with them, and burning their villages. Many of the Spaniards in his party died from fever, lack of food, and other hardships.

Two years they wandered and found no gold. But in the spring of 1541 they came to a great river. They had discovered the Mississippi, the "Father of Waters. A few months later De Soto died of fever and was buried in the river that he was the first white man to behold.

Those who were left of his party then sailed down the Mississippi and joined their friends in Mexico.

Coronado.-Indians told the Spaniards in Mexico about their rich villages to the north of Mexico. In 1540 Francisco Coronado with a large company of men set out to find these rich towns, which they called the "seven cities of Cibola." Coronado and his followers traveled hundreds of miles. In what is now New Mexico they found large Indian villages, but no cities and no gold. They discovered the Colorado River and explored the country

north and east as far as the present states of Kansas and Nebraska.

Thus within fifty years of the discovery of America by Columbus the Spaniards had explored a large part of what is now the United States, but they had not yet made a settlement north of Mexico.

1. What did the people of Spain hope to find in the New World? 2. What islands were soon settled?

3. Tell what Balboa did.

4. What did Ponce de Leon try to find? What did he discover? 5. What part of the country did De Narvaez explore?

6. What did De Soto discover?

7. What did Coronado try to find? What did he discover?

CHAPTER III

FERNANDO DE MAGELLAN

Fernando de Magellan, or Ferdinand Magellan as he is more commonly called, was a famous Portuguese navigator, born about 1470. Unable to secure in his native country necessary financial assistance for voyages of exploration, he went to Spain. There, in 1517, he laid his plans for making discoveries before King Charles I, the grandson and successor of Ferdinand. Magellan was well

received at the court and was shortly afterward employed to find a route to the East by sailing westward.

On September 20th, 1519, he set out with five ships and about two hundred and fifty men. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, he sailed along the whole eastern coast of South America and then around the southern point of the continent, through the strait that bears his name. From here Magellan sailed northward for a few days and then headed west across the vast Pacific Ocean.

What a frightful voyage it must have been, with nothing in sight but water and sky. You, reader, may have had a bit of this experience when on your way to this country,

but think of the horrors of a trip lasting many, many months in the small and cramped vessels of those days. Magellan's crew suffered unimaginable hardships

through hunger and disease. It has been told that at times they were compelled to eat leather and even rats.

At last, early in 1521, they reached a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean now known as the Philippine Islands. In a fight with the native chief of one of these islands Magellan was killed on April 26th of that year. Deprived thus of their leader, the remainder of Magellan's crew continued to sail westward and at last brought one of his ships around the southern point of Africa and back to Spain. They had been gone just three years.

Magellan's voyage was the first around the world. He proved beyond doubt that the earth is round, and also that there is a very wide body of water between South America and Asia.

A monument to Magellan has recently been erected in the world's most southerly city, Punta Arenas, Chile. This is to commemorate the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan. The unveiling took place on December 17th, 1920.

8. What great ocean was he the first to explore? 9. What is named after Magellan? Where is it?