108
VOYAGES
farther behind.
A N D D I S C O V E R I E S OF
Disheartened at the constant, and, in their opin
ion, fruitless toil which fell to their share in the struggle westward, they resolved to take their own counsel, without risking the oppo sition of Nicuesa.
In the dead of the night, therefore, when
their companions on the island were asleep, they silently cast off their boat, and retraced their course along the coast.
After sev
eral days' toil they found the brigantines under the command of Lope de Olano, in the river of Belen, the scene of the disasters of Columbus in his fourth voyage. The conduct of Lope de Olano was regarded with suspicion by his contemporaries, and is still subject to doubt.
He is sup
posed to have deserted Nicuesa designedly, intending to usurp the command of the expedition.
Men, however, were prone to judge
harshly of him from his having been concerned in the treason and rebellion of Francisco Roldan.
On the stormy night when
Nicuesa stood out to sea to avoid the dangers of the shore, Olano took shelter under the lee of an island.
Seeing nothing of the
caravel of his commander in the morning, he made no effort to seek for it, but proceeded with the brigantines to the river of Chagres, where he found the ships at anchor.
They had landed
all their cargo, being almost in a sinking condition from the rav ages of the worms.
Olano persuaded the crews that Nicuesa had
perished in the late storm, and, being his lieutenant, he assumed the command.
Whether he had been perfidious or not in his mo
tives, his command was but a succession of disasters.
He sailed
from Chagres for the river of Belen, where the ships were found so damaged that they had to be broken to pieces.
Most of the
people constructed wretched cabins on the shore, where, during a sudden storm, they were almost washed away by the swelling of the river, or swallowed up in the shifting sands.
Several of his