bly in his undertaking the same year is Juan
Ayora de Cordova, a nobleman sent out as judge, as we have elsewhere
said, and who was keener about accumulating a fortune than he was
about administering his office, and deserving praise. Under some
pretext or other he robbed several caciques and extorted gold from
them, in defiance of all justice. It is related that he treated them
so cruelly that, from being friends, they became implacable enemies,
and driven to extremities they massacred the Spaniards, sometimes
openly and sometimes by setting traps for them. In places where
formerly trade relations were normal and the caciques friendly, it
became necessary to fight. When, so it is said, he had amassed a large
amount of gold by such means, Ayora fled on board a ship he suddenly
procured, and it is not known at this present writing where he landed.
There are not wanting people who believe that the governor himself,
Pedro Arias, closed his eyes to this secret flight; for Juan Ayora
is a brother of Gonzales Ayora, the royal historiographer, who is a
learned man, an excellent captain, and so intimate with the governor
that he and Pedro Arias may be cited amongst the rare pairs of friends
known to us. I am in very close relations with both of them, and may
they both pardon me; but amidst all the troubles in the colonies,
nothing has displeased me so much as the cupidity of this Juan Ayora,
which troubled the public peace of the colonies and alienated the
caciques.

Let us now come to the tragic adventures of Gonzales de Badajoz
and his companions. In the beginning fortune smiled upon them, but
sufficiently sad changes very quickly followed. Gonzales left Darien
with forty soldiers in the month of March of the preceding year, 1515,
and marched straight to the west, stopping nowhere until he reached
the region the Spaniards have named Gracias a Dios, as we have above
stated. This place is about a hundred and eighty miles, or sixty
leagues from Darien. They passed several days there doing nothing,
because the commander was unable either by invitations, bribes, or
threats to induce the cacique to approach him, although he desired
very much to accomplish this. While camping here he was joined by
fifteen adventurers from Darien, under the leadership of Luis Mercado
who had left that colony in May, wishing to join Gonzales in exploring
the interior. As soon as the two groups met, they decided to cross the
southern mountain chain and