titude which he had brought over, seven hundred soon perished of disease and hunger; others took refuge in Cuba, and many, in miserable plight, returned to Spain. A force of four hundred men, which he dispatched to open a line of communication with the Pacific, failed, with much disaster, from the hostility of the Indians; and another, of two hundred, which, under Balboa and Luis Carillo, again set forth in quest of the temple of Dobayba, was compelled by the same cause to retreat to Darien, with the loss of more than half their number. A more fortunate expedition was made by Gaspar Morales, a rela tive of the governor, who, accompanied by Francisco Pizarro, a spirit as fierce and cruel as himself, set forth, in command of sixty men, to cross the mountains. Arriving at the South Sea, (whither Pizarro had already journeyed with Balboa,) the two commanders, with a small force, in four canoes, embarked for the Pearl Islands, lying some distance from the coast. The chief cacique, after a spirited resistance, was defeated; and submitting with the best grace he could assume, conducted the victors to his palace, where he received baptism at their hands, and bestowed on them a basket of pearls, of more than a hundred weight, some of which were large as hazel-nuts. He took the leaders to the summit of a tower, whence he showed them the long line of coast stretching to the golden realms of the Incasthe destined prey of an obscure adventurer then standing beside him. The return of this company, harassed by Indian hostilities, was marked by the most frightful scenes of massacre and cruelty. A native force, attacked by surprise, in the dead of night, was cut off to the number of seven hundred; and eighteen caciques, taken by stratagem, were devoured alive by blood-hounds. The Spaniards, worn out by repeated attacks, retreated slowly, killing their prisoners on the way, that the fierceness of the pursuit might be checked by the lamentations of their friends over the bodies; and one of the marauders, unable to keep up the march, hanged himself to a tree, rather than fall into the hands of the avenging natives. After extreme and well-deserved suffering, the relics of the expedition, with a vast hoard of ill-gotten treasure, arrived at Darien. The enmity of the surrounding tribes, now thoroughly aroused, kept the settlers in a state of constant anxiety. An hundred and eighty men, well armed and supplied with artillery, attacked among tangled forests and morasses, were cut off to a man. The town itself was soon almost in a state of siege; and the governor was compelled reluctantly to accept the services of his able and experienced rival, as the only means of preserving the colony. To cement the doubtful alliance, which was brought about by Quevedo, it was agreed that Balboa should receive in marriage a daughter of the governor, to be sent for from Spain (1516). That active commander, permitted to resume his ambitious career, made strenuous exertions in preparing for a great expedition to the South Sea. He built two vessels on the shore of the Atlantic, which, with almost incredible labour, were carried piecemeal over the mountains, and put together on the shores of the Pacific. Numbers of the natives perished in this exhausting task, but it was observed that the Spaniards, and especially negroes, of hardier frame, endured the labour with less distress and mortality. Two brigantines, the first of European build that ever floated on the Pacific, were finally launched upon the River Balsas, and Balboa, with his companions, embarking, pushed with exultation into the waters of the unknown ocean. The course which he pursued, along the shore of the isthmus, would have brought him in time to the wealthy regions of Peru; but, after passing the great gulf of San Miguel, the winds proved so adverse that he was compelled to retrace his course. He landed on the mainland, where he defeated a large force of Indians, and then, proceeding to the Pearl Islands, set about building two additional vessels. In the midst of his ardent and ambitious projects, sudden ruin and destruction overtook the discoverer and intended explorer of the Pacific. The falsehood and treachery of one Garabito, his secret enemy, whom he had dispatched on business to the settlement, so worked on the jealous mind of Pedrarias, that, supposing his rival to aspire to a kingdom of his own, he resolved on his immediate overthrow. The unsuspecting commander, by a friendly message, requesting an interview, was induced to cross the mountains; and was met on the way by an armed force under Pizarro, who put him in chains, and conveyed him to the town of Acla. He was immediately put on trial for treason, and though the evidence against him was little more than the perjury of Garabito, the alcalde, overawed by the governor, gave reluctantly a judgment of conviction. The latter, with sanguinary haste, ordered his immediate execution, and that of four of his associates. The unfortunate man, after confessing and partaking of the sacrament, laid his head, with his accustomed courage, on the fatal block, and, at a single stroke, amid the lamentations of the people, it was severed from his body (1517). Thus perished, at the age of forty-two, one of the boldest, most sagacious, and, for a brief time, most fortunate, of the early Spanish adventurers. How confident were his hopes, and how ardent his zeal for enterprise, appears in the indignant vindication of his conduct to the implacable governor. "I had four ships," he says, "ready for sea, three hundred men at my command, and an open sea before me. What had I to do but to set sail and press forward? There was no doubt of finding a land, whether rich or poor, enough for me and mine, far beyond your control." That his life, if spared a few years longer, would have received fresh illustration from new and grand discoveries, can hardly be doubted; and it is probable that, but for this sudden and tragic occurrence, the career of Pizarro would have been anticipated, and that the discoverer of the Pacific would also have been the conqueror of the wealthiest kingdoms