se unhappy monarchs. Guiana, the
northeastern section of South America, was looked upon by the Spanish
adventurers as the hiding-place of this fabulous wealth. Others fancied
that Guiana was the true El Dorado in itself, a land marvellously rich in
gold, silver, and precious stones. Gonzalo Pizarro, in his expedition in
1540, had heard much from the Indians of this land of wealth, and Orellana
brought back from his famous descent of the Amazon marvellous stories of
the riches in gold, silver, and precious stones of the land of the north.

These stories, once set afloat, grew in wonder and magnitude through pure
love of the marvellous or wild expansion of the fanciful tales of the
Indians. Far inland, built on a lofty hill, so the fable ran, was a mighty
city, whose very street watering-troughs were made of solid gold and
silver, while "billets of gold lay about in heaps, as if they were logs of
wood marked out to burn."

In this imperial city dwelt in marvellous magnificence a mighty king. The
legend went that it was a habit of his to cover his body with turpentine
and then roll in gold-dust till he gleamed like a veritable golden image.
Then, entering his barge of state, with a retinue of nobles whose dresses
glittered with gems, they would sail around a beautiful lake, ending their
tour by a bath in the cooling waters.

Where was this city? Who had seen its gold-emblazoned king? Certainly none
of those who went in search of it or its monarch. Of the Spanish
adventurers who sought for that land of treasure, the most persistent was
a bold explorer named Berreo, who landed in New Granada, and set out
thence with a large body of followers--seven hundred horsemen, the story
goes. His route lay along the river Negro, and then down the broad
Orinoco. Boats were built for the descent of this great stream. But the
route was difficult and exhausting and the natives usually hostile, and as
they went on many of the men and horses died or were slain.

For more than a year these sturdy explorers pushed on, reaching a point
from which, if they could believe the natives, the city they sought was
not far away, and Guiana and its riches were near at hand. As evidence,
the Indians had treasure of their own to show, and gave Berreo "ten images
of fine gold, which were so curiously wrought, as he had not seen the like
in Italy, Spain, or the Low Countries." But as they went on the gallant
seven hundred became reduced to a weary fraction