Note XII-2 — Chapter XII · THE FATE OF VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA. 1516-1517.

'La llegada del obispo á Castilla no se verificó hasta en 1518; y por cierto que no guardó aquí á su amigo los respetos y consecuencia que le debia. En su disputa con Casas delante del emperador aseguró que el primer gobernador del Darien habia sido malo, y el segundo muy peor.' Quintana, Vidas, 'Balboa,' 35. In the matter of definite dates for the events of this chapter, authorities differ. All are more or less vague. Most of them end the career of Vasco Nuñez with the end of 1517; which, if correct, would fix the time of his departure from Antigua about May, 1516, for in his agreement with Pedrarias it was arranged that the time of absence on the South Sea expedition should be limited to eighteen months, and one of the principal charges of the governor was that Balboa had failed in this. Among the collection of documents in the royal archives of the Indies appears a petition presented by Fernando de Argüello to Pedrarias and his council, in behalf of Vasco Nuñez, requesting an extension of the time. At the foot of the petition is a decree, dated January 13, 1518, granting an extension of four months. Either the document is fictitious, or its date erroneous, or contemporary writers are in error. I am quite sure that Pedrarias never gave any extension, since the authorities are clear and positive on that point, and the incidents of the narrative hinge upon it. Compare copy of this document in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 556-8; Carta de Alonso de la Puente y Diego de Marquez, in id., 538-49; Moreri and Miravel y Casadevante in El Gran. Dic.; Burney's Discov. South Sea, i. 12; Naharro, Relacion, in Doc. Inéd. para Hist. Esp., xxvi. 232. As to the date of Quevedo's leaving Darien and his arrival in Spain there are grave differences. Herrera sends the bishop to Spain in 1518, to report the misgovernment of Pedrarias. Oviedo states that Quevedo left Darien soon after the reconciliation of Vasco Nuñez and Pedrarias, and yet does not speak of his being in Spain until 1519, 'era llegado.' It is known that Quevedo spent some time in Cuba, urging Diego Velazquez to apply for the governorship of Castilla del Oro. The petition of Argüello for the extension of the time of absence of Vasco Nuñez, before mentioned, contains the name of Quevedo as one of those who acted upon it, which only the more conclusively proves that document fictitious. Stranger than all this, however, is the statement in the royal cédula, dated June 18, 1519, ordering the ships of Balboa to be delivered to Gil Gonzalez, that Vasco Nuñez was then a prisoner. So singular is this culpable ignorance, or carelessness, or deception, regarding the death of Vasco Nuñez, on the part of the royal officials, as at first to raise grave doubts regarding the date of his death, were it not proved by many collateral incidents.