te lay before them.

I think you will say that De Soto deserved a bad fate when I tell you
that he brought bloodhounds to hunt the poor Indians, and chains to
fasten on their hands and feet. That was the way the Spaniards often
treated the poor red men. He brought also two hundred horses for his
armed men to ride, and a drove of hogs to serve them for fresh meat. And
in the ships were great iron chests, which he hoped to take back full of
gold and other precious things.

For two long years De Soto and his band traveled through the country,
fighting Indians, burning their houses and robbing them of their food.
But the Indians were brave warriors, and in one terrible battle the
Spaniards lost eighty of their horses and many of their men.

In vain De Soto sought for gold and glory. Not an ounce of the yellow
metal was found; no mighty empire was reached. He did make one great
discovery, that of the vast Mississippi River. But he never got home to
tell of it, for he died on its banks, worn out with his battles and
marches, and was buried under its waters. His men built boats and
floated down the great river to the Gulf of Mexico. Here, at length,
they found Spanish settlements. But of that brave and gallant band half
were dead, and the rest were so nearly starved that they were like
living skeletons.

We must not forget that humble Italian traveler and explorer, Amerigo
Vespucci, who in 1499, saw the part of South America where lies the
island of Trinidad. He afterwards reached the coast of Brazil. Some
years later, when maps were made of the country he had visited, some one
called it _America_. In later years this name was used for the whole
continent. So what should have been called Columbia came to be called
America.

CHAPTER III

THREE EARLY HEROES

WHAT do you think of Captain John Smith, the hero of Virginia? Was he
not a man to dream of, a true hero? Why, I feel half ashamed to say
anything about him, for every one of you must know his story. I am sure
all those who love good stories of adventure have read about him.

John Smith was not the kind of man to work at a trade. He ran away from
home when a boy, and became a wanderer over the earth. And a hard life
he had of it. At one place he was robbed, and at another place was
shipwrecked. Once he leaped overboard from a ship and swam ashore. Once
again he fought with three Turks and killed all of them without help.
Then he was taken prisoner, and sold