oviedo in spain—he secures the appointment of pedro de los rios as governor of castilla del oro—pedrarias determines to possess nicaragua—he sends thither córdoba, who founds brusélas, granada, and leon—and carries a ship across the land from the pacific to lake nicaragua—he makes a survey of the lake—informed of spaniards lurking thereabout—development of the spanish colonial system—gil gonzalez escapes with his treasure to espa?ola—despatches cereceda to spain with intelligence of his discovery—sails from santo domingo to the coast of honduras—arrives at puerto caballos—founds san gil de buenavista—encounters hernando de soto—battle—cristóbal de olid appears—founds triunfo de la cruz.
scarcely were the fair provinces of the southern sea brought under the yoke of the spaniards, when the conquerors began contending among themselves. for it must be confessed that neither their culture nor their religion prevented them from behaving very much like the wild beasts and the wild men to whom they regarded themselves superior. in following these disputes we will now accompany, in a second visit to spain, the author and veedor, and withal the maker of governors, fernandez de oviedo, whom we left in july, 1523, fleeing the wrath of pedrarias.
at cuba the veedor was entertained by diego velazquez, the governor; at espa?ola he was invited by diego colon to take passage with him for seville, where he arrived in november. after presenting himself to the council of the indies, at búrgos, he went to vitoria, where the court was residing. vested 512 with full power to act for the city of antigua, oviedo set forth the affairs of the colony, entered his complaints against pedrarias, and urged the appointment of a new governor. in this measure he was opposed by the bachiller corral, whom he had made an effort to send in chains to spain, and by isabel, wife of pedrarias. through their influence he was involved in litigation which lasted two years; and for his treatment of the bachiller he was fined one hundred thousand maravedís, which he was obliged to pay. but in the end the veedor triumphed in displacing pedrarias, and in securing the appointment of pedro de los rios, of córdova, as governor of castilla del oro, and of the licenciado juan de salmeron as alcalde mayor and judge of residencia.
the prospect of speedy displacement in office, no less than the success of gil gonzalez at the freshwater sea, determined pedrarias to secure a footing in nicaragua before the arrival of the new governor of castilla del oro. no one knew better than himself that by the customs of discovery and occupation, which were now fast becoming laws, he had not the slightest right there, having neither contributed to the discovery of gil gonzalez, nor even sanctioned it. as an act preliminary to taking possession of this discovery, pedrarias despatched thither his lieutenant, francisco hernandez de córdoba—not he who discovered yucatan, though of the same name—and captains gabriel de rojas, francisco compa?on, and hernando de soto, who embarked from panamá in 1524.
nicaragua
córdoba in nicaragua.
landing at the gulf of nicoya córdoba founded a settlement at urutina, on the east side, which he called brusélas, but which existed only three years, being dismantled by order of diego lopez salcedo in 1527. thence córdoba proceeded northward thirty leagues, to nequecheri, on the shore of lake nicaragua, where he founded a city to which he gave the name granada, building there a fortress and a church. 513 in the province of nagrando[xvi-1] he established another city which he called leon. while at granada córdoba drew one of his brigantines ashore, and taking it apart conveyed the pieces overland to nicaragua lake. after rebuilding he made a circuit round the shore of the freshwater sea, and discovered its outlet in the rio san juan, though he did not descend the stream, on account of the rocks and rapids. with 514 this leader had come many friars and religious men, some of whom were quite expert in performing miracles, and by this means was excited among the natives a furor for baptism scarcely inferior to the lively manifestation under the swift instructions of captain gil gonzalez. córdoba sent pedrarias a full account of his proceedings thus far. he also informed him that a band of spaniards was lurking thereabout, though as yet he had not encountered them, but he had sent hernando de soto to learn who they were.
spanish colonial system.
