Note IX-10 — Chapter IX · DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 1513.

The form of taking possession, or the declaration of proprietary rights to the lands seized by Europeans, as we have seen, differs with different discoverers, and with the same discoverer at different times. Sometimes mass was said; sometimes a cross was erected; sometimes prayer was offered, of which the following is said to have been the prescribed form used by Columbus, Vasco Nuñez, Cortés, and Pizarro: Domine Deus æterne et omnipotens, sacro tuo verbo cœlum, et terram, et mare creâsti; benedicatur et glorificetur nomen tuum, laudetur tua majestas, quæ dignita est per humilem servum tuum, ut ejus sacrum nomen agnoscatur, et prædicetur in hac altera mundi parte. But always this seizure, whether by Spanish, English, French, or Dutch, and by whatsoever other formalities attended, was accompanied by a loud proclamation, before God and man, of the deed then and there consummated. This proclamation was made with drawn sword, by the commander of the party taking possession, and sometimes attended by the throwing of earth toward the four cardinal points, as was common, and is now in Spanish America, in giving judicial possession in granting lands, and planting the royal standard. All present were called upon to witness the act, which was done for and in the name of the sovereign authority recognized by the party. Then the notary, or, if none were present, a clerk, or a person or persons appointed to act as such, took down in writing what had been done, and each member of the party signed it. Examples might be multiplied indefinitely. We have seen what Columbus did in one or two instances, and how Vasco Nuñez conducted himself on the mountain overlooking Panamá Bay. That which I have just given in the text is a literal translation of Balboa's address to the four corners of the Pacific Ocean as reported by Oviedo, iii. 11-12. At the beginning the meaning of the orator is clear enough, but toward the latter part he lapses into verbiage. It is likely that he had in view, while taking possession of that sea or so much of it as his sovereigns should at any future time please to claim, the papal bull which divided the heathen world between Spain and Portugal, and a desire to avoid all words and acts which might prejudice the Spanish claim. A lengthy account is given of the taking possession of the province of Paque, on the Pacific shore of the Isthmus, west of Panamá, in 1519, by Pedrarias Dávila. The party was standing at the head of an inlet, two notaries, a clergyman, several captains, soldiers, and seamen, beside the commander, being present. First, Pedrarias called on the notaries and all present to witness the acts he was about to perform. Then he took in his right hand a white silk flag, on which was represented the image of the Virgin Mary, and holding it aloft all knelt; the trumpet sounded, and in loud tones the commander offered the following prayer: 'Oh! mother of God, quiet the sea, and render us worthy of being and of moving under thy protection. May it please thee that under it we may discover these seas, and lands of the southern sea, and convert the people thereof to our holy Catholic faith.' Following the prayer was a long speech by Pedrarias, declaring possession after the usual form, similar to that employed by Vasco Nuñez, interspersed with divers acts in consummation of what he said. He declared the possession previously taken renewed, especially the 'possession vel casi of all the coast of the new land and of the southern sea, and of all the ports and inlets and coves and roadsteads ... being as I am, in the name of their highnesses and as their lieutenant-general in the said coast of the said southern sea, from the stones of the rivers to the leaves of the forests, eating the grass and drinking the waters, and razing, devastating, and cutting the woods of the said coast, upon the said site and province of Paque.' As a token of possession and seizure thereof, civilly, naturally, and bodily, he continued: 'I raise this royal standard of the said Queen Doña Juana and King Don Cárlos, her son, our lords, which is of red damask having thereon painted and stamped the royal arms of their highnesses the said kings, our lords;' the trumpeters were then ordered to sound; after which, in concert with Pedrarias, all said, 'Castilla del Oro and Tierra Firme, and new land, and southern sea, and coasts thereof, and island and islands, and all land and provinces that may be therein, for the most high and most illustrious Queen Doña Juana, our lady, and the King Don Cárlos, her son, our lord; and after them for their successors to Castile.' 'All of which new lands and southern sea and coast thereof and the whole Tierra Firme and kingdoms of Castilla del Oro, and all thereunto annexed and appertaining, and all that has been or may be hereafter discovered therein, is and must be of the royal crown of Castile, and you must testify how I, Pedrarias Dávila, in the name of the said kings, our lords, and of their successors to the royal crown of Castile, cut trees, and mow the grass in said land, and enter the water of the said southern sea, corporeally and standing on my feet therein, and stamp the new land and waters of the said southern sea.' Again the trumpets were sounded, and again Pedrarias reiterated in a loud voice his claims; and he called upon the notaries to witness as further proof of their possession that four ships had been built and navigated on the southern sea. Another flourish of trumpets, and by way of doxology three times repeated, 'Viva la muy alta é muy poderosa reyna doña Juana,' etc., concluded the ceremony. Testimonio de un acto de posesion que tomó el Gobernador Pedrárias Dávila, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 549-56. Although the custom was universal from the beginning, Philip II. deemed best to decree, in 1568, that all captains or others discovering any island or mainland should, on landing, take possession in the king's name. Recop. de Indias, ii. 7.