Chap. III. of the ENGLISH in AMERICA. 
all fo rifen, that it was not poffible for the Strength of 
Men, with any Boat, to row againft the Stream. There- 
fore he difpatched a Party of between thirty and forty 
to coaft the River by Land, while himfelf with a few 
Officers and half a dozen Shot, marched over Land to 
view the ftrange and wonderful Overfalls of the faid Ri- 
ver Caroli., which roared at fuch a Diftance, and the 
Plains adjoining with the reft of the Province of Canuri. 
When they had got to the Top of the firft Hills, over- 
looking the River, they beheld that prodigious Breach 
of Water which poured down Caroli., and how it ran 
in three Streams for twenty Miles together ; no lefs than 
ten or a Dozen of the fteep Catarads appeared in Sight, 
each as high above the other as a Church Tower, which 
rufhed down with fuch Violence, that the very Rebound 
of the Waters made the Place feem as if it had been all 
over covered with a great Shower of Rain ; and in fome 
Places they took it at firft for a thick Smoak which had 
rifen out of fome great Town, till they drew nearer 
down in the Valley to this Thunder of Waters, where 
they better difcerned and diftinguiffied the Effeifts of it. 
And here Raleigh fays he never faw a more beautiful 
Country, nor more lively Profpe<fts ; the Hills fo raifed 
up and down about the Valleys the Waters winding 
into fuch various Branches ; the Plains fo clear of Brufh 
and Shrub, and covered all with fair green Grafs ; the 
Ground of hard Sand, and eafy for the March either for 
Horfe or Foot ; the Deer crofting in every Path ; the 
Birds towards the Evening finging on every Tree a 
thoufand feveral Tunes, with Cranes and Herons, of 
White, Crimfon and Carnation, perched along the River- 
Banks ; the Air refrefhed with gentle eafterly Breezes, 
and every Stone they ftooped to take up, promifing ei- 
ther Gold or Silver by its Complexion. His Company, at 
their Return, brought feveral of thofe Stones home, 
which they rather found coloured outwardly like Gold, 
than any of that Metal fixed in them ; for thofe who 
had leaft Judgment or Experience, kept only fuch as 
glittered, and would not be perfuaded but they were rich, 
becaufe they ffione ; and thereby bred an Opinion that all 
the reft were no better. Yet fome of thofe Stoms Raleigh 
ftiewed afterwards to a Spaniard of the Caraccas, who 
told him it was El Madre del Oro., that is, the Mother 
of Gold, and that the Mine was farther in the Ground ; 
He received alfo many other Informations from thefe 
People, fome of which, however, feemcd to border upon 
thofe fabulous Accounts delivered by Antiquity, but al- 
ways fufpeded by Men of Senfe j which Raleigh re- 
ports, but with due Caution. 
While he lay at Anchor near the Banks of the Caroli., 
he fpared no Pains that were requifite to gain a thorouo-h 
Knowledge of the Names and Manners of the feveral 
Indian Nations that lay farther within the Country, 
which was all, in that refpeft, left in his Power ; there 
being many Reafons which rendered his farther Stay im- 
proper, and his Return to his Fleet a Point of abfolute 
Neceffity ; for he had been now abfent above a Month, 
had wandered in that Space above four hundred Miles 
from the Sea Coafts ; and beftdes the Winter was come- 
ing on very faft, and the great River began to rife. Be- 
ftdes all this, they had no Inftruments with them to 
open Mines , and if they advanced farther, were to ad 
againft a numerous, civilized, and warlike People ; fo 
that, having done more with a handful of People, and 
that too in fewer Days than the Spaniards had been 
Years in fearching for this Country, he very wifely re- 
folved to fubmit to Neceffity, and feek the fhorteft 
Way back to his Ships. Yet as he returned to the Eaft, 
he fpent fome Time in difcovering the River towards 
the Sea, which he had not furveyed, and which he 
thought alfo neceffary to do ; in a Day’s time he arrived 
again at the Port of Morequito % for, gliding down the 
Stream, he went without Labour, though againft the 
Wind, little lefs than one hundred Miles a Day ; when 
he came to anchor, he was very defirous of farther Con- 
ference with old fopiowary., who foon came with a Mul- 
titude of his People flocking down to RaleigEs Tent 
upon the Shore, loaded with Prefents. 
