The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-05-23

poCn DTItlSn TIJUANA ana venezuela,
nothing more interesting has offered
in print than the following passages,
taken by permission of Harper &
Brothers from William Eleroy Cur
tis's new book entitled, "Venezuela:
the Land where it's Always Sum-
mer:"
ut was within this disputed territory
between the Orinoco and the Amazon
that the ancient voyageurs located the
mythical city of Manoah. upon the silver
lake of Parima-the Ell Dorado upon
which the wonder and the greed of two
centuries were concentrated; the coun-
try upon which more ambition rested
than any man has ever known. Said
Sir Walter Raleigh
"I have many years had knowledge
by relation of that mighty, rich, and
beautiful empire Of Guayana, and of that
| great and golden city which the Span
iards call Ell Dorado, and the natives
Manoah. Whatsoever prince shall poss-
ess it, that prince shall be lord of more
gold and of more wealthy possession
than either the King of Spain or the
Great Turk.
"It was not more than ten years after
the return of Columbus from his first
voyage that strange tales were heard
about the courts of Europe concerning
a mysterious city situated in some vague
place upon terra firma where were un-
told treasures Of gold and silver and
precious stones. Tidings Of this bar
baric splendor were brought home by
every voyageur, and each caravel that
left the shores of Europe carried am
bilious and avaricious men. who hoped,
| If they did not expect, to share it's
plunder before their return to Spain.
But this alluring Ell Dorado was not
| place. 1t was man. The term sig
nifes the gilded,' and was originally ap-
pied to a mythical king, who every
morning was eprinkled with gold-dust
| by his slaves.
|
the most reliable of the early witers, the
fable originally referred to the source of
the wealth found among the Indians
along the coast of Carthagena and Santa
Marta. Vasca Nunez de Balboa reported
tidings he gained of it from friendly Ind.
ians upon the Isthmus of Panama, and
while searching for this city he discov.
cred the Pacific Ocean. When Mexico
was plundered and the treasures of
Montezuma we're scattered among the
mobiles of Spain; when Pizarro had
stripped the innocent Incas of the mil
lions their industry had acquired, the
avarice of the invaders was not only not
satiate d, but was more fiercely infiamed,
and Ell Dorado. the highest prize in the
grand lottery of the conquest, remained
yet to be drawn. By the middle of the
sixteenth century cupidity and credulity
were excited to the highest degree. The
seamanship, the science, and the chival
ry of all Europe were called out by this
golden phantom, so possible, 80 actual,
so alluring; and more enterprise, more
endurance, and more valor were wasted
in its pursuit than were ever expended
before or since in peace or war. The
first tangible evidence of the existence
of the mythical city was brought to
Europe by Gonzales Ximenes de Casada
treacherous knight who was sent out
by Pizarro on an exploring expedition
after the conquest of Peru.
"After the peaceful Incas had been
subjugated, their palaces and temples
plundered, and their cities destroyed,
the restless and reckless free hooters
that had been attracted to Peru gave
Pizarro a great deal of trouble. The
viceroy deemed it prudent to keep them
occupied. for community of idle men
of that character were capable of infinite
mischief. Therefore, as the fable had
reached Lima, Pizarro organized an ex.
pedition of several hundred soldiers and
several Thousand Indian slaves to carry
their supplies and equipment. and sent
them over the Andes under the COM
mand of his brother Gonzalo, in search
of the Gilded King. A more desperate
and turbulent band of ruffians was
never turned loose upon the world; but.
fortunately, few of them returned. The
great majority left their bones and
armor lying unburied upon the rocky
slopes of the Andes and among the for
ests that hide the affluents of the Grin,
oco and the Amazon.
Gonzales Ximenes de Casada, who
was an officer of low rank in the expe.
diiion, with a handful of selected mutt.
neers, deserted his commander, stole his
food, and. finding the sources of the
Orinoco. followed that river in canoes,
while young Pizarro narrowly escaped
death from starvation. To avoid the
consequences of his desertion, when he
arrived in Spain. Gasada told most fabu-
lous stories of his experience, and for
that reason was welcomed as a hero in |
stead OF being hung as a knave. One |
Antorio GalvanO Urofe a hook callad |