THE FABLED EL DORADO. 5 



from whom he cautiously extracted all they knew or believed concerning Guiana. " For these 

 poor soldiers/' says he, " having been many years without wine, a few draughts made them 

 merry ; in which mood they vaunted of Guiana, and of the riches thereof, and all what 

 they knew of the bays and passages, myself seeming to purpose nothing less than the 

 entrance or discovery thereof, but bred in them an opinion that I was bound only for the 

 relief of those English whom I had planted in Virginia, whereof the bruit was come among 

 them, which I had performed in my return if extremity of weather had not forced me 



SIK WALTER RALEIGH. 



from the said coast. " Raleigh stopped some time here, not merely to extract all the 

 information possible, but also to be revenged on the Governor, who the year before had 

 behaved treacherously, entrapping eight of Captain Whiddon's men. This he accomplished 

 by taking and burning one of their new towns, and detaining the Governor, Berrio, at his 

 pleasure on board. The same day two more of his ships arrived, and they prepared for 

 the purposed discovery. " And first/'' says Raleigh, " I called all the captains (i.e., caciques 

 or native chiefs) of the island together that were enemies to the Spaniards * * * and 

 by my Indian interpreter, which I carried out of England, I made them understand that 

 I was the servant of the queen, who was the great cacique of the north, and a virgin, and 

 had more caciqui under her than there were trees on that island ; that she was an enemy 

 to the Castellani (i.e., Spanish from Castille) in respect of their tyranny and oppression, 



