Acla. Thence Vasco Nuñez sent people to the Rio de la Balsa, and made two ships, that he might embark on the South Sea, and discover what there might be in it.[1]
Vasco Nuñez came to that river, near a populous district which had no chief, for the heads of families were the chiefs among that people; and all lived in friendship with each other. This province borders on that of Cueva, and the people are the same. It is wooded and flat, and fertile in yielding crops for bread. In this river we made two ships; and we brought many Indians to Acla, to carry the materials for the ships, and the food for the carpenters and other workmen.[2] We conveyed these ships down to the sea with great labour, for we met with many torrents forming hollows, which we had to cross. Having got down to the gulf of San Miguel, there was a high tide, and, as the carpenters did not know the wood, it proved to be such that all the planks were eaten through, and honeycombed.[3] Thus there was much trouble before we could pass in the ships to the islands of Pearls, where they came to pieces, and we made others of good timber, which were larger and better.
Vasco Nuñez was to be absent on this expedition for a year and a half, at the end of which time he was to send an account of what he had done to the governor.
- ↑ The scheme of Vasco Nuñez was to cut and fashion the frames of his vessels at Acla, then to carry the pieces over the forest covered hills, put them together on the banks of the Rio de la Balsa, and so descend into the South Sea, and commence his grand career of discovery. Certainly a bold and difficult undertaking, worthy of the man. Andagoya served in this, the last expedition of the intrepid Vasco Nuñez.
- ↑ As many as five hundred Indians are said to have perished in carrying the timber, ropes, and iron across the terrible sierra, with its dense forests and rapid torrents. Both Spaniards and Indians suffered fearfully from want of provisions.
- ↑ Fresh timber, we are told by Herrera, had to be hewn on the banks
the bishop of Darien, who had become a firm friend of Vasco Nuñez. The betrothal was a mere measure of expediency on the part of Vasco Nuñez, who was deeply attached to an Indian girl, the daughter of the cacique Careta.
