will
be then, Mr. Balboa? Don't, eh? Well, sir, you would be just where
Columbus hoped he would be, when he reached the end of his great
voyage across the Atlantic--in the Indies! Yes, sir, all among the
gold, and ivory, and spices, and elephants and other things!

"If you can get any ships here and will start off and steer carefully
among the islands, you won't find anything in your way until you get
there. But, it was different with Columbus, you see, sir. He had a
whole continent blocking up his road to the Indies; but, for my part,
I'm very glad, for various reasons, that it happened so."

[Illustration]

It is probable that if Johnny Green could have delivered this little
speech, that Vasco Nunez de Balboa would have been one of the most
astonished men in the world!

Whether he and his fellow-adventurers would ever have set out to sail
over those blue waters, in search of the treasures of the East, is
more than I can say, but it is certain that if he had started off on
such an expedition, he would have found things pretty much as Johnny
Green had told him.

THE LARGEST CHURCH IN THE WORLD.

[Illustration]

This is St. Peter's at Rome. Is it possible to look upon such a
magnificent edifice without acknowledging it as the grandest of all
churches? There are some others in the world more beautiful, and some
more architecturally perfect; but there is none so vast, so
impressive, so grand!

This great building was commenced in 1506, but it was a century and a
half before it was finished. Among other great architects, Michael
Angelo assisted in its construction. The building is estimated to have
cost, simply for its erection, about fifty millions of dollars, and it
has cost a great deal in addition in later years.

Its dimensions are enormous. You cannot understand what a great
building it is unless you could see it side by side with some house
or church with which you are familiar. Several of the largest churches
in this country could be stood up inside of St. Peter's without
touching walls or roof, or crowding each other in the least.

[Illustration]

There are but three works of man in the whole world which are higher
than the little knob which you see on the cupola surmounting the great
dome of St. Peter's. These more lofty buildings are the Great Pyramid
of Egypt, the Spire of Strasbourg, and the Tower of Amiens. The
highest of these, the pyramid, is, however, only forty-two feet above
St. P