may bind me, and you
may hang me to the first tree if you find I have not told you the
exact truth. Summon, therefore, a thousand soldiers, well armed for
fighting, in order that, by their help, and assisted by the warriors
of my father Comogre armed in their style, we may shatter the power of
our enemies. In this way you will obtain the gold you want, and our
reward for guiding and helping you will be our deliverance from
hostile attacks and from the fear under which our ancestors lived; and
which destroys our enjoyment of peace."

After speaking thus the wise son of Comogre kept silence; and the love
of gain and the hope of gold fairly made our men's mouths water.

BOOK IV

The Spaniards remained several days in that place, during which they
baptised the cacique Comogre, giving him the name of Charles, after
the Spanish prince, and likewise all his family with him. They then
rejoined their companions at Darien, promising, however, to send the
soldiers his son desired to assist him in crossing the sierra and
reaching the southern ocean. Upon their arrival at their village they
learned that Valdivia had returned six months after his departure but
with very few stores, because his ship was a small one. He did bring,
however, the promise of speedy reinforcements and provisions. The
Admiral-Viceroy and the other government officials of Hispaniola
admitted that they had thus far taken little thought for the colonists
at Darien, because they supposed the judge, Enciso, had already sailed
with a well-freighted ship. They assured the colonists that for the
future they would have care for their needs. For the time being they
had no vessel larger than the one they had lent to Valdivia and which
sufficed to relieve their present wants.

This caravel was, in fact, a caravel in name only, and because of
its form, but not in its capacity. The provisions Valdivia brought
sufficed only for the needs of the moment, and within a few days after
his arrival the miseries of famine once more began, chiefly because
a waterspout burst from the mountain top, accompanied by terrible
lightnings and thunders, and washed down such an amount of rubbish
that the harvests, planted in the month of September before the
campaign against the cacique Comogre began, were either swept away or
completely buried. They consisted of the grain for bread-making, which
is called in Hispaniola maize, and in Uraba _hobba_. This maize is
harvested twice y