PONCE DE LEON. 



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tmtes. On the 15th, he sailed along a line of small islands as far 

 as two white ones, and called the whole group Los Martyros, or 

 The Martyrs, from the high rocks at a distance which had 

 the appearance of men undergoing crucifixion. The name 

 was singularly applicable, for the large number of seamen 

 who have since been wrecked upon these islands has made them 

 in reality a place of martyrdom. He discovered another group 

 to the southwest, which he called the Tortugas, as his men took 

 one hundred and seventy tortoises upon one of them in a short 

 time, and might have had more if they would. Ponce de Leon 

 continued ranging about here till September, when he returned 

 to Porto Rico, sending one of his ships to Bimini — the smallest 

 of the Bahamas — to see if he could discover the spring. The 

 vessel went and returned, the captain, Perez de Ortubia, re- 

 porting that the island was pleasantly diversified with hills, 

 groves, and rivers, but that none of the latter possessed any un- 

 usual charm. 



One great advantage which resulted from the voyage of Ponce 

 de Leon was the discovery, by his second captain, Ortubia, of 

 the passage now known as the Bahama Channel, by which ships 

 bound from Havana to Spain pass out into the Atlantic Ocean. 

 This new passage became the universal track even during Ponce 

 de Leon's life. Upon his return to court, he was well rewarded 

 for his discoveries both by land and sea, but his gathering years 

 caused him often to regret that he had missed the Fountain of 

 Youth. 



We have now to relate the manner in which the Pacific Ocean, 

 which had rolled for centuries in its accustomed bed, unknown 

 to Europeans, was first seen by Continental eyes. The islands 

 discovered by Columbus were still under the exclusive dominion 

 of the Spaniards ; Hispaniola was the central point of their 

 operations of discovery and conquest. Settled here, upon a 

 farm, was a man, still in the prime of life, named Vasco Nunez 

 de Balboa. He was a native of Xeres, in Spain, and had 



