"Where's the gold?" was the cry of the soldiers like Cortés who came to the New World from Spain, craving riches and adventure. Dressed in glittering armor, they fought on horseback through the length of Mexico, wresting it from the Indians.

Among the crossbowmen who served under Cortés was a bright-eyed young corporal named Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. When Cortés became governor of Mexico he sent an army to conquer Guatemala, and Cabrillo went along.

Savagery and courage marked the fight for Guatemala. When that exotic land was subdued, the warriors turned to the north. At Istapa, on the vast, mysterious Pacific, Cabrillo, now a captain, was made Justice of the Port and given the job of supervising the building of ships. By 1542 he had been made a Captain General. With only two small ships he set out to explore the west coast north of Mexico in the hope of finding the China Sea!

What Cabrillo found was more important than the China Sea. This little-known hero made discoveries of which all America is proud. In words as vivid as the history she recounts, Maud Hart Lovelace presents a simple man of vast courage and gentle spirit, who accomplished great things without the killing and enslaving of native peoples.

From the dust jacket