commission, at Hispaniola, to cut dye-wood, but was prevented by the governor, and obliged to set sail. He then cruised among the islands, and seizing the natives, carried them home to sell for slaves. He reached Cadiz in June, 1500, but so unproductive was his expedition, that it is said, after the expenses were paid, but five hundred ducats remained to be divided among fifty-five adventurers.

The private enterprise of Ojeda did not fail to excite the same spirit among other followers of Columbus, who remained in Spain. He had been scarcely a month gone, before Pedro Alonzo Niño, who had been the pilot of the admiral on his first voyage, set out from Palos with Christoval Guerra, the brother of a Sevillian merchant who supplied the outfit. The vessel of these bold adventurers was but a bark of fifty tons, the crew but thirty-three men-yet with the daring spirit of the Spanish sailors of those days, they embarked fearlessly and joyfully to explore barbarous shores and unknown seas. Reaching the coasts of Paria and Cumana, they carried on for some time a profitable commerce with the natives, from whom they obtained pearls and gold in exchange for glass beads and other trinkets; but falling in at length with tribes less peaceful, and not, like Ojeda, enjoying warlike renown as much as profitable traffic, they returned to Spain after an absence of ten months, and making fewer discoveries but more profit than had yet resulted from any voyage across the Atlantic.

In the month of December of the same year, 1499, Vicente Yañez Pinzon, one of the three brave men of that family who aided Columbus in his first voyage, but who had since remained in Spain, owing to the difference that arose between his brother and the admiral, embarked with two of his nephews, sons of Martin Alonzo, in an armament consisting of four caravels, from the port of Palos, the cradle of American discovery. Carried by a storm south of the equator, they were perplexed with the new aspect of the heavens, and it was not till the 28th of January, 1500, that they were consoled by the sight of land. The headland they saw, now known as cape St. Augustin, the most prominent point of Brazil, they named Santa Maria de la Consolacion. They found the natives warlike and inhospitable, treating with haughty contempt the hawks' bills and trinkets which were exhibited to them; and Pinzon and his weary messmates were fain to pursue their voyages, amid occasional conflicts whenever they landed, along the shores that stretched to the north. He discovered the mouth of the vast river of the Amazons, visited a number of fresh and verdant islands lying within it, and thence passing the gulf of Paria, made his way directly to Hispaniola. From there, sailing to the Bahamas, he

encountered a violent storm, and sustained so much damage that he returned to Spain.

Scarcely had Pinzon sailed from Palos, when he was followed by his townsman Diego de Lepe. Of his voyage, however, but little is known, except that he doubled cape St. Augustin, and enjoyed for ten years the reputation of having extended his discoveries farther south than any other voyager.

In October following, soon after the return of Ojeda, a wealthy notary of Seville, by name Rodrigo de Bastides, desirous of speculating in the new El Dorado, engaged the services of the veteran pilot and companion of Ojeda, Juan de la Cosa, and set out with two caravels in quest of gold and pearls. They continued the discoveries along Terra Firma, from cape de la Vela, where Ojeda had stopped, to the port afterwards called Nombre de Dios; they treated the natives kindly, and acquired rich cargoes; but unfortunately their vessels were cast away on the coast of Hispaniola, and the crews were forced to travel on foot to the city of St. Domingo, provided only with a small store of trinkets and other articles of Indian traffic, with which to buy provisions on the road. The moment Bastides made his appearance, he was seized as an illicit trader by the governor Bobadilla, the oppressor and superseder of Columbus, and sent for trial to Spain. He was there acquitted, and his voyage was so lucrative, that he had considerable profit after all his misfortunes.

The reports of these successive adventures were not heard by Ojeda, who had continued to linger about the bishop of Fonseca, without reanimating his bold spirit. He found numbers ready to listen to his wonderful stories, and embark in his wild expeditions; he found others who desired to increase their wealth, by aiding him with the means to renew them. The king made him governor of the province of Coquibacoa, which he had discovered; and in 1502 he again set sail, with four vessels well fitted out. Arriving at his new government, he selected a bay which he named Santa Cruz, but which is supposed to be that now called Bahia Honda, as the site of a settlement, and commenced at once the erection of a fortress. Before long, however, dissensions broke out between him and some of his principal companions, which ended in his being seized by the latter, accused as a defaulter to the crown of Spain, and thrown into irons. whole community then set sail with their former chief for St. Domingo. They arrived at the island of Hispaniola, and while at anchor within stone's throw of the land, Ojeda, confident of his strength and skill as a swimmer, let himself quietly down the side of the ship during the night, and tried to gain the shore. His arms were free, but his feet were shackled, and the weight of the irons threatened to sink him. He was obliged to call for help; a boat was sent from the ship; and the unfortunate goVOL. IX.-No. 17.

