INTRODUCTION 2] 
be mentioned the palm, which occurs in great variety, 
the amate and ceiba, both of which attain to large size, 
as well as mahogany, Spanish cedar (which is not a 
cedar at all but a close relative of the mahogany), cam- 
peche, or logwood, rosewood, sapodilla, and other trees 
of commerce. Upon the higher mountain slopes are 
forests of long-leaf pine and of oak. In the desert 
stretches the cactus is often tree-like and there are 
many shrubs that in the brief spring become masses of 
highly colored blossoms. 
Some of the principal crops of Mexico and Central 
America have been introduced from the Old World, 
including coffee, sugar cane, and bananas. Other crops 
such as maize, beans, chili peppers, cocoa, etc., are 
indigenous. Among the native fruits may be men- 
tioned the aguacate, or alligator pear, the mamey, the 
anona, or custard apple, the guanabina, jocote, and 
nanse. 
History of European Contact. The great area 
with which we are concerned has been in touch with 
Europe since the beginning of the sixteenth century. 
Columbus on his last voyage in 1502 cast anchor at the 
mouth of the San Juan River, the outlet of Lake Nica- 
ragua. Later he skirted the shore of Costa Rica and 
Panama and entered the body of water which was 
named in his honor Bahia del Almirante—Bay of the 
Admiral. He brought back sensational news of the 
gold in possession of the natives, which they had told 
him came from a district called Veragua. After a few 
years of stormy warfare the Spaniards established them- 
selves firmly in this golden land. Vasco Nunez de Bal- 
boa, who emerged from the bickering mob as the strong- 
est leader, was the first white man to cross the Isthmus. 
This he did in 1513, grandiloquently laying claim to the 
Pacific Ocean and all the shores that it touched in the 
