others, and expose yourselves to such sufferings and perils, I will tell you of a region where you may gratify your wishes to the utmost. Behold those lofty mountains,' continued he, pointing to the south. 'Beyond these lies a mighty sea, which may be discerned from their summit. It is navigated by people who have vessels almost as large as yours, and furnished, like them, with sails and oars. All the streams which flow down the southern side of those mountains into that sea, abound in gold; and the kings who reign upon its borders eat and drink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as plentiful and common among those people of the south, as iron is among you Spaniards.'

"Struck with this intelligence, Vasco Nuñez inquired eagerly as to the means of penetrating to this sea and to the opulent regions on its shores. The task,' replied the prince, is difficult and dangerous. You must pass through the territories of many powerful caciques, who will oppose you with hosts of warriors. Some parts of the mountains are infested by fierce and cruel cannibals, a wandering, lawless race but, above all, you will have to encounter the great cacique Tubanamá, whose territories are at the distance of six days journey, and more rich in gold than any other province; this cacique will be sure to come forth against you with a mighty force. To accomplish your enterprise, therefore, will require at least a thousand men, armed like those who follow you.'

"The youthful cacique gave him further information on the subject, collected from various captives whom he had taken in battle, and from one of his own nation, who had been for a long time in captivity to Tubanamá, the powerful cacique of the golden realm. The prince, moreover, offered to prove the sincerity of his words by accompanying Vasco Nuñez in any expedition to those parts, at the head of his father's warriors.

"Such was the first intimation received by Vasco Nuñez of the Pacific Ocean and its golden realms, and it had an immediate effect upon his whole character and conduct. This hitherto wandering and desperate man had now an enterprise opened to his ambition, which, if accomplished, would elevate him to fame and fortune, and entitle him to rank among the great captains and discoverers of the earth. Henceforth the discovery of the sea beyond the mountains was the great object of his thoughts, and his whole spirit seemed roused and ennobled by the idea.

"He hastened his return to Darien, to make the necessary preparations for this splendid enterprise. Before departing from the province of Comagre he baptized that cacique by the name of Don Carlos, and performed the same ceremony upon his sons and several of his subjects. Thus singularly did avarice and religion go hand in hand in the conduct of the Spanish discoverers.

"Scarcely had Vasco Nuñez returned to Darien, when the Regidor Valdivia arrived there from Hispaniola, but with no more provisions than could be brought in his small caravel. These were soon consumed, and the general scarcity continued. It was heightened also by a violent tempest of thunder, lightning and rain, which brought such torrents from the mountains that the river swelled and overflowed its banks, laying waste all the adjacent fields that had been cultivated. In this extremity Vasco Nuñez dispatched Valdivia a second time to Hispaniola for provisions. Animated also by the loftier views of his present ambition, he wrote to Don Diego Columbus, who governed at San Domingo, informing him of the intelligence he had received of a great sea and opulent realms beyond the mountains, and entreating him to use his influence with the king that one thousand men might be immediately furnished him for the prosecution of so grand a discovery. He sent him also the amount of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, to

be remitted to the king as the royal fifths of what had already been collected under his jurisdiction. Many of his followers, also, forwarded sums of gold, to be remitted to their creditors in Spain. In the meantime, Vasco Nuñez prayed the admiral to yield him prompt succour to enable him to keep his footing in the land, representing the difficulty he had in maintaining, with a mere handful of men, so vast a country in a state of subjection."*

* Voyages of Companions of Columbus, p. 158 to 160.

CHAPTER XXII.

Of the death of Americus Vespucius in 1512, and the appointment of Sebastian Cabot as his successor: Bartholomew Columbus sent this year from Spain with instructions to his nephew the admiral.

Americus Vespucius retained the office of chief pilot of Spain until his death on the 22d of February 1512. His widow Maria Corezo was then allowed a pension of ten thousand maravedis.* Vespucius was succeeded by Juan Diaz de Solis as chief pilot, and Sebastian Cabot succeeded him.†

There is not a concurrence in opinion as to the precise time at which Sebastian Cabot went from England to Spain. "We are told by Peter Martyr, (Decade iii. chap vi.) that Cabot being called out of England, by the King of Castile, after the death of Henry the Seventh, was made one of the council and assistants touching the affairs of the Indias."+ The death of Henry the Seventh occurred in 1509. That Cabot did not leave England till after this event is also the opinion of Mr. Biddle, who proceeds to say that "Herrera, the writer of the highest authority on these subjects-historiographer of the King of Spain, and enjoying familiar access to every document, stated more than two centuries ago that Cabot

* Irving's Columbus, vol. 2, p. 252, Appendix No. 10. Life of Vespucius, p. 256 to 264; also p. 395 to 397.

† Life of Vespucius, p. 397.

received his appointment from the King of Spain on the 13th of September 1512, and even furnished the particulars of the negotiation."*

The king judged it expedient in 1512 to send out Don Bartholomew Columbus with minute instructions to his nephew the admiral.+

"Don Bartholomew still retained the office of Adelantado of the Indias; although Ferdinand, through selfish motives, detained him in Spain while he employed inferior men in voyages of discovery. He now added to his appointments. the property and government of the little island of Mona during life, and assigned him a repartimiento of two hundred Indians, with the superintendence of the mines which might be discovered in Cuba; an office which proved very lucrative.

"Among the instructions given by the king to Don Diego, he directed that, in consequence of the representations of the Dominican friars, the labour of the natives should be reduced one third; that negro slaves should be procured from Guinea as a relief to the Indians; and that Carib slaves should be branded on the leg, to prevent other Indians from being confounded with them and subjected to harsh treatment."||¶

* Memoir of Cabot, p. 97. Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. 3, p. 9.

† Irving's Columbus, vol. 2, p. 218, Appendix No. 2.

Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, p. 321.

Herrera, Hist. Ind. d. 1, 1. 9, c. 5. || Idem.

Irving's Columbus, vol. 2, p. 219, Appendix No. 2.