Chap. XXV.—B. P.] 
OPHIR. 
123 
thinks that this gold was found in the Aurea; if it 
were so, I contend that these mines of the Aurea are 
one and the same with those of Veragua, which, as I 
have said before, extends westward twenty days’ 
journey at an equal distance from the Pole and the 
Line. Solomon bought all of it; gold, precious stones, 
and silver, but your Majesties need only send to seek 
them, to have them at your pleasure. David in his 
will left 3000 quintals of Indian gold (300,000 lbs.) 
nearly £6,000,000 of our money to Solomon to assist 
in building the Temple. According to Josephus, it 
came from these lands. Jerusalem and Mount Sion 
are to be rebuilt by the hands of Christians, as God has 
declared by the mouth of his prophet in the 14th 
Psalm. The Abbe Joaquin said that he who should 
do this was to come from Spain!!! ” 
Leaving Ivisilala, we pushed out into the stream, at 
first paddling easily so as to clear the rapid without 
injuring the canoe, for the water is so shallow that 
even our light craft touched the bottom when shooting 
over the deepest part; but the men, jumping up, made 
a firm and vigorous set on the rocks with their pad¬ 
dles, and without taking in a drop of water, forced 
her over, and thus we fairly started on our return to 
Blewfields just before midnight on the 29th. 
The night was beautiful, not a cloud to be seen; 
the stars shining brightly, as they know how to shine 
in the tropics; but the dew was heavier than any I 
had ever seen before, so that I was glad of the shelter 
of the u chowpa,” and could well bear my blanket 
besides, for it was very chilly. 
