which sudden joy had deprived him, and thus addrest his Castilians:
"You behold before you, friends, the object of all our desires and the
reward of all our labors. Before you roll the waves of the sea which
has been announced to you, and which no doubt encloses the immense
riches we have heard of. You are the first who have reached these
shores and these waves; yours are their treasures, yours alone the
glory of reducing these immense and unknown regions to the dominion of
our King and to the light of the true religion. Follow me, then,
faithful as hitherto, and I promise you that the world shall not hold
your equals in wealth and glory."

All embraced him joyfully and all promised to follow whithersoever he
should lead. They quickly cut down a great tree, and, stripping it of
its branches, formed a cross from it, which they fixt in a heap of
stones found on the spot from whence they first descried the sea. The
names of the monarchs of Castile were engraven on the trunks of the
trees, and with shouts and acclamations they descended the sierra and
entered the plain.

They arrived at some bohios, which formed the population of a chief,
called Chiapes, who had prepared to defend the pass with arms. The
noise of the muskets and the ferocity of the war-dogs dispersed them
in a moment, and they fled, leaving many captives; by these and by
their Quarequano guides, the Spaniards sent to offer Chiapes secure
peace and friendship if he would come to them, or otherwise the ruin
and extermination of his town and his fields. Persuaded by them, the
cacique came and placed himself in the hands of Balboa, who treated
him with much kindness. He brought and distributed gold and received
in exchange beads and toys, with which he was so diverted that he no
longer thought of anything but contenting and conciliating the