violent storm came on, and when day
dawned, Nicuesa was left without one of the squadron in sight. Taking
refuge in a river, his caravel was wrecked, and the unfortunate
commander was left on the desert shore with the crew of the vessel, and
nothing remaining to them but the boat, which was accidentally cast on
the beach. Day after day they hoped for the arrival of their
companions, until they began to suspect that the lieutenant had
determined to profit by the absence of Nicuesa, assume his power, and
leave him to perish. They wandered along shore, in the direction, as
they supposed, of the place where they had been separated from the
squadron. They crossed the rivers and sailed to the islands near the
coast in their boat. At length, to complete their misfortunes, at one of
the latter, four of the party deserted, took with them the boat, and
left their commander and the rest of the party, without food,
assistance, or means to regain the land. In this sad situation they
remained for weeks; many of them died, and those who lived envied,
instead of mourning over, their fate. At length one of the brigantines
of the squadron appeared; it had been sent by Lope de Olano, who had
been found by the four mariners in the boat; and Nicuesa and the
survivers were conveyed to their companions, who had made a settlement
at the mouth of the river Belen. Finding that spot unhealthy, Nicuesa
broke up the settlement, and established the remnant of his once large
colony, now reduced to a hundred emaciated wretches, at "El Nombre de
Dios." "Here let us stop," exclaimed the weary commander to his
companions, "in the name of God (en el nombre de Dios,)"--whence the
port derived its name.

While the two governors were thus struggling to establish their
colonies, the bachelor Enciso, whom we have mentioned as having enlisted
with Ojeda, set out from St. Domingo to join that adventurer with the
men and provisions he had collected. Among his recruits was _Vasco Nunez
de Balboa_, another name destined to become famous on these seas. The
bachelor had hardly reached Terra Firma before he fell in with Francisco
Pizarro, and the small remains of the colony left by Ojeda at St.
Sebastian. He heard the story of their misfortunes and the departure of
their commander, but nothing daunted, the worthy gentleman of the robe
assumed the courageous bearing of a knight errant, and determined to
pursue the adventures on which he had embarked. Having heard of a