BALBOA’S VOYAGE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2678, 11 August 1913, Page 2

BALBOA’S VOYAGE.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC. Then felt 1 like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into bis ken. Or like the stout Cortez, when, with eagle eye, He stared at the Pacific—and all Ids men Looked at each other with a wild surmise, Silent upon a peak in Darien. The closing lines of Keats’ famous sonnet are inevitably recalled by the celebration of the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean, which took place at the Royal Geographical Society’s rooms recently, where a paper on the subject by Sir Clements Markham was read. Sir Clements emphasised to a representative of the “Pall Mall Gazette” his sense of the importance of such commemorations.

“The discovery of the Pacific Ocean 1 regard as one of the greatest and most important in the history of geographical research. The actual anniversary will be next September, but as the Geographical Society’s session will rhen be over, it is being kept to-night instead.” “Put was Cortez really the discoverer of of the Pacific, as Keats puts it?” was the query. “No; Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the man. There is no reason why Keats should not have used the name Nunez instead of Cortez if he had known. It would have fitted his verse equally well. Nunez was one of the best of the Spanish conquerors, one who overcame by far the greatest difficulties by the most praiseworthy methods and whose life was as romantic as his death was deplorable and sad.” “Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a bankrupt Spanish farmer, who began his voyage of exploration as a stowaway in a water cask, and finished as the conqueror of Panama and the discoverer of the Pa cific Ocean, which he reached on September 25 or 26, 1513,” says the “Star.” Landing at one of the denies which the Spaniards had formed along the coast. asco Nunez persuaded the colonists to elect him their leader, and sent his prede cessor in office back to Spain as a pris-

oner. . “At this colony of Santa Maria Del Darien ho built the first church ever erected on the American continent, and began his wars agairiHt the natives, one of whom endeavoured to distract Ids attention fiom the plunder of their villages by promising to lead him to rich countries ‘by the side of a great sea. “So on September 1, 1513, Vasco Nunez started with 190 men to find the Pacific, taking with him a pack of blodhounds, who inspired such terror that he drove all the opposing Indians before him, until ae reached the foot of a mountain whose summit commanded a view of the new

""“Of Ilia 190 men only 67 had enough strength left to commence the ascent, and , L JI ot these abandoned it before the top was reached “Then Nunez started {done to climb the last few hundred feet, and when he reached the top and saw the sea his first act was to commence singing the le ileum.’ ” , - n The opening of the Panama Canal will omplete the conquest of the Isthmus. “Magellan became convinced that it lie sailed far enough down the east coast of South America lie must either find a strait or the termination of the land. He discovered the strait which bears his name, and was the first that crossed the 1 acme. This was seven years after its discovery ty Nunez.”