438 



MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEPJCA, WEST INDIES. 



But the rumour had been spread that one of the Bahamas possessed a treasure 

 far more precious than gold or silver, that marvellous " fountain of rejuvenes- 

 cence " which was fabled to restore vigour and health to old age. At all times 

 the myth had haunted the popular imagination, and the poets and painters of 

 this epoch, itself an epoch of " renaissance," had endowed the mysterious " spring 

 of life " with a sort of reality. It had now only to be discovered, and the men 



Fig. 212. — Bemini Island and Banks. 

 Scale 1 : 950.000. 



79*10' West oF Greenwicin 



7 8' 30 



Oto 10 

 Feet. 



10 to 32 



Feet. 



liepths- 



18 Miles. 



who had found a new world naturally seemed destined to eclipse their astonishing 

 achievement by this last and greatest of triumphs. Pagan and Christian ideas 

 were intermingled in their fancy, and as Columbus thought he had re-discovered 

 the earthly paradise, Ponce de Leon hoped to quaff the source of immortality 

 spoken of in all the mythologies. In 1512 he sailed from Puerto Eico with three 



