the lesser Antilles. Soon, however, nev; pearl grovrnds were discovered on the other side of 

 the Isthmus of Central America in the 'blue v;aters of the Pacific Ocean. Credit for the 

 discovery of these valuable grounds located around the numerous islands of the Archipielago 

 de las Perlas in the Gulf of Panama Tselongs to Yasco Nifcez de Balljoa, the discovered of the 

 Pacific Ocean. 



The history of this famous adventurer dates back to the end of the 15th and the 

 ■beginning of the l6th century, when an impoverished gentleman of noble descent (hidalgo) , 

 ansv;ering to the name of de Balboa, settled on HispaKiola. He struggled against severe odds 

 trying to cultivate his land and pay his ever-increasing debts. As a conset^uence of his 

 financial failures, In desperation he concealed himself in the hold of a ship bound from 

 San Domingo to San Sebastian, and sailed hidden in the provisions which he himself delivered 

 to the ship from his farm. In this ignominious manner the future discoverer of the Pacific 

 Ocean in the year of I5IO reached the continent of the Hew World. After many vicissitudes, 

 Balboa found himself in the Gulf of Darien. Still trying to reestablish his good standing 

 with the King of Spain, he decided to underta^re something spectacular. Exciting rumors he 

 heard from the Indians of the existence of a great blue ocean on the other side of the 

 mountains stimulated him in September I513 to orgajiize an expedition for which he assembled 

 a strong force of I90 Spaniards and about one thousand Indians. On September 25 or 25 of 

 that year, at the head of the first column, Balboa reached the summit of a mountain range 

 from which he sifted the Pacific. A fev; days later, on September 29, the party advanced 

 to the shores of a bay v/hich at present is known as the Bay of San Miguel. A few miles 

 westward in the mist of the sea loomed a group of islands which, he v;as informed, v;ere 

 ruled by a powerful "Calique" who kept the entire seaboard in terror. Balboa visited the 

 islands and found that the v;aters around them abounded in finest pearls? he named the 

 entire group Islas de las Perlas. 



Indians v/ho valvied only the meat of pearl oysters could not understand the white 

 man's joy at seeing the pearls, which they could not eat. The fact that Indians v/ho 

 inhabited the territory of the Isthmus of Panama were not interested in pearls and did not 

 use them for adornment is confirmed by subseo^uent circhaeological explorations, for pearls 

 were not found in the graves, which, besides skeletons, contained large ntmbers of shark 

 teeth and sting rays' spines. It Is known, hov;ever, that together v;ith various sea foods. 

 Including crawfish, pearl oysters v/ere commonly eaten by the tribes Inhabiting the eastern 

 shore of the Gulf of Panama and the islands. 



At the beginning the pearl fishing v;as profitable. In U days Balboa's men 

 gathered about 96 ounces of pearls. The sioccess of the first days encouraged the Spaniards. 

 They organized pearl fishing parties, employed large numbers of Indian divers, and showed 

 them how to open the oysters without roasting them, as was their custom, and spoiling the 

 pearls. Scarcity of historical records makes it impossible to estimate the qtuantity and 

 value of pearls gathered at this time from the Pearl Islands. It is known, however, that 

 upon leaving the coast of the Gulf of Panama, Balboa received from a local chief a tribute 

 consisting of l60 ounces of gold and 200 large pearls. 



The value of the pearls shinped from the New World to Spain is not known. The 

 official records of the amount of "the o;uint" or one-fifth of the apioraised figure which 

 the King's officers collected as a duty on pearl fishery are scarce and obviously too low. 

 Von Humboldt (1822) mentions that until 1530 the annual value of the pearls shipped to 

 Europe averaged, according to the Spanish Treatsury records, only SOO piastras. He probably 

 refers to pesos - a silver or geld coin weighing about 25 grams and equivalent to the 

 American dollar. One must remember, however, that real values of different Spanish coins 

 knovm as "peso duro", "peso fuerte", "peso sencillo" should be determined on the basis of 

 their purchasing power at different historical periods and cannot be compared directly with 

 the present day evaluations. 



The share contributed by the Pearl Islands at Panama is not known, but occasion- 

 ally the records mentioned the finding of some exceptionally good pearls from these islands. 

 Thus, Mosk (1933) stated that in 15^3 oil® Martin Alonso carried to Spain gems valued at 

 9»000 ducats, and that the largest pearl of the lot v;as from the Pearl Islands near Panama. 



