de la Antigua. We have related at the close of our Decades that the same year we stopped writing, twelve hundred soldiers had been sent to Darien under the command of Pedro Arias d'Avila; this was done in response to the solicitation of Vasco Nuñez Balboa, the first discoverer of the unknown South Sea, and the first chief of Darien. Scarcely had he landed at Darien, and assumed the most extensive powers, than Pedro Arias sent several captains in command of troops in various directions.

I shall recount what happened to them in a few words, for the story is not pleasing; in fact it is quite the contrary. From the moment when we suspended our report, there has been nothing done but killing and being killed, massacring and being massacred. Balboa had been long ago named Adelantado by the Catholic King, and he could not long endure the official superiority of Pedro Arias. They became enemies and threw everything into confusion. The bishop, Juan Quevedo, who is a Franciscan monk, sought to intervene. Although Pedro Arias promised to give his daughter in marriage to Balboa, the rival leaders could not come to an understanding. Their hostility became bitterer, and finally assumed such a character that Pedro Arias profited by the first excuse furnished him by Balboa, to cite the latter before the judges. He condemned him and five other leaders to be strangled. Pedro Arias accused Balboa and his companions of wishing to desert and proceed to the South Sea, where he had built a squadron of four brigantines for exploring the southern coasts of the land supposed to be a continent. Vasco Nuñez was believed to have spoken to his three hundred companions as follows: 'My brave men, you have shared my labours and my dangers; I ask, do you wish to serve under another leader? Who can endure the insolence of this governor? Let us follow these shores which chance has revealed to us, and among the Elysian provinces of this vast land, let

VOL. II-4

us choose one where we may live the remainder of our lives in freedom. Who would be able to find us, or if we were found, who could attack us?" These words were repeated to the governor. Pedro Arias recalled Vasco from the South Sea, and the latter, obeying, was put into irons. He denied the plot of which he was accused. Witnesses to prove the alleged crime were everywhere sought, and from the very first day, everything he said was turned to incriminate him. He was condemned to death and executed; and this was the outcome of the labours and dangers he had endured at the very moment when he believed himself to be on the eve of winning new titles to glory.'

Leaving his wife at Darien, Pedro Arias sailed with Vasco's little squadron to explore the new countries. We do not yet know if he has returned successful. Lopez Sosa, who was for a long time viceroy of the Canary Islands, has been already named to replace him as governor of Darien. The rage of Pedro Arias when he gets back may be imagined beforehand; he has accomplished no really glorious deed, and he is accused of having been too easy from the beginning and lacking in severity in punishing disorders. But we have said enough on this subject; let us return to some matters we have omitted.

'For full information concerning the trial and execution of Balboa, consult Gaffarel's Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.

I

BOOK X

HAVE already spoken at length of the great and deep Dabaiba River which the Spaniards have named Rio Grande, and which flows into the sea at the head of the gulf of Uraba, by seven mouths similar to those of the Nile. According to the statements of the natives, the mountains round about it are rich in gold deposits. Vasco and other captains had organised parties for the exploration of this region and had embarked in boats of different sizes to ascend the river. For a distance of forty, fifty, and even eighty leagues they sailed without difficulty, but from thenceforward their fortune entirely changed. Oh, what a wonderful adventure! In fact, naked and unarmed savages attacked the clothed and armed Spaniards, and defeated them, killing the majority and wounding all the rest. These natives use poisoned arrows in fighting. The instant they see an uncovered part of an enemy's body, they pierce it with an infallible aim. They throw such volleys of javelins in the midst of the battle that the sun is obscured from the enemy's sight, as though by a cloud. They also have heavy swords of hard wood, which they use with courage in hand-to-hand engagements. Vasco himself was covered with wounds inflicted by them, and thus the river and region of Dabaiba were abandoned and left unexplored.

A few words more concerning Hispaniola, the metropolis of the other colonies. The Royal Government Council has been increased, five new judges having been sent to

administer the different districts of the island. Although there are rich gold deposits, mining has been almost abandoned for want of miners; for the natives, on whose labour the work depended, have been reduced to a very small number. Pitiless wars destroyed many at the beginning, famine killed numerous others, especially during the year when they tore up their yucca, from which they make their caciques' bread, and refused to sow maize which serves for their own daily bread. The survivors have been attacked by the germs of hitherto unknown maladies, especially smallpox which, during the preceding year, 1518, raged among them like an epizoötic among cattle. Let us be strictly truthful, and add that the craze for gold was the cause of their destruction; for these people, who were accustomed, as soon as they had sown their fields, to play, dance, sing, and chase rabbits, were set mercilessly to work, cultivating the ground, extracting and sifting gold. The Royal Council has, therefore, unanimously decided to restore them their liberty, and henceforth they will only occupy themselves with agriculture, and will make efforts to repeople the country. Slaves bought in other countries will be put to the hard work of mines. Enough for the present concerning this fatal craving for gold.

It is wonderful to hear how everything grows in this island. Twenty-eight presses have just been set up, by which a large quantity of sugar is extracted. The sugar-canes in this island are larger and taller than anywhere else. They are as thick as a human arm, and are half again as tall as a man. The most extraordinary thing is that at Valencia in Spain, where large quantities of sugar have been gathered yearly for a long time, or in other sugar-cane producing countries, each root throws off five, six, or at most seven shoots, whereas in Hispaniola twenty or sometimes even thirty may be counted.

There are immense numbers of quadrupeds. Up to of Vic

the present time the deplorable craving for gold has diverted the people's attention from the soil, although cereals give such excellent results. Any one who takes the trouble to sow grain on the hillsides or the mountain plateaus, especially if they have a northerly aspect, may sometimes harvest a hundred grains for one; but in the plains and fields where the soil is rich and damp, it is chiefly straw that grows. Vines prosper under the same conditions.

I have already spoken in my preceding Decades of the cinnamon trees, which come from the islands near the supposed continent. I need only add that, within the period of a few years they have become so abundant that we now buy a pound of cinnamon from the druggist instead of an ounce. I have also said enough about the forests of dyewoods, and the other sources of wealth in this fortunate island, which nature has overwhelmed with benefits. have judged it proper to recall these details, because I hope the recollection of them will divert the mind of Your Holiness from the great affairs which burden it. Moreover, it is a pleasure to repeat what it is a pleasure to hear.

I

Precious material should be clothed with precious habiliments. This subject merits golden tissues and jewels but we are content to vest it in the modest cowl of a monk. The fault belongs exclusively to the Reverend Egidius di Viterbo, the venerable Cardinal of Your Apostolic Chair, who has ordered such a mediocre craftsman as I to melt. the gold in my laboratory and therefrom to make jewels.