Raleghana . ved con-cerning a great city and lake said to exist many miles to the southof the Orinoco, and thus alluded to in his Discoverie :— I haue beene assured by such of the Spanyardes as haue seeneManoa the imperiall Citie of Guiana, which the Spanyards cal ElDorado, that for the greatnes, for the riches, and for the excellentseate, it farre exceedeth any of the world, at least of so much ofthe world as is knowen to the Spanish nation: it is foundedvpon a lake of salt water of 200 leagues long like vnto marecaspiu(10). The existence of this El Dorado was, apparently from the periodof Pi
Raleghana . ved con-cerning a great city and lake said to exist many miles to the southof the Orinoco, and thus alluded to in his Discoverie :— I haue beene assured by such of the Spanyardes as haue seeneManoa the imperiall Citie of Guiana, which the Spanyards cal ElDorado, that for the greatnes, for the riches, and for the excellentseate, it farre exceedeth any of the world, at least of so much ofthe world as is knowen to the Spanish nation: it is foundedvpon a lake of salt water of 200 leagues long like vnto marecaspiu(10). The existence of this El Dorado was, apparently from the periodof Pizarros conquest of Peru, believed in by the Spaniards, who,for the purpose of reaching and obtaining possession of it, hadsent several expeditions long prior to the date of Raleghs voyage,all of which had ended in failure and disaster. Raleghs faith inthe truth of these reports seemed to be confirmed by the statementof a man named lohannes ^Nfartines maister of the munition to RiverAmazon East RiverOrinoco. West \ reduced facsimile of a Map the RiversAmazon and Orinoco, with the fablecn them. Copied from a Chart or Mapdirection, and* probably by Thomas jo A.) under his RALEGH AXA. 103 Ordace, an early explorer, ^vho was the first that euer sawe]\ranoa. To this Ralegh adds, At a port called Morequito inGuiana there lieth at this day a greate ancor of Ordaces shippe,and this porte is some 300 miles within the lande, vpon the greatriuer of Orenoque (13). A copy of his statement in Berreospossession was read by Ralegh, to whom it appeared to be thegreatest encouragement as well to Berreo as to others that formerlyattempted the discouerie and conquest (14). Martines said he was taken prisoner, and after residing for sevenmonths in ]\lanoa he was allowed to leave, and his attendants tookwith them as much gold as they could carrie, which had beenpresented to him, but when he was arriued neere the riuers side,the borderers which are called Orenoqueponi robbed him and hisGuianians of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectraleighwaltersir1552
