nged
into the wilderness beyond his furthest outpost.

Thus these three daring expeditions, Quesada from the north, Belalcazar
from the south, and Federmann from the east, met face to face on the
hitherto unknown plateau of Cundinamarca. None had been aware of the
others' march in search of this goal, and each had believed himself to
be the discoverer of this country. They were ready to fly at one
another's throats, for there could be no amity when gold was the prize
at stake. Curiously enough the three forces were evenly matched in
fighting strength, each with about one hundred and sixty men. One
might think that the two Spanish parties would have united to drive the
Germans from the home of El Dorado, but greed stifled all natural ties
and emotions.

A conflict was averted by the tact and sagacity of Quesada and the
priests of the expeditions who acted as a committee of arbitration. It
was finally agreed among the leaders that the several claims should be
submitted to the Spanish Court, and Quesada, Belalcazar, and Federmann
set out for Spain to appear in person, leaving their forces in
possession of the disputed territory. The command of the Spanish
troops was turned over to Hernan Perez de Quesada, the cruel and greedy
brother of the leader, who fortified himself at Bogota and proceeded to
rob the Muysca people of the last ounce of gold that could be extorted
by means of torture and all manner of unspeakable wickedness. In 1540
he tried to drain the lake of Guatavita, tempted by the stories of the
vast treasures of gold and jewels that, for centuries, had been thrown
into the water by the worshipers, but he recovered valuables only to
the amount of four thousand ducats. It was the remains of his drainage
tunnel which Humboldt found and made note of.

With the conquest of this region was obtained the last great store of
gold discovered by the plundering Spaniards in South America. These
explorers finished when [Transcriber's note: what?] Pizarro had begun
in Peru. To convey the treasure from Bogota to the coast of the
Carribean a road was built through the mountains, much of it cut as a
narrow shelf in solid rock, winding and dipping in a dizzy route to
connect with the upper reaches of navigation on the Rio Magdalena.
This was the famous _El Camino Real_, or "King's Highway" which is
still used as one of the roads by which the capital of Colombia, Santa
Fe de Bogota is reached by the traveler of the twe