SOUTH AMERICAN FIGHTS AND FIGHTERS

CONTENTS


PART I

SOUTH AMERICAN FIGHTS AND FIGHTERS

PAGE

PANAMA AND THE KNIGHTS-ERRANT OF COLONIZATION

I. THE SPANISH MAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. THE DON QUIXOTE OF DISCOVERERS AND HIS RIVAL . . . . 5
III. THE ADVENTURES OF OJEDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IV. ENTER ONE VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA . . . . . . . . . . . 17
V. THE DESPERATE STRAITS OF NICUESA . . . . . . . . . . 20


PANAMA, BALBOA AND A FORGOTTEN ROMANCE

I. THE COMING OF THE DEVASTATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
II. THE GREATEST EXPLOIT SINCE COLUMBUS'S VOYAGE . . . . 34
III. "FUROR DOMINI" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
IV. THE END OF BALBOA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44


PERU AND THE PIZARROS

I. THE CHIEF SCION OF A FAMOUS FAMILY . . . . . . . . . 53
II. THE TERRIBLE PERSISTENCE OF PIZARRO . . . . . . . . . 57
III. "A COMMUNISTIC DESPOTISM" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
IV. THE TREACHEROUS AND BLOODY MASSACRE OF CAXAMARCA . . 73
V. THE RANSOM AND MURDER OF THE INCA . . . . . . . . . . 85
VI. THE INCA AND THE PERUVIANS STRIKE VAINLY FOR
FREEDOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
VII. "THE MEN OF CHILI" AND THE CIVIL WARS . . . . . . . 102
VIII. THE MEAN END OF THE GREAT CONQUISTADOR . . . . . . 105
IX. THE LAST OF THE BRETHREN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108


THE GREATEST ADVENTURE IN HISTORY

I. THE CHIEF OF ALL THE SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE . . . . . 115
II. THE EXPEDITION TO MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
III. THE RELIGION OF THE AZTECS . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
IV. THE MARCH TO TENOCHTITLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
V. THE REPUBLIC OF TLASCALA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
VI. CORTES'S DESCRIPTION OF MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . 147
VII. THE MEETING WITH MONTEZUMA . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
VIII. THE SEIZURE OF THE EMPEROR . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
IX. THE REVOLT OF THE CAPITAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
X. IN GOD'S WAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
XI. THE MELANCHOLY NIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
XII. THE SIEGE AND DESTRUCTION OF MEXICO . . . . . . . . 194
XIII. A DAY OF DESPERATE FIGHTING . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
XIV. THE LAST MEXICAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
XV. THE END OF CORTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218



PART II

OTHER TALES OF ADVENTURE

THE YARN OF THE "ESSEX," WHALER . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

SOME FAMOUS AMERICAN DUELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

I. A TRAGEDY OF OLD NEW YORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
II. ANDREW JACKSON AS A DUELLIST . . . . . . . . . . . 248
III. THE KILLING OF STEPHEN DECATUR . . . . . . . . . . 251
IV. AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF JAMES BOWIE . . . . . . . 252
V. A FAMOUS CONGRESSIONAL DUEL . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
VI. THE LAST NOTABLE DUEL IN AMERICA . . . . . . . . . 256

THE CRUISE OF THE "TONQUIN" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

JOHN PAUL JONES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

I. THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY . . . . . . . . . . 283
II. JONES FIRST HOISTS THE STARS AND STRIPES . . . . . 284
III. THE BATTLE WITH THE "SERAPIS" . . . . . . . . . . . 285
IV. A HERO'S FAMOUS SAYINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
V. WHAT JONES DID FOR HIS COUNTRY . . . . . . . . . . 288
VI. WHY DID HE TAKE THE NAME OF JONES . . . . . . . . . 289
VII. A SEARCH FOR HISTORICAL EVIDENCE . . . . . . . . . 292
VIII. THE JONESES OF NORTH CAROLINA . . . . . . . . . . . 296
IX. PAUL JONES NEVER A MAN OF WEALTH . . . . . . . . . 297

IN THE CAVERNS OF THE PITT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

BEING A BOY OUT WEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315



I

Panama and the Knights-Errant of Colonization

I. The Spanish Main

One of the commonly misunderstood phrases in the language is "the
Spanish Main." To the ordinary individual it suggests the Caribbean
Sea. Although Shakespeare in "Othello," makes one of the gentlemen of
Cyprus say that he "cannot 'twixt heaven and main descry a sail," and,
therefore, with other poets, gives warrant to the application of the
word to the ocean, "main" really refers to the other element. The
Spanish Main was that portion of South American territory distinguished
from Cuba, Hispaniola and the other islands, because it was on the main
land.