O brother, good brother, bend low and keep still. See the God in the bow, he is white-haired and ill. Let us hide in the palms, ere they step on the shore, Let us watch in the grass ’til this danger is o’er. They jump to the beach, raise a cross-stick on high, They speak a strange tongue and utter a cry. O brother, good brother, what’s that shines and gleams? On their breasts, on their backs,—it glitters and beams. Let us talk with these strangers, let us speak with these men, There are hundreds of brothers behind in the glen, They surely can’t harm us, they come from the sky, And they smile as they see us. Then let us draw nigh. * * * * * O brother, good brother, had I never been near, These pale-visaged Gods who from Spain traveled here, I’d be in the forest, not bound to the mast, As the _Nina_ rolls on and the shore flyeth past. Good-bye, tropic islands! Good-bye, Salvador! _My spirit is crushed; my free life is o’er._ _Farewell, beloved palm trees! Farewell and adieu!_ _My home is behind me and fades from my view._ AMERIGO VESPUCCI: FLORENTINE NAVIGATOR FROM WHOM AMERICA HAS DERIVED ITS NAME. (1452-1512) AMERIGO VESPUCCI: FLORENTINE NAVIGATOR FROM WHOM AMERICA HAS DERIVED ITS NAME. (1452-1512) ABOUT the beginning of the thirteenth century a family called Vespucci established themselves in the City of Florence, Italy. Anastatio Vespucci was the head of the family in 1451 and lived in a stately mansion, now occupied as a hospital for the poor, near the gate of the city known as Porta del Prato. He was Secretary of the Senate, and, although he lived in a palatial dwelling, had little besides the salary attached to his high office. Upon March the ninth, 1451, the third son of this official was born, and, when three days of age, was duly christened Amerigo. He has since been called Americus. Almost from his cradle the boy was destined to become a merchant. Yet he had a good schooling, too, and was educated at a private institution presided over by his father’s brother, a monk of the Order of San Marco, who, before the birth of Americus, had become famous as a teacher of the noble youths of the city. Here the boy was taught mathematics, astronomy, geography, and the classics. He became especially interested in geography and was ambitious to excel as a geographer. Amerigo, or Americus, seems to have remained a student under the direction of his uncle for a number of years, yet we have no record of when it was that he followed the wishes of his father and entered upon mercantile pursuits. At any rate, he never lost his early interest in geography. In spite of his days in a counting house, he eagerly studied maps and charts. He made a collection of them, and, for one map alone, paid a sum equivalent to five hundred and fifty-five dollars.