THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED 



231 



Tillage lying at the foot of the mountain that commanded the 

 long wished for prospect. Only sixty-seven men out of two 

 hundred remained to make this last grand effort. Balboa 

 ordered them to retire early to repose, that they might be ready 

 at the cool hour of dawn. They set forth at daybreak on the 

 morning of the 26th of September. In a short time they 

 emerged from the forests, and arrived at the upper regions of 

 the mountain, leaving the bald summit still to be ascended. 

 Balboa ordered them to halt, that he might himself be alone 

 to enjoy the scene and the first to discover the ocean. He 

 reached the peak, and there the magnificent sight burst upon his 

 view. The water was still at the distance of two days' journey ; 

 but there it lay, beyond the intervening space, grand, bound- 

 less, and serene. He fell upon his knees, and returned thanks 



BALBOA DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



to God. He summoned his followers to ascend, and thus ad- 

 dressed them: — "Behold, my friends," he said, "the glorious 

 sight which we have so ardently longed for. Let us pray to 

 God that he will aid and guide us to conquer the sea and land 

 which we have discovered, and in which no Christian has ever 

 entered to preach the holy doctrine of the Evangelists. By the 

 favor of Christ you will thus become the richest Spaniards that 

 have ever come to the Indies." The priest attached to the 

 expedition chanted that impressive anthem, the Te Deum ; and 

 the Spaniards, in whom religious fervor and the thirst for pillage 



