The Stories of El Dorado

"Where is the house located?" Quesada asked, eagerly.

"Some of the Indians say it is in the north, some say the south, some say near by, and others far away," answered his servant.

"Very well, we will search in all directions until we find the miserable dog, and when we do it shall go hard with him."

It took them several months to hunt him down, and when they did find him he could not be induced to tell anything about the treasures.

"I have a house of gold in the sun where my master and lord, Bochica lives. I go to him, whom I have faithfully served all my life."

After his death a new governor was sent from Peru, and he undertook to drain the lake to get the treasures of gold and emeralds which had been thrown into it in honor of the Golden Hearted. The Muscas were told that the new Governor would be kind to them if they would tell where they had hidden their wealth, but one of their priests said:

"Do you think a river will run up hill?"

The new Governor, hearing the remark, turned to him, and said:

"No, it is not possible for water to run up hill. Why do you ask such a foolish question?"

"How then, do you expect me to believe in the existence of a white man who will be just to us? One thing is quite as possible as the other."

And to this day no one knows what became of the riches of the brave Muscas, but it is said that they still remember the Golden Hearted, and in secret, offer gold and emeralds in his honor.

The White Sea of the Manoas

THE death of the Zipa and the complete subjugation of the Muscas, did not cause people to forget the story of El Dorado. On the contrary other nations soon began to fit out expeditions to search for him, and they went into some dreadful places in South America thinking they would find him.

"What ails that dog of an Indian?" asked Aguirre, the tyrant, and the worst of all the Spanish adventurers looking for gold.

"He has fainted from fatigue," answered one of his men.

"Then cut off his head. We have no time to waste on these slaves."

"Let us unfasten the chain around his neck, and then he can drop behind the rest of the gang," pleaded some of the Indians, who were being used to help the horses carry the baggage.

"It will take too long, and the whole chain-gang of men would have to wait until we could unfasten his neckband and put some one else in his place. Chop off his head with this sword, and go on."

The other officers tried to console the terrified Indians by saying:

"If we were to leave him lying by the roadside, some wild animal would come along and eat him, so it is just as well for him as if we had done as you wished."

Many people now say that Aguirre was insane, and to this day the poor Christian Indians cross themselves when they hear strange noises at night, and exclaim:

"It is the soul of the tyrant Aguirre, who plunged a dagger through the heart of his own daughter when the King's officers came to arrest and punish him for his cruelties. He is doomed to wander over the swamps at night, and wail over his terrible sins. His soul can never be at rest."

Like thistle-down scattered by the wind, were the wonderful tales of El Dorado. No matter where white men went they failed to find it, but the cunning Indians always told them that it was still farther away, because they wanted to get rid of the unwelcome visitors, who tortured and enslaved, as well as robbed them.

Finally Sir Walter Raleigh, who helped colonize the state of Virginia, and named it for Good Queen Bess of England, heard about the city of Omagua, and the White Sea of the Manoas, and he determined to find them, because there, he believed, was El Dorado.

Some English sailors under his command traded some pieces of old iron to the Indians for shields of gold.

"Where did you get this metal?" was asked of the Indians.

"In Omagua, where the tiles on the roofs of the houses are made from the same glittering substance, and where we hang crescents of it in front of our doors to keep away evil spirits."

"What they say must be true," said the sailors among themselves, "for they have gold crowns on their heads, and breast-plates and earrings."

"Where is this city of Omagua?" again asked the men.

"It is very far south, and is on a lake of gold. Our chief lives in the House of the Sun, and has many green stones in his shield and on the walls of the temples."

"What is the name of your chief?"

"El Dorado," answered the Indians, anxious that the white men should know that they could speak their language.

"It is all plain to me," said Sir Walter Raleigh, when told of it. "Those Spanish adventurers have failed to find the real El Dorado. We will search for it ourselves."

"The Indians say there are whole streets filled with workers in gold and precious stones," said one of his officers, "and I dare say we shall make our enterprise quite profitable." So they, too, were looking for gold, only their methods were not so barbarous and cruel as the others had been.

