PONCE DE LEON 



4751 



PONTIAC 



PONCE DE LEON, pohn'tha da laohn' , 

 It \\ (about 1460-1521), a Spanish conqueror 

 and explorer, who discovered Florida while en- 

 gaged in an effort to locate a fabled "fountain 

 of perpetual youth." He served in the last war 



PONCE DE LEON'S SHIP 



In 1913 Florida celebrated the four hundredth 

 anniversary of Its discovery. The above illustra- 

 is from a photograph of the ship of the voy- 

 ager, as reproduced for the occasion. 



against the Moors in Spain, was with Columbus 

 on his second voyage, and later was governor 

 f the eastern part of Hispaniola (Haiti). His 

 conquest of Porto Rico led to his appointment 

 i 1510 as governor of that island, but his am- 



>ns were not satisfied. He had heard from 

 the Indians of an island named Bimini, which 



lined a marvelous fountain, in the waters 

 of which old age could be thrown off and youth 

 renewed, and in search of this he set out in 

 March, 1513. 



Land was sighted on March 27, and on Easter 

 .day, April 8, he formally claimed the terri- 

 tory, which he named Florida, from Pascua 



da, the Spanish name for Easter. Later he 

 sailed from his first landing place, near the 

 present site of Saint Augustine, around the 

 point and up the western side of the peninsula, 

 whir -h In- still thought an island. Eight years 

 later he returned to colonize his new territory, 



was wounded in an encounter with the In- 

 dians and died before he could get back to 

 Porto Rico. 



See FLORIDA, subhead History. Consult H.n- 

 rls's Discovery of North Amcr 



PONDICHERRY, pon'desheri, a seaport in 



southern part of India, on the eastern coast 



of the peninsula of Dekkan, 'just south of 



Madras. It is the capital of the tiny French 



itory of Pondicherry, and has a considerable 



export trade. The main industry is weaving of 



cottons and tin- chief exports are peanuts and 



peanut oil. cot ion goods, indigo, fish, hides and 



vn is I >M ilt on a sandy beach on 



both sides of a canal. To the east is the Euro- 

 pean quarter, which has wide streets, spacious 

 squares and fine buildings; to the west are the 

 native hovels of dried brick or earth and an 

 occasional heathen pagoda. Pondicherry was 

 founded by the French about 1674; about 

 twenty years later it was taken by the Dutch, 

 but after three years was restored to the French 

 with the fortifications much improved. During 

 the Napoleonic wars it was in British hands 

 several times; in 1816, however, it was finally 

 given to France. 



PONTCHARTRAIN, pon chahr trayn' , a 

 beautiful lake in Louisiana, noted as a summer 

 resort, situated about five miles north of New 

 Orleans, with which it is connected by the 

 Bayou Saint John, a canal and a railroad. 

 It is about forty miles long and twenty-five 

 miles wide and is surrounded by a dense vege- 

 tation of water plants. It communicates with 

 Lake Borgne on the east and with Lake Mau- 

 repas on the west. Mandeville and Madison- 

 ville, residential districts, are on the north 

 shore. The name was given this body of water 

 by the French. 



PONTIAC, pon'tiak (about 1720-1769), an 

 American Indian chief, born in Northern Ohio. 

 He early became chief of the Ottawa Indians 

 and leader of the united inUs of Ojibways, 

 Potawatomies and Ottawas, and he led their 

 warriors against 

 Braddock in 1755. 

 He was friendly 

 with the English 

 between 1756 and 

 1760, but in the 

 latter year was 

 enraged by their 

 advances into 

 what he consid- 

 ered his domain. 



He determined to 



exterminate the 

 Hnti>h set tiers of 

 America and dur- 

 ing the next two PONTIAC. THE OTTAWA 

 years organized CHI 



the greatest confederacy ever known among 

 savage people. It extended from the northern 

 shore of Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and included practical! indian tribe in 



the Mississippi Valley. How he contrived to 

 keep this vast movement a secret for more 

 than two years is yet a mystery to historians. 

 On May 7, 1763, he was to attack Detroit, 

 and i.l. r him were at the same 



