instead of waiting the arrival of his foes, decided to
assail the army on its march, hoping to take it by surprise and to
throw consternation into the advancing ranks. He divided his army of
attack into two parties. One division of about one hundred men, he
sent in two small vessels along the western coast of the isthmus, to
invade the villages of Uracca, hoping thus to compel the Indian chief
to draw back his army for the defence of his own territories. This
expedition was under the command of General Espinosa.

The main body of the Spanish troops, consisting of about two hundred
men, marched along the eastern shore of the isthmus, intending
eventually to effect a junction with the naval force in the realms of
the foe. The energetic, but infamous Francisco Pizarro, led these
troops. A very important part of his command consisted of a band of
dragoons, thirty or forty in number, under the leadership of De Soto.
His steel-clad warriors were well mounted, with housings which greatly
protected their steeds from the arrows of the natives.

The wary Indian chieftain, who developed during the campaign military
abilities of a high order, had his scouts out in all directions. They
discerned in the distant horizon the approach of the two vessels, and
swift runners speedily reported the fact to Uracca. He immediately
marched with a force in his judgment sufficiently strong to crush the
invaders, notwithstanding their vast superiority in arms.

The Spaniards entered a sheltered bay skirted by a plain, which could
be swept by their guns, and where the Indian warriors would have no
opportunity to hide in ambush. Uracca allowed the Spaniards to
disembark unopposed. He stationed his troops, several thousand in
number, in a hilly country, several leagues distant from the place of
landing, which was broken with chasms and vast boulders, and covered
with tropical forest. Here every Indian could fight behind a rampart,
and the Spaniards could only approach in the scattered line of
skirmishers. The proud Spaniards advanced in their invading march with
as much of war's pageantry as could be assumed. They hoped that
nodding plumes and waving banners, and trumpet peals, would strike
with consternation the heart of the Indians.

Uracca calmly awaited their approach. His men were so concealed that
Espinosa could form no judgment of their numbers or position. Indeed
he was scarcely conscious that there was any foe there who would
venture to