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 Potvero 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 idea J, "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' hombre dorado. See above, 

 p. 390. 



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

 + Raleigh, Discovery of the Empire of Guiana, p. 2 and 

 34. 



