THE
C O M P A N I O N S OF C O L U M B U S .
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they were within his province ; others were strenuous for Vasco Nunez.
A violent dispute ensued, which was carried on with
such heat and obstinacy, that many, anxious for a quiet life, de足 clared it would be better to reinstate Enciso until the pleasure of the king should be known. In the height of these factious altercations the Spaniards weru aroused one day by the thundering of cannon from the opposite side of the gulf, and beheld columns of smoke rising from the hills.
Astonished at signals of civilized man on these wild shores,
they replied in the same manner, and in a short time two ships were seen standing across the gulf.
They proved to be an arma足
ment commanded by one Rodrigo de Colmenares, and were in search of Nieuesa with supplies.
They had met with the usual
luck of adventurers on this disastrous coast, storms at sea and savage foes on shore, and many of their number had fallen by poisoned arrows.
Colmenares had touched at San Sebastian to
learn tidings of Nieuesa ; but, finding the fortress in ruins, had made signals, in hopes of being heard by the Spaniards, should they be yet lingering in the neighborhood. The arrival of Colmenares caused a temporary suspension of the feuds of the colonists.
He distributed provisions among them,
and gained their hearts.
Then, representing the legitimate right
of Nieuesa to the command of all that part of the coast as a governor appointed by the king, he persuaded the greater part of the people to acknowledge his authority.
It was generally
agreed, therefore, that he should cruise along the coast in search of Nieuesa, and that Diego de Albitez, and an active member of the law, called the Bachelor Corral, should accompany him as ambassadors, to invite that cavalier to come and assume the go足 vernment of Darien.
VOL.
III.
i