This is the romantic history of Vasco Nu?ez de Balboa, the most knightly2 and gentle of the Spanish discoverers, and one who would fain have been true to the humble3 Indian girl who had won his heart, even though his life and liberty were at stake. It is almost the only love story in early Spanish-American history, and the account of it, veracious4 though it is, reads like a novel or a play.
After Diego de Nicuesa had sailed away from Antigua on that enforced voyage from which he never returned, Vasco Nu?ez de Balboa was supreme5 on the Isthmus6. Encisco, however, remained to make trouble. In order to secure internal peace before prosecuting7 some further expeditions, Balboa determined8 to send him back to Spain, as the easiest way of getting rid of his importunities and complaints.
A more truculent9 commander would have no difficulty in inventing a pretext10 for taking off his head. A more prudent11 captain would have realized that Encisco with his trained mouth could do very much more harm to him in Spain than he could in Darien. Balboa thought to nullify that possibility, however, by sending Valdivia, with a present, to Hispaniola, and Zamudio {32} with the Bachelor to Spain to lay the state of affairs before the King. Encisco was a much better advocate than Balboa's friend Zamudio, and the King of Spain credited the one and disbelieved the other. He determined to appoint a new governor for the Isthmus, and decided12 that Balboa should be proceeded against rigorously for nearly all the crimes in the decalogue, the most serious accusation13 being that to him was due the death of poor Nicuesa. For by this time everybody was sure that the poor little meat-carver was no more.
An enterprise against the French which had been declared off filled Spain with needy14 cavaliers who had started out for an adventure and were greatly desirous of having one. Encisco and Zamudio had both enflamed the minds of the Spanish people with fabulous15 stories of the riches of Darien. It was curiously16 believed that gold was so plentiful17 that it could be fished up in nets from the rivers. Such a piscatorial18 prospect19 was enough to unlock the coffers of a prince as selfish as Ferdinand. He was willing to risk fifty thousand ducats in the adventure, which was to be conducted on a grand scale. No such expedition to America had ever been prepared before as that destined20 for Darien.
Among the many claimants for its command, he picked out an old cavalier named Pedro Arias21 de Avila, called by the Spaniards Pedrarias.[1]
This Pedrarias was seventy-two years old. He was of good birth and rich, and was the father of a large and interesting family, which he prudently22 left behind him in Spain. His wife, however, insisted on going {33} with him to the New World. Whether or not this was a proof of wifely devotion—and if it was, it is the only thing in history to his credit—or of an unwillingness23 to trust Pedrarias out of her sight, which is more likely, is not known. At any rate, she went along.
Pedrarias, up to the time of his departure from Spain, had enjoyed two nick-names, El Galan and El Justador. He had been a bold and dashing cavalier in his youth, a famous tilter24 in tournaments in his middle age, and a hard-fighting soldier all his life. His patron was Bishop25 Fonseca. Whatever qualities he might possess for the important work about to be devolved upon him would be developed later.
His expedition included from fifteen hundred to two thousand souls, and there were at least as many more who wanted to go and could not for lack of accommodations. The number of ships varies in different accounts from nineteen to twenty-five. The appointments both of the general expedition and the cavaliers themselves were magnificent in the extreme. Many afterward26 distinguished27 in America went in Pedrarias's command, chief among them being De Soto. Among others were Quevedo, the newly appointed Bishop of Darien, and Espinosa, the judge.
The first fleet set sail on the 11th of April, 1514, and arrived at Antigua without mishap28 on the 29th of June in the same year. The colony at that place, which had been regularly laid out as a town with fortifications and with some degree at least of European comfort, numbered some three hundred hard-bitten soldiers. The principle of the survival of the fittest had resulted in the selection of the best men from all the previous expeditions. They would have been a {34} dangerous body to antagonize. Pedrarias was in some doubt as to how Balboa would receive him. He dissembled his intentions toward him, therefore, and sent an officer ashore29 to announce the meaning of the flotilla which whitened the waters of the bay.
