LITERARY NOTICES. 



417 



lections cover a considerable variety of sub- 

 jects, the presentation of which might have 

 been made very dry and vminteresting. Sie- 

 mens, in his artless way of telling of them, 

 makes them all as interesting as the story of 

 his first heroic act his discomfiture of the 

 gander that threatened and frightened his 

 sister. The facts are among the most im- 

 portant landmarks of the scientific advance 

 of the times ; the presentation of them gains 

 immeasurably in value by being made at- 

 tractive. 



The Gilded Man (El Dorado), and Other 

 Pictures of the Spanish Occupancy of 

 America. By A. F. Bandelier. New 

 York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 302. 

 Price, $1.50. 



Mr. Bandelier, one of the most painstak- 

 ing and accurate of American archaeologists, 

 has in this volume presented the result of 

 his researches in the history and dramatic 

 incidents of the early gold-hunting expedi- 

 tions of the Spaniards in Venezuela and Co- 

 lombia and along the banks of the Amazon, 

 and of the first invasions and early settle- 

 ments of New Mexico. The book concerns 

 two distinct scenes of adventure the north- 

 em part of South America, and the South- 

 western part of North America. On the 

 stories of both Mr. Bandelier casts new and 

 clear light. We do not know that the story 

 of El Dorado has ever before been fully set 

 forth and traced to its exact origin and foun- 

 dation in fact in a book intended for popu- 

 lar use. It is so set forth in the first part of 

 this book. With it is related the story of 

 the expeditions of which this semi-mythical 

 personage and his gold were the object ; the 

 foundation of the military and trading posts 

 by hardly responsible adventurers on the 

 coasts of Venezuela ; the lease of Venezuela 

 to the house of Welser & Co., of Augsburg ; 

 the condition and relations of the Indians of 

 Bogota, where El Dorado resided ; the expe- 

 dition of Dalfinger and the conquest of Bo- 

 gota by Ximenes de Quesada ; his meeting 

 on the plateau of Cundinamarca with his 

 rival adventurers Benalcazar and Federmann, 

 approaching the spot with the same object 

 from different directions ; the adventures of 

 Georg von Speyer on the Meta, and of 

 Philip von Hiitten in search of Omagua ; 

 the tragic journey of Pedro de Ursua and 

 VOL. XLIV. 32 



Lope de Aguirre from Peru down the Ama- 

 zon ; and other expeditions of more or less 

 significance, all marked by dangerous ad- 

 venture and generally by disaster; and all 

 prompted, in one way or another, by the vi- 

 sion of the Dorado, which the author likens 

 to a mirage, " enticing, deceiving, and lead- 

 ing men to destruction." In the second part 

 of the book, Mr. Bandelier does a like serv- 

 ice for the myth of the seven cities of Ci- 

 bola, which were the object of expeditions 

 into New Mexico leading to the first settle- 

 ments of that territory. To the determina- 

 tion of the location of Cibola he brings a 

 considerable fund of linguistic knowledge 

 and the fruits of industrious geographical 

 and archaeological exploration, and decides 

 upon Zuiii as the chief of those cities. The 

 story of the search for Cibola includes the 

 relation of the marvelous adventure of Ca- 

 beza de Vaca, the missionary journey of Fray 

 Marcos de Nizza, and the expedition of Coro- 

 nado to Cibola, and thence, in search of 

 Quivira, to the plains of central Kansas. 

 Three additional chapters include an inquiry 

 into the facts of the massacre of Cholula, 

 inflicted by Cortes in 1519; the determina- 

 tion of the age of the city of Santa Fe, New 

 Mexico ; and the story of the later life of 

 Jean I'Archeveque, the youthful accessory 

 to the murder of La Salle, and of the for- 

 tunes of his family in New Mexico. These 

 histories afford no end of exciting incidents 

 and of themes on which romances and sen- 

 sational stories might be founded ; but Mr. 

 Bandelier's object has not been romance or 

 sensation, but the elucidation of the facts, 

 the discovery of the real history. To this 

 history his essays are a valuble contribu- 

 tion. 



The Points of the Horse. A Familiar 

 Treatise on Equine Conformation. By 

 M. Horace Hayes. New York : Mac- 

 millan & Co. Pp. 379, with Plates. 

 Price, $10.50. 



The author of this book assumes that 

 exact ideas on the subject of conformation 

 are not current either in the traditions of peo- 

 ple familiar with horses or in English lit- 

 erature. Both English authors and French 

 have erred in trying to make general rules 

 suitable to all kinds of horses, instead of 

 pointing out that the standard of shape 

 should to a great extent vary according to 



