The 48 Laws Of Power

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

In 1510
a

ship

setoutfromtheislandof

Hispaniola

(now

Haitiandthe

Dominican

Republic)

for

Venezuela,

where

it

wastorescuea

besieged

Spanishcolony.

Severalmilesoutof

port,

a

stowaway

climbedoutofa

provision

chest:VascoNufiezde

Balboa,

anoble

Spaniard

whohadcome

totheNewWorldinsearchof

gold

buthadfalleninto

debtand

had

es-

taped

hiscreditors

byhiding

inthechest.

Balboahadbeenobsessedwith

gold

eversinceColumbushadre-

turnedto

Spain

fromhis

voyages

withtalesofafabulousbutas

yet

undis-

covered

kingdom

called El Dorado. Balboa was one of the first

adventurerstocomeinsearchofColurnbus’slandof

gold,

andhehadde-

cidedfromthe

beginning

thathe

would

be

the

onetofind

it,

through

sheer

audacity

and

single—mindedness.

Nowthathewasfreeofhiscredi-

tors,

nothing

would

stop

him.

Unfortunately

the

ship’s

owner,

a

wealthyjurist

namedFranciscoFer-

nandezde

Enciso,

wasfuriouswhentoldofthe

stowaway,

andheordered

thatBalboabeleftonthefirstisland

they

came

across.

Before

they

found

any

island,however,

Encisoreceivednewsthatthe

colony

hewastores-

cuehadbeenabandoned.ThiswasBalboa’schance.Hetoldthesailorsof

his

previousvoyages

to

Panarna,

andoftherumorshehadheardof

gold

inthearea.TheexcitedsailorsconvincedEncisoto

spare

Balboa’s

life,

and

to

establisha

colony

inPanama.

Weekslater

they

named

their

new

settlement“Darien.”

Darien’sfirst

governor

was

Enciso,

butBalboawasnotamantolet

others steal the initiative. He

campaignedagainst

Enciso

among

the

sailors,

who

eventually

madeitclearthat

theypreferred

himas

governor.

Enciso

fledto

Spain,fearing

forhis

life.Months

later,

whena

representa-

tiveofthe

Spanish

crownarrivedtoestablishhimselfasthe

new,

official

governor

of

Darien,

hewasturned

away.

Onhisreturn

voyage

to

Spain,

thisman

drowned;

the

drowning

was

accidental,

butunder

Spanish

law,

Balboahadmurderedthe

governor

and

usurped

his

position.

Balb0a’sbravado

had

got

him

out

of

scrapes

before,

butnowhis

hopes

ofwealthand

glory

seemeddoomed.To

lay

claimtoEl

Dorado,

shouldhediscover

it,

hewouldneedthe

approval

ofthe

Spanishking-—

which,

asan

outlaw,

hewouldneverreceive.Therewas

only

onesolution.

PanamanianIndianshadtoldBalboaofavastoceanontheothersideof

theCentralAmerican

isthmus,

andhadsaiddiat

bytraveling

south

upon

thiswestern

coast,

hewouldreachafabulouslandof

gold,

called

by

a

namethattohisearssoundedlike“Biru.”Balboadecidedhewouldcross

thetreacherous

jungles

ofPanamaandbecomethefirst

European

tobathe

hisfeetinthisnewocean.FromtherehewouldmarchonElDorado.Ifhe

didthison

Spain’s

behalf,

hewouldobtain

the

eternal

gratitude

of

the

king,

andwouldsecurehisown

reprieve—-only

hehadtoactbefore

Span-

ishauthoritiescametoarresthim.

In

1513,then,

Balboaset

out,

with 190 soldiers.

Halfway

acrossthe

isthmus

(some

ninety

miles

wideatthat

point),only sixty

soldiers

re-

Theroarc

veryfew

men—aml

they

are[/10

exec/7tionA'—wl'to

are

abletothink

amlfeel

beyond

the

present

moment

CARLvow

C1./xusewnz.

1780- 1831

Till’.'I\X 0 I“I€(?(l5

Two

frogs

dweltinthe

sums!

pool.

The

pool

being

drier!

up

under

the

summer’:heat,

rhey

leftii,

andsetout

together

toseek

(motherhome.As

they

went

alongIlwy

rlmncerlto

pays

(1

deep

well,amplysupplied

with

water,

on

Scemg

whichone

of

the

frogs

saidtoIlucarlwrz“Let

usdescendandnmke

ourabodeinthis

well,

it

willfurnisli

uswith

shelterand

food.

"

The

other

replied

Wtl/I

greater

caurinrlr

“But

suppose

thewater

shrmldfail

us.howcan

we

get

our

aguinfmm

so

grew

11

tlepllt?"

Do

nothing

without 11

regard

tothe

conse-

£[M€IlC€5'.

EABLES.

AESOP.

SIXTHCENTURY

Hr‘.

LAW 29 237