d-hung heights, now stretches away into vast
reaches of oozy mangrove bog and dank cinchona grove--here flecked with
stagnant lagoons that teem with slimy, crawling life--there flattened
into interminable, forest-covered plains and untrodden, primeval
wildernesses, impenetrable, defiant, alluring--and all perennially bathed
in dazzling light, vivid color, and soft, fragrant winds--with
everywhere redundant foliage--humming, chattering, screaming
life--profusion--extravagance--prodigality--riotous waste! Small wonder
that when this enticing shore was first revealed to the astonished
_Conquistadores_, where every form of Nature was wholly different from
anything their past experience afforded, they were childishly receptive to
every tale, however preposterous, of fountains of youth, of magical
lakes, or enchanted cities with mountains of gold in the depths of the
frowning jungle. They had come with their thought attuned to enchantment;
their minds were fallow to the incredible; they were fresh from their
conquest of the vast _Mare Tenebrosum_, with its mysteries and terrors.
At a single stroke from the arm of the intrepid Genoese the mediaeval
superstitions which peopled the unknown seas had fallen like fetters
from these daring and adventurous souls. The slumbering spirit of
knight-errantry awoke suddenly within their breasts; and when from their
frail galleons they beheld with ravished eyes this land of magic and
alluring mystery which spread out before them in such gorgeous
panorama, they plunged into the glittering waters with waving swords
and pennants, with shouts of praise and joy upon their lips, and
inaugurated that series of prodigious enterprise, extravagant deeds of
hardihood, and tremendous feats of prowess which still remain
unsurpassed in the annals of history for brilliancy, picturesqueness,
and wealth of incident.

With almost incredible rapidity and thoroughness the Spanish arms
spread over the New World, urged by the corroding lust of gold and the
sharp stimulus afforded by the mythical quests which animated the
simple minds of these hardy searchers for the Golden Fleece. Neither
trackless forests, withering heat, miasmatic climate nor savage
Indians could dampen their ardor or check their search for riches and
glory. They penetrated everywhere, steel-clad and glittering, with
lance and helmet and streaming banner. Every nook, every promontory of
a thousand miles of coast was minutely searched; every is