As they went farther into the country they found a numerous band of Indians with flat heads, and when they examined the babies carried on the backs of their mothers it was seen that they had tied a board across the forehead so that it would sink in and leave the head pointed and flat in front.

"Why do you treat your heads in this manner?" some one asked their chief.

"Because our fathers did so, and we think it makes us beautiful," he answered. In that country there are still plenty of flat-headed Indians. As the men marched along they came to trees with holes cut through the bark, and little earthen pots hanging under them to catch the sticky-looking milk that oozed out.

"Can this be something good to eat?" the men said. "Let us taste it and see."

"Ugh! it has a nasty, disagreeable, bitter flavor," said the speaker, licking his finger after he had stuck it down into the pot. "It smells so badly that it makes me feel sick," he continued, spitting it out quickly.

"Here comes an old woman with some nuts from the palm tree she has been shaking in her hands. Let us ask her what this stuff is good for."

But the old woman evidently did not have a very good opinion of white men, and would not speak to them at all.

"We can watch her," they said, "and see whether she intends to eat it."

She paid no attention to them, but went on making a fire out of the palm nuts and some dry leaves, and as soon as they blazed brightly she set the little pot near the fire and began stirring the milk with a wooden paddle she carried in her hand. As soon as the blaze smouldered, she held the paddle over it until the milk began to get thick. Then she dipped it back into the pot and repeated the process until there was enough coating to scrape off and make a flat cake.

"Will you please give me the biscuit?" inquired one of the bystanders. Without a word the old woman threw it at him, and when he caught it in his hands, he exclaimed:

"It is India rubber! Now we can have a game of ball!" As it was still warm he rounded it into shape with his hands, and then he and his companions amused themselves for quite a while throwing the ball against the trees and catching it as it bounded back. While they were engaged in this sport the cooks were preparing them something to eat, but the forest was full of monkeys swinging themselves from one tree to another by their long tails and seemingly very much interested in what the men underneath them were doing.

Now, we all know that a monkey imitates everything it sees, and so the whole band began to go through the motion of throwing. As soon as they found out there was something to eat they bobbed their heads and screeched and chattered in great excitement. Every time the cook's back was turned they slid down a limb of the tree and grabbed a dish and scampered back again. They had such solemn little faces, and were so quick about it, that the men shouted with laughter, but when they sat down to eat, the monkeys jumped out of the trees and rushed for the food.

The old Indian woman, comprehending the situation, approached camp and said:

"Will the white chief let me cook something for the monkeys?"

"What do you want to feed them?"

"A pot of rice," she answered, "such as I know well how to prepare."

No one made any objection, and it was not long before she had a big pan full of boiled rice, which she had made almost red with pepper. Taking a wide, green leaf, she laid it down and poured the rice out to cool. No sooner had she done so than the monkeys swarmed around the pile, and squatting beside it began to eat by the handful. Tears ran down their faces and water poured from their mouths, but they kept on eating for a few minutes. Then, suddenly seeming to suspect each other of being to blame, they commenced fighting with sticks and stones until they scattered the rice all over the ground. By this time the pepper was burning their mouths worse than ever, and not knowing what was the matter they set up a doleful howling, and ran pell-mell into the river quite a distance from camp. They tumbled into the water and rolled and wallowed in it, but it was some little time before their mouths quit smarting, and they were very willing to let the men alone.

The dogs belonging to the party gave chase, but the monkeys screamed so that they awoke the alligators sleeping in the sun on the river bank, and then the dogs had to run for their lives. One or two of them barely escaped being caught in the wide open mouths of these monsters. It was very much cooler when the sun went down, but that brought out the mosquitos, and the men were obliged to sit in the smoke to save themselves from being bitten dreadfully. They kept the fire going all night, because they were afraid of the jaguars and panthers hidden in the woods during the day, but ready to kill and eat anything they might find in their night prowls.

