America to plant a colony near Panama, Balboa longed to join it. He was in
debt; so lest his creditors should prevent his going, he had himself
nailed up in a barrel and put on board one of the ships with the
provisions.

[7] In the course of expeditions along the eastern coast of Mexico, the
Spaniards heard of a mighty king, Montezuma, who ruled many cities in the
interior and had great stores of gold. In 1519 Cor'tes landed with 450 men
and a few horses, sank his ships, and began inland one of the most
wonderful marches in all history. The account of the great things which he
did, of the marvelous cities he conquered, of the strange and horrible
sights he saw, reads like fiction. Six days after reaching the city of
Mexico, he seized Montezuma and made himself the real ruler of the
country; but later the Mexicans rose against him and he had to conquer
them by hard fighting. Read the story of the conquest as briefly told in
Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. II, pp. 245-293.

The Spaniards also heard rumors of a golden kingdom to the southward where
the Incas ruled. After preliminary voyages of exploration Francisco
Pizarro sailed from Panama in 1531 with 200 men and 50 horses to conquer
Peru. Landing on the coast he marched inland to the camp of the Inca, a
young man who had just seized the throne. The sight of the white strangers
clad in shining armor, wielding thunder and lightning (firearms), and
riding unearthly beasts (horses were unknown to the Indians), caused
wonder and dread in Peru as it had in Mexico. The Inca was made prisoner
and hundreds of his followers were killed. He offered to fill his prison
room with gold as high as he could reach if Pizarro would set him free;
the offer was accepted and in 1533 some $15,000,000 in gold was divided
among the conquerors. The Inca, however, was put to death, and the
Spaniards took possession of the whole country.