the country in his expeditions to Guiana in 1595
and 1617. On all maps were to be seen traces of the
pseudo discoveries of Martinez and others. There was
one map, made much of by Raleigh, showing the
capital of the golden kingdom, along the streets of
which were no less than 3000 workers in precious
metals, the sidewalks being flagged with the yellow
kind, and the wagon way cobbled with the white
kind ; for at hand were situate a hill of gold, a hill of
silver, and a hill of salt. I cannot speak of the royal
palace of snow-white marble with pillars of porphyry
and alabaster, all encircled by galleries of curiously
wrought cedar and ebony, for description here is be-
yond the power of tongue or pen.
The Diccionario Historico, a Spanish translation of Moreri's French cyclopedia with valuable additions by Miravel, published in 1753, speaks of the province of El Dorado, as situated between the rivers Orinoco and Amazonas, containing the great lake Parimo, and a great city on its western shore, with mines of gold in great quantities; but adds that " todo lo dicho esta encantado," and that all search for the same had thus far proved to be only " buenos desseos de los espano- les." Humboldt proved that the lake was almost as fabulous as the city of Manoa.
Now, if in California we had not then the gilded king, and were obliged to be content with only a gilded country, we have had since then more of gilded humanity than ever the Essequibo valley could boast. And the coat of gilt has been getting thicker and thicker on many of them, until there is an inch thick coating of metal of some kind, base or otherwise ; silver, gold, or brass, some being, indeed, all a casting, blood and bone, heart and brain, all cold dull earth, and nothing else. More than once we have thought to discover the veritable cave of Mammon, where dwelt the money-god himself.
After all, with such examples before us as the tulip mania, the South Sea bubble, the Mississippi bubble,
