BALBOA, bal-b(ia, Vasco Mule; the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean: b. Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, 1475; d. 1517. At the age of 25 he went to America to seek his fortune, joining the expedition of Rodrigo de Bastidas (see CENTRAL AMERICA), and returned to Espanola (Haiti), after exploring with Bas tidas a part of the southwestern coast of the Caribbean Sea. At the town of Salvatierra in Espanola he became a planter, but with such indifferent success that, when he resolved to attach himself to Alonzo de Ojeda's new colony on the mainland of South America, he found difficulty in escaping from his creditors. To elude their vigilance, he hid in a large cask, and thus was carried from his plantation to the landing, and thence on board one of Ojeda's vessels, as a part of the cargo. It is probable that when he emerged from his place of con cealment he would have been handed over to the authorities on shore if the expedition had not stood in need of every available fighting man. Admitted to membership reluctantly, and as a common soldier, Balboa showed his talent for leadership when the undertalcing seemed on the point of failure. He suggested trans ferring the colony to Darien, describing the more favorable conditions there, as he had seen them on his previous voyage. His advice was taken, and the name Antigua (Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien) was given to the new settlement. Here the Spaniards were somewhat more successful and Balboa assumed conunand.
In the year 1513 he received a letter from a commissioner whom he had sent to Spain, in forming him that he might expect to be sum moned to court to answer grave charges. Re solving to win back the royal favor by some striking service, he selected 190 men, the best of his soldiers, and with these and 1,000 native warriors and earners, and a pack of blood hounds, sailed from Antigua, 1 Sept. 1513, fol lowing the Darien coast westward until he reached a point opposite the Gulf of San Miguel. This gulf extends far into the south
coast from the Pacific, narrowing the isthmus to a width of 50 miles. Accurate information in regard to the southern coast, the ocean that lay beyond, and the superior civilization of the Incas of Peru, whose country was to be reached by way of this ocean, had been obtained from the Indians, especially through Balboa's fa vorite Indian. mistress, Fulvia.
The march began 6 September. On the 24th reaching an elevated plateau, the Spaniards re pulsed an attack by 1,000 Indians and found supplies in the village of Quarequi. The fol lowing day, 25 Sept. 1513, Balboa gained the summit of a mountain from which the wa ters of Mar del Sur (southern sea) were visi ble. The name, Pacific, was not applied to this ocean until seven years later, when it was be stowed by Magellan. On 29 September Balboa took formal possession of the °Southern Sea" by marching into the water, and, in the names of the King and Queen of Castile, claiming °these seas and lands.* The warning received from the Spanish court was justified in the event. Balboa had already been superseded by Pedro Arias Davila (Pedrarias). The reward of the former was an empty title of Adelantado del Mar del Sur, and the appointment as Governor of Panama, Coyba and the lands of the Southern Sea (the Pactfic) which he had discovered; while on shore he was made the subordinate of his rival and bitter enemy, Governor Pedrarias. He led many successful expeditions, but these only aroused the jealousy and hatred of Pedrarias Davila. The Spanish government tried in vain to mediate between them and Balboa's marriage with the daughter of Pedra rias was arranged; but on an occasion of dis pute which arose, Balboa was induced to de liver himself up, was accused of rebellion and on the trumped-up evidence of Garabito, a false friend, was convicted and beheaded.