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east of the mines of rock salt of Zipaquira, into 

 which the gilded lord was made to enter. I saw 

 on it's banks the remains of a staircase hewn in 

 the rock, and serving for the ceremonies of ablu- 

 tion. The Indians said, that powder of gold and 

 golden vessels were thrown into this lake, as a sa- 

 crifice to the idols of the adoratorio de Guatavita. 

 Vestiges are still found of a breach, which was 

 made by the Spaniards for the pur pose of d raining 

 the lake. The temple of the Sun at Sogamozo 

 being pretty near the northern coasts of Terra 

 Firma, the notions of the gilt man were soon 

 applied to a high priest of the sect of Bochica, 

 or Idacanzas, who every morning, before he per- 

 formed his sacrifice, caused powder of gold to 

 be stuck upon his hands and face, after they 

 had been smeared with grease. Other accounts, 

 preserved in a letter of Oviedo addressed to the 

 celebrated cardinal Bembo say, that Gonzalo 

 Pizarro, when he discovered the province of 

 cinnamon trees, " sought at the same time a 

 great prince, noised in those countries, who was 

 always covered with powdered gold, so that 

 from head to foot he resembled a una figura 

 (Foro lavorata di mano dtun buonissimo orifice. 

 The powdered gold is fixed on the body by 

 means of an odoriferous resin ; but, as this kind 

 of garment would be uneasy to him while he 

 slept, the prince washes himself every evening, 

 and is gilded anew in the morning, which proves, 