the colonial system of spain as it unfolded in the new world seemed at this time to assume the form of a political tripod whose three props were the subjugator, the sovereign, and the executive vicegerent, each contributing to the support of the others, though in a manner oppugnant and contradictory. it was something wholly new in the polities of nations for royalty thus to delegate so much and so varied power at such a distance; and royalty was troubled for itself in consequence, and regarded with jealousy and mistrust such of its servants as it was obliged to confide in. ashamed of his suspicions, the sovereign attempted to cover them by the application of chicane to a system of balancing, placing one agent to watch another, and counteracting the power of one deputy by the power of another deputy. the discoverer on returning from his perilous voyage must wear away the remainder of his life importuning for the promised recompense; and often he was compelled to lose beside his services the costs advanced by himself. the conqueror must be frowned upon in the moment of his triumph, lest he should forget himself, or rather forget his master. he, without whose adventurings the monarch's realm could scarcely find enlargement, must immediately on the attainment of new territory be diverted by the intrusion of some professional governor, who between law, selfishness, and despotism usually managed to defeat 515 the aims of both king and conqueror, and attain his own end in ruin and disgrace. thus it was on espa?ola, and thus it is again on tierra firme. had columbus been less incompetent as the beginner in this colonization, and as governor; had he with wise statesmanship founded one new world colony on firm and liberal principles, the whole spanish-american colonial system during the following three centuries might have been something quite different. had the monarch found on trial that his deputies were trustworthy, he would have trusted them. had he not, they would have compelled him. as it was they compelled him to treat them as unreliable and unjust, as indeed they were, that is to say such of them as were competent. while the monarch was far less blamable than his representatives, while as a rule he sought with honest and pious purpose the best welfare of his subjects, civilized and savage, it seemed his fate thus far to keep the colonies always in a ferment, every man's hand against his neighbor, and under such poisonous and perverting stimulus, that the vilest elements attained success, while the noblest were consumed to cinders. witness christopher columbus and bartolomé his brother as against bobadilla and ovando; vasco nu?ez beside pedrarias; and now pedrarias and gil gonzalez.
gil gonzalez again.
upon the return to panamá in june, 1523, of andrés ni?o and gil gonzalez, from their discovery of nicaragua, pedrarias undertook, as we have seen, at once to secure for himself every benefit of their adventure. and this without a shadow of right or reason. the pilot and the contador had acted under authority direct from the king; they had imperilled their lives and had exhausted their private fortunes; while the governor had not only contributed nothing, but actually disobeyed the king in refusing to deliver the ships of vasco nu?ez, and in withholding men and means for the expedition. a grand achievement 516 had been consummated by a handful of men, poorly equipped and in small unseaworthy vessels, whose consequent sufferings were in a measure caused by the inherent wickedness of the governor, now the first of all to clutch at the gold. he would have the honor of paying the king's fifth into the royal treasury, for he could make it advantageous for himself.
gil gonzalez would cheerfully have turned over the treasure to the king's officers, for his blood was up, and he wished to return immediately and chastise the impudent caciques, diriangen and nicaragua. but, when under his letters patent he demanded aid for that purpose, the governor promised it only on condition that he went as his lieutenant, and that the war should be conducted in his name. this the contador refused to do. pedrarias then said that he would undertake the further pacification of nicaragua on his own account, and plant a colony, perhaps, at the gulf of fonseca; that a southern expedition which he had planned would be directed north, in view of the superior attractions appearing in the reports of the late discoveries. upon this gil gonzalez determined to hasten from panamá with the king's gold, which had been melted down by the assayer, and lay the matter before the audiencia at santo domingo, thence going to spain if necessary.
there was a caravel lying at nombre de dios, which gil gonzalez purchased for one thousand castellanos, and stealing from panamá he escaped with the gold, and set sail for espa?ola just as pedrarias in hot pursuit appeared upon the shore with a requisition and order of arrest.
