mayor, Espinosa, set out, and having reached the south coast in safety in January, 1519, once more took formal possession of mainland, islands, and ocean. They found that Hernando Ponce de Leon, whom, as will be remembered, Espinosa had left in command at Panama in 1517, had abandoned the post, and that Francisco de Compañon was still at the Pearl Islands, where Balboa had placed him; but this proved no bar to the designs the governor had formed, and accordingly, on August 15, 1519, Pedrarias officially founded the town of Panama, in the name and on behalf of Doña Juana the queen and Don Carlos her son. The surrounding lands he divided among his 400 followers, with permission to till them by means of any Indian slaves they might succeed in capturing.

Espinosa had by no means forgotten the great quantity of gold which the cacique Paris had retaken from Badajoz and had managed to retain, and, as soon as arrangements could be effected for that purpose, he set out in quest of it. Taking with him 150 men, he sailed to the west as far as that chieftain's territory, ascended the river in canoes, and found that Paris had recently died and that his son Cutara had succeeded to his position. The village was attacked and plundered, but no gold was discovered until a search was made around the body of the dead chief, then lying in state, and there gold to the value of 40,000 castellanos was obtained. pinosa had further luck, for he succeeded in securing from a chieftain named Biruquete a large quantity of maize. With these two valuable commodities in his possession he went back to Panama, where half the treasure was buried, and Pedrarias and Espinosa returned to Antigua with the other half.

Es

By one of those lucky chances which appear so remarkable to the student of history, the new town founded by Pedrarias obtained an importance which at its beginning no one could have foreseen. Among the Spaniards who had accompanied Pedrarias from Spain to Tierra Firme there

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was a captain named Diego de Albites, who at one time seemed destined to achieve great reputation as a conquistador. He had been with Captain Guzman in 15151516, when that commander had discovered the original fishing village of Panama; he had been prominent in the ravages and lootings committed on that celebrated march; he had been one of those who helped to conduct Guzman's disastrous retreat, through the disturbed Indian country, back to Antigua; he had been in the thick of the fighting in 1516, when Espinosa worsted Paris; he had helped to establish at Panama in 1517 the southern station of the line of posts which was to cross the isthmus; and in the same year he had accompanied Espinosa when he returned, laden with booty but half famished, to Antigua. Albites had thus become a seasoned fighter. A little later he went on a raiding expedition along the north coast from Chagre to Veragua, and displayed so much ability in collecting gold and captives that the cabildo gave him a license to effect settlements in Veragua. Accordingly, in 1519, he sailed from Antigua to carry out his grand scheme of colonization, but when he had reached. Punta Manzanillo, his vessel sprang a leak, and he put back to the island of Bastimentos, on which he and his men had just time to land before the ship went down. This disaster put an end to the Veragua scheme, but amends were made in another direction. Ferried across to the mainland in canoes by the natives, Albites and his party, very much against the wish of Pedrarias, who was just then at loggerheads with the Cabildo at Antigua and who looked with anything but favor on a possible rival to Panama, refounded Nombre de Dios, which had lain derelict since its abandonment by the remnant of Nicuesa's force. This foundation proved lasting, and for a long period Nombre de Dios remained the northern terminus of the trans-isthmian trade. Nombre de Dios and Panama are exactly opposite each other, and gradually there was built between them a paved

roadway, known as the Camino Real, over which, after the discovery of Peru, passed the plate-trains northward, and in both directions all other articles of merchandise. Panama thus became an important entrepôt on the Pacific side. In fact, around the towns of Panama and Nombre de Dios centers, to a large extent, the history of Tierra Firme for nearly sixty years.

Fortune thus played into the hands of Pedrarias. It befriended him very materially in another way. It appears that he made many journeys between Panama and Antigua. On one occasion, in May, 1520, when he happened to be at Antigua, Lope de Sosa, the new governor, arrived with 300 men to assume his office. Pedrarias was preparing to receive his successor with due pomp and formality, when word reached him that de Sosa, who had gone to his cabin on board ship to dress before disembarking, had suddenly died. This unexpected event gave Pedrarias a fresh lease of power. He once more proposed the removal of the capital to Panama, but, principally owing to the opposition of Oviedo, who had returned as regidor perpetuo, the proposal was once more rejected, and Pedrarias betook himself to his South Sea settlement, leaving to Oviedo the increasingly difficult task of ruling in Antigua.

Oviedo had magnificent ideas and high ideals, and he started in on his new and arduous duties with a will. He opened mines, built ships, traded with the natives, established peaceful relations with them, and, when they were not amenable to that kind of treatment, he knew how to use punitive measures effectually. His principal difficulty at first was with his fellowcountrymen. He was a reformer, and the colony was not ripe for reforms. Hence his attempts at putting down gambling, blasphemy, the keeping of mistresses, and the trading in Indian children, resulted in dissatisfaction and disaffection. Under so stern a régime the colony weakened, and, as it weakened, its native foes grew stronger and bolder. Finally Pedrarias took a

hand, deposed Oviedo, and appointed the Bachiller Corral to succeed him as head of the Cabildo. Oviedo, in virtue of his commission of regidor perpetuo, then took his seat as an ordinary member of the Council. In such a state of affairs there could not be much unity of purpose in municipal government. Things were assuming an ugly look, and the people of Antigua, alarmed at the prospect, decided to send Oviedo to present their grievances at the court of Spain. Before sailing he brought charges against Pedrarias, and had a narrow escape from being assassinated. A second unsuccessful attempt to kill him brought home the realization that the sooner he left the better it would be for his safety, and he sailed away on July 3, 1523. With his departure the life went out of Antigua. The people gradually abandoned it for Panama and Nombre de Dios. nally, only one colonist, Diego Ribero, was left, and in September, 1524, he and all his family were slain by the Indians. At the same time the town was burned, and so effectually did it disappear, and so thoroughly did nature assert its sway, that at present no one can with certainty say what was the exact site of Antigua. The natives reassumed control of the district, and from that day to this the white man has been jealously excluded from the eastern part of Darien.

Fi

The downfall of Antigua was the uprise of Panama. Founded officially on August 15, 1519, Panama was created a city, and given a coat of arms, and had many privileges conferred on it, by royal decree of September 15, 1521. The Episcopal See was transferred from Antigua to Panama in 1524. In every official as well as practical way Panama became the capital of Tierra Firme. In particular, it became the basis for exploration. It was in Panama that the expeditions for the conquest of Peru were equipped, and it was from Panama that much of the remaining territory of Central America was discovered and settled.

Pascual de Andagoya, who was one of