LAKE OF GUATAVITA. 199 



overseer, Senor Ramirez, a native of the 

 country ; and after a five minutes' walk 

 through some close brushwood, came to 

 the canal by which the water is carried off. 

 We found but little flowing. We now 

 commenced walking one by one over a long 

 causeway, or kind of bridge, formed over 

 the canal below, which gradually rose as 

 we approached the Lagoon, until we as- 

 cended half the mountain ; we then came 

 in sight of the sacred water, calmly pre- 

 senting its still surface through the chasm 

 that connects it with the canal. I des- 

 cended to the level of the lake, and was 

 preparing to enter a canoe, when our mu- 

 tual friend Senor Mariano de Rivero joined 

 us, much to our satisfaction. We all em- 

 barked together, and my friend P^pe steer- 

 ed us, as we paddled through the entrance 

 of the narrow canal into this extraordinary 

 Lagoon. Having arrived at the centre, we 

 lay resting on our paddles to admire this 



