THE
COMPANIONS
OF C O L U M B U S .
127
fortune, and it was unanimously agreed that the seat of govern足 ment should be established in this village ; to which, in fulfillment of his vow, Enciso gave the name of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien.
CHAPTER X. THE
B A C H E L O R ENCISO
UNDERTAKES
THE
COMMAND.
HIS
DOWNFALL.
T H E Bachelor Enciso now entered upon the exercise of his civil functions as alcalde mayor, and lieutenant of the absent governor, Ojeda.
His first edict was stern and peremptory ; he forbade all
trafficking with the natives for gold, on private account, under pain of death.
This was in conformity to royal command ; but
it was little palatable to men who had engaged in the enterprise in the hopes of enjoying free trade, lawless liberty, and golden gains.
They murmured among themselves, and insinuated that
Enciso intended to reserve all the profit to himself. Vasco Nunez was the first to take advantage of the general discontent.
He had risen to consequence among his fellow-ad足
venturers, from having guided them to this place, and from his own intrinsic qualities, being hardy, bold, and intelligent, and pos足 sessing the random spirit and open-handed generosity common to a soldier of fortune, and calculated to dazzle and delight the multitude. He bore no good will to the Bachelor, recollecting his threat of landing him on an uninhabited island, when he escaped in a cask from San Domingo.
He sought, therefore, to make a party