The officer found Balboa, dressed in a suit of pajamas30 engaged in superintending the roofing of a house. The officer, brilliant in silk and satin and polished armour31, was astonished at the simplicity32 of Vasco Nu?ez's appearance. He courteously33 delivered his message, however, to the effect that yonder was the fleet of Don Pedro Arias de Avila, the new Governor of Darien.
"Balboa . . . Engaged in Superintending the Roofing of a House"
"Balboa . . . Engaged in Superintending the Roofing of a House"
Balboa calmly bade the messenger tell Pedrarias that he could come ashore in safety and that he was very welcome. Balboa was something of a dissembler himself on occasion, as you will see. Pedrarias thereupon debarked in great state with his men, and, as soon as he firmly got himself established on shore, arrested Balboa and presented him for trial before Espinosa for the death of Nicuesa.
II. The Greatest Exploit since Columbus's Voyage
During all this long interval35, Balboa had not been idle. A singular change had taken place in his character. He had entered upon the adventure in his famous barrel on Encisco's ship as a reckless, improvident36, roisterous, careless, hare-brained scapegrace. Responsibility and opportunity had sobered and elevated him. While he had lost none of his dash and daring and brilliancy, yet he had become a wise, a prudent and a most successful captain. Judged by the high standard of the modern times, Balboa was {35} cruel and ruthless enough to merit our severe condemnation37. Judged by his environments and contrasted with any other of the Spanish conquistadores he was an angel of light.
"The Expedition Had to Fight Its Way Through Tribes of Warlike and Ferocious38 Mountaineers"
"The Expedition Had to Fight Its Way Through Tribes of Warlike and Ferocious Mountaineers"
He seems to have remained always a generous, affectionate, open-hearted soldier. He had conducted a number of expeditions after the departure of Nicuesa to different parts of the Isthmus, and he amassed39 much treasure thereby40, but he always so managed affairs that he left the Indian chiefs in possession of their territory and firmly attached to him personally. There was no indiscriminate murder, outrage41 or plunder42 in his train, and the Isthmus was fairly peaceable. Balboa had tamed the tempers of the fierce soldiery under him to a remarkable43 degree, and they had actually descended44 to cultivating the soil between periods of gold-hunting and pearl-fishing. The men under him were devotedly46 attached to him as a rule, although here and there a malcontent47, unruly soldier, restless under the iron discipline, hated his captain.
Fortunately he had been warned by a letter from Zamudio, who had found means to send it via Hispaniola, of the threatening purpose of Pedrarias and the great expedition. Balboa stood well with the authorities in Hispaniola. Diego Columbus had given him a commission as Vice-Governor of Darien, so that as Darien was clearly within Diego Columbus's jurisdiction48, Balboa was strictly49 under authority. The news in Zamudio's letter was very disconcerting. Like every Spaniard, Vasco Nu?ez knew that he could expect little mercy and scant50 justice from a trial conducted under such auspices51 as Pedrarias's. He determined, therefore, to secure himself in his position by some splendid achievement, which would so work upon the {36} feelings of the King that he would be unable, for very gratitude52, to press hard upon him.
The exploit that he meditated53 and proposed to accomplish was the discovery of the ocean upon the other side of the Isthmus. When Nicuesa came down from Nombre de Dios, he left there a little handful of men. Balboa sent an expedition to rescue them and brought them down to Antigua. Either on that expedition or on another shortly afterward, two white men painted as Indians discovered themselves to Balboa in the forest. They proved to be Spaniards who had fled from Nicuesa to escape punishment for some fault they had committed and had sought safety in the territory of an Indian chief named Careta, the Cacique of Cueva. They had been hospitably54 received and adopted into the tribe. In requital55 for their entertainment, they offered to betray the Indians if Vasco Nu?ez, the new governor, would condone56 their past offenses57. They filled the minds of the Spaniards, alike covetous58 and hungry, with stories of great treasures and what was equally valuable, abundant provisions, in Coreta's village.
