De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2): The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'AngheraAnghiera, Pietro Martire d'
History
De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2): The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera
Anghiera, Pietro Martire d'
America -- Early accounts to 1600
After Valdivia's departure the colonists, driven to desperation by
hunger, resolved to explore the outline of the gulf, of which the most
remote extremity is about eighty miles distant from the entrance. This
extremity is called by the Spaniards Culata.[1]
[Note 1: The southern end of the gulf still bears the name _Culata
del golfo_.]
Vasco Nuñez embarked with about one hundred men on board a brigantine
and in some native barques dug out of tree trunks, called by the
islanders of Hispaniola canoes, and by the people of Uraba, _uru_. The
river flows into the gulf at that place from the east and is ten times
larger than the Darien. Up this river the Spaniards sailed for a
distance of thirty miles or a little more than nine leagues, and
turning to the left, which is towards the south, they came upon a
native village, whose cacique was called Dobaiba. In Hispaniola their
kings are called caciques and in Uraba, _chebi_, with the accent on
the last vowel. It was learned that Zemaco, cacique of Darien, who had
been defeated by the Spaniards in open battle, had taken refuge with
Dobaiba. The latter, counselled, as it was thought, by Zemaco, fled,
and thus evaded the Spanish attack. The place was deserted, though a
stock of bows and arrows, some pieces of furniture, nets, and several
fishing boats were found there. These districts being marshy and low
are unsuitable both for agriculture and plantations of trees, so there
are few food products, and the natives only procure these by trading
what fish they have in excess of their wants with their neighbours.
Nevertheless seven thousand castellanos of gold were picked up in the
deserted houses, besides several canoes, about a hundred bows and
parcels of arrows, all the furniture, and two native barques or uru.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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