[Note 5: A kind of alloyed gold called by the natives _guanin_;
the Spaniards were often deceived by its glitter.]

The men either carry their private parts enclosed in a little gourd
which has been opened at the back, like our cod-piece, or they use a
seashell. The gourd hangs from a cord tied round the waist.[6] The
presence of the animals above mentioned, and many other indications
not found in any of the islands, afford evidence that this land is a
continent. The most conclusive proof[7] seems to be that the Spaniards
followed the coast of Paria for a distance of about three thousand
miles always in a westerly direction, but without discovering any
end to it. When asked whence they procured their gold, the people of
Curiana answered that it came from a country called Cauchieta situated
about six suns distant (which means six days) to the west, and that it
was the artisans of that region who worked the gold into the form in
which they saw it. The Spaniards sailed towards Cauchieta and anchored
there near the shore on the calends of November, 1500. The natives
fearlessly approached and brought them gold, which in its rough state
is not valued amongst them. The people also wore pearls round their
throats; but these came from Curiana, where they had been obtained in
exchange for gold, and none of them wanted to part with anything they
had obtained by trade. That is to say the people of Curiana kept their
gold, and the people of Cauchieta their pearls, so that very little
gold was obtained at Cauchieta.[8] The Spaniards brought away some
very pretty monkeys and a number of parrots of varied colours, from
that country.

[Note 6: The text continues: _alibi in eo tractu intra vaginam
mentularemque nervum reducunt, funiculoque praeputium alligant_.]

[Note 7: Navarrete, iii., 14.]

[Note 8: _Auri tamen parum apud Cauchietenses: lectum reperere_
meaning, doubtless, that they traded away most of their gold for
pearls.]

The temperature in the month of November was delicious, without a sign
of cold. Each evening the stars which mark the north pole disappeared,
so near is that region to the equator; but it was not possible to
calculate precisely the polar degrees. The natives are sensible and
not suspicious, and some of the people of Curiana passed the entire
night in company with our men, coming out in their barques to join
them. Pearls they call _corixas_. They are jealous, and when strangers
visit them, they make th