It was considered safer out of doors than in the tents, but it was impossible to sleep on account of the hideous noises made by the animals, monkeys, birds and snakes.

"Why do these creatures keep up such a terrible din?" asked the men of their Indian guides.

"Because they are keeping the feast of the full moon," they replied, and this appeared to be a settled belief among them.

"Men put the jaguar out of humor," they explained. "He is a very selfish beast, and if he cannot rule alone he goes to his den and sulks. He will follow a man all day through the woods and will not spring upon him unless he tries to run or moves his arms. If you think one is following you do not look back and do not trust anything but the sharp blade of your sword. The noise of a gun only infuriates him."

As the men heard this they imagined they could see the yellow eyes glaring at them in the darkness, and some thought they smelled him.

"He is a ferocious, blood-thirsty beast," said the Indians in conclusion, "and you may well think yourselves fortunate when you leave these tropic forests and get out into the open plains."

The men would have agreed with him if it had not been for the intense heat, and a terrible sandstorm that almost blinded them for days when it did not blow so hard that they could make no headway against it. Finally, footsore, weary, and almost discouraged, they came to a wide and deep river, and here the Indian guides brought them boats, which they called pirogues.

"We are not far from the lake of gold beside the city of the Manoas," they said, and when the delighted soldiers inquired particularly, they responded readily:

"We have these things from our fathers and other men wise in the traditions and sayings of our people, but we are afraid to go any further, for the Manoans are a fierce and warlike race."

About this time Sir Walter Raleigh learned that the Queen was not pleased with his efforts in search of the El Dorado, and he decided to withdraw his men and abandon the attempt.

But this did not hinder other men from trying to solve the mystery. It was more than a hundred years before the truth was finally known, and then a scientist discovered that the location itself had shifted and was nearly as much changed as the ideas about El Dorado. He traced the legend to Lake Parima, near the center of South America, and said:

"This is really the White Sea of the Manoas, which people have long believed was a lake of gold. The reason the Indians thought so was because there is some fine gold-dust in the washings of the sand, which has plenty of mica mixed with it. Then there is a large quantity of salt dried on the grass, and when the hot sun shines, it looks at a distance as if it were a great sea of gold."

"Are the houses covered with gold tiles?" was the next inquiry.

"No indeed: they are common huts with thatched roofs on which the salt and mica glisten and sparkle as they do in the grass and sand."

"Are the natives warlike? and do they eat each other, as we have been told?"

"They are armed with javelins, wooden shields, bows and arrows, and a short sword which they make for themselves. We found them very friendly, and as for their being cannibals that is all imagination, but it may have been true in olden times."

And this is really what people spent millions of money trying to find, and for which hundreds of lives were uselessly sacrificed.

The Mountain of Gold

VERY far to the north of Lake Parima, is the celebrated Roraima, the "Mountain of Gold," one of the objects sought by the men who were looking for El Dorado.

"Let us set out on an expedition to see if we cannot solve the mystery of this mountain, that is not only rich in gold and precious stones, but grows the Plant of Life in abundance, which keeps one alive for hundreds of years," said some idle Cavaliers who had become reckless in their eagerness to acquire sudden riches.

"But they say Roraima is inaccessible, so what is the use of attempting the impossible?" said one of the party, who had been out hunting.

"I believe that the flat top of the mountain is inhabited, and that up there is the famous island city of El Dorado," responded the first speaker. "There is almost unlimited wealth to be had by finding it, and these cowardly Indians are afraid to go near it."

"It will be a long, tedious journey," said the hunter, "and I doubt if we can persuade the slaves to accompany us."

"They shall go," said the other, firmly, "and if there is any sign of rebellion we have a remedy," he continued, pointing to his gun with a smile that was not pleasant to see.

It was as the hunter feared. The Indian porters and servants were nearly frantic at the idea of being compelled to approach the dread mountain.

"The whole place is weird and uncanny," they declared, "and the demon mountain is surrounded by haunted woods, filled with camoodis and didis."

