The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-05-23
VENEZUELA AND ITS TRADITIONS.
History and Superstition.


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do, which he claimed to have found in
the midst of great white lake. whose
meanest house, he said, surpassed in
grandeur the palaces of the Incas and
the Aztecs and the temples Pizarro
and Cortez had plundered and over
thrown.
"All the vessels in the kitchen wrote
this merciless liar. are of gold and silver
studded with diamonds and precious
stones. In this house are statnes of
solid gold as large as giants, and other
hgures in proportion of the beasts, birds.
nsnes, trees, and herbs of his kingdom:
yea, and robes and budgets, and chests.
and troughs of solid gold. There ia a
garden of pleasure in the island where
the people are wont to recreate, in which
are also figures of gold and silver of an
invention and magnifcence the like of
which was never seen. And the king of
tnat country, yea, and all his court. wear
apparel OF most famous texture, so that
1t doth appear like garments sprinkled
with gold and silver from his sandals to
his crown.
"These falsehoods were read and be-
heved in all courts of Europe, and cost
the lives of thousands of the bravest
knights OF two centuries, who plunged
into the green CULTS of the Amazon and
tne Orinoco, never to emerge again.
Casada brought Jumps of virgin gold
pick ed up in Guiana to prove his words
and even the fable of the Amazons
seemed as true as the Gospels to explor.
ers who had seen the Carib woman ~
Hispaniola and Jamaica, and along the
spanish Main, fighting as warriors bv
their husbands sides.
"One OF the most tragic and romantic.
stories OF the search for Ell Dorado con.
Germs the fate of Pedro de Ursua. noble
handsome, generous, and popular Young
hnlgnt OF Navarro, who was sent by bis
uncle, the Viceroy of Peru. at the be.d
OF large army to find and plunder the
city that was paved with siver, and the
river that flowed over sands of oold
Ills sweetheart, Dora Inez de Alliance
was beautiful young woman of Tru-
llllo, and hers was no common love
Although gently nurtured and of aal;.
cate physique, accustomed to surround
ings OF luxury and refinement. she in.
sisted upon sharing his adventures and
nardships and, as the ancient chronicler
quantity expresses it, forsook NOT bor
lord in his travels even unto DEATH Inez
de Atlenza is the heorine of the Orinoco
as Madame Godin is of the Amazon.
"Crsua was assassinated by his disan.
pointed lIeutenants after the exned;t;or
had been out four months; and few
days afterwards fiend incarnate. named
Agulrre, caused Inez to be murdered in
her sleep because her mattress toolx mn
too much room in his boat. The MONS
chronicler of the expedition exclaims.
Inc birds mourned on the trees. the
Wild beasts OF the forest lamented the
waters murmured their grief. the fisb
groaned beneath them, and the winds
execrated the deed when the wicked
Llamoso cut the veins of her beautiful
white neck while she was sleeping. and
let the blood of her pure heart flow
away"
She was buried on the banks of the
Orinoco, among the forests in the foot.
Mills OF the Andes. The men who fol-
lowed Aguirre were so touched by her
rate that they gathered flowers to cover
her grave. and cut this epitaph in the
bark OF tree under which she was
laid:
ms Is the burialplace of one whose beautv
ana ialthfulne SIS are uDequalled, and whom
cruel men slew without cause.
Columbus and Raleigh, the two most
gifted and conscientious of American
explorers, told tales that were even more
fabulous than the legends of Casada.
and nobody doubted their truth. John
Milton himself lent them credence in
Paradise Lost, and the blessing of the
pope gave sanctity to the search for
the savage CIesus. Columbus was de-
rided, Cortez was sneered at, and Pi-
zarro was pronounced an impostor, but
the world, which always vibrates be-
tween absolute scepticism and absolute
credulity. finally came to believe not
only in them, but in everything their
imitators told
"The nuggets of gold and the rudely
wrought images and ornaments of the
same metal which Sir Walter Raleigh
laid at the feet of Queen Elizabeth
when he returned from his exploration
OF the Orinoco doubtless came from the
now famous mine Of Ell Callao. but the
Ell Dorado was never found. No cour-
age could overcome. no persistence could
discover what did not exist, and the
fabulous king of the fabulous island
still sits on his fabulous throne, covered
from his fabulous crown to his fabulous
sandals with the fabulous dust OF
gold"
EACH present conviction, each secret.
suggestion OF duty constitutes a dis