Note 192 — Chapter VI

The events thus briefly alluded to by our author, will be made more intelligible by a short summary. The main land of the American continent was first discovered by Columbus during his third voyage in 1498, at Paria, opposite to the island of Trinidad. In 1499 one of his companions, Alonzo de Ojeda, accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci, touched the coast somewhere near Sarinam, and coasted along as far as the gulf of Maracaibo, naming a village at the mouth of that gulf Venezuela. In 1508 Ojeda, who was a brave soldier of great personal strength, obtained the government of the coast from Cabo de la Vela to the gulf of Uraba, which was called New Andalusia; and at the same time Diego Nicueza, a very different sort of person,—a polished courtier and good musician, was appointed governor of Veragua or Castille del Oro, a territory extending from the gulf of Uraba to Cape Gracias á Dios.

The two adventurers arrived at Hispaniola at the same time; but Ojeda set out first on his voyage of discovery, and landed at Carthagena in 1510. Advancing into the country he was surprised and defeated by the Indians in the bloody battle of Turbaco, losing seventy Spaniards, among them Juan de la Cosa, Ojeda’s lieutenant. At this time Nicuesa arrived, and, in spite of former jealousies and quarrels, offered assistance to Ojeda. The Indians were in their turn defeated, and all were put to the sword, neither age nor sex being spared.

Ojeda then took leave of Nicuesa, and, sailing to the westward, selected a spot on the east side of the gulf of Uraba or Darien as a site for a town. It consisted of about thirty huts surrounded by a stockade, and was called San Sebastian de Uraba. Here Ojeda was again defeated by the Indians, and, returning to Hispaniola for assistance, he died there in extreme poverty. The Spaniards at San Sebastian were left under the command of Francisco Pizarro, the future conqueror of Peru; they suffered from famine and disease, and at last Pizarro embarked them all in two small vessels. Outside the harbour they met a vessel which proved to be that of the Bachiller Enciso, Ojeda’s partner, coming with provisions and reinforcements. They all returned to San Sebastian, but found that the Indians had destroyed the fort, and Enciso determined to abandon it. One of the crew of Enciso’s ship, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the future discoverer of the South Sea, induced his commander to form a settlement on the other side of the gulf, called Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien. No vestige of it now remains. The troops, however, soon became discontented, Enciso was deposed, and Diego Colmenares, who arrived with provisions, was sent to offer the command to Nicuesa. This commander, after parting from Ojeda, had suffered most fearful hardships on a desert island, and Colmenares found him in a state of great misery, in a bay which he had called Nombre de Dios. When he arrived at Darien, the Spaniards had changed their minds, and refused to receive him, and he was finally obliged to sail in a wretched boat, and was never heard of again. This was in March 1511. Vasco Nuñez, a clever and courageous adventurer, then took command of the Darien settlement, and the Bachiller Enciso was sent back to Hispaniola. The new commander entered upon a career of conquest in the neighbourhood of Darien, which ended in the discovery of the Pacific Ocean on September 25th, 1513. In 1514 Pedrarias de Avila was appointed governor of Darien, an old man of rank and some reputation, but with no ability, and of a cruel disposition. He set out with a large expedition, the historian Oviedo, and the Bachiller Enciso being in his train; and superseded Blasco Nuñez in the government of Darien in June.