[NTRODUCTTON 21 



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 de» rl 

 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 

 nance. 



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. 

 ( lolumbus on his last voyage in 1502. landed on the north- 

 ern coast of Honduras and rounded the stormy cape 

 called Graciasa Dios. 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 Yeragua. After a few 

 year- 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 -t rong- 

 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 



