in sight of Florida. He was not successful in his
attempt to find the Fountain of Youth, and returned an old man so deaf
that in the language of the Hoosier poet referring to his grandfather,--

"So remarkably deaf was my grandfather Squeers
That he had to wear lightning-rods over his ears
To even hear thunder, and oftentimes then
He was forced to request it to thunder again."

Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and, rolling up his pantalettes,
waded into the Pacific Ocean and discovered it in the name of Spain. It
was one of the largest and wettest discoveries ever made, and, though
this occurred over three centuries ago, Spain is still poor.

Balboa, in discovering the Pacific, did so according to the Spanish
custom of discovery, viz., by wading into it with his naked sword in one
hand and the banner of Castile, sometimes called Castile's hope (see
Appendix), in the other. He and his followers waded out so as to
discover all they could, and were surprised to discover what is now
called the undertow.

[Illustration: BALBOA DRYING HIS CLOTHES.]

The artist has shown the great discoverer most truthfully as he appeared
after he had discovered and filed on the ocean. No one can look upon
this picture for a moment and confuse Balboa, the discoverer of the
Pacific, with Kope Elias, who first discovered in the mountains of North
Carolina what is now known as moonshine whiskey.

De Narvaez in 1528 undertook to conquer Florida with three hundred
hands. He also pulled considerable grass in his search for gold. Finally
he got to the gulf and was wrecked. They were all related mostly to
Narvaez, and for two weeks they lived on their relatives, but later
struck shore--four of them--and lived more on a vegetable diet after
that till they struck the Pacific Ocean, which now belonged to Spain.

De Soto also undertook the conquest of Florida after this, and took six
hundred men with him for the purpose. They wandered through the Gulf
States to the Mississippi, enduring much, and often forced to occupy the
same room at night. De Soto in 1541 discovered the Mississippi River,
thus adding to the moisture collection of Spain.

After trying to mortgage his discovery to Eastern capitalists, he died,
and was buried in the quiet bosom of the Great Father of waters.

Thus once more the list of fatalities was added to and the hunger for
gold was made to contribute a discovery.

Menendez later on founded in 1565 the colony