Dedicated an mat Prutlprlpd of who, with self-sacrifice, devotion, and lack of persdprofit, have consecrated their lives to the education and development of the youths of all English speaking countries. A voice came from the westwand it whispered a met sage clear, And the dripping fog banks parted as the clarion tones drew near It spoke of shores wztrodden, and it sang of mountains bold, Of shimmering sands in distant lands which were cou ered with glittering gold. It sang of hemlock forests, where tlre moose roamed, and the bear, Where the eider bred near the cascades head, and the lucivee had his lair. It praised the rushing water falls, it told of the salmon red, Who swam in the spurning ripples by the rushing rivers head. It chanted its praise of the languorous days which lay neath the shimmering sun, Of the birch canoe and the Indian, too, who trapped in the forests dun. Yea, it told of the bars of silver, and it whispered of emeralds green, Of topaz, sapphire, and amethyst, which shone with a dazzling sheen CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Amerigo Vespucci See page 45 . . Frontispiece Leif Ericson . . 8 The Landing of Columbus . . Amerigo Vespucci off the coast of Venezuela . 48 Juan Ponce de Leon at the Fountail1 of Youth . 8 0 Balboa taking possession of the Pacific Ocean in the name of the King of Spain . 97 Capture by CortCs of the City of Mexico . . 178 The Death of Magellan . . m Giovanni Verrazano . . 208 Execution of the Inca of Peru . 215 De Soto in the Florida Wilderness . . 256 Champlain in the Indian Battle . 285 Henry Hudson in New York Harbor . 317 Marquette and Joliet discovering the Mississippi River . 369 La Salle at the mouth of the Mississippi River . 397Robert Edwin Peary, . . 413 LEIF ERICSON THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO EXPLORE, AND SETTLE IN, AMERICA. From Greenlands icy mou ltni zs from Icelands rocky shore, We sailed the ship which forged ahead and ruddy oarsmen bore We found the wdd grape growing we scoured the riuers bed, And chased the moose whose horns were broad, wl ose blood was rich utUE red. OUT axes felled the wild-wood, our spears the Skraelings slew, We sank their round slcin-barges as the cutting North Winds blew, Over the wild waves rolling, back to the fiords of home, We safely came to nncl or, -but zoell yzeaer cease to T O U . Saga of the Vikings, 1000 A. D.