THE ORDAZ AND DORTAL EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH 



OF EL-DORADO, AS DESCRIBED ON SIXTEENTH 



CENTURY MAPS 



BY RUDOLF SCHULLER 



(WITH Two MAPS) 

 I. OVIEDO S HUYAPARI MAP 



In the second volume of Oviedo s &quot; Historia General y Natural 

 de las Indias,&quot; 1 there is a facsimile of a small map illustrating several 

 early explorations of the Orinoco or Huyapari 2 River (see fig. i). 



This map is Oviedo s own work, 3 and is plainly drawn but bears no 

 date. It contains, however, various historical and descriptive legends, 

 which enable us to establish the year when it must have been made. 



1 Madrid : Imprenta de la Real Academia de la Historia. 1852. 



&quot; No doubt the names Orinoco and Huyapari, or Juyapari and Oya-pari, 

 are of Indian origin ; cf. Oviedo, II, lib. XXIV, cap. Ill, p. 2i6 a . Orin-oco 

 plainly contains the Betoya word &quot;oco&quot; (&quot;water,&quot; &quot;river&quot;). Humboldt says 

 it is a Tamanaco word; cf., for example, Oyap-oc(o), Sinar-uco (oco), Guar- 

 ico, Orit-uco, Tin-oco, Guarit-oco, Urit-uco, and many other similar names 

 of rivers in the great Orinoco basin. 



3 Loc. cit., cap. XV, p. 26s b , &quot; Porque la pintura califica mucho y dexa 

 mejor entender las cosas de la geographia, juntamente con la verdadera relation 

 dellas, quise poncr aqui la figjura del rio de Huyapari, y los rios que en el 

 entrari.&quot; &quot; Because a drawing enables us to understand more clearly the 

 geography of a region I have here inserted a map.&quot; 



This was written at the close of the year 1541, or, perhaps, in 1542; cf. 

 loc. cit., cap. XVI ; and cap. XV, where Oviedo states explicitly : &quot; The 

 governor Dortal himself told me . ...&quot; [and a few lines below] &quot; where six 

 years ago this governor had ordered his lieutenant, Alonso de Herrera, with 

 200 men .... to sail up the river Huyapari.&quot; 



See also,.&quot; Historia coro-graphica, natural y evangelica de la Nueva Anda- 

 lucia, provincias de Cumana, Guayana y Vertientes del Rio Orinoco ; dedicada 

 al Rei N. S. D. Carlos III.&quot; For el M. R. P. fr. Antonio Caulin dos vezes 

 Provincial de los observantes de Granada, etc., Madrid, 1779, p. i5O b . 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 66, No. 4 



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