^ When the old King was refrefhed, and the Croud re- 
tired, Raleigh^ by his Interpreter, entered into a long 
I 
Conference withhimj telling him^ that as hoth thtEpure- 
mei and the Spaniards were his Enemies, the one having 
conquered Guiana already^ and the other endeavoured to 
get it from both, he defired to be inftrudied, both in the 
beft Way to the golden Parts of Guiana^ and the civilized 
Towns of the Inca. The King anfwered. He could not 
perceive Raleigh meant to proceed to the great City of 
, Manoa^ becaufe neither the Seafon of the Year, nor the 
Strength of his Company, would enable him ; for he 
remembred that in the Plains of Maqureguarai., the firft 
Town of Guiana., where all the Gold Plates were made 
which were fcattered over the neighbouring Nations, and 
above four Days Journey from his own, three hundred 
Spaniards were deftroyed who had no Friends among the 
Borderers ; he therefore advifed Raleigh never to invade 
-the ftrong Parts of Guiana without the Help of all thofe 
Nations which were their Enemies. Raleigh afked. If 
he thought the Company he had with him were fufficient 
to take that Town } The King thought they were, and 
offered to affift him with all his Borderers, if he would 
leave him a Guard of fifty Men upon his Departure; 
But Raleigh, knowing if they ffiould efcape the 
Guianians, the Spaniards, expedling Supplies, would re- 
pay upon him his Treatment at Trinidada, very plaufibly 
excufed himfelf. Hereupon the King defired he would 
forbear him and his Country at this Time for if the 
Epuremei fhould know he had given Raleigh any Aid or 
Intelligence, he Ihould foon be over-run by them, nor 
could he avoid the Spaniards if they Ihould return, who 
had before led him, feventeen Days, in a Chain like a 
Dog, till he paid a hundred Plates of Gold and feveral 
Chains of Spieen-ftones, for his Ranfom ; but if Raleigh 
.would return in due Seafon next Year, he would engage 
all the Borderers in the Enterprize; for that he could not 
more defire to make himfelf Mafter of Guiana, than they 
to affift him, having been plundered in their Wars by the 
Epuremei, of their Women, whom to recover, they would 
willingly renew the WTr, without Hopes of farther 
Profit ; for the old King complained of it as a Matter of 
grievous Reftraint, that now they were confined to three 
or four Wives apiece, who were wont to enjoy ten or 
a Dozen, while the Lords of their Enemies had no lefs 
than fifty or a hundred j but they feem to have had a 
political Reafon for this Recovery, to ftrengthen their 
Alliance, and increafe their Forces ; thofe Frontiers 
having been much depopulated, between the Subjects of 
the Inca and the Spaniards. 
Raleigh, after farther Confultation, finding it abfolutely 
improper, either to leave any of his Company, or to 
attempt War upon the Epuremei till the next Year, ap- 
plied himfelf now, only to learn how thofe People 
wrought thofe Plates of Gold, which were difperfed 
about, and how they divided it from the Stone. The 
King told him, that moft of their Plates and Images were 
not fevered from the Stone ; but that, on the Lake of 
Mama, and many other Rivers thereabouts, they o-a- 
thered the perfect Grains of Gold, and, mingling a Pro- 
portion of Copper, the better to work it, put it in a 
great earthen Pot, under which they increafed the Fire by 
the Breath of Men through long Canes faftened to the 
Holes under the faid Pot, till the Metal diffolved, which 
then they caft into Moulds of Stone and Clay, and fo 
made thefe Plates and Images ; whereof Raleigh brought 
two Sorts into England, more to fhew the Manner of 
them, than the Value ; for he gave more Pieces of Gold 
of the twenty Shilling Coin, with the Queen’s Effigy 
upon them, among thefe People, to wear in Flonour of 
her Majefty, and to engage them in her Service, than he 
received, fo little did he make his Defign of Gold known 
to them. He brought away with him, however, va- 
rious Samples both of the Spar and of the Ore, which 
were fufficient to juftify his Reports of the Riches of 
this Country and he likewife brought with him the 
higheft Teftimony that could well be given him of the 
fincere Love and entire Confidence of the Natives, fince 
old fopiowari, one of the wifeft, and none of the leaft 
powerful, Princes in that Country, fent over his own Son 
Cayworaeo into England, where he was baptized with 
much Ceremony by the Name of Gualtero. On the other 
hand, Sir' /T” %lter left behind him, at their own Requeft, 
two 
