817 



traditions expressed an historical fact, or merely 

 indicated, as we have already observed in ano- 

 ther place, that the first lama, who was the 

 offspring and symbol of the Sun, must necessa- 

 rily have come from the countries of the East. 

 Be it as it may, it is not less certain, that the 

 celebrity, which the expeditions of Ordaz, He- 

 rera, and Speier had already given to the Oroo- 

 noko, the Meta, and the province of Papamene, 

 situate between the sources of the Guaviare and 

 the Ctqueta, contributed to fix the fable of el 

 Dorado near to the eastern back of the Cordil- 

 leras. 



The junction of three bodies of troops on the 

 tableland of New Grenada spread through al 

 that part of America occupied by the Spaniards 

 the news of an immensely rich and populous 

 country, which remained to be conquered. Sebas- 

 tian de Belalcazar marched from Quito by way of 

 Popayan (1536) to Bogota ; Nicolas Federmann, 

 coming from Venezuela, arrived from the East 

 by the plains of Meta. These two captains 

 found already settled on the table land of Cun- 

 dirumarca the famous adelantado Gonzalo Xi- 

 menez de Quesada, one of whose descendants I 

 saw nearZipaquira, with bare feet, attending cat- 

 tle. The fortuitous meeting of the three conquis- 

 tadores, one of the most extraordinary and dra- 

 matic events of the history of the conquest, 

 took place in 1538. Belalcazar's narratives 



vol. v. 3 G 



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