Balboa immediately consented. The act of treachery was consummated59 and the chief captured. All that, of course, was very bad, but the difference between Balboa and the men of his time is seen in his after conduct. Instead of putting the unfortunate chieftain to death and taking his people for slaves, Balboa released him. The reason he released him was because of a woman—a woman who enters vitally into the subsequent history of Vasco Nu?ez, and indeed of the whole of South America. This was the beautiful daughter of the chief. Anxious to propitiate60 his captor, Careta offered Balboa this flower of the family {37} to wife. Balboa saw her, loved her and took her to himself. They were married in accordance with the Indian custom; which, of course, was not considered in the least degree binding61 by the Spaniards of that time. But it is to Balboa's credit that he remained faithful to this Indian girl. Indeed, if he had not been so much attached to her it is probable that he might have lived to do even greater things than he did.
In his excursions throughout the Isthmus, Balboa had met a chief called Comagre. As everywhere, the first desire of the Spanish was gold. The metal had no commercial value to the Indians. They used it simply to make ornaments62, and when it was not taken from them by force, they were cheerfully willing to exchange it for beads64, trinkets, hawks65' bells, and any other petty trifles. Comagre was the father of a numerous family of stalwart sons. The oldest, observing the Spaniards brawling66 and fighting—"brabbling," Peter Martyr67 calls it—about the division of gold, with an astonishing degree of intrepidity68 knocked over the scales at last and dashed the stuff on the ground in contempt. He made amends69 for his action by telling them of a country where gold, like Falstaff's reasons, was as plenty as blackberries. Incidentally he gave them the news that Darien was an isthmus, and that the other side was swept by a vaster sea than that which washed its eastern shore.
These tidings inspired Balboa and his men. They talked long and earnestly with the Indians and fully63 satisfied themselves of the existence of a great sea and of a far-off country abounding70 in treasure on the other side. Could it be that mysterious Cipango of Marco Polo, search for which had been the object of Columbus's voyage? The way there was discussed and the {38} difficulties of the journey estimated, and it was finally decided that at least one thousand Spaniards would be required safely to cross the Isthmus.
Balboa had sent an account of this conversation to Spain, asking for the one thousand men. The account reached there long before Pedrarias sailed, and to it, in fact, was largely due the extensive expedition. Now when Balboa learned from Zamudio of what was intended toward him in Spain, he determined to undertake the discovery himself. He set forth71 from Antigua the 1st of September, 1513, with a hundred and ninety chosen men, accompanied by a pack of bloodhounds, very useful in fighting savages72, and a train of Indian slaves. Francisco Pizarro was his second in command. All this in lieu of the one thousand Spaniards for which he had asked, which was not thought to be too great a number.
The difficulties to be overcome were almost incredible. The expedition had to fight its way through tribes of warlike and ferocious mountaineers. If it was not to be dogged by a trail of pestilent hatreds74, the antagonisms75 evoked76 by its advance must be composed in every Indian village or tribe before it progressed farther. Aside from these things, the topographical difficulties were immense. The Spaniards were armour-clad, as usual, and heavily burdened. Their way led through thick and overgrown and pathless jungles or across lofty and broken mountain-ranges, which could be surmounted77 only after the most exhausting labor78. The distance as the crow flies, was short, less than fifty miles, but nearly a month elapsed before they approached the end of their journey.
Balboa's enthusiasm and courage had surmounted every obstacle. He made friends with the chiefs {39} through whose territories he passed, if they were willing to be friends. If they chose to be enemies, he fought them, he conquered them and then made friends with them then. Such a singular mixture of courage, adroitness79 and statesmanship was he that everywhere he prevailed by one method or another. Finally, in the territory of a chief named Quarequa, he reached the foot of the mountain range from the summit of which his guides advised him that he could see the object of his expedition.
