ancestors and relatives. These had been dried by fire, so as to free them from 

 corruption, and afterwards wrapped in mantles of cotton, richly wrought, and inter- 

 woven with pearls and jewels of gold, and with certain stones held precious by 

 the natives. They were hung about the hall with cords of cotton and regarded 

 with great reverence, if not with religious devotion." 1 The son of Comagre gave 

 Balboa " 4,000 ounces of gold, wrought into various ornaments " ; 2 from him, also, 

 Balboa first received intimation of the Pacific Ocean and the riches of its shores. 

 Before starting on his journey across the Isthmus, Balboa remitted to the King 

 15,000 crowns of gold, i. e., one -fifth of all collected to date under his jurisdiction. 



The incidents of Balboa's expedition across the Isthmus in search of the southern 

 sea are replete with interest. In two days he was at the headquarters of Ponca, 

 who assured him of the truth of what Comagre's son had told Balboa concerning 

 a great sea beyond the mountains, and gave him several curiously wrought orna- 

 ments of fine gold which came from the shores of that sea. Setting out anew 

 on a toilsome journey of four days, during which time the expedition covered but 

 ten leagues, they encountered a warlike cacique, Quaraqua, the ransacking of 

 whose village yielded a golden booty. From this village an ascent of a few hours 

 brought Balboa to the crest of the mountains, from which he beheld the broad 

 waters of the Pacific. 



Having called upon his followers to witness that he took possession of that 

 sea, and the lands bathed by its waters, in the name of his sovereigns, Balboa 

 began the descent to its shores. He soon encountered the valiant cacique, 

 Chiapes, whose courage vanished at the sight of bloodhounds and of the havoc 

 produced by the mysterious Spanish firearms. Heeding the advice of their Indian 

 guides, Chiapes " came trembling to the Spaniards, bringing with him five hundred 

 pounds' weight of wrought gold as a peace-offering, for he had already learnt the 

 value they set upon that metal. Vasco Nunez received him with great kindness 

 and graciously accepted his gold, for which he gave him beads, hawks'-bells and 

 looking-glasses, making him in his own conceit the richest potentate on that side 

 of the mountains." 3 



Accompanied by Chiapes, the Spaniards finally reached the salt waters of the 

 Pacific in a bay to which Balboa gave the name of San Miguel. The theatrical 

 and impressive ceremony of taking possession of " these seas and lands and coasts 

 and ports and islands of the south, and all thereunto annexed," being over, Balboa 

 and a company of picked men, in nine canoes manned by Indians, attempted to 

 explore the neighboring gulf (now called San Miguel). After being rescued from 

 the boisterous seas by taking refuge on a small island, they succeeded in reach- 

 ing the mainland near the dwelling of a cacique named Tumaco. A midnight 

 attack on the village with guns and bloodhounds was successful, the fleeing In- 

 dians leaving behind an abundance of provisions, much gold and many pearls. 

 Through the mediation of Tumaco 's son and a " mutual exchange of presents, a 

 friendly intercourse was soon established. Among other things the Cacique gave 



1 Irving. Life and voyages of Christopher Columbus, III, 118, 1892. 



2 Ibid. 



3 Ibid., 141. 



