possession, and the people of Europe are lawfully entitled to take possession." The Spaniards at this period, however, made no such appeal to legal technicalities. Their attitude is clearly set forth in a remarkable document, which was furnished to Pedrarias, and which he was commanded to read aloud to the Indians who did not receive him in a humble and submissive manner. It was a species of ecclesiastical "riot act." After reciting that God created heaven and earth and our first parents, it declared that He had given charge of all the nations descended from Adam to one man, St. Peter, that he should be lord and superior of all men, and that one of the pontiffs who had succeeded St. Peter as lord of the world (Alexander VI, the Borgia pope) had made donation of these islands and terra firma to the king and queen of Spain. It, therefore, called upon the natives to acknowledge the church as the ruler of the world and the high priest, the pope, and the king and the queen Dona Juana, as lords of the land by virtue of the donation. If this were duly done, then they should be received in all love and charity, and all their wives, their children, their lands, and they themselves should be free without servitude. Nor should they be compelled to turn Christians, in case they did not so desire. If, however, they failed to recognize these great sovereigns or maliciously delayed, then they should be warred against and all reduced to slavery and sold or disposed of as their highnesses might command.

This proclamation, which in Spain doubtless sounded both wise and proper, was found to be a farce, when transferred to this side of the Atlantic. No sooner, however, had Pedrarias landed on terra firma than he gave the proclamation to the historian of the expedition to be read to some Indians nearby, but the Indians made a sharp resistance to the approach of the Spaniards, and the historian, Oviedo, returned the document, saying: "My lord, it appears that the Indians will not listen to the theology of this Requisition, and that you have no one who can make them understand it. Would your honor be pleased to keep it until we

have some one of these Indians in a cage, in order that he may learn it at his leisure, and my lord bishop may explain it to him?" Whereupon the governor took it with much laughter from all who were present.

Later on, however, Enciso, who was a martinet in such matters, insisted on reading it to two caciques of a hostile disposition. "But when it was duly explained to them," says Enciso, "they replied that as to what I said about the pope being the lord of all the universe in the place of God, and giving the land to the king of Castile, the pope must have been drunk when he gave the land, for he gave what was not his; also that the king who asked for or received this gift must be some madman. And they added that if I should come to take their land, they would put my head on a stake."

While, however, the proclamation had this farcical aspect, it had also a serious one for the natives; for it justified the Spaniards in any treatment they might inflict upon those that showed any sign of resistance, and such signs of resistance were only too easy to discover. While it was perhaps intended to supplement the instructions of the king, it seems to have been used as a substitute.

After stopping a little while on the northern coast of South America, Pedrarias and his little fleet landed at Darien June 30, 1514. Having been instructed to depose Balboa and bring him to trial, the new governor immediately informed that official of his arrival. The messenger found him in undress, superintending the thatching of a roof. What thoughts passed rapidly through his brain, it is difficult to guess. There were around him four hundred and fifty men, devoted to his interests. If he dreamed of resistance the thought was quickly put aside. He gave a courteous welcome to Pedrarias, and spread before him and his men a bountiful repast of corn bread, fish, fruit, and other native products.

As soon as the new governor was settled in the town, he summoned Balboa to give a written statement of what he

had done and what he intended to do. In two days the statement was before him; it was a splendid record of successful deeds, achieved with small resources; but it was not enough. The captain-general must stand a trial for his life.

The judges before whom he was brought were the alcalde mayor and Bishop Quevedo. By his attractive manners and the use of liberal gifts of slaves and gold, he won over the bishop and perhaps also the other judge, and condoning his palpable offences, they acquitted him. Pedrarias, disgusted at the result of the criminal trial, caused a civil suit for damages to be brought against him. In this he was successful; Balboa was heavily fined for offences against Enciso and others. For a time he was even imprisoned; but his splendid services pleaded for him, and he was set free.