When asked what a camoodi was, they explained that it was a gigantic snake with a hood over its head, and whose breath killed whatever it touched, while the didis were man apes, ferocious and terrible to see.

"It is a foolish superstition," said the Spaniards, in derision, "and we will not listen to such idle tales."

"Roraima is an island, connected underground with the other mountains, and the lights you see on the tops are put there by the demons to lure us on to destruction."

"If it is inaccessible, how do these demons manage to get up there?" asked the Spaniards.

"There are huge white eagles, that fly so high we cannot see them; but they have very fine eyesight, and many a poor brave has been seized by them, and carried to the didis on the mountain."

"They must mean the big white birds we call condors, found in the highest peaks of the Andes," said the Spaniards, "but our good weapons are proof against any bird, and we need have no fear."

"As soon as it is dark in those terrible woods, blood-sucking vampires swoop down from the trees and fasten their long red bills in your throat," said the Indians, with a shudder, but no attention was paid to anything they told of the hardships to be endured.

"It is better for us to start at the beginning of the dry season," said Carino, the Indian guide, and in a short time the entire party was voyaging on one of the splendid rivers that span that country. In canoes they passed through untracked forests and grassy savannahs following the course of the river. Some places they were in great danger from cataracts and rapids, but finally landed in a place where there was a flock of red flamingos half hidden by tall pampas grass, and where there were hundreds of little wild ducks with tiny horns on their wings. In the trees were some rare and beautiful orchids, and when some of the party climbed up to pick the big perfumed blossoms, they were much surprised to find that what they thought was a flower was a perfumed butterfly.

"We must be near the enchanted wood," said the Spaniards, but just then they heard a sort of combination of whistle, snort and hiss that frightened them dreadfully:

"Carino! what is that?" they all said, huddling up close together, and listening intently.

"It is the cry of the Lost Souls, who have been slain by the camoodi," said Carino. "We have already seen their strange shapes flitting through the deep shadows. They are in league with the didi to guard this spot." As he spoke the Indian porters and slaves began a curious chant in a singsong tone:

Darkly from sunset to the rising sun,A cry as of the pained heart of the wood,The long despairing moan of solitudeAnd darkness and the absence of all good,Startles the traveler with a sound so drear,So full of hopeless agony and fear,His heart stands still and listens with his ear,The guide, as if he heard a death-bell toll,Crosses himself and whispers "A Lost Soul."

The last words seemed to affect Carino deeply and falling on his knees before the leader of the expedition he said:

"My heart is heavy at the thought of your undertaking to fight the demons of the mountain. It is not good—this thing you are about to do. The didis may tempt you to enter these fatal woods, but they will trap you by closing the trail and you will never be seen again."

"We will encamp here for the night, and tomorrow at sunrise we will have a look at Roraima," said the leader, not feeling very comfortable over the doleful noise called the wail of a lost soul. "It may be that these Indians are not so far wrong," he said to himself when their backs were turned. "At any rate, I do not fancy going into the woods so near nightfall."

After a long parley Carino succeeded in persuading the porters and servants to venture a short distance to get some wood for cooking and other purposes. They had not been gone long when the Spaniards heard a loud roaring bark, almost like a trumpet, quickly followed by several more in the immediate vicinity. Soon the Indians came flying into camp terror-stricken.

"The Warracaba cats!" they shouted, and before the Spaniards could stop them, they had all piled into the canoes and were rowing for the middle of the river. The white men stood with guns raised as four screaming tigers sprang out of the woods in full pursuit of the Indians they had smelled, but not seen. Bang! bang! bang! went the guns in rapid succession, and three of the four tigers rolled on the ground dead or dying, while the other one made off into the woods as fast as he could go.

"That was a narrow escape, my masters," said Carino, shaking as if he had ague, "and the other Warracaba will come back and bring companions. These tigers hunt in packs like wolves, and are not afraid of anything except deep water."

"What are we to do?" asked the leader, gruffly, pale with fright. "Those dastardly slaves have gone off and left us without a single boat. Do you think you can call them back?" he asked eagerly.

