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. 198
"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 199 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 200 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. 201
"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.
drying india rubber
202
"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?" 203
"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 204 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." 205
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 206 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.
