pected nothing. There were with him two men, his favourites, and eighty women, who had been carried off from different caciques by violence and outrage. His subjects and allied caciques were scattered in villages of the neighbourhood, for they dwell in houses widely separated from one another, instead of near together. This custom is due to the frequent whirlwinds to which they are exposed by reason of sudden changes of temperature and the influence of the stars which conflict when the days and nights are equal in duration. We have already said that these people live near the equator. Their houses are built of wood, roofed and surrounded with straw, or stalks of maize or the tough grass indigenous to the country. There was another house in Tumanama's village, and both were two hundred and twenty paces long and fifty broad. These houses were constructed to shelter the soldiers when Tumanama made war.

The cacique was taken prisoner and with him his entire Sardanapalian court. As soon as he was found, the men of Pochorroso and the neighbouring caciques overwhelmed him with insults, for Tumanama was no less detested by the neighbouring caciques than that Pacra whom we have mentioned in describing the expedition to the south sea. Vasco concealed his real intentions towards the prisoner, but though he adopted a menacing attitude, he really intended him no harm. "You shall pay the penalty of your crimes, tyrant," said he; "you have often boasted before your people that if the Christians came here you would seize them by the hair and drown them in the neighbouring river. But it is you, miserable creature, that shall be thrown into the river and drowned." At the same time he ordered the prisoner to be seized, but he had given his men to understand that he pardoned the cacique.

Tumanama threw himself at the feet of Vasco and begged pardon. He swore that he had said nothing of

the kind, and that if anybody had, it must have been his caciques when they were drunk; for none of these chiefs understand moderation, and he accused them of using insolent language.

Their wines are not made from grapes, as I have already told Your Holiness, when I began to cultivate this little field, but they are intoxicating. Tumanama complained, weeping, that his neighbours had invented these falsehoods to destroy him, for they were jealous of him because he was more powerful than they. He promised in return for his pardon a large quantity of gold, and clasping his hands upon his breast, he said that he always both loved and feared the Spaniards, because he had learned their machanes that is to say, their swords-were sharper than his and cut deeper wherever they struck. Looking

Vasco straight in the eyes, he said: "Who then, other than a fool, would venture to raise his hand against the sword of a man like you, who can split a man open from head to navel at one stroke, and does not hesitate to do it? Let not yourself be persuaded, O bravest of living men, that such speech against you has ever proceeded from my mouth." These and many other words did he speak, feeling already the rope of death around his neck. Vasco, affecting to be touched by these prayers and tears, answered with calmness that he pardoned him and gave him his liberty. Thirty pounds (at eight ounces to the pound) of pure gold in the form of women's necklaces were at once brought from the two houses, and three days later the caciques subject to Tumanama sent sixty pounds more of gold, which was the amount of the fine imposed for their temerity. When asked whence he procured this gold, Tumanama replied that it came from very distant mines. He gave it to be understood that it had been presented to his ancestors on the Comogra River which flows into the south sea; but the people of Pochorroso and his enemies said that he lied, and that his own

territory produced plenty of gold. Tumanama persisted, however, that he knew of no gold mines in his domain. He added that it was true enough that here and there some small grains of gold had been found, but nobody had even troubled to pick them up, since to do so would require tedious labour.

During this discussion Vasco was joined on the eighth day of the calends of January and the last day of the year 1513, by the men he had left behind with Pochorroso. The slaves whom the southern caciques had lent them, carried their gold-mining tools.

The day of the Nativity of Our Lord was given to rest, but the following day, the Feast of the Protomartyr St. Stephen, Vasco led some miners to a hill near Tumanama's residence because he thought from the colour of the earth that it contained gold. A hole a palm and a half in size was made, and from the earth sifted a few grains of gold, not larger than a lentil, were obtained.

Vasco had this fact recorded by a notary and witnesses, in order to establish the authenticity of this discovery, as he called it, of a toman of gold. In the language of bankers, a toman contains twelve grains. Vasco consequently deduced, as the neighbouring caciques alleged, that the country was rich, but he could never prevail upon Tumanama to admit it. Some said that Tumanama was indifferent to such unimportant fragments of gold, others claimed that he persisted in denying the wealth of his country for fear the Spaniards, to satisfy their desire for gold, might take possession of the whole of it. The cacique saw only too well into the future; for the Spaniards have decided, if the King consents, to establish new towns in his country and that of Pochorroso; these towns will serve as refuges and storehouses for travellers going to the South Sea, and moreover both countries are favourable for growing all kinds of fruits and crops.

Vasco decided to leave this country, and to blaze for himself, a new trail through a land of which the earth tints and the shells seemed to him to indicate the presence of gold. He ordered a little digging below the surface of the earth to be done, and found a peso, weighing a little more than a grain. I have already said in my First Decade, addressed to Your Holiness, that a peso was worth a castellano of gold. Enchanted with this result, he overwhelmed Tumanama with flattering promises to prevent the cacique from interfering with any of the Spaniards' allies in that neighbourhood. He also besought him to collect a quantity of gold. It is alleged that he had carried off all the cacique's women, and had practically stripped him to check his insolence. Tumanama also confided his son to Vasco in order that the boy might learn our language in living with the Spaniards, and become acquainted with our habits and be converted to our religion. It may be that the boy's education may some day be of use to his father, and secure him our favour.

The immense fatigues, the long watches, and the privations Vasco had endured ended by provoking a violent fever, so that on leaving this country he had to be carried on the shoulders of slaves. All the others who were seriously ill, were likewise carried in hammocks, that is to say, in cotton nets. Others, who still had some strength, despite their weak legs, were supported under the armpits and carried by the natives. They finally arrived in the country of our friend Comogre, of whom I have lengthily spoken above. The old man was dead and had been succeeded by that son whose wisdom we have praised. This young man had been baptised, and was called Carlos. The palace of this Comogre stands at the foot of a cultivated hill, rising in a fertile plain that tends for a breadth of twelve leagues towards the south. This plain is called by the natives savana. Beyond the limits

of the plain rise the very lofty mountains that serve as a divide between the two oceans. Upon their slopes rises the Comogre River which, after watering this plain, runs through a mountainous country, gathering to itself tributaries from all the valleys and finally emptying into the South Sea. It is distant about seventy leagues to the west of Darien.

Uttering cries of joy, Carlos hastened to meet the Spaniards, refreshing them with food and agreeable drinks, and lavishing generous hospitality upon them. Presents were exchanged, the cacique giving Vasco twenty pounds of worked gold, at eight ounces to the pound, and Vasco satisfying him with equally acceptable presents, such as hatchets, and some carpenters' tools. He likewise gave Carlos a robe and one of his own shirts, because of the extremity to which he was reduced. These gifts elevated Carlos to the rank of a hero among his neighbours. Vasco finally left Comogra and all its people after admonishing them that, if they wished to live in peace, they must never rebel against the rule of the Spanish King. He also urged them to use their best endeavours to collect gold for the Tiba, that is to say, the King. He added that in this way they would secure for themselves and their descendants protection against the attacks of their enemies, and would receive an abundance of our merchandise.

When everything had been satisfactorily arranged, Vasco continued his march towards the country of Poncha, where he met four young men sent from Darien to inform him that well-laden ships had just arrived from Hispaniola; he had promised that, in returning from the South Sea, he would march by some way through that country. Taking with him twenty of his strongest companions he started by forced marches for Darien, leaving behind the others who were to join him. Vasco has written that