ancients had said that no continent existed south of the equator. But the great length of coast along which Vespucci had sailed proved that the land was not an island. It was plainly a continent, and south of the equator.

Vespucci called the land he found the New World. For a time it was also called the Fourth Part of the Earth, the other three parts being Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 1507 a German writer published an account of the discovery, in which he called the new country America, in honor of Americus Vespucius,¹ the discoverer.

1 Americus Vespucius is the Latin form of Amerigo Vespucci.

This land was not connected in any way with the discovery of Columbus, for he was supposed to have found Asia.

The name America was at first applied only to that part of the country which we now call Brazil, but little by little the name was extended until it included the whole of the Western Continent.

You will be glad to know that Vespucci, in the time of his success, did not forget his old friend Columbus, who was then poor and in disgrace. Vespucci visited him and did all he could to assist him.

After Vespucci had made three other voyages to the New World, he was given an important government position in Spain, which he held during the remainder of his life.

PONCE DE LEON.

You have heard many surprising things which the people of the fifteenth century believed. It seems almost impossible for us to think that those people really had faith in a Fountain of Youth; yet such is the case.

Ponce de Leon.

This fountain was supposed to exist somewhere in the New World, and it was thought that if any one should bathe in its waters, he would become young and would never grow old again.

In 1513 Ponce de Leon, who was then governor of Puerto Rico, sailed from that island in search of this Fountain of Youth. De Leon was an old man, and he felt that his life was nearly over, unless he should succeed in finding this fountain. At the same time De Leon wished to gain gold, for, though he had already made a fortune in Puerto Rico, he was still very greedy.

The expedition under his guidance sailed among the Bahamas and other islands near them, and at length reached a land beautiful with flowers, balmy with warm breezes, and cheerful with the song of birds. Partly because this discovery was made on Easter Sunday, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida, and partly because of the abundance of flowers, De Leon called the land Florida.

He took possession of this delightful country for Spain, and then spent many weeks exploring its coast. After sailing north as far as St. Augustine, and finding neither gold nor the fabled Fountain of Youth, De Leon turned his vessels and proceeded south, doubling the Florida Cape. Shortly afterwards he became discouraged and returned to Puerto Rico.

In 1521 De Leon went again to Florida, this time for the purpose of planting a colony. The Indians were very angry that the white men should try to take their land, and they made a fierce attack upon De Leon and his party. In this attack De Leon received a severe wound, which compelled him to go to Cuba for care and rest. There he died after much suffering.

De Leon never found the Fountain of Youth, nor were the fabled waters discovered afterwards.

BALBOA.

The Spanish colonists on the island of Hispaniola made frequent visits to the mainland, searching for the rich cities of which Marco Polo had written.

Word reached the colonists that some of these gold hunters were starving at a place called Darien, and a ship was immediately sent to their relief. The cargo of the ship consisted of barrels of provisions and ammunition.

Imagine, if you can, the amazement of the commander of the expedition when, after his ships were under sail, a young and handsome man stepped out of one of the barrels. The young man was Vasco Nuñez Balboa. He had chosen this way to escape from Cuba, where he owed large sums of money which he could not pay. The commander was angry, and threatened to leave Balboa on a desert island; but at length he took pity on the young man, and allowed him to remain on board the ship.

When the mainland was reached, the Spaniards who were already there, having heard of the cruelty of the commander, refused to let him land. He therefore put off to sea, and was never heard of again. Balboa then took command of the men and began immediately to explore the country.

He made a friendly alliance with an Indian chief, who presented him with gold and slaves. The Spaniards were delighted at the sight of so much riches. They began to melt and weigh the gold, and at last fell to quarreling desperately about the division of it.

This the Indians could not understand. They knew nothing of money, and valued the metal only because it could be made into beautiful ornaments.

An Indian boy who had heard the dispute told the Spaniards that if they cared so much about that yellow stuff, it would be wise for them to go to a country where there was enough of it for all.

The Spaniards eagerly questioned him regarding this place. The boy then described a country across the mountains and to the south, on the shores of a great sea, where the metal was so plentiful that the natives used it for their ordinary drinking cups and bowls.

Balboa immediately started southward across the mountains in search of this rich country. On his way he came upon a tribe of hostile Indians, who attacked him, but who fled in alarm from the guns of the Spaniards.

Balboa Crossing the Isthmus.

Taking some Indians as guides, Balboa pushed on through the mountains, and on September 25, 1513, from one of the highest peaks, looked down upon the Pacific Ocean.

With his Spaniards he descended the mountain, and in four days reached the shore of that magnificent body of water. Balboa waded out into it with his sword in his hand, and formally took possession of it for the King of Spain. He called it the South Sea, because he was looking toward the south when he first saw it; and the Pacific Ocean was known by this name for many years afterward.

On this shore he met an Indian who repeated to him the same story that the Indian boy had told about the rich country on the border of this sea and farther to the south.

Balboa then made up his mind to find this country. Accordingly he returned to Darien, and sent word to the Spanish king of his great discovery of the South Sea.

He then began to take his ships apart, and to send them, piece by piece, across the mountains to the Pacific coast.

This was an enormous undertaking. The journey was a very difficult one, and hundreds of the poor Indians who carried the burdens dropped dead from exhaustion.

At length, after long months of labor, four ships were thus carried across the mountains and rebuilt on the Pacific coast. These were the first European vessels