. . . . . 297

IN THE CAVERNS OF THE PITT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

BEING A BOY OUT WEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"THE POOR LITTLE GOVERNOR . . . DISTANCED HIS
FIERCE PURSUERS AT LAST" . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
Drawing by Seymour M. Stone

FACING PAGE

"OJEDA GALLOPED OFF WITH HIS . . . CAPTIVE" . . . . . . . . 6
Drawing by Seymour M. Stone

"THE INDIANS POURED A RAIN OF POISONED ARROWS" . . . . . . . 7
Drawing by Seymour M. Stone

"BALBOA . . . ENGAGED IN SUPERINTENDING THE ROOFING
OF A HOUSE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Drawing by George Gibbs

"THE EXPEDITION HAD TO FIGHT ITS WAY THROUGH
TRIBES OF WARLIKE AND FEROCIOUS MOUNTAINEERS" . . . . . . 35
Drawing by George Gibbs

"HE TOOK POSSESSION OF THE SEA IN THE NAME OF
CASTILE AND LEON" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Drawing by George Gibbs

"HE THREW THE SACRED VOLUME TO THE GROUND IN A
VIOLENT RAGE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Drawing by George Gibbs

"THEY BURST UPON THE RANKS OF THE UNARMED INDIANS" . . . . . 86
Drawing by George Gibbs

"THE THREE PIZARROS . . . SALLIED OUT TO MEET THEM" . . . . 87
Drawing by George Gibbs

"HE THREW HIS SOLE REMAINING WEAPON IN THE FACES
OF THE ESCALADERS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Drawing by George Gibbs

FERNANDO CORTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
From a picture in the Florence Gallery

THE DEATH OF MONTEZUMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
From an old engraving

"HE DEFENDED HIMSELF WITH HIS TERRIBLE SPEAR" . . . . . . . 179
Drawing by George Gibbs

"THE SHIP CAME TO A DEAD STOP" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Drawing by W. J. Aylward

THE KILLING OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON BY AARON BURR . . . . . . 233
Drawing by J. N. Marchand

_The publishers wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to The
Cosmopolitan Magazine and Munsey's Magazine for permission to use
several of the illustrations in this volume._

{3}

PART I

SOUTH AMERICAN FIGHTS AND FIGHTERS

I

Panama and the Knights-Errant of Colonization

I. The Spanish Main

One of the commonly misunderstood phrases in the language is "the
Spanish Main." To the ordinary individual it sugge