When the Cabots came back and told what they had seen, you may be sure the daring fishermen of Europe did not stay long at home. Soon numbers of their stout little vessels were crossing the ocean, and most of them came back so full of great codfish that the water almost ran over their decks. Do you not think these fishermen were wiser than the Spaniards, who went everywhere seeking for gold, and finding very little of it? Gold is only good to buy food and other things; but if these can be had without buying they are better still. At any rate, the hardy fishermen thought so, and they were more lucky in finding fish than the Spaniards were in finding gold. Thus the years passed on, and more and more Spaniards came to the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (which is now known as Hayti or San Domingo). And some of them soon began to sail farther west in search of new lands. Columbus, in his last voyage, reached the coasts of South America and Central America and other Spanish ships followed to those new shores. I might tell you many wonderful things about these daring men. One of them was named Balboa, whose story you will be glad to hear, for it is full of strange events. This man had gone to the island of Hispaniola to make his fortune, but he found there only bad fortune. He had to work on a farm, and in time he became so poor and owed so much money that it seemed as if he could never get out of debt. In fact he was in sad straits. No doubt the people who had lent him money often asked him to pay it back again, and Balboa, who got into a worse state every day, at length took an odd way to rid himself of his troubles. A ship was about to set sail for the west, and the poor debtor managed to get carried aboard it in a barrel. This barrel came from his farm and was supposed to contain provisions, and it was not till they were far away from land that it was opened and a living man was found in it instead of salt beef or pork. When the captain saw him he was much astonished. He had paid for a barrel of provisions, and he found something which he could not well eat. He grew so angry at being cheated that he threatened to leave Balboa on a desert island, but the poor fellow got on his knees and begged so hard for his life that the captain at length forgave him. But he made him work to pay his way, and very likely used the rope's end to stir him up. Of course you have learned from your geographies where the Isthmus of Darien (now called Panama) is, that narrow strip of land that is like a string tying together the great continents of North and South America. It was to the town of Darien, on this isthmus, that the ship made its way, and here Balboa made a surprising discovery. Some of the Indian chiefs told him of a mighty ocean which lay on the other side of the isthmus, and that beyond that ocean was the wonderful land of gold which the Spaniards wished to find.