[Sidenote: =A magic fountain=]
=12. Ponce de Leon.= When the Spaniards came to America they were
told many strange stories by the Indians about many marvelous places.
Perhaps most wonderful of all was the story of Bimini, where every day
was perfect and every one was happy. Here was also the magic fountain
which would make old men young once more, and keep young men from
growing old.
When Columbus sailed to America for the second time he brought with him
a brave and able soldier, named Ponce de Leon. De Leon spent many years
on the new continent fighting for his king against the Indians. After
a while he was made governor of Porto Rico. While thus serving his
country he too heard the story of this wonderful land which no white
man had explored. Like most Spaniards, he loved adventure. Also he was
weary of the cares of his office, and soon resolved to find this land
and to explore it.
[Sidenote: =De Leon sets out to find Bimini=]
In the spring of 1513 De Leon set sail with three ships from Porto
Rico. Somewhere to the north lay this land of perfect days. Northward
he steered for many days, past lovely tropical islands. At last, on
Easter Sunday, an unknown shore appeared. On its banks were splendid
trees. Flowers bloomed everywhere, and clear streams came gently down
to the sea. De Leon named the new land Florida and took possession of
it for the King of Spain.
[Sidenote: =The first settlement in America founded=]
Various duties kept him away from the new land for eight years after
its discovery. In 1521 he again set out from Porto Rico, with priests
and soldiers, and amply provided with cattle and horses and goods. He
wrote to the King of Spain: "Now I return to that island, if it please
God's will, to settle it." He was an old man then and hoped to found
a peaceful and prosperous colony of which he was to be governor. But
Indians attacked his settlement and sickness laid low many of his men.
He had been in Florida only a short time when he himself was wounded in
a fight with the Indians. Feeling that he would soon die, he hastily
set sail with all his men for Cuba, where he died shortly after.
De Leon had failed to find the wonderful things of which the Indians
had told him. He had failed even to establish the colony of which he
was to be governor. But De Leon did discover a new and great land which
now forms one of the states of the Union. To him also goes the honor of
having been the first man to make a settlement in what is now a part of
the United States.