escadre de vaisseaux du roi, commandes par le comte de Gennes, et de la fondation de la colonie de Saint Louis a la Bale Pran9aise, par M. Froger, baron d'Espeleta" (Paris, 1698). This narrative is still highly esteemed on account of its exactitude, and in it the author contradicts the stories regard- ing the gigantic stature of the Patagonians, which he never found to be above six feet three inches. This publication, as it was not contradicted by De Gennes, turned the tide of public opinion in Espe- leta's favor, and the king, toward the end of 1698, made him a knight of Saint Louis, and in January, 1699, lieutenant-general and governor of the colony of Saint Louis, with power to found other French colonies in the South sea. Espeleta sailed again on 11 March, 1700, with 180 soldiers and 340 colo- nists. On his arrival in Saint Louis he found the colony a prey to famine and at war with the Pata- gonians. He promptly concluded peace with the Indians, set the colonists to clearing and cultivat- mg the land, and in a few years they became very prosperous, and a new colony was founded at Port Gallant. The vessels which he sent to France laden with colonial produce were twice captured by the British, and Espeleta conducted the third ex- pedition himself. After his return in 1715, hos- tilities with the Patagonians broke out again, and in one of the encounters Espeleta was killed. His death was the ruin of the colony, and although his deputies continued to hold out for a year, the colo- nists became disheartened, and, after blowing up the fort, returned to Prance. Malte Brun says, in his " Geographic generale " : " Espeleta's death was a great loss for France, as he certainly would have founded, in the course of time, in South America a vast colonial empire for France, if he had been properly supported by his government."
ESPINOSA, Gaspar de (es-pe-no'-sa), Spanish
soldier, b. in Medina del Campo, Valladolid, in
1484 ; d. in Cuzco, Peru, 14 Feb.. 1537. In 1514 he
came to Darien with Pedrarias Davila as supreme
judge of the expedition, and in that capacity pre-
sided at the first trial of Balboa, Davila's prede-
cessor. (See Balboa, Vasco Nuxez de.) When
Pedrarias declared war against an Indian chief
called Pocorosa, he ordered Espinosa to leave Ada
with an expeditionary force of infantry and cav-
alry. He attacked a body of 3,000 Indians, and,
after an obstinate fight, they fled, frightened by
the horses and the blood-hounds that the Spaniards
carried. After his victory Espinosa committed
many cruelties against the Indian prisoners, and
on the arrival of re-enforcements from Pedrarias
he invaded the Indian territory still fartlier. and
recovered a great part of the treasure that had been
abandoned some time before by Gonzalo de Bada-
jos, amounting to about 80,000 gold eastellanos.
After defeating an army of 20,000 men with which
the native cacique hoped to crush him, and con-
quering several other tribes, he began his return
march to Darien, which he finally reached, with
great riches and over 2,000 Indian slaves. Espino-
sa, preferring the adventurous life of a conqueror
to that of a judge, soon started on another expedi-
tion, and, according to his assertion, explored many
miles of the Pacific coast. On his return to Darien
in 1517, he found that Balboa had been imprisoned
a second time by Pedrarias, and although he gave
it as his opinion that that explorer ought to be
pardoned in consideration of his services to the
crown, he sentenced the prisoner to death on a
written order from Pedrarias. Favored by the mili-
tary for his generosity, and by the municipality of
Darien on account of his success in his expedition,
Espinosa was proclaimed deputy governor notwithstanding Pedrarias's strenuous opposition. In the beginning of 1518, Pedrarias, to get rid of Espinosa, sent him with a force of 150 men on an expedition along the coast to recover the rest of the treasure lost by Badajos, in which attempt he
was entirely successful. On his return to the isth-
mus he proceeded with his force to the western
gulf to found, by Pedrarias's orders, a city to serve
as a base for the expedition to the South Pacific,
and toward the latter part of 1518, with the cus-
tomary formalities, the foundations of the city of
Panama were laid. In the same year Lope de Sosa,
who was to relieve Pedrarias, arrived in Darien,
and with him came Judge Alarconcillo to investi-
gate the administration of the late governor. As
Sosa died on the day of his arrival in Darien, the
astute Espinosa persuaded Alarconcillo that his
authority had expired. Espinosa himself then pro-
ceeded with the investigation, and naturally fa-
vored Pedrarias, as his own reputation was involved
in that of Pedrarias. In the beginning of 1519
Espinosa was sent with two ships to take possession
of a group of islands called, by the historian Herre-
ra, Zebaco. Hearing of gold-mines on the main-
land, he set sail for the coast, where he met an
auxiliary force under Pizarro and De Soto. They
were finally forced to retiie without finding gold
and with heavy losses, but the rest of his expedi-
tions along the coast were more fortunate. The In-
dian chiefs submitted after a short struggle, and,
loaded with booty, his command returned to the
coast of the gulf of Parita, where he fomided the
city of Nata, leaving Francisco Companon in com-
mand. He was recalled to Panama in 1519 by
Pedrarias, who wished to visit the new colony him-
self, and in the same year, together with many
other officers from the West India ishmds, Espi-
nosa reached San Lucar with a fleet of five ships,
which carried, as tribute for the crown, over $600,-
000 in gold, 2,500 marks of pearls, and many other
valuables. At court he was received with distinc-
tion, more on account of his riches than of his
character, and the emperor, Charles V.. gave him a
coat of arms, emblematic of his exploits in the New
World. In 1524 he was commissioned to investi-
gate the administration of the judges of the su-
preme court of Santo Domingo, and during that
time to administer justice in the island together
with Judge Zuazo. After finishing the investiga-
tion, Espinosa went to Panama to attend to his
private afl'airs. Hernando de LuqUe, in the com-
pact signed by him with Pizarro and Almagro on
10 March. 1526, seems to have been but a figure-
head for Espinosa, who really furnished the $20,000
in gold for the outfit of the first expedition, but
who, at that time in office, did not want his name
to appear. When therefore Pizarro. in consequence
of the general rising of Indians in 1536, asked for
auxiliary troops, Espinosa raised a corps of 250
men in Panama ; and when, after the return of Al-
magro from Chili in 1537, the war between the
two copartners began, Espinosa accepted a com-
mission from Pizarro to go to Almagro at Cuzco
and try to arrange the difficulty. While there he
was attacked by the illness of which he died.
ESPINOSA, Juan, South American soldier, b. in Montevideo in 1804 ; d. in Arenas, Peru, in 1871. He was known as "the soldier of the Andes." Espinosa's family emigrated to Buenos Ayres in 1807. His father was exiled in 1810 by the revolutionists, and the boy remained with his
mother till he was twelve years of age, when he enlisted in the troops that left Buenos Ayres in 1816 to fight for the independence of Chili. Espinosa fought at Chacabueo, 12 Feb., 1817, and
