Excerpt from The South in the Building of the Nation, Vol. 3 of 12

De Leon was born in 1460, and was now over fifty years of age. Although he had amassed considerable wealth in the course of his public employments, he was not nearly as rich as some of his contempo raries, so it is probable that the approach of old age and a desire for greater possessions made him an eager listener to the tales that were in circulation concerning a not very distant island called Bimini, where, in addition to fabulous deposits of gold, was a spring whose waters were capable of restoring to age and decrepitude the form and vigor of youth. So in the spring of 1513 De Ileon sailed from Porto Rico with a charter from the king authorizing him to search for and settle the mythical island.

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