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The PANAMA CANAL photo by G. Wilson

Christopher Columbus

In 1502 on his fourth and final voyage, Christopher Columbus sailed along the isthmus of Panama, searching in vain for an open channel that would lead to the Orient. He never knew how close he came to the path to the fabled place he thought he'd found.

Seeking A Water-way to the Orient

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (1474 - January 15, 1519) A Spanish explorer, governor and conquistador.

Eleven years later on September 1, 1513, Balboa stepped onto the stage of history.

Balboa learned of a lotus land as a result of a squabble among the Spaniards, who were dissatisfied with the meagre amounts of gold they were being allotted. Angry at their avarice and everlasting arguments, the son of a native chief knocked over the scales used to measure gold and exclaimed, "If you are so hungry for gold, that you leave your lands to cause strife in those of others, I shall show you a province where you can quell this hunger."

All ears perked up at this piece of positive news about people so rich, they ate from plates and drank from goblets of gold. Shouts of joy greeted this awesome outburst, but words of caution came too. Such fortunes were not free for the taking, for the route was rife with terribly intemperate tribes living inland and on the coast of "the other sea."

Undeterrred by talk of trouble, Balboa decided to strike out as soon as possible. The group included 190 Spaniards, a few native guides, native porters and a lot of leashed dogs led by Balboa's own beast, Leoncico, which drew a bowman's pay. All were more fearful by far than guns and crossbows. Soldiers were thankful for the presence of the porters, whose backs were bent under the burdens they carried - armour, bags of gunpowder and shot, food, camp gear and trade goods.

Panama Canal and Balboa's Trek to the Pacific

Stretching for over half a mile, the little company of trekkers traversed some of the densest jungle in the Americas. They hacked their way through daunting countryside and across dangerous crocodile-infested rivers.

Country encountered on the trip to the Pacific. photo by G.Wilson

From his knowledgeable native friends, Balboa knew pretty well what he was going to discover and what he would find along the way. The main purpose of the expedition, as far as he was concerned, was the search for gold-rich kingdoms. As they crossed the country, they easily defeated the hostile tribes they encountered and relieved them of their gold, silver and pearls. Much of the precious metals he collected came from ornaments worn by native women.

When the natives said the new sea could be seen from the summit of the range they were on, Balboa pressed on ahead. At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 25 September, 1513 - a momemtous moment in history - [*] Captain Vasco Nunez Balboa stood alone and saw from that summit the South Sea, its silver waters stretching away vast and inviolate before him.

Like stout Balboa, when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific - and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise -
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.[**]

Balboa and the 67 caballeros with him knelt and thanked God for their good fortune. From a little way off, the Indians watched the white men's magic and wondered what it all meant. A fine tree was felled and made into a tall cross, which they situated on the site where they first saw the sea.

We tourists too knew the thrill of suddenly sighting the Pacific Ocean. photo by G. Wilson

Eagerly the others joined in the joy at Balboa's discovery. The expedition's chaplain intoned the Te Deum, while men erected stone pyramids and engraved with therir swords crosses on the bark of trees to mark the place where they saw the South Sea.

After the epic moment of discovery, several of the men descended from the mountain range to search for routes to the coast. When they reached the shoreline two days later, they launched their canoe and became the first Europeans to navigate the Pacific Ocean.

Balboa with 26 men marched to the coast. While the others waited at the water's edge, Balboa waded knee-deep into the ocean, raised his sword in one hand and the standard with the image of the Virgin Mary in the other and claimed possession of the new salt sea and all adjoining lands in the name of the Spanish sovereign.

Claiming the Pacific for his Sovereign

Balboa then took the dagger he carried in his belt, cut a cross into a nearby tree and dashed into it sea water in token of the total possession he had just taken. Now he had "registered the discovery with both heaven and earth."

Balboa arrived back in Santa María on January 19, 1514 with a treasure in cotton goods, more than 100,000 castellanos worth of gold and pearls aplenty. News was sent to Spain of this discovery, along with one fifth of all treasures to the king as the law required.

Balboa gloried in the gold he had gotten. Preoccupied with wealth, he never realized that all the treasures they might ever carry back to Spain, paled in comparison to the magnitude of the mission he had completed successfully in his sovereign's name - discovery of the Pacific Ocean.

Balboa's triumph was considered a real coup and his grateful king, Don Fernando of Castile, Leon and Aragon, bestowed on him the title of "Adelantado," governor of a territory. This high honour and the new-found fame of Balboa, infuriated Balboa's jealous superior, who also happened to be his father-in-law. He decided to eliminate the focus of his frustration and had him arrested on a trumped-up charge of treason. Another of history's Spanish heroes, Francisco Pizarro, bane of the Incas, actually apprehended Balboa and turned him over to the authorities. Tried in a kind of Star Chambre court, Balboa was quickly convicted. Loudly protesting his innocence for all to hear, Balboa was dragged away to the place of execution, where his shouts were suddenly silenced by the executioner's axe, which fell three times before the head was completely severed.

The location of Balboa's remains is unknown, for no record was kept of the killing. While his body's whereabouts is lost and long forgotten, the ultimate tribute of history is the fame of the name, Balboa

One of the highest orders granted by the Panamanian government to distinguished and outstanding figures, foreign and domestic, is the Orden Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The official currency of Panama is the Panamanian balboa. The lunar crater Balboa bears his name.

Monument of Vasco Núñez de Balboa in Panama City.

Statue of Balboa in Madrid (E. Pérez, 1954)

Almost as soon as the narrow isthmus was discovered, plans were afoot for a canal.The earliest proposal of such a project was by Charles V of Spain in 1539. However, over three hundred years were to pass before shovels were put in the ground. The dredging of this great ditch cost thousands of lives from the brutal labour, malaria and yellow fever, as workers fought their way through jungle density more daunting than they had ever seen before. The busiest canal in the world sees 14,000 vessels pass through its locks each year.

While most is freight and food, cruise ships accommodate tourists like us, who flock to flow from ocean to ocean through this 50-mile moat.We marvelled at what man had made as we leisurely passed through the steamy jungle that crowded in upon us at every twist and turn.

Our ship, Princess, entering the Panama Canal Gallard Cut photo by G.Wilson

Passing through the Panama Canal Gallard Cut photo by G.Wilson

Still Passing through the Panama Canal Gallard Cut photo by G.Wilson

etc. Panama Canal Gallard Cut photo by G.Wilson

Panama Canal Locks photo by G.Wilson

Gaton Locks photo by G.Wilson

Nature, ever-ready to reclaim its right, makes dredging a never-ending grind. photo by G.Wilson

Map of Panama Canal

Bridge to the Americas photo by G. Wilson

The Bridge to the Americas, which opened in 1962, connects Colón and Panamá and crosses the Pacific approach to the Panama Canal at Balboa near Panama City.

Bridge to the Americas at Night

Balboa Bill perched to be the first to see the South Sea photo by G. Wilson

The Princess passing from the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean photo by G. Wilson

[*] Despite the certainty of four centuries of historians, some still doubt the date and time.

[**]Poem slightly adapted from: On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer by John Keats, who gave the credit to Cortes.

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