by the proximity, until they entirely disappear. Thus it happened to Raleigh, and to all those who engaged in the conquest of Dorado[1].
Far happier would have been the lot of Don Francisco Bohorquez, had his reveries been realized. In the year 1635 he discovered Enim, reached its confines, and ordered his arrival to be announced to the monarch. His lofty stature, his valour, his fine personal qualities, and his discretion, procured him an access to the capital. Its plan, its superb pillars, the order and disposition of its palaces and squares, and the refined policy of its inhabitants, would have terrified any other than Bohorquez. He was, notwithstanding, overpowered by surprize at the sight of the imperial alcazar, or castle. It was built on a multitude of columns of porphyry and alabaster, and had its flooring skirted by a spacious gallery, at the extremities of which the cedar and the ebon were sculptured in a
- ↑ It is extraordinary that father Gumilla, in bis work entitled "Orinoco ilustrado," published in the middle of the eighteenth century, should have maintained the existence of this fabulous kingdom. Had he taken the trouble to consult his brethren, the missionaries of Maynas, he would not have confounded the names of Manoa, city of the lake, Omaguas, and Enaguas. It is equally surprizing that M. De La Condamine should have lost his time in endeavouring to find a site in which to place the city of Dorado, and the lake of Parima; and should at length have fixed on the Mahari, and the banks of the Yupara. The true lake of Parima, is the lake of the great Cocamas. Manoa was in those times the general and comprehensive name of the tribes of Panes, Cocamas, Maynas, &c. which were very numerous; and Enaguas, or Omaguas, is the province of that name, having for its capital San Joaquin. The lakes of gold are the sands, stored with that metal, swept along by the rivers which flow from the Cordillera into the Maranon and its branches, as well as into the Orinoko. The cities, statues, plates of gold employed as tiles, &:c. are the inventions of ambition, and of a propensity for the marvellous.