There were but sixty-seven men capable of ascending80 that mountain. The toil81 and hardship of the journey had incapacitated the others. Next to Balboa, among the sixty-seven, was Francisco Pizarro. Early on the morning of the 25th of September, 1513, the little company began the ascent82 of the Sierra. It was still morning when they surmounted it and reached the top. Before them rose a little cone83, or crest84, which hid the view toward the south. "There," said the guides, "from the top of yon rock, you can see the ocean." Bidding his men halt where they were, Vasco Nu?ez went forward alone and surmounted the little elevation85.
A magnificent prospect was embraced in his view. The tree-clad mountains sloped gently away from his feet, and on the far horizon glittered a line of silver which attested86 the accuracy of the claim of the Indians as to the existence of a great sea on the other side of what he knew now to be an isthmus. Balboa named the body of water that he could see far away, flashing in the sunlight of that bright morning, "the Sea of the South," or "the South Sea." [2]
Drawing his sword, he took possession of it in the {40} name of Castile and Leon. Then he summoned his soldiers. Pizarro in the lead they were soon assembled at his side. In silent awe87 they gazed, as if they were looking upon a vision. Finally some one broke into the words of a chant, and on that peak in Darien those men sang the "Te Deum Laudamus."
"He Took Possession of the Sea in the Name of Castile and Leon"
"He Took Possession of the Sea in the Name of Castile and Leon"
Somehow the dramatic quality of that supreme moment in the life of Balboa has impressed itself upon the minds of the successive generations that have read of it since that day. It stands as one of the great episodes of history. That little band of ragged88, weather-beaten, hard-bitten soldiers, under the leadership of the most lovable and gallant89 of the Spaniards of his time, on that lonely mountain peak rising above the almost limitless sea of trackless verdure, gazing upon the great ocean whose waters extended before them for thousands and thousands of miles, attracts the attention and fires the imagination.
Your truly great man may disguise his imaginative qualities from the unthinking public eye, but his greatness is in proportion to his imagination. Balboa, with the centuries behind him, shading his eye and staring at the water:
——Dipt into the future far as human eye could see,
Saw the visions of the world, and all the wonder that would be.
He saw Peru with its riches; he saw fabled90 Cathay; he saw the uttermost isles91 of the distant sea. His imagination took the wings of the morning and soared over worlds and countries that no one but he had ever dreamed of, all to be the fiefs of the King of Castile. It is interesting to note that it must have been to Balboa, of all men, that some adequate idea of the real size of the earth first came.
{41}
Well, they gazed their fill; then, with much toil, they cut down trees, dragged them to the top of the mountain and erected92 a huge cross which they stayed by piles of stones. Then they went down the mountain-side and sought the beach. It was no easy task to find it, either. It was not until some days had passed that one of the several parties broke through the jungle and stood upon the shore. When they were all assembled, the tide was at low ebb93. A long space of muddy beach lay between them and the water. They sat down under the trees and waited until the tide was at flood, and then, on the 29th of September, with a banner displaying the Virgin94 and Child above the arms of Spain in one hand and with drawn95 sword in the other, Balboa marched solemnly into the rolling surf that broke about his waist and took formal possession of the ocean, and all the shores, wheresoever they might be, which were washed by its waters, for Ferdinand of Aragon, and his daughter Joanna of Castile, and their successors in Spain. Truly a prodigious96 claim, but one which for a time Spain came perilously97 near establishing and maintaining.[3]
"He Threw the Sacred Volume to the Ground in a Violent Rage"
"He Threw the Sacred Volume to the Ground in a Violent Rage"
Before they left the shore they found some canoes and voyaged over to a little island in the bay, which they called San Miguel, since it was that saint's day, and where they were nearly all swept away by the rising tide. They went back to Antigua by another route, somewhat less difficult, fighting and making peace as before, and amassing98 treasure the while. Great was the joy of the colonists99 who had been left behind, when Balboa and his men rejoined them. {42} Those who had stayed behind shared equally with those who had gone. The King's royal fifth was scrupulously100 set aside and Balboa at once dispatched a ship, under a trusted adherent101 named Arbolancha, to acquaint the King with his marvelous discovery, and to bring back re?nforcements and permission to venture upon the great sea in quest of the fabled golden land toward the south.
