852 



sions of this nature may appear, they ought not 

 to be regarded as steril and fruitless. They 

 show travellers what remains to be discovered ; 

 and make known the degree of certainty, which 

 long-repeated assertions may claim. It is with 

 maps, as with those tables of astronomical po- 

 sitions, which are contained in our ephemerides, 

 designed for the use of navigators : the most 

 heterogeneous materials have been employed in 

 their construction during a long space of time ; 

 and, without the aid of the history of geography, 

 we could scarcely hope to discover at some fu- 

 ture day on what authority every partial state- 

 ment rests. 



Before I resume the thread of my narrative, 

 it remains for me to add a few general reflexions 

 on the auriferous lands situate between the 

 Amazon, and the Oroonoko. We have just 

 shown, that the fable of Dorado, like the most 

 celebrated fables of the nations of the ancient 

 world, has been applied progressively to differ- 

 ent spots. We have seen it advance from the 

 south-west to the north-east, from the oriental 

 declivity of the Andes towards the plains of Rio 

 Branco and the Essequebo, an identical direc- 

 tion with that in which the Caribbees for ages 

 conducted their warlike and mercantile expe- 

 ditions. It may be conceived, that the gold of 

 the Cordilleras might be conveyed from hand to 

 hand, through an infinite number of tribes, as 



