MINERAL WEAXTH. 
440 
precious metal came ; and though the information obtained 
in the province of Coro, and the markets of Curiana and 
Cauchieto,* clearly proved that real mineral wealth was to 
be found only to the west and south-west of Coro (that is 
to say, in the mountains near those of New Grenada), the 
whole province of Caracas was nevertheless eagerly explored. 
A governor, newly arrived on that coast, could recommend 
himself to the Spanish court only by boasting of the mines 
of his province ; and hi order to take from cupidity what 
was most ignoble and repulsive, the thirst of gold was 
justified by the purpose to which it was pretended the 
riches acquired by fraud and violence might be employed. 
“ Gold,” says Christopher Columbus, in bis last letter t to 
King Ferdinand, “ gold is a thing so much the more neces- 
sary to your majesty, because, in order to fulfil the ancient 
prophecy, Jerusalem is to be rebuilt by a prince of the 
Spanish monarchy. Gold is the most excellent of metals. 
What becomes of those precious stones, which are sought 
for at the extremities of the globe ? They are sold, and 
are finally converted into gold. With gold wo not only do 
whatever we please in this world, but we cau even employ 
it to snatch souls from Purgatory, and to people Paradise.” 
These words bear the stamp of the age in which Columbus 
lived; but we are surprised to see this pompous eulogium 
of riches written by a man whose whole life was marked 
by the most noble disinterestedness. 
The conquest of the province of Venezuela having been 
begun at its western extremity, the neighbouring mountains 
of Coro, Tocuyo, and Barquisimeto, first attracted the at- 
* The Spaniards found, in 1500, in the country of Curiana (now Coro), 
little birds, frogs, and other ornaments made of gold. Those who had cast 
these figures lived at Cauchieto, a place nearer the Rio de la IJacha. I have 
seen ornaments resembling those described by Peter Martyr of Anghiera 
(which indicate tolerable skill in goldsmiths’ work), among the remains of 
the ancient inhabitants of Cundinamarca. The same art appears to have 
oeen practised in places along the coasts, and also farther to the south, 
among the mountains of New Grenada. 
+ Lettera rarissima data nelle Indie nella isola di Jamaica a 7 Julio 
del 1503. — 11 Le oro e metallo sopra gli altri exccllenliesimo ; e dell’ oro 
si fanno li tesori e chi lo tiene fa e opera quanto vuole nel mo*<s* 8 Itnnl. 
mente aggiongc a mandate le anime al Paradiso, ” 
