(1513)

THE ACCOUNT BY MANUEL JOSE QUINTANA[1]


Careta[2] had for a neighbor a cacique called by some Comogre, by
others Panquiaco, chief of about ten thousand Indians, among whom were
3,000 warriors. Having heard of the valor and enterprise of the
Castilians, this chief desired to enter into treaty and friendship
with them; and a principal Indian, a dependent of Careta, having
presented himself as the agent in this friendly overture, Vasco Nuñez,
anxious to profit by the opportunity of securing such an ally, went
with his followers to visit Comogre....

Balboa was transported by the prospect of glory and fortune which
opened before him; he believed himself already at the gates of the
East Indies, which was the desired object of the government and the
discoverers of that period; he resolved to return in the first place
to the Darien to raise the spirits of his companions with these
brilliant hopes, and to make all possible preparations for realizing
them. He remained, nevertheless, yet a few days with the caciques; and
so strict was the friendship he had contracted with them that they and
their families were baptized, Careta taking in baptism the name of
Fernando, and Comogre that of Carlos. Balboa then returned to the
Darien, rich in the spoils of Ponca, rich in the presents of his
friends, and still richer in the golden hopes which the future offered
him.

At this time, and after an absence of six months, arrived the
magistrate Valdivia, with a vessel laden with different stores; he