III. "Furor102 Domini"
Unfortunately for Vasco Nu?ez, Arbolancha arrived just two months after Pedrarias had sailed. The discovery of the Pacific was the greatest single exploit since the voyage of Columbus. It was impossible for the King to proceed further against Balboa under such circumstances. Arbolancha was graciously received, therefore, and after his story had been heard a ship was sent back to Darien instructing Pedrarias to let Balboa alone, appointing him an adelantado, or governor of the islands he had discovered in the South Sea, and all such countries as he might discover beyond.
All this, however took time, and Balboa was having a hard time with Pedrarias. In spite of all the skill of the envenomed Encisco, who had been appointed the public prosecutor103 in Pedrarias's administration, Balboa was at last acquitted104 of having been concerned in the death of Nicuesa. Pedrarias, furious at the verdict, made living a burden to poor Vasco Nu?ez by civil suits which ate up all his property.
It had not fared well with the expedition of Pedrarias, either, for in six weeks after they landed, over seven hundred of his unacclimated men were dead of fever and other diseases, incident to their lack of {43} precaution and the unhealthy climate of the Isthmus. They had been buried in their brocades, as has been pithily105 remarked, and forgotten. The condition of the survivors106 was also precarious107. They were starving in their silks and satins.
Pedrarias, however, did not lack courage. He sent the survivors hunting for treasures. Under different captains he dispatched them far and wide through the Isthmus to gather gold, pearls, and food. They turned its pleasant valleys and its noble hills into earthly hells. Murder, outrage and rapine flourished unchecked, even encouraged and rewarded. All the good work of Balboa in pacifying108 the natives and laying the foundation for a wise and kindly109 rule was undone110 in a few months.
Such cruelties had never before been practised in any part of the New World settled by the Spaniards. I do not suppose the men under Pedrarias were any worse than others. Indeed, they were better than some of them, but they took their cue from their terrible commander. Fiske calls him "a two-legged tiger." That he was an old man seems to add to the horror which the story of his course inspires. The recklessness of an unthinking young man may be better understood than the cold, calculating fury and ferocity of threescore and ten. To his previous appellations111, a third was added. Men called him, "Furor Domini"—"The Scourge112 of God." Not Attila himself, to whom the title was originally applied113, was more ruthless and more terrible.
Balboa remonstrated114, but to no avail. He wrote letter after letter to the king, depicting115 the results of Pedrarias' actions, and some tidings of his successive communications, came trickling116 back to the {44} governor, who had been especially cautioned by the King to deal mercifully with the inhabitants and set them an example of Christian117 kindness and gentleness that they might be won to the religion of Jesus thereby! Pedrarias was furious against Balboa, and would have withheld118 the King's dispatches acknowledging the discovery of the South Sea by appointing him adelantado; but the Bishop of Darien, whose friendship Balboa had gained, protested and the dispatches were finally delivered. The good Bishop did more. He brought about a composition of the bitter quarrel between Balboa and Pedrarias. A marriage was arranged between the eldest119 daughter of Pedrarias and Balboa. Balboa still loved his Indian wife; it is evident that he never intended to marry the daughter of Pedrarias, and that he entered upon the engagement simply to quiet the old man and secure his countenance120 and assistance for the undertaking121 he projected to the mysterious golden land toward the south. There was a public betrothal122 which effected the reconciliation123. And now Pedrarias could not do enough for Balboa, whom he called his "dear son."
IV. The End of Balboa
Balboa, therefore, proposed to Pedrarias that he should immediately set forth upon the South Sea voyage. Inasmuch as Pedrarias was to be supreme in the New World and as Balboa was only a provincial124 governor under him, the old reprobate125 at last consented.
