After the battle the Spaniards entered the adjoining village, which was at the foot of the last mountain that remained to be climbed; this village they robbed of every thing valuable.  There was much gold and many jewels.

Balboa shared the booty among his band of followers.  But this victory was not gained without some loss on the side of the Spaniards.

Balboa found that several of his men had been wounded by the arrows of the Indians, and many also, overcome with fatigue, had fallen sick, these he was obliged to leave in the village, while he ascended the mountain.

At the cool and fresh hour of day-break he assembled his scanty band, and began to climb the height, wishing to reach the top before the heat of noon.

About ten o’clock they came out from the thick forest through which they had been struggling ever since day-break:  the change from the closeness of the woods to the pleasant breeze from the mountain, was delightful.  But they were still further encouraged.  “From that spot” exclaimed one of the Indian guides, pointing to the height above them “may be seen the great sea of which you are in search.”

When Balboa heard this, he commanded his men to halt, and forbade any one to stir from his place.  He was resolved to be the first European who should look upon that sea, which he had been the first to discover.

Accordingly he ascended the mountain height alone, and when he reached the summit he beheld the wide sea glittering in the morning sun.

Balboa called to his little troop to ascend the height and look upon the glorious prospect; and they joined him without delay.

“Behold, my friends,” said he, “the reward of all our toils, a sight upon which the eye of Spaniard never rested before.”

He now took possession of the sea-coast and the surrounding country in the name of the king of Spain.

He then had a tree cut down, and made into the form of a cross, and planted it on the spot from which he had first beheld the sea.  He also made a mound by heaping up large stones upon which he carved the names of the king of Spain.

The Indians saw all this done, and while they helped to pile the stones and set up the cross, they little thought that they were assisting to deprive themselves of their homes and their country.

You remember the noble reproof of Canute in the “History of England,” to his flatterers, when they assured him that even the waves of the sea would obey him:  but this arrogant and weak minded Spaniard waded into the waves of the great Pacific Ocean, up to his knees, and absurdly took possession of it in the name of the Spanish monarch.

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Balboa was some time employed in fighting with the Indian tribes that inhabited the sea-coast, and in hunting them with blood-hounds.

He soon made these helpless people submit.  From them he got some further accounts of the rich country which the Indian prince had mentioned, and which proved afterwards to be Peru.