HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



seemed to be mingled in equal proportions, joined in the chorus 

 vith heart and voice. 



Balboa now called upon all present to witness that he took 

 possession of the sea, its islands and surrounding lands, in the 

 name of the sovereigns of Castile ; and the notary of the expe- 

 dition made a record to that effect, to which all present, to the 

 number of sixty-seven men, signed their names. Balboa then 

 caused a tall tree to be cut down and fashioned into the form of 

 a cross : this he erected on the spot whence he had first beheld 

 the ocean. A mound of stone was likewise piled up as a monu- 

 ment, and the names of Ferdinand and Juana were carved upon 

 the neighboring trees. 



A scouting party under Alonzo Martin, sent by Balboa to 

 discover the best route to the sea, came after two days' journey 

 to a beach, upon which were two canoes, stranded as it were, 

 and apparently out of the reach of water. But the tide soon 

 came rushing in, and floated them ; upon which Alonzo Martin 

 stepped into one of them, and was thus the first European who 

 embarked upon the ocean which Balboa had discovered and which 

 Magellan was to name. Balboa soon arrived upon the coast : 

 the tide had ebbed, and the water was nearly two miles distant. 

 But it soon returned, invading the place where the Spaniards 

 were seated. Upon this Balboa arose, and, taking a banner 

 representing the Virgin and Child and bearing the arms of 

 Castile and Leon, marched knee-deep into the water, and, waving 

 the flag, pronounced the following act of taking possession : 



"Long live the high and mighty monarchs Don Ferdinand 

 and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, in 

 whose name I take real and actual and corporeal possession of 

 these seas, and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the 

 South, and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and pro- 

 vinces which do or may appertain to them in whatever manner 

 or by whatever right or title, ancient or modern, in times past, 

 present, or to come, without any contradiction ; and if other 



