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palm nuts, and with the flesh of a kind of wild swine, of which they met with several herds.
These supplies failing, the Bache
lor sallied forth with a hundred men to forage the country. They were waylaid by three Indians, who discharged all the arrows in their quivers with incredible rapidity, wounded several Spaniards, and then fled with a swiftness that defied pursuit. Spaniards returned to the harbor in dismay.
The
All their dread of
the lurking savages and their poisoned weapons revived, and they insisted upon abandoning a place marked out for disaster. The Bachelor Enciso was himself disheartened at the situation of this boasted capital of San Sebastian ;—but whither could he go where the same misfortunes might not attend him ?
In this
moment of doubt and despondency, Vasco Nunez, the same ab sconding debtor who had been smuggled on board in the cask, stepped forward to give counsel.
He informed the Bachelor that
several years previous he had sailed along that coast with Rodrigo de Bastides.
They had explored the whole Gulf of Uraba ; and
he well remembered an Indian village situated on the western side, on the banks of a river which the natives called Darien. The country around was fertile and abundant, and was said to possess mines of gold ; and the natives, though a warlike race, never made use of poisoned weapons.
He offered to guide the
Bachelor to this place, where they might get a supply of provi sions, and even found their colony. The Spaniards hailed the words of Vasco Nunez as if reveal ing a land of promise.
The Bachelor adopted his advice, and,
guided by him, set sail for the village, determined to eject the inhabitants and take possession of it as the seat of government. Arrived at the river, he landed, put his men in martial array, and marched along the banks.
The place was governed by a brave