Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-04-12

NlO DAlLY hE@N)hO-l L
| first dried by fire to prevent decay, and
| then wrapped in great quantities of cloth
which was interviewer with threads ot
/ gold and silver, and fastened here and
there with native emeralds and Jumps Of
gold.
The sight of these rich bundles hanging
all around room was more than enough
to excite Spanish cupidity to such pitch
that no amount of Indebtedness 10 their
hospitable entertainers could
SAVE THE DEAD
From desecration. To prevent this and
satisfy Balboa's demand, the chiefs eld-
est son brought four thousand ounces OF
! gold and directed it to be divided among
the guests. Of course they got into row
over its distribution: when the disguised
savage sprang between the disputants,
| dashed the scales TO the ground and ex-
claimed; "Why do you fight for such
| trash as this? If you want gold go be-
yond those mountains There is a great
sea- on which sail vessels like your own.
The streams that flow into it are filed
with gold, and the people who live on It's
shores eat from plates OF gold"
The hasty words made deep impress
sion on Balboa and he Immediately de-
manded to know all about the ''great sea-
The young chief could not tell much, be-
| yond the fact that the way thereto was
one of danger and difficulty; but, proba-
bly, in hope of getting rid of the terrible
| guests: he offered to conduct them to it if
they wished to go. OF course they wanted
to, if gold was so plentiful, and Balboa
/ hurried off to Darien to prepare for the
expedition.
He sent to Spain for the men required,
and after waiting long and anxiously in
vain, received word that Eneisco had re-
established himself in the favor of the
! King, and was coming back at once to re-
| sumo command of the colony. Balboa
knew very we'll that if he fell into the
clutches of his old enemy he would be
sent home in chains to answer to the
| charge Of treason. There was but one
course to save his precious head, and he
lost no time in pursuing it-by calling
upon volunteers to accompany him to the
| great sea" and getting out of the way be-
| fore Encisco's arrival. Nearly 300 men
responded to his call, and on the first of
| September, 1913, he set out with a brigan-
! tine and ten canoes. Reaching the do
main of his father-in-law he tarried a
! while and from that point the inland march
began.
Space will not permit an account of how
they toiled over rocks and hills and
through the thick underground of tropical
forests, lnorasses and jungles, suffering at
| every step from sickness, hunger and the
fierce opposition of the Indians. After
! many battles, in which the simple natives
were always routed with fear at the first
discharge of firearms-they believing the
| strange weapons to be thunder and light
ming in human hands-the adventurers
reached the foot of the mountain, from
whose summit the guide assured them that
the ocean was visible. Determined to
have
THE FIRST GLIMPSE
Of it himself, Balboa ordered halt here
and went into camp that his sick and
wounded followers might have needed rest.
At the first peep of day he prepared to as.
cend with sixty picked companions. 1t
was high noon before they emerged from
the dense forest and stood at the base of a
stony peak that crowned the mountain top.
Bidding the rest remain behind until he
gave them signal, Balboa pushed for
, ward alone until he reached the summit,
and there below him. stretching awav TO
the horizon, lay the mighty sea, whose
shining waters had never before been be-
| held by the eye of a white man.
| His followers dashed after him, Fran
cisco Pizarro among the first and a young
| priest, who at once set up the chant, Ie
| Deum LduddBlus, in which all Joined on
| bended knees. Then, as usual, they set up
| wooden cross on a mound of stones, and
by that means took formal possession of
| land and sea in the name of their King
! and the Pope.
To carry the story to its conclusion, the
adventures, after many hardships, re-
turned to Darien; whence Balboa de-
! spatched ship TO Spain with the news of
his grand discovery and one-fifth of all the
| gold he had taken. By this time Encisco
had returned to Spain and new Governor
was in command at Darien The latter
| had Balboa tried on the old charge of
treason; but he was acquitted and then
started to carry out his intention of ex-
| ploring the ocean he had named Pacifco,
and finding those people who ate from
| plates of gold.
l
backbone of the Isthmus, he built vessels
on the banks of the Valsa river, visited
the Pearl islands in Panama bay and
cruised some distance down the scoast.
Meantime jealous enemies at home, egged
in by Eucisco, reported that he intended
to set up a colony of his own on the Pa
cifc side Of the Isthmus. Thereupon the
Governor of Darien summoned Balboa
back to his capital, ostensibly to hold
with him friendly consultation. Against
the advice Of his comrades Balboa went.
| The Governor had him arrested on a
charge of treason. and after going through
the form of a trial condemned him to
death. Almost Immediately he was led
| forth to execution, preceded by crier
who proclaimed him to be traitor to the
Crown. With his last breath Balboa in
dignantly denied the charge He was
just forty-one years old, in the prime of
life and in the beginning of possible use
fulness, when-pinioned to a chair upon a
high platform-he looked his last upon
this world.
He was undoubtedly a great scamp, but
averaged pretty well on the whole for a
sixteenth century crusader His history
indicates no disloyalty to his sovereign,
and as q reward for his splendid discovery
he fell victim to the same mean spirit OF
Jealousy which caused Columbus to be car
ried in chains TO the prison where he died.
FANNIE B. WARD.