ompletely deceived the Spaniards and inflicted upon them very serious
loss. He caused several of his warriors to be taken captive. When
closely questioned by Don Pedro where gold was to be found, and
threatened with torture if they refused the information, they with
great apparent reluctance directed their captors to a spot, at the
distance of but a few leagues, where the precious metal could be
obtained in great abundance. These unlettered savages executed their
artifice with skill which would have done honor even to European
diplomatists.

Don Pedro immediately selected a company of forty of his most reliable
men and sent them to the designated spot. Here they were surrounded by
Indian warriors in ambush, and the whole party, with the exception of
three, put to death. The three who escaped succeeded in reaching the
Spanish camp with tidings of the disaster. Don Pedro in his rage
ordered his captives to be torn to pieces, by the bloodhounds. They
were thrown naked to the dogs. The Spaniards looked on complacently,
as the merciless beasts, with bloody fangs, tore them limb from limb,
devouring their quivering flesh. The natives bore this awful
punishment with fortitude and heroism, which elicited the admiration
of their foes. With their last breath they exulted that they were
permitted to die in defence of their country.

The expedition of Don Pedro had thus far proved an utter failure. He
had already lost one-fourth of his army through the prowess of the
natives. The prospect before him was dark in the extreme. His troops
were thoroughly discouraged, and the difficulties still to be
encountered seemed absolutely insurmountable. Humiliated as never
before, the proud Don Pedro was compelled to order a retreat. He
returned to Panama, where, as we have mentioned, he had removed his
seat of government from Darien. Panama was north of Darien, or rather
west, as the isthmus there runs east and west. Its seaport was on the
Pacific, not the Atlantic coast.

Uracca, having thus rescued his country from the invaders, did not
pursue the retreating Spaniards. He probably in this course acted
wisely. Could Don Pedro have drawn his enemies into the open field, he
could undoubtedly have cut down nearly their whole army with grape
shot, musketry, and charges by his strongly mounted steel-clad
cavaliers. A panic had however pervaded the Spanish camp. They were in
constant apprehension of pursuit. Even when they had reached Panama,
t