"I fear to answer that question," faltered Carino. "I have warned you that my people fear these woods, and are never willing to go into them."

Then the Cavaliers began very foolishly to blame each other for coming to such a place, and were soon in high words—as if quarreling would help them out of their difficulty.

"If you had not been so greedy for gold you would never have undertaken such a journey," said one of them.

"And if you had been willing to work for an honest living you would not have been so eager to come with me," retorted the other angrily.

Carino realizing that something must be done at once, interrupted the dispute by saying:

"There is an old Manoan witch named Monella, who has lived at the edge of this wood for hundreds of years, and if you will follow me I will conduct you to her hut. The pathway is hung with bell-shaped flowers of many hues, and these give a dim light when the sun goes down. If we make haste we may reach it before dark."

Without a word the Spaniards picked up what things they needed for the night, and carrying them on their backs in separate bundles, moodily followed Carino. None but an Indian could have found the way through such a tangled mass of undergrowth. Suddenly Carino stopped and called out:

"Beware! here is one of the fierce lords of the wood, mouth open and bent upon attack." Being an agile, quick fellow, he jumped to one side barely in time to miss the venomous snake as it rushed toward him. The warning made the Spaniards ready, and with unerring aim one of them shot the reptile through the head.

"These are some of the guardians of Roraima," said Carino, solemnly. "They are not only poisonous, but show fight, and will not run from man."

By this time the Spaniards were beginning to lose heart.

"If the Holy Mother preserves me through this night I will give up this search for El Dorado," said the leader, and the other men agreed with him.

"The witch Monella has strange tales to tell of Roraima. She has been through the secret cavern in the side of the mountain, and up to the top," said Carino.

"Does she say that there is gold up there?" queried one of the Cavaliers. Before the guide could answer, a large yellow puma stood in the pathway, directly in front of them. A gun was leveled to shoot at her, when Carino sprang forward and said:

"Do not harm the puma. She belongs to Monella, and no red man ever kills one of these animals. They are always our friends, and to injure one is to bring bad luck on yourself and family."

They went forward eagerly now for the thought of a human habitation near by inspired them with courage, and they were soon rewarded by seeing a thin column of smoke issuing from an opening in the dense foliage. Nearing the hut they were met by a queer looking old Indian woman, who had no teeth, and whose face was so wrinkled that she could scarcely see out of her eyes. Carino approached her and said:

"We have come, good mother, to ask shelter and food for the night. We are a band of travelers who are left with no servants and must make our way the best we can."

"Your strange white masters come on a useless errand," said the old crone, blinking at them and grinning in a knowing way. "You think to find the hidden treasure of Roraima and to unearth its buried secrets, but you will fail. No one living, except myself, knows these things, and I will not tell you more than is good for you."

"Do not quarrel with the old hag," said the leader to Carino, "we need a place to sleep and are very hungry, so give her some gold and tell her we will do as she says."

"These are not Mellenda's men," said the old crone to Carino, as she eyed them suspiciously. "But the White Brotherhood would despise me if I refused to shelter them from the dangers of the forest at night. They are welcome to come and sup with me."

When they had all been given something to eat, and were sitting before the fire of pine knots, one of the Cavaliers said:

"Tell us, good mother, how you have managed to live so long. Carino says you are very old and very wise."

"Since I was a little child I have drank a tea made from the Plant of Life. Its juice is bitter-sweet, and unless one has the Falloa, or Don't Care Sickness, he can live always."

"Where did you get this wonderful plant?"

"It was given me by Ulama, the beautiful daughter of Mellenda," answered the old woman, proudly. "This is like her smiling face," she continued, going back to a cupboard and getting a curious old parchment roll from a shelf. As she unwound the figure the astonished Spaniards saw a fair representation of a yellow-haired girl with a circlet of gold set with gems on her head. On the breast of her flowing robe there was a golden star, and around the waist there was a jeweled girdle.