search of this fabled treasure. On Easter Sunday (_Pascua Florida_, in
Spanish), 1512, he came in sight of a land gay with spring flowers. In
honor of the day, he called it Florida. He sailed along the coast, and
landed here and there, but returned home at last, an old man still,
haying found neither youth, gold, nor glory.

[Footnote: About eight years afterward, De Ayllon (da-ile-yon')
made a kidnapping expedition to what is now known as South
Carolina. Desiring to obtain laborers for the mines and plantations
in Hayti, he invited some of the natives on board his vessels, and,
when they were all below, he suddenly closed the hatches and set
sail. The speculation, however, did not turn out profitably. One
vessel sank with all on board, and many, preferring starvation to
slavery, died on the voyage. History tells us that in 1525, when De
Ayllon went back with the intention of settling the country, the
Indians practised upon him the lesson of cruelty he had taught
them. His men were lured into the interior. Their entertainers,
falling upon them at night, slew the larger part, and De Ayllon was
only too glad to escape with his life.]

BALBOA crossed the Isthmus of Darien the next year, and from the
summit of the Andes beheld the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
Wading into its waters with his naked sword in one hand, and the
banner of Castile (kas-teel) in the other, he solemnly declared
that the ocean, and all the shores which it might touch, belonged
to the crown of Spain forever.

DE NARVAEZ (nar-vah-eth) received a grant of Florida, and (1528)
with 300 men attempted its conquest. Striking into the interior,
they wandered about, lured on by the hope of finding gold. Wading