Balboa decided that four ships, brigantines, would be needed for his expedition. The only timber fit for shipping126, of which the Spaniards were aware, {45} grew on the eastern side of the Isthmus. It would be necessary, therefore, to cut and work up the frames and timbers of the ships on the eastern side, then carry the material across the Isthmus, and there put it together. Vasco Nu?ez reconnoitered the ground and decided to start his ship-building operations at a new settlement called Ada. The timber when cut and worked had to be carried sixteen miles away to the top of the mountain, then down the other slope, to a convenient spot on the river Valsa, where the keels were to be laid, the frames put together, the shipbuilding completed, and the boats launched on the river, which was navigable to the sea.
This amazing undertaking was carried out as planned. There were two setbacks before the work was completed. In one case, after the frames had been made and carried with prodigious toil to the other side of the mountain, they were discovered to be full of worms and had to be thrown away. After they had been replaced, and while the men were building the brigantines, a flood washed every vestige127 of their labor into the river. But, as before, nothing could daunt128 Balboa. Finally, after labors129 and disappointments enough to crush the heart of an ordinary man, two of the brigantines were launched in the river. Most of the carrying had been done by Indians, over two thousand of whom died under the tremendous exactions of the work.
Embarking130 upon the two brigantines, Balboa soon reached the Pacific, where he was presently joined by the two remaining boats as they were completed. He had now four fairly serviceable ships and three hundred of the best men of the New World under his command. He was well equipped and well provisioned {46} for the voyage and lacked only a little iron and a little pitch, which, of course, would have to be brought to him from Ada on the other side of the Isthmus. The lack of that little iron and that little pitch proved the undoing131 of Vasco Nu?ez. If he had been able to obtain them or if he had sailed away without them, he might have been the conqueror132 of Peru; in which case that unhappy country would have been spared the hideous133 excesses and the frightful134 internal brawls135 and revolutions which afterward almost ruined it under the long rule of the ferocious Pizarros. Balboa would have done better from a military standpoint than his successors, and as a statesman as well as a soldier the results of his policy would have been felt for generations.
History goes on to state that while he was waiting for the pitch and iron, word was brought to him that Pedrarias was to be superseded136 in his government. This would have been delightful137 tidings under any other circumstances, but now that a reconciliation had been patched up between him and the governor, he rightly felt that the arrival of a new governor might materially alter the existing state of affairs. Therefore, he determined to send a party of four adherents138 across the mountains to Ada to find out if the rumours139 were true.
If Pedrarias was supplanted140 the messengers were to return immediately, and without further delay they would at once set sail. If Pedrarias was still there, well and good. There would be no occasion for such precipitate141 action and they could wait for the pitch and iron. He was discussing this matter with some friends on a rainy day in 1517—the month and the date not being determinable now. The sentry142 attached to the governor's quarters, driven to the shelter of the {47} house by the storm, overheard a part of this harmless conversation. There is nothing so dangerous as a half-truth; it is worse than a whole lie. The soldier who had aforetime felt the weight of Balboa's heavy hand for some dereliction of duty, catching143 sentences here and there, fancied he detected treachery to Pedrarias and thought he saw an opportunity of revenging himself, and of currying144 favor with the governor, by reporting it at the first convenient opportunity.
Now, there lived at Ada at the time one Andres Garavito. This man was Balboa's bitter enemy. He had presumed to make dishonorable overtures145 to Balboa's Indian wife. The woman had indignantly repulsed146 his advances and had made them known to her husband. Balboa had sternly reproved Garavito and threatened him with death. Garavito had nourished his hatred73, and had sought opportunity to injure his former captain. The men sent by Balboa to Ada to find out the state of affairs were very maladroit147 in their manoeuvres, and their peculiar148 actions awakened149 the suspicions of Pedrarias. The first one who entered the town was seized and cast into prison. The others thereupon came openly to Ada and declared their purposes. This seems to have quieted, temporarily, the suspicions of Pedrarias; but the implacable Garavito, taking opportunity, when the governor's mind was unsettled and hesitant, assured him that Balboa had not the slightest intention whatever of marrying Pedrarias's daughter; that he was devoted45 to his Indian wife, and intended to remain true to her; that it was his purpose to sail to the South Sea, establish a kingdom and make himself independent of Pedrarias.