lying on its shores. CHAPTER III. - FERNANDO MAGELLAN. -HIS VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH-WEST. THE brilliant exploit of Balboa in attaining the Pacific by an overland route, was in a few years followed up by the extraordinary voyage of Magellan, who first reached it by sea, and to whom is justly due the credit of first circumnavigating the globe. The hope of finding a westerly passage to the fragrant seas of India, so long the favourite object of Columbus and other enterprising voyagers, had been gradually relinquished, as the vast extent of the American continent became apparent. Spain, however, jealously disputing with Portugal her title, under the Papal grant, to the Moluccas or Spice islands, was constantly on the alert to take advantage of any opportunity which might give her priority of possession; and Fer nando Magellan, a subject of the rival power, disappointed in his VOL. III.-7 hopes of promotion for service in India, carried his brilliant talents, his splendid courage, and invincible perseverance to the court of Charles V. There he strongly urged the feasibility of an attempt once more to reach India from the west, and Ximenes, the enlightened minister of that monarch, favoured his proposals. With five small vessels and two hundred and thirty men, on the 20th of September, 1519, he set sail from the port of San Lucar. Coasting southerly along the shores of Brazil, he found a convenient harbour, which he named Port St. Julian, in about the fiftieth degree of south latitude. Here he anchored his squadron, and passed the winter of 1520, which, extending from May to September, proved exceedingly severe. A formidable mutiny, which broke out at this place, was suppressed by Magellan with great promptness and severity; two of the ringleaders being put to death, and a third set on shore to perish. For two months none of the natives were seen, but one day a man of gigantic stature, nearly naked, was seen dancing violently on the beach, and throwing dust on his head, in token of friendship or submission. Numbers of these people, all of great size, soon appeared, "marvelling vastly to see such large ships and such little men." From the uncouth covering of their feet, rudely shaped from the hide of the guanaco, the Spaniards gave them the name of Patagones, or "clumsy-hoofed "-a name by which they have ever since been known. One of them learned to repeat the Lord's Prayer, on which signal evidence of conversion he was baptized under the name of Juan Gigante ("John Giant"). Two of these poor savages were treacherously seized, as curiosities; but a vile stratagem to get possession of some of the women (to propagate a breed of giants in Spain) was deservedly defeated, and resulted in the death of one of the invaders. The Spring came on, and Magellan, getting his little squadron under way, again stood southward. In the latter part of October, to his great exultation, he beheld an opening in the westward through the iron-bound coast which had hitherto seemed interminable. Into this famous strait, which still bears his name, favoured by a strong current, the dauntless discoverer, with three ships, boldly pushed his way-though his crews, disheartened, were clamorous for return. He would press onward, he assured them, even if they were reduced to eat the hides from the ships' rigging-an anticipation of famine literally fulfilled; and reminding them of the fate of the late mutineers, sternly repressed all opposition. For thirty-seven days, amid storms and fou! weather, the little squadron struggled westward through this perilous and intricate passage. On the 28th of November, the open sea was seen stretching illimitably before them. Magellan burst into tears of joy, and ordered a public thanksgiving for the memorable event. Having stood northward awhile, to gain a more genial climate, the little fleet for four months was wafted along by breezes so gentle and propitious, that the name of the "Pacific," which Magellan gave to the great ocean he was exploring, seemed aptly enough bestowed. But famine pressed terribly on the adventurous mariners, so long secluded from the possibility of obtaining supplies; and when, on the 16th of March, 1521, they arrived at the Philippine Isles, twenty of their number were dead, and the remainder were in a forlorn condition of suffering and emaciation. Singular to state, only two islands had been passed in this long and remarkable voyage, and those so lonely and forbidding in their appearance as to receive the name of Desventaduras, or the Unfortunate. On the 5th of April, the ships arrived at the town and harbour of Zebu, with the prince of which island Magellan soon formed an apparently friendly alliance. With the customary zeal for conversion, he immediately commenced propagating the faith, and by a mixture of force and friendship, soon gained great numbers of proselytes. This promising career was cut short by an extraordinary piece of rashness and hardihood. The sovereign of Matan, a neighbouring island, was at feud with the king of Zebu, and to the demand of Magellan that he should yield tribute and allegiance to Spain, returned a haughty refusal. Naturally fierce and irritable, and now flushed with success and ambition, the fiery Portuguese determined to end all opposition with the sword. With forty-nine of his bravest men, clad in complete armour, he made a landing on the refractory island, and was soon engaged in desperate conflict with a force of three thousand natives. The battle was obstinately contested for many hours, but the Spaniards, overpowered by numbers, were at last compelled to give way. Magellan, though wounded by a poisoned arrow, and with his helmet struck off, continued to fight with desperation, until, his sword arm disabled, he was beaten to the ground, and perished under a shower of javelins. Eight of his men were killed, and twenty-two wounded. The survivors, with difficulty, regained their boats. In this obscure skirmish perished the boldest, firmest, and, but for his rashness, the most fortunate of that brilliant line of navigators who succeeded to the |