could not
comprehend why De Soto so persistently refused their solicitations.
They knew nothing of the secret reasons which rendered it almost
impossible for De Soto to draw his sword against the father of
Isabella.

As we have mentioned, it was generally supposed that there must be
some strait between the Isthmus of Darien and the southern frontiers
of Mexico, which connected the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. The king of Spain had offered a large reward for the discovery
of this passage. Several of the wealthy citizens of Leon organized an
expedition in pursuit of this object. De Soto was placed at its head.
He selected, from his cavalry troop, five of his most intelligent and
energetic young men. They started from Leon, and followed along the
coast of the Pacific, in northwesterly course, penetrating every bay
and inlet. They travelled on horseback and encountered innumerable
difficulties from the rugged and pathless wilderness, through which
they pressed their way. They also had much to fear from the unfriendly
character of the natives, whose hostility had been aroused by the
outrages which companies of vagabond Spaniards had inflicted upon
them.

De Soto, however, and his companions, by their just and kindly spirit,
soon won the regards of the Indians. They found that the natives
possessed large quantities of gold, which they seemed to esteem of
little value. Eagerly they exchanged the precious metal for such
trinkets as the explorers took with them. Upon this arduous
expedition, which De Soto managed with consummate skill, he was absent
eleven months. Seven hundred miles of sea-coast were carefully
explored, and he became fully convinced that the looked-for strait did
not exist. Though in this respect the expedition had proved a
failure, he returned to Leon quite enriched by the gold which he had
gathered. With honesty, rarely witnessed in those days, he impartially
divided the treasure among the projectors of the enterprise.

As De Soto was returning, he discovered a small Spanish vessel
anchored near the present site of San Salvador. As his men and horses
were worn down by their fatiguing journey, he engaged a passage in the
vessel to Leon. Upon embarking he found the captain and crew consisted
of some of the most depraved and brutal men who had ever visited the
New World. They were cruising along the coast, watching for
opportunity to kidnap the natives, to convey them to the West Indies
as sla