772 



palace of the gilded man*; and this lake, and 

 this palace, being a local fable, it might be dan- 

 gerous to awaken remembrances, which begin 

 gradually to be effaced. I was assured, that 

 in 1760 the independent Caribbees went to 

 Cerro de Pajarcima, a mountain to the south of 

 Vieja Guayana, to submit the decomposed rock 

 to the action of washing. The gold dust col- 

 lected by this labour was put into calebashes of 

 crescentia cujete, and sold to the Dutch at Esse- 

 quebo. Still more recently, some Mexican 

 miners, who abused the credulity of Don Jose 

 Avalo*^ the intendant of Caraccas, undertook a 

 very considerable work in the centre of the mis- 

 sions of the Rio Carony, near the town of Upa- 

 ta, in the Cerros del Potrero and de Chirica. 

 They declared, that the whole rock was aurife- 

 rous ; stamping-mills, brocards, and smelting 

 furnaces were constructed. After having ex- 

 pended very large sums, it was discovered, that 

 the pyrites contained no trace whatever of gold. 

 These essays, though fruitless, served to renew 

 the ancient ideaj, " that every shining rock in 

 Guyana is una madre del oro" Not contented 

 with taking the mica-slate to the furnace, strata 



* El Dorado, that is, el rey o' kombre dorado. See above, 

 p. 390. 



+ See above, vol. iii, p. 531. 

 X Rakigh, Discovery of the Empire of Guiana, p. 2 and 

 34. 