In the meantime, the addition of fifteen hundred men to the settlement made an unlooked for demand on the supply of food. The flour and other provisions brought by the ships were so much damaged by the sea trip that only a part of them could be used. Soon a dreadful famine, such as has overtaken so many early settlements in America, set in, and, though it is hard to believe, it is recorded that seven hundred men perished of hunger in one month. Cavaliers, clothed in silks and brocades, died like common peasants; while others, in the words of Las Casas, got down upon the ground and like cattle ate grass and such tender roots as they could find.

Such hunger and misery had the usual evil effect upon the survivors. Many of them degenerated into brutes, and in their dealings with the Indians showed a more relentless cruelty than the natives had ever before experienced.

As soon as the diminishing numbers made the food supply less inadequate, Pedrarias began to send out expeditions to gather gold and to build forts in the Indian provinces. No efforts were made to establish friendly relations even with those tribes that had been pacified by Balboa. Avarice and cruelty marked especially an expedition sent out under

Juan de Ayora. Being received in a friendly manner by a chief who thought that it was Balboa come to visit, and having eaten of a feast prepared by the Indians, Ayora, after dinner, summoned the cacique before him and demanded gold, and still more gold. All that could be found was brought to him, but enraged by the smallness of the quantity, he caused the wretched chief to be burned alive. Then foraging in the neighborhood, he collected all the gold he could, and taking ship on the coast, he disappeared and was never seen again in Darien. A fort which he had established at Santa Cruz (opposite to the town of Panama) existed for about six months, when the exasperated Indians descended upon it during the night and swept it out of existence.

On another expedition, led by Espinosa, there were obtained eighty thousand pesos of gold and two thousand slaves, "which," says Las Casas, "for carrying to Hispaniola, were then worth much money," but a Franciscan monk, who accompanied Espinosa, afterwards declared that he had seen with his own eyes, killed by the sword or thrown to the savage dogs, on this expedition, more than forty thousand natives. Allowing for exaggeration, the destruction of the natives in these terrible raids must have been fearful. Perhaps still more perished in the slave pens of Darien, where loaded with irons, they were huddled together for export to Hispaniola. Both the bishop and the governor, however, received their share of the slaves, and were thus persuaded to wink at the outrages committed in capturing them. Even the bloodhounds, who pursued the fugitives and played an important part in the battles, received a portion which was appropriated by their masters.

In spite of the treasure brought in, Pedrarias did not feel that he was meeting with much success. His expeditions were winning for him the undying hatred of the Indians, and it seemed impossible to make any permanent settlements outside of the one in which he resided. Oviedo, the historian, wishing, he said, to live in a country more secure for

his conscience and his life, sailed away to Spain, after receiving instructions from the governor to report the covetousness and insolence of the bishop, and from the bishop to tell the king how avaricious and inconstant the governor was, and what an excellent servant of the king was Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.

In the meantime Balboa, who was naturally disliked by the governor, had been left without employment, and had become as discontented and unhappy as so active and aggressive a spirit could well be. Determined not to rust in idleness, he sent to Cuba for reinforcements and prepared to lead an expedition to settle the coasts of the sea he had discovered. In the meantime, however, he was urged by some of his friends to lead an expedition up the Darien river in search of a golden temple supposed to exist there. The governor, still jealous of his stalwart rival, yielded to public opinion, and appointed him leader, but only in conjunction with one of his own friends. The expedition was an utter failure. The natives attacked the Spaniards on the water, and by diving under the canoes and upsetting them, forced them to return in disgrace.

But a delightful turn of fortune was in store for Balboa. "In those days" (early in 1515), says Las Casas, "there came to Darien a certain ship which bore a royal order, by which the king granted to Vasco Nuñez the title of Adelantado of Coiba and Panama." Coiba was a little island on the southern coast, which Balboa had asked for because it was said to contain pearls or gold. The king had at last decided to recognize his labors and to reward him; but Las Casas adds: "Dame fortune did not neglect to raise up Balboa that later he might fall from a greater height."

Enraged that this powerful lieutenant should be given. control of the rich southern coast, the governor at first decided to secrete the order and withhold it. He even hoped that he could browbeat his council into a new trial of Balboa for old offences; but he had counted without the bishop. This functionary, now an ardent admirer of Balboa,