238 condamine's travels 



leigh, a famous navigator, and one of the moft fhining characters England can boaH:, 

 one alfo whofe tragical hiftory is fo generally known. It is vifible from the expreffions 

 of Father Acuiia, that, in his time, the exiftence of this fanciful chimera was far 

 from general' difcredit. I muft here apologize for a flight geographical detail which too 

 clofely belongs to my fubjed to be omitted, and which may ferve to unravel the origin 

 of a romance, which nothing but a thirft for gold could render credible : a town with 

 roofs and walls of golden plates, a lake with fands of gold ! 



Here it will be neceflary to call to mind what before has been obferved refpefting the 

 Golden River, and the previoully quoted fads, extraded from the nart-atives of Fathers 

 Acuna and F/itz. 



The Manaos, according to the laft author, were a warlike nation, the dread of all 

 their neighbours. They long relifled the Portuguefe, with whom at prefent they are on 

 friendly terms : many have fettled among the tribes and miffionary fettlements on the 

 Rio Negro ; while fome ftill make long excurfions into the countries inhabited by 

 roving tribes, and are ferviceable to the Portuguefe in their flave-trade. Two of this 

 nation it was who penetrated as far as to the Oronooco, and bore away and fold to the 

 Portuguefe the American Chriilian female I have before mentioned. Father Fritz, in 

 his journal, fays exprefsly, that thofe Manaos whom he faw trading with the inhabit- 

 ants of the banks of the Amazons, and who procured their gold from the Yquiari, 

 came from the banks of the Yurubefh. By dint of inquiry, I learnt, that after five 

 days* faiUng up the Yupura, a lake occurs on the right, which it takes a day to traverfe, 

 and which is called Marahi, or Para-hi, a word fignifying, in the Brazilian tongue. 

 River Water ; that from this lake, by dragging the canoe along where infufficient water 

 is found, but where, during the floods, there is depth enough for navigating the veflels 

 in ufe, one comes to another river called Yurubefli, by which, floating with the cur- 

 rent, a paflTage to the Black River is effeded in five days ; finally, that this laft: river, a 

 few days' fail above the confluence of the Yurubefli, received another called Quiquiari, 

 in which were man^/ catara6ls, and which proceeds from a mountainous country abound- 

 ing in mines. Can it be doubted that thefe rivers are the fame as are alluded to under 

 the names of Yurubefli and Yquiari by Fathers Acuna and Fritz ? The latter, it is true, 

 gives a different courfe to thefe two rivers, making the Yurubefli a tributary to the 

 Yquiari, and the latter to difembogue its waters into a great lake in the interior ; but, 

 founding his relation on the teft:imonies of American natives alone, from whom it is 

 difEcuit to obtain any clear or diflinft account, efpecially where the intervention of an 

 interpreter is neceflary, it is far from furprifmg, if errors fliould occur ; on the other 

 hand, the names of thefe rivers are preferved with but the flightefl: alteration. On the 

 map of Father Fritz, a large aflemblage of Manaos, which he calls Yenefiti, is laid 

 down as inhabiting this diftrict. Of this I was enabled to obtain no fativsfadlory intelli- 

 gence, which is not to be wondered at, when we refled on the-migrations and difper- 

 fion of the Manaos' nation ; at the fame time, it feems highly probable that, from the 

 capital of the Manaos, the city of Manao was invented. I lay no fl:refs whatever on 

 the poflible derivation of Parima from Marahi or Para-hi, but confine myfelf to authen- 

 tic data. The Manaos had a confiderable aflemblage or town in this diflrift ; they had 

 in their vicinage a great lake, nay feveral lakes, for colledions of v/ater are very com- 

 mon in a country fo low as this, and fo much Hable to inundations. The Manaos, 

 moreover, brought gold from the Yquiari, and flattened it into fmall plates : thefe are 

 fads well eftabliflied, and which may have been exaggerated fo as to have given birth to 

 the fabulous city of Manao and the Golden Lake. If the cafuifl fliould dwell on the 

 difproportion between the fmall plates of gold of the Manaos and the roois of golden 



tiles 



