em, she was tended with royal honors,
by command of the conjuror of the tribe, that so her forefather the Sun
might be propitious to them, and the Incas might show favor to the poor
ruined Omaguas, in the day of their coming glory. And as she grew, she
had become, it seemed, somewhat of a prophetess among them, as well
as an object of fetish-worship; for she was more prudent in council,
valiant in war, and cunning in the chase, than all the elders of the
tribe; and those strange and sweet songs of hers, which had so surprised
the white men, were full of mysterious wisdom about the birds, and the
animals, and the flowers, and the rivers, which the Sun and the Good
Spirit taught her from above. So she had lived among them, unmarried
still, not only because she despised the addresses of all Indian youths,
but because the conjuror had declared it to be profane in them to mingle
with the race of the Sun, and had assigned her a cabin near his own,
where she was served in state, and gave some sort of oracular responses,
as they had seen, to the questions which he put to her.

Such was the cacique's tale; on which Cary remarked, probably not
unjustly, that he "dared to say the conjuror made a very good thing of
it:" but Amyas was silent, full of dreams, if not about Manoa, still
about the remnant of the Inca race. What if they were still to be found
about the southern sources of the Amazon? He must have been very near
them already, in that case. It was vexatious; but at least he might
be sure that they had formed no great kingdom in that direction, or he
should have heard of it long ago. Perhaps they had moved lately from
thence eastward, to escape some fresh encroachment of the Spaniards; and
this girl had been left behind in their flight. And then he recollected,
with a sigh, how hopeless was any further search with his diminished
band. At least, he might learn something of the truth from the maiden
herself. It might be useful to him in some future attempt; for he
had not yet given up Manoa. If he but got safe home, there was many a
gallant gentleman (and Raleigh came at once into his mind) who would
join him in a fresh search for the Golden City of Guiana; not by the
upper waters, but by the mouth of the Orinoco.

So they paddled back, while the simple cacique entreated them to tell
the Sun, in their daily prayers, how well the wild people had treated
his descendant; and besought them not to take her away with them, lest
th