Voyages And Discoveries Of The Companions Of Columbus

We are here presented with a good addition to Mr. Irving’s Life of Columbus. None of the disciples of that great man achieved discoveries equal to his, and many of them were actuated by motives more questionable than the desire to extend our knowledge of the globs on which we live. To secure the first fruits of the pearl fisheries of Paris and Cubaga, or to explore the coast of Veragua, which Columbus had represented as the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients, contented the ambition of many of his immediate followers. Some there were, however, who did more ; especially Vasco Nunez de Balboa, whose discovery of the Pacific Ocean forms one of the most beautiful and striking incidents In the history of the New World; and Juan Ponce de Leon, the conqueror of Porto Rico, and discoverer of Florida. Of all the captains and admirals sent out by Spain to follow up what Columbus had begun, Vasco Nunez is our favorite; and there are points in his history, that make us pause with wonder and admiration at the daring spirit of the man who surmounted, by his courage and perseverance, so many appalling difficulties ; not the least of which was the piecemeal transportation across the then untraversed mountains of Darien, of the first European ships that ploughed the waves of the Pacific. Nunez was a follower worthy of Columbus.