instantly two claimants for the honor of leading such an expedition presented themselves. the first alonzo de ojeda, the other diego de nicuesa. two more extraordinary characters never went knight-erranting upon the seas. ojeda was one of the {6} prodigious men of a time which was fertile in notable characters. although small in stature, he was a man of phenomenal strength and vigor. he could stand at the foot of the giralda in seville and throw an orange over it, a distance of two hundred and fifty feet from the earth![1]
wishing to show his contempt for danger, on one occasion he ran out on a narrow beam projecting some twenty feet from the top of the same tower and there, in full view of queen isabella and her court, performed various gymnastic exercises, such as standing on one leg, et cetera, for the edification of the spectators, returning calmly and composedly to the tower when he had finished the exhibition.
he was a magnificent horseman, an accomplished knight and an able soldier. there was no limit to his daring. he went with columbus on his second voyage, and, single-handed, effected the capture of a powerful indian cacique named caonabo, by a mixture of adroitness, audacity and courage.
professing amity, he got access to the indian, and, exhibiting some polished manacles, which he declared were badges of royalty, he offered to put them on the fierce but unsophisticated savage and then mount the chief on his own horse to show him off like a spanish monarch to his subjects. the daring programme was carried out just exactly as it had been planned. when ojeda had got the forest king safely fettered and mounted on his horse, he sprang up behind him, held him there firmly in spite of his efforts, and galloped off to columbus with his astonished and disgusted captive.
"ojeda galloped off with his astonished captive"
"ojeda galloped off with his astonished captive"
{7}
neither of the voyages was successful. with all of his personal prowess, he was an unsuccessful administrator. he was poor, not to say penniless. he had two powerful friends, however. one was bishop fonseca, who was charged with the administration of affairs in the indies, and the other was stout old juan de la cosa. these two men made a very efficient combination at the spanish court, especially as la cosa had some money and was quite willing to put it up, a prime requisite for the mercenary and niggardly ferdinand's favor.
"the indians poured a rain of poisoned arrows"
"the indians poured a rain of poisoned arrows"
the other claimant for the honor of leading the colony happened to be another man small in stature, but also of great bodily strength, although he scarcely equalled his rival in that particular. nicuesa had made a successful voyage to the indies with ovando, and had ample command of means. he was a gentleman by birth and station—ojeda was that also—and was grand carver-in-chief to the king's uncle! among his other qualities for successful colonization were a beautiful voice, a masterly touch on the guitar and an exquisite skill in equitation. he had even taught his horse to keep time to music. whether or not he played that music himself on the back of the performing steed is not recorded.
ferdinand was unable to decide between the rival claimants. finally he determined to send out two expeditions. the gulf of uraba, now called the gulf of darien, was to be the dividing line between the two allotments of territory. ojeda was to have that portion extending from the gulf to the cape de la vela, which is just west of the gulf of venezuela. this territory was named new andalusia. nicuesa was to take that between the gulf and the cape gracias á dios off {8} honduras. this section was denominated golden castile. each governor was to fit out his expedition at his own charges. jamaica was given to both in common as a point of departure and a base of supplies.
the resources of ojeda were small, but when he arrived at santo domingo with what he had been able to secure in the way of ships and men, he succeeded in inducing a lawyer named encisco, commonly called the bachelor[2] encisco, to embark his fortune of several thousand gold castellanos, which he had gained in successful pleadings in the court in the litigious west indies, in the enterprise. in it he was given a high position, something like that of district judge.
with this re?nforcement, ojeda and la cosa equipped two small ships and two brigantines containing three hundred men and twelve horses.[3]
they were greatly chagrined when the imposing armada of nicuesa, comprising four ships of different sizes, but much larger than any of ojeda's, and two brigantines carrying seven hundred and fifty men, sailed into the harbor of santo domingo.
the two governors immediately began to quarrel. ojeda finally challenged nicuesa to a duel which should determine the whole affair. nicuesa, who had everything to lose and nothing to gain by fighting, but who could not well decline the challenge, said that he was willing to fight him if ojeda would put up what would popularly be known to-day in the pugilistic {9} circles as "a side bet" of five thousand castellanos to make the fight worth while.[4]
poor ojeda could not raise another maravedi, and as nobody would stake him, the duel was off. diego columbus, governor of hispaniola, also interfered in the game to a certain extent by declaring that the island of jamaica was his, and that he would not allow anybody to make use of it. he sent there one juan de esquivel, with a party of men to take possession of it. whereupon ojeda stoutly declared that when he had time he would stop at that island and if esquivel were there, he would cut off his head.
finally on the 10th of november, 1509, ojeda set sail, leaving encisco to bring after him another ship with needed supplies. with ojeda was francisco pizarro, a middle-aged soldier of fortune, who had not hitherto distinguished himself in any way. hernando cortez was to have gone along also, but fortunately for him, an inflammation of the knee kept him at home. ojeda was in such a hurry to get to el dorado—for it was in the territory to the southward of his allotment, that the mysterious city was supposed to be located—that he did not stop at jamaica to take off esquivel's head—a good thing for him, as it subsequently turned out.
nicuesa would have followed ojeda immediately, but his prodigal generosity had exhausted even his large resources, and he was detained by clamorous creditors, the law of the island being that no one could leave it in debt. the gallant little meat-carver labored with success to settle various suits pending, and thought {10} he had everything compounded; but just as he was about to sail he was arrested for another debt of five hundred ducats. a friend at last advanced the money for him and he got away ten days after ojeda. it would have been a good thing if no friend had ever interfered and he had been detained indefinitely at hispaniola.