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vernor, half drowned, was restored to captivity. He was tried at San Domingo and condemned, but appealing to the sovereign, was afterwards acquitted. The long litigation, however, exhausted his fortune, and he again found himself a ruined man.

If ruined, however, he was yet in the vigour of his years, and his spirit was undaunted. He still yearned for the gold of Terra Firma. All he wanted was money to fit out an armament. In this difficulty he was aided by an old and tried friend. Juan de la Cosa, the hardy pilot of Columbus, and the companion of Ojeda in his first voyage, and subsequently of Rodrigo de Bastides, had remained in Hispaniola, and contrived to fill his purse in subsequent cruises among the islands. The friends united together, and applied to the crown of Spain for a grant of territory and command on Terra Firma. A similar application was made about the same time by Diego de Nicuesa, an accomplished courtier of noble birth.

"Nature, education, and habit, seemed to have combined to form Nicuesa as a complete rival of Ojeda. Like him he was small of stature, but remarkable for symmetry and compactness of form, and for bodily strength and activity; like him he was master at all kinds of weapons, and skilled, not merely in feats of agility, but in those graceful and chivalrous exercises, which the Spanish cavaliers of those days had inherited from the Moors; being noted for his vigour and address in the jousts or tilting matches after the Moresco fashion. Ojeda himself could not surpass him in feats of horsemanship, and particular mention is made of a favourite mare, which he could make caper and carricol in strict cadence to the sound of a viol; beside all this, he was versed in the legendary ballads or romances of his country, and was renowned as a capital performer on the guitar! Such were the qualifications of this candidate for a command in the wilderness, as enumerated by the reverend Bishop Las Casas. It is probable, however, that he had given evidence of qualities more adapted to the desired post; having already been out to Hispaniola in the military train of the late Governor Ovando."

King Ferdinand found some difficulty in deciding between the claims of candidates whose merits were so singularly balanced; he ultimately divided that part of the continent lying along the isthmus, and extending from cape de la Vela to cape Gracias à Dios, into two provinces, separated by the bay of Uraba, which is at the head of the gulf of Darien. Of these provinces, the eastern was assigned to Ojeda, the western to Nicuesa.

The armaments of the rival governors met in the port of St. Domingo. It was not long before cause of collision arose between two men, both possessed of such swelling spirits. They quarrelled about the boundaries of their governments, and the province of Darien was boldly claimed by each.

"Their disputes on these points ran so high, that the whole place resounded with them. In talking, however, Nicuesa had the advantage; having been brought up in the court, he was more polished and ceremonious, had greater self-command, and probably perplexed his rival governor in argument. Ojeda was no great casuist, but he was an excellent swordsman, and always ready to fight his way through any question of right or dignity which he could not clearly argue with

the tongue; so he proposed to settle the dispute by single combat. Nicuesa, though equally brave, was more a man of the world, and saw the folly of such arbitrament. Secretly smiling at the heat of his antagonist, he proposed as a preliminary to the duel, and to furnish something worth fighting for, that each should deposit five thousand castillanos, to be the prize of the victor. This, as he foresaw, was a temporary check upon the fiery valour of his rival, who did not possess a pistole in his treasury; but probably was too proud to confess it."