{48} The old animosity and anger of the governor awoke on the instant. There was no truth in the accusations150 except in so far as it regarded Vasco Nu?ez's attachment151 to his Indian wife, and indeed Balboa had never given any public refusal to abide152 by the marital153 engagement which he had entered into; but there was just enough probability in Garavito's tale to carry conviction to the ferocious tyrant154. He instantly determined upon Balboa's death. Detaining his envoys155, he sent him a very courteous34 and affectionate letter, entreating156 him to come to Ada to receive some further instructions before he set forth on the South Sea.
Among the many friends of Balboa was the notary157 Arguello who had embarked158 his fortune in the projected expedition. He prepared a warning to Vasco Nu?ez, which unfortunately fell into the hands of Pedrarias and resulted in his being clapped into prison with the rest. Balboa unsuspiciously complied with the governor's request, and, attended by a small escort, immediately set forth for Ada.
He was arrested on the way by a company of soldiers headed by Francisco Pizarro, who had nothing to do with the subsequent transactions, and simply acted under orders, as any other soldier would have done. Balboa was thrown into prison and heavily ironed; he was tried for treason against the King and Pedrarias. The testimony159 of the soldier who had listened in the rainstorm was brought forward, and, in spite of a noble defense160, Balboa was declared guilty.
Espinosa, who was his judge, was so dissatisfied with the verdict, however, that he personally besought161 Pedrarias to mitigate162 the sentence. The stern old tyrant refused to interfere163, nor would he entertain {49} Balboa's appeal to Spain. "He has sinned," he said tersely164; "death to him!" Four of his companions—three of them men who had been imprisoned165 at Ada, and the notary who had endeavored to warn him—were sentenced to death.
It was evening before the preparations for the execution were completed. Balboa faced death as dauntlessly as he had faced life. Pedrarias was hated in Ada and Darien; Balboa was loved. If the veterans of Antigua had not been on the other side of the Isthmus, Balboa would have been rescued. As it was, the troops of Pedrarias awed166 the people of Ada and the judicial167 murder went forward.
Balboa was as composed when he mounted the scaffold as he had been when he welcomed Pedrarias. A proclamation was made that he was a traitor168, and with his last breath he denied this and asserted his innocence169. When the axe170 fell that severed171 his head, the noblest Spaniard of the time, and one who ranks with those of any time, was judicially172 murdered. One after the other, the three companions, equally as dauntless, suffered the unjust penalty. The fourth execution had taken place in the swift twilight173 of the tropical latitude174 and the darkness was already closing down upon the town when the last man mounted the scaffold. This was the notary, Arguello, who had interfered175 to save Balboa. He seems to have been beloved by the inhabitants of the town, for they awakened from their horror, and some of consideration among them appealed personally to Pedrarias, who had watched the execution from a latticed window, to reprieve176 the last victim. "He shall die," said the governor sternly, "if I have to kill him with my own hand."
So, to the future sorrow of America, and to the {50} great diminution177 of the glory and peace of Spain, and the world, passed to his death the gallant, the dauntless, the noble-hearted Balboa. Pedrarias lived until his eighty-ninth year, and died in his bed at Panama; which town had been first visited by one of his captains, Tello de Guzman, founded by Espinosa and upbuilt by himself.
There are times when a belief in an old-fashioned Calvinistic hell of fire and brimstone is an extremely comforting doctrine178, irrespective of theological bias179. Else how should we dispose of Nero, Tiberius, Torquemada, and gentlemen of their stripe? Wherever such a company may be congregated180, Pedro Arias de Avila is entitled to a high and exclusive place.
