spend itself on the continent. In 1508 began the actual colonization of
the Spanish Main. The first territories to which the Spaniards made
their way were those which gave on the Gulf of Darien. Here a companion
of Columbus in his second voyage, Alonso de Ojeda, was given the
district extending from the Cape de la Vela to the Gulf of Uraba, and
this territory was termed the Land of New Andalusia. Another adventurer,
Nicuesa, came as his neighbour, holding the Governorship of the coast
from the Gulf of Uraba to the Cape Gracias a Dios. These two
_conquistadores_, although as jealous of each other as was usual with
almost all these pioneer explorers, joined forces against the Indians,
whom they attempted to subdue by means of an iron hand rather than by a
silk glove. The Indians, however, proved themselves of a very warlike
disposition, and the joint forces of the Spaniards were unable to crush
the power of the aborigines. After a while the leaders were obliged to
withdraw their forces from the district they had occupied.

Some while afterwards Nuñez de Balboa took charge of Uraba. On his
arrival he found that matters on the Gulf of Darien had reached a
desperate pitch. As the fortunes of the Spaniards had waned, the
confidence of the Indians had increased. There is no doubt that the
majority of men would have recoiled from the task which faced Balboa
when he found himself at the head of a number of starving Spaniards,
scarcely able to maintain their precarious foothold in a hostile
country.

Balboa gathered together the despairing remnants, and contrived to put
fresh heart into his men. He then turned to the Indians, and won their
esteem by his considerate treatment. He proved himself, in fact, in
every respect an able and successful leader. It was in 1512 that he set
out on his famous expedition across the Isthmus, and won his way to the