How long the poverty of Ojeda could have kept down his fiery spirit, we may doubt. Fortunately he had in his companion, the brave Juan de la Cosa, a friend who could control him, as well as follow and support him. Juan reconciled, at least for a time, the quarrel of the rival governors, and it was agreed that the river Darien should be the boundary of their provinces. Things being thus arranged, Ojeda was anxious to set sail; he still, however, wanted pecuniary assistance to complete his equipment; though careless of money himself, he seems to have had a facility in commanding the purses of his neighbours; and on this occasion he found, in a quarter, where perhaps he could scarce have expected it, both personal and pecuniary aid. There lived at San Domingo, the bachelor Martin Fernandez de Enciso, a shrewd lawyer, who had contrived to accumulate a considerable fortune by the litigation which already flourished in the New World. He was dazzled by the visions of unbounded wealth, he was promised the lofty office and title of Alcalde Mayor, and in an evil hour the worthy bachelor united in the enterprise of Ojeda, in search of fame and fortune. It was determined that he should stay at St. Domingo till he could collect a larger store of provisions and more men; and then follow his partner, who set sail without delay. The armament of Nicuesa still remained in port; for that gallant cavalier, notwithstanding his challenge to his rival, had exhausted all the money he could raise; he was even threatened with a prison; and it was not till some time after his rival had sailed, that he was enabled by unexpected assistance to embark.

In the month of November 1509, Ojeda reached the harbour of Cartagena, in his new province. In addition to Juan de la Cosa, he had as a companion Francisco Pizarro, who afterwards conquered Peru. The former, knowing from previous voyages the savage character of the natives, advised Ojeda not to stop there, but to proceed to the bay of Uraba. Such advice was useless to a proud warrior, who despised a naked and a savage foe. Having failed to keep his commander from danger, the faithful Juan could only stand by to aid him. Ojeda, who was a good Catholic, thought that he performed a pious duty in reducing the savages to the dominion of the king and the knowledge of the true faith. He carried as a protecting relic a small painting of the Holy Virgin; he summoned the Indians in the name

of the Pope, and he assured them in the most solemn terms that they were the lawful subjects of the sovereigns of Castile.

"On landing, he advanced towards the savages, and ordered the friars to read aloud a certain formula, which had recently been digested by profound jurists and divines in Spain. It began in stately form. I, Alonzo de Ojeda, servant of the most high and mighty sovereigns of Castile and Leon, conquerors of barbarous nations, their messenger and captain, do notify unto you, and make you know, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, one and eternal, created the heaven and the earth, and one man and one woman, from whom you and we, and all the people of the earth proceeded, and are descendants, as well as all those who shall come hereafter.' The formula then went on to declare the fundamental principles of the Catholic Faith; the supreme power given to St. Pe ter over the world and all the human race, and exercised by his representative the pope; the donation made by a late pope of all this part of the world and all its inhabitants, to the Catholic sovereigns of Castile; and the ready obedience which had already been paid by many of its lands and islands and people to the agents and representatives of those sovereigns. It called upon those savages present, therefore, to do the same, to acknowledge the truth of the Christian doctrines, the supremacy of the pope, and the sovereignty of the Catholic King, but, in case of refusal, it denounced upon them all the horrors of war, the desolation of their dwelling, the seizure of their property, and the slavery of their wives and children. Such was the extraordinary document, which, from this time forward, was read by the Spanish discoverers to the wondering savages of any newly-found country, as a prelude to sanctify the violence about to be inflicted on them."

The pious manifesto was uttered in vain to the warlike savages: they brandished their weapons, and Ojeda, after a short prayer to the Virgin, had to discard the parchment, brace up his armour, and charge the foe at the head of his followers. He was not long in defeating his naked enemies, who fled into the forests. Juan de la Cosa again tried his influence with his commander, and urged him to desist from pursuit. It was in vain. Ojeda, with Juan faithfully at his side, rushed madly on through the mazes of unknown woods. The Indians rallied and waylaid the imprudent Spaniards. It was in vain that Ojeda inspired 'them with fresh courage by the example of his undaunted prow

Numbers prevailed; the weapons of the savages were steeped in a deadly poison; and one after one the invaders were left dead. Among those who fell was the brave Juan de la Cosa; and a Spaniard, who was near him when he died, was the only surviver of seventy that had followed Ojeda in his rash and headlong inroad.

For days those who remained at the ships waited the arrival of their companions. They searched the woods and shouted along the shore, but they could hear no signal from them. What was their surprise one day, at catching in a thicket of mangrove trees, a glimpse of a man in Spanish attire. They entered, and found the unfortunate Ojeda; he lay on the matted roots of the trees; he was speechless, wan, and wasted; but his hand still grasped his sword. They restored him with wine and a warm