But Chiapes was unconvinced, and as chief of an inland tribe, unacquainted with navigation, he hesitated to embark. He compromised, however, by guiding the Spaniards to the littoral province of one Cuquera, whose subjects were fishermen and owned a great number of canoes. Cuquera confirmed the statement of Chiapes, that the season was unpropitious for a venture at sea, but at sight of some pearls the chief displayed, which, he said, had been obtained on the islands off-shore, Balboa was more than ever determined to make the voyage. Overcoming the objections of the caciques, he crowded sixty of his men into nine canoes, and, accompanied by the faithful Chiapes, embarked upon the bosom of the gulf. Hardly, however, had the canoes reached open water, when they were assailed by a frightful tempest. "Deafening was the tumult of the infuriated winds, which strewed the earth with the frail materials of the Indian huts. The rivers, swollen by the rains, overflowed their banks, tearing away in their violent course rocks and trees; and the tempestuous sea, roaring horribly among the rocky islands and reefs with which the gulf is filled, broke its waves against them, menacing with inevitable shipwreck those audacious mortals who had invaded this watery realm." The intrepid spirit of Balboa had caused him to mock these dangers when on land; but soon he had good cause to repent his rash impulse, and, yielding to the importunities of the Indians, sought shelter on an islet. It appeared to be high and dry as the company landed there in the evening, but during the night the rising tide gained upon them until finally they were waist-deep in water. At or near midnight the wind went down with the tide, and at dawn next morning the unfortunate mariners sought their canoes, only to find them partially wrecked and all the provisions they had contained washed away. They spent part of the day in calking the open seams with grass and the bark of trees, and in the afternoon embarked in the crazy craft and sought the shore. After hours of exposure to the tropic sun, they landed near nightfall at the upper end of the gulf, in the province of a cacique named Tumaco. The Spaniards, like the Indians, were weak and famishing, having labored all day without either food or drink; but no sooner had they made land in safety than the indomitable Balboa set out in search of the Indian town. It was at a little distance from the shore, and was not reached until midnight. The inhabitants had been informed of their coming and made a stout defence; but were soon routed by the Spaniards and driven into the forest at the point of the sword.