there were none willing to say "god forgive him," is what history tells us of the end of pizarro, whose throat was cut by some of the men he quarreled with over the treasures they had taken from the children of the sun, and i do not believe that any one was ever sorry that he perished like a wretched outcast. of course, one of his brothers had heard of el dorado, and he began to inquire closely of the indians whether there really was such a person.
"yes, there is," he was told, "and this chief smears himself all over with a sweet-smelling gum and sprinkles his body with fine gold-dust until he looks like a shining statue."
"where does this chief live?"
"not far from here, and his people are very rich in gold and emeralds."
this was what the spaniards wanted to hear, and the children of the sun hoped by this means to get rid of their hated conquerors. we remember the visit of the golden hearted to the zipa of the muscas, and we see, by the unfriendly feeling of their neighbors, that they were still quarrelsome. 190
"we will go and find the valley of the gilded man," said the brother of pizarro, to his soldiers, who were getting tired of being idle. "i am told that there are wealthy regions to the north, east, and south of us, where the people go about covered with gold-dust, and where there are no mountains or woods."
this pleased the greedy adventurers very much, and it was not long before there was quite an army of them ready to start. but they did not know that they were going into a country where there were cannibals—savages ready to kill and eat every one of them, and that they fought with poisoned arrows. the muscas were obliged to fight these people, but they traded with them, because there was no gold in their own land, and they prized it highly as an offering in honor of the golden hearted. they had quantities of salt which they pressed into little round cakes, like sugar loaves, and carried over beaten paths to market. besides this, they wove beautiful cotton cloth, and managed to get large quantities of gold and silver and emeralds by trading with the cannibals.
they had not forgotten what the golden hearted taught them about hammering the gold, or casting it into tasteful shapes, and they not only wore it for ornaments, but used it to decorate the outside and inside of their temples. it was near the anniversary of his departure, and there were many pilgrims from neighboring tribes who had come to cast emeralds into the lake at gautavita in 191 his honor. on the mountain tops surrounding the lake beacon lights were burning, and the sacred fires on the altars in the temples had never been allowed to go out. as each band of pilgrims came into the city, the zipa welcomed them, saying:
"tomorrow, comrades, we will go in solemn procession to the lake, and commemorate the departure of bochica, and his purification afterward. we have made his heart very sad by our misdeeds, but from his home in the sun he can look down upon us, and see that we still adore and worship him."
the next day, at noon a solemn procession approached the lake. in the lead walked bronze-colored men, without any clothing, but whose bodies were covered with red paint, as a sign of deep mourning, and they wailed in a most sorrowful manner. behind them were warriors decorated with gold and emeralds, wearing bright feathers in their gold head-dresses, and carrying mantles of jaguar skins over their arms. some of them were singing, while others shouted joyfully or blew on horns and pipes, and conch shells. close to them were priests in black robes, with white crosses on them, and tall black hats, like those worn by the wise men. in the rear was the zipa riding in a kind of gilded wheelbarrow hung with disks of gold. his naked body had been anointed with a resinous gum, and covered all over with fine gold-dust.
arrived at the shore, the gilded man and his 192 companions stepped upon a balsa gay with streamers and loaded with flowers, and rowed out into the middle of the lake. there the zipa, who was the gilded man, plunged into the water and washed off all the gold-dust. while he was doing this his companions, with music and singing, threw in the gold and emeralds they had brought out on the lake for that purpose. coming back to the shore the zipa said:
"do no more work for this day, but make merry with singing, dancing and feasting, as if the gentle, kind bochica were with you again."
all this time pizarro's brother, and his greedy soldiers, were wandering around in the mountains trying to find the gilded man. if they could have seen him covered with gold at the festival, they would probably have tried to skin him alive to get the gold dust on his body. one of the padres, who came to convert and teach the natives, writing to the king of spain, said:
"i do not believe that the men taking part in the expeditions in search of the gilded man, would have tried so hard to get into paradise."
further on in his letter the padre describes the terrible hardships and suffering the men had to undergo. after telling about their failure to find el dorado, he says:
"the men and officers returned to us nearly naked. in the warm rain their clothes had rotted on their backs, and were torn into shreds by the thickets they had crawled through on their 193 hands and knees. their feet were bare and wounded by the thorns and roots in the pathways, and their swords were not only without sheaths, but were eaten up with rust. hunger compelled them to kill and eat their horses and dogs."
while this had been going on in peru, the king of spain was busy sending out men for the same purpose. the story of the gilded man was known over all europe, and other nations, besides spain, were trying to find him. some german bankers had loaned the king large sums of money for the privilege of searching for el dorado, and the first white men to visit gautavita was a band of germans sent out by the banking house. they wanted slaves as well as gold, and were just as merciless and cruel as the spaniards. in fact, any man having money enough to buy boats, or to provision men, stole off into the woods and went in search of the gilded man. the country was overrun with armed bands of adventurers who were ready to commit any kind of crime for the sake of gain. whoever offered resistance was killed, and they were suspicious and jealous of each other, as well as of the indians.
after pizarro's brother made such a miserable failure, and had to endure such bitter hardships one would expect his friends and associates to be careful about making another venture, but they knew of the german invaders, and then it was a race to see who would get hold of the gilded man first. either side would have killed him and burned 194 and pillaged the city, so the indians had learned to distrust and hate all white men, and they made war on both the spaniards and germans whenever they had an opportunity.
a young spanish lieutenant, named quesada, was the real conqueror of the muscas, and, as might have been expected, he murdered the zipa and robbed gautavita, and every other village in the kingdom. he was as hard-hearted with his men, as he was with the indians, and after five hundred of them had died from exposure on the way, they found themselves surrounded on all sides by overflowing rivers. weeping and dejected they sought quesada, saying:
"we beseech you to send us back to peru. instead of gold, only hunger, misery and death await us here. the gilded man only exists in the distorted fancy of those who believe the lying tales of the indians."
at this juncture they stumbled on to a path with huts, at intervals, by the wayside, filled with the white cakes of salt said to come from the home of the gilded man, and they also found some cotton cloth.
"we are on the right road at last," said quesada, to his dispirited soldiery. "prove faithful now, and we shall soon stand face to face with el dorado." with a significant nod of the head, he added: "you know what that means to fearless men, like yourselves, and you can trust to the generosity of your captain for a rich reward." 195
the prospect of getting plenty of gold soon caused the men to forget all about their troubles, but the zipa not only fought them stubbornly, but when he was finally compelled to abandon gautavita, there was no treasure to be found. the muscas had either buried all their gold and emeralds, or thrown them into the lake. great, indeed, was the disappointment of the spaniards, and for his own safety quesada soon planned another expedition against a neighboring tribe of indians. the strange chief was surprised and captured in the council house, and with him perished all of the notable men of the tribe. the soldiers found some gold and some very fine emeralds, but when they went to sack the temple of the sun, which had a thatched roof, they carelessly set the dry leaves on fire, and burned all the plate and other treasures it contained. bands of armed men rode hither and yon looking for the zipa, whom they now believed to be the gilded man. he kept in very close hiding, and no amount of torture, or promises of reward could make his followers tell where he was, or where the gold ornaments and vessels were hidden.
"he is in the mountain fastnesses, where he has a house made of gold," declared some irresponsible indians, glad to get rid of the cruel spaniards.
"where is the house located?" quesada asked, eagerly. 196
"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.