the royal authorities at santo domingo listened with favor to their former contador; on comparing his actions with his instructions they found that he had acquitted himself creditably. they deemed it unnecessary for him to go to spain, and thought he could better serve the king by continuing his important discovery. he might proceed at once to the 517 eastern shore of tierra firme, and search for the strait communicating with the freshwater sea, or its outlet, which was sure to exist; or, failing in that, enter the territory, pass over to the freshwater sea by land, found there a colony and build a town. to this end the audiencia promised to aid him in raising three hundred men and fifty horses, which, with the ship he had brought from nombre de dios, would give him a fair equipment. distributing, therefore, the royal share of the treasure[xvi-2] among five ships lying at santo domingo, according to the royal regulations, gil gonzalez despatched by antonio de cereceda, treasurer of the nicaraguan expedition, the famous letter which i have so frequently quoted, and a map of the coast from panamá to the gulf of fonseca, made with great care by the pilots of the expedition. in this letter, after giving an account of the discovery and presenting his plans, the writer begs the sovereign that his pay as captain be made over to his wife at seville, for the support and education of his children; that the limits of his discovery may speedily be defined, and other conquerors and rulers forbidden to intrude; that letters patent may be granted him with the title of admiral of the freshwater sea, together with a tenth of the king's revenue within the territory. were it not that his majesty might deem it a desire on the part of the discoverer to call attention to himself he could tell much more; but this he would say of five things done by him, namely—no other spaniard ever before discovered so many leagues on foot with so few men 518 so poorly equipped; no man ever converted so many souls to christ in so short a time; no discoverer as yet had brought so much gold; none had fought so many indians without the loss of a man; and, finally, no one before him had ever returned from a voyage of discovery without having lost to the adventurers the cost of the outfit. cereceda and the letter were graciously received by the emperor, who ordered gil gonzalez to continue his discoveries.
nicaragua
admiral of the freshwater sea.
but without waiting instructions from spain gil gonzalez had hastened to occupy what he had discovered, before others should arrive to dispute possession with him. he sailed from santo domingo in the spring of 1524[xvi-3] for the eastern coast of nicaragua, 519 intending to cross to the freshwater sea, by way of its outlet, and thereby avoid collision with the governor at panamá; but he steered too far to the right, and struck the continent on the north side of honduras, about twenty leagues east of golfo dulce. obliged by a storm to throw overboard some horses to save his ship, he gave the name of caballos[xvi-4] to the port from which he had under the circumstances to turn away. from this point he was driven by the wind westward to golfo dulce. finding himself in a strange mountainous country, and at a loss whither to proceed, he deemed it safe in any event to take possession and plant there a colony, and to this he gave the name san gil de buenavista. leaving there a portion of his men he coasted eastward, to a point between capes honduras and camarones, and although still far from his destination he disembarked the troops and marched southward in search of his freshwater sea.
continuing on this course gil gonzalez in due time approached the territory of nicaragua, but only to encounter hernando de soto, sent by córdoba to ascertain who were the rival settlers. gil gonzalez first learned of the presence of córdoba in that quarter while passing through the valley of olancho. there was but one way to settle rival claims under such circumstances, the old brutal way, practised by both savage and civilized from the beginning, and in vogue to-day among our most christian and cultured nations—the weaker must give way to the stronger.
the two companies met at a place called toreba. the savage method of warfare was adopted. just 520 before dawn, as soto lay wrapped in slumber, gil gonzalez, with a portion only of his command, crept into the enemy's camp, and raising the war-cry, "san gil! kill the traitors!" began a furious onslaught upon his countrymen. soto commanded the superior force, and although taken at a disadvantage he was soon disputing for the victory with every prospect of success. the engagement lasted some time, and several spaniards on both sides were killed. at length gil gonzalez, fearing defeat, cried out, "peace! peace, se?or capitan, in the emperor's name!" and although soto was urged by his associates to follow up the advantage, he ceased hostilities and prepared for an amicable adjustment of differences.
thus matters remained for several days. but gil gonzalez had no intention of abandoning the field, as his actions and words implied. he only wished to gain time and bring up the remainder of his force. this effected, he again suddenly sprang upon the enemy, and after a short but severe engagement drove him from the field, securing his treasure, to the value of one hundred and thirty thousand castellanos.[xvi-5]
satisfied with this success, and unprepared to meet a superior force under córdoba, gil gonzalez disarmed the enemy, and retired to puerto caballos, where he was informed that a fleet had arrived from mexico in command of cristóbal de olid, one of the captains of hernan cortés.
honduras and nicaragua.
after the defeat of soto, córdoba took measures to strengthen his position at leon, building there a strong fortress. cristóbal de olid, of whom i shall speak presently, founded a settlement on the north coast of honduras, fourteen leagues east of puerto caballos, to which he gave the name of triunfo de la cruz.[xvi-6] thus for the territory now embraced within 521 the boundaries of nicaragua and honduras, there appeared three claimants—gil gonzalez, who, under the auspices of the crown, claimed for himself as the discoverer; francisco hernandez de córdoba, who claimed for pedrarias; and cristóbal de olid, who claimed for cortés and himself.