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devastator
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| n.蹂躏者，破坏者 | |
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knightly
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| adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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veracious
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| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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10
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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11
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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14
needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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15
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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16
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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17
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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18
piscatorial
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| adj.鱼的；渔业的 | |
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19
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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20
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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21
arias
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| n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 ) | |
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22
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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23
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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24
tilter
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| 倾斜体； 翻钢机 | |
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25
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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26
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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27
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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28
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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29
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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30
pajamas
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| n.睡衣裤 | |
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31
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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32
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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33
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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34
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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35
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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36
improvident
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| adj.不顾将来的，不节俭的，无远见的 | |
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37
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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38
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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39
amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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41
outrage
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|
| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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42
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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43
remarkable
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|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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44
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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45
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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46
devotedly
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| 专心地； 恩爱地； 忠实地； 一心一意地 | |
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47
malcontent
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|
| n.不满者，不平者；adj.抱不平的，不满的 | |
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48
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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49
strictly
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|
| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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50
scant
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|
| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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51
auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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52
gratitude
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|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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53
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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54
hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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55
requital
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| n.酬劳；报复 | |
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56
condone
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|
| v.宽恕；原谅 | |
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57
offenses
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|
| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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58
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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59
consummated
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|
| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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60
propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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61
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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62
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
fully
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|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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64
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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65
hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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66
brawling
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| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
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67
martyr
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|
| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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68
intrepidity
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|
| n.大胆，刚勇；大胆的行为 | |
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69
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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70
abounding
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|
| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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71
forth
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|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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72
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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73
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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74
hatreds
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| n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事 | |
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75
antagonisms
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| 对抗，敌对( antagonism的名词复数 ) | |
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76
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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77
surmounted
|
|
| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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78
labor
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|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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79
adroitness
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80
ascending
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|
| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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81
toil
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|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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82
ascent
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|
| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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83
cone
|
|
| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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84
crest
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|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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85
elevation
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|
| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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86
attested
|
|
| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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87
awe
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|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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88
ragged
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|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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89
gallant
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|
| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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90
fabled
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|
| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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91
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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92
ERECTED
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|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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93
ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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94
virgin
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|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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95
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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96
prodigious
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|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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97
perilously
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|
| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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98
amassing
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|
| v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 ) | |
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99
colonists
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|
| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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100
scrupulously
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|
| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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101
adherent
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| n.信徒，追随者，拥护者 | |
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102
furor
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| n.狂热；大骚动 | |
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103
prosecutor
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| n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人 | |
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104
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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105
pithily
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| adv.有力地，简洁地 | |
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106
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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107
precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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108
pacifying
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| 使（某人）安静( pacify的现在分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
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109
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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110
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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111
appellations
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| n.名称，称号( appellation的名词复数 ) | |
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112
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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113
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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114
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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115
depicting
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| 描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述 | |
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116
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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117
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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118
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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119
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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120
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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121
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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122
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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123
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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124
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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125
reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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126
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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127
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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128
daunt
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| vt.使胆怯，使气馁 | |
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129
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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130
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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131
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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132
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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133
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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134
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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135
brawls
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| 吵架，打架( brawl的名词复数 ) | |
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136
superseded
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|
| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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137
delightful
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|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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138
adherents
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|
| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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139
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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140
supplanted
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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142
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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143
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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144
currying
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| 加脂操作 | |
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145
overtures
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| n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲 | |
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146
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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147
maladroit
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| adj.笨拙的 | |
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148
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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149
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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150
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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151
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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152
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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153
marital
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| adj.婚姻的，夫妻的 | |
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154
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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155
envoys
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| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
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156
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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157
notary
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| n.公证人，公证员 | |
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158
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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159
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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160
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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161
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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162
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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163
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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164
tersely
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| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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165
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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166
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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167
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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168
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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169
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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170
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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171
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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172
judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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173
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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174
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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175
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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176
reprieve
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| n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解 | |
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177
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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178
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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179
bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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180
congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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