs to the
nearest coast where the ships, which had been brought by the Spaniards
to Careca's village, were lying. A few pounds of wrought gold, in the
form of divers necklaces, were obtained; after ruining Poncha, the
Spaniards returned to their ships, deciding to leave the caciques of
the interior in peace and to confine their attacks to those along the
coast.

Not far distant, in the same direction from Coiba, lies a country
called Comogra, whose cacique is named Comogre, and against him the
Spaniards delivered their next attack. His town stands at the foot of
the other side of the neighbouring mountain chain, in a fertile plain
some twelve leagues in extent. A relative of one of Careca's principal
officers, who had quarrelled with him, had taken refuge with Comogre.
This man was called Jura, and acted as intermediary between the
Spaniards and Comogre, whose friendship he secured for them. Jura was
very well known to the Spaniards ever since Nicuesa's expedition,
and it was he who had received those three deserters from Nicuesa's
company in his own house during their stay. When peace was concluded,
the Spaniards repaired to the palace of Comogre, which lies some
thirty leagues distant from Darien, but not in a direct line, for the
intervening mountains obliged them to make long detours. Comogre had
seven sons from different women, all handsome children or young men,
wearing no clothes. His palace was formed of beams cut from the trees,
and securely fastened together. It was further strengthened by stone
walls. The Spaniards estimated the dimensions of this palace at one
hundred and fifty paces the length and eighty paces the breadth. Its
ceilings were carved and the floors were artistically decorated. They
noticed a storehouse filled with native provisions of the country,
and a cellar stacked with earthenware barrels and wooden kegs, as in
Spain, or Italy. These receptacles contained excellent wine, not of
the kind made from grapes, for they have no vineyards, but such as
they make from three kinds of roots and the grain they use for making
bread, called, as we have said in our first book, yucca, ages, and
maize; they likewise use the fruit of the palm-trees. The Germans,
Flemings and English, as well as the Spanish mountaineers in the
Basque provinces and the Asturias, and the Austrians, Swabians, and
Swiss in the Alps make beer from barley, wheat, and fruits in the same
manner. The Spaniards report that at Comogra they drank white and red
wines of different flavours.

Attend now, Sovereign Pontiff, to another and horrifying sight. Upon
entering the cacique's inner apartments the Spaniards found a room
filled with bodies suspended in cotton ropes. They inquired the motive
of this superstitious custom, and were informed that they were the
bodies of the ancestors of Comogre, which were preserved with great
care, according to the rank they had occupied in life; respect for the
dead being part of their religion. Golden masks decorated with stones
were placed upon their faces, just as ancient families rendered homage
to the _Penates_. In my first book I explained how they dry these
bodies by stretching them on grid-irons with a slow fire beneath, in
such a way that they are reduced to skin and bone.

The eldest of the seven sons of Comogre was a young man of
extraordinary intelligence. In his opinion it was wiser to treat those
Spanish vagabonds kindly, and to avoid furnishing them any pretext
for the violent acts they had committed on neighbouring tribes. He
therefore presented four thousand drachmas of wrought gold and seventy
slaves to Vasco Nunez and Colmenares, as they were the leaders.
These natives sell and exchange whatever articles they need amongst
themselves, and have no money. The Spaniards were engaged in the
vestibule of Comogre, weighing his gold and another almost equal
quantity they had obtained elsewhere. They wished to set aside the
fifth belonging to the royal treasury; for it has been decided that
the fifth part of all gold, silver, and precious stones shall be set
aside for the King's agents. The remainder is divided according to
agreement. Several disputes arose among the Spaniards regarding their
shares. The eldest son of Comogre, the wise youth, who was present,
struck the scales with his fist and scattered the gold in all
directions, and calling our men's attention he spoke in choice
language as follows:

"What thing then is this, Christians? Is it possible that you set
a high value upon such a small quantity of gold? You nevertheless
destroy the artistic beauty of these necklaces, melting them into
ingots. [For the Spaniards had their smelting instruments with them.]
If your thirst of gold is such that in order to satisfy it you disturb
peaceable people and bring misfortune and calamity among them, if you
exile yourselves from your country in search of gold, I will show you
a country where it abounds and where you can satisfy the thirst that
torments you. But to undertake this expedition you need more numerous
forces, for you will have to conquer powerful rulers, who will defend
their country to the death. More than all others, the King Tumanama
will oppose your advance, for his is the richest kingdom of all.
It lies six suns distant from ours [they count the days by suns];
moreover you will encounter Carib tribes in the mountains, fierce
people who live on human flesh, are subject to no law, and have no
fixed country. They conquered the mountaineers for they coveted the
gold mines, and for this reason they abandoned their own country.
They transform the gold they obtain by the labour of the wretched
mountaineers into wrought leaves and different articles such as those
you see, and by this means they obtain what they want. They have
artisans and jewellers who produce these necklaces. We place no
more value on rough gold than on a lump of clay, before it has been
transformed by the workman's hand into a vase which pleases our taste
or serves our need. These Caribs also make artistic potteries which we
obtain in exchange for the products of our harvests, as for example
our prisoners of war, whom they buy for food, or our stuffs and
different articles of furniture. We also furnish them with the
supplies they need; for they live in the mountains. Only by force of
arms could this mountain district be penetrated. Once on the other
side of those mountains," he said, indicating with his finger another
mountain range towards the south, "another sea which has never been
sailed by your little boats [meaning the caravels] is visible. The
people there go naked and live as we do, but they use both sails and
oars. On the other side of the watershed the whole south slope of the
mountain chain is very rich in gold mines."

Such was his speech, and he added that the cacique Tumanama, and all
the mountaineers living on the other slope of the mountain, used
kitchen and other common utensils made of gold; "for gold," he said,
"has no more value among them than iron among you." From what he had
heard from the Spaniards he knew the name of the metal used for swords
and other arms. Our leaders were amazed at that naked young man's
discourse which, thanks to the three deserters who had been during
eighteen months at the court of Careca, they understood. They took a
decision worthy of the moment and, abandoning their wrangling over the
gold-weighing, they began to joke and to discuss amiably the words and
information of the young cacique. They asked him amicably why he had
told them that story, and what they should do in case reinforcements
did arrive. The son of Comogre reflected for a moment, as does an
orator preparing for a serious debate, even thinking of the bodily
movements likely to convince his hearers, and then spoke again as
follows, always in his own language: