828 



As these often inundated lands have been at 

 all times inhabited by nations of the Caribbee 

 race, who carried on a very active inland trade 

 with the most distant regions, we must not be 

 surprised^ that more gold was found here in the 

 hands of the Indians than elsewhere. The 

 natives of the coast did not employ this metal in 

 the form of ornaments or amulets only; but 

 also in certain cases* as a medium of exchange. 

 It is not extraordinary therefore, that gold has 

 disappeared on the coast of Paria, and among 

 the nations of the Oroonoko, since their inland 

 communications have been impeded by the Eu- 

 ropeans. The natives who have remained inde- 

 pendant are in our days, no doubt, more wretch- 

 ed, more indolent, and in a ruder state, than 

 they were before the Conquest. The king of 

 Morequito whose son Raleigh took to England, 

 had visited Cumana in 1594, to exchange a 

 great quantity of images of massy gold for iron 

 tools, and European merchandize. The unex- 

 pected appearance of an Indian chief augmented 

 the celebrity of the riches of the Oroonoko. It 

 was supposed, that Dorado must be near the 

 country, from which the king of Morequito 

 came ; and as this country was often inundated, 

 and rivers vaguely called great seas, great basins 

 of water, Dorado must be on the banks of a 



* Among the Teques. See above, voL iii, p, 530. 



