the result had not man interfered;
how this happened we must leave to another chapter.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

II.

THE QUEST FOR "EL DORADO".

Ophir was not found in the islands, and the bands of adventurers went
over to _terra firma_ or the mainland to continue the search. Along the
coast of Guiana and Venezuela they again came across the gentle Arawak
and ferocious Carib, the latter making himself respected everywhere,
while his poor-spirited fellow-countryman was alternately caressed and
plundered. In every place the Spaniards found gold ornaments, and every
tribe told them that the precious metal was only obtainable in some far
distant country. The Haitians sent Columbus to the south in search of
the _guanin_ country, and it was there he discovered the coast of Paria
and the delta of the mighty Orinoco. But he was not fated to come across
the treasure cities of the Indies.

Others followed to at last conquer Mexico and Peru, but even then it was
generally believed that nations existed who had more riches to be
plundered than those of the Inca and Montezuma. To find these golden
regions the voyagers wandered in every direction, contributing much to
the knowledge of the coasts and rivers, but always coming back
disappointed.

The horrors of this search can hardly be appreciated nowadays. The ships
were so small and ill-found that we should hardly care to use them for
coasters, yet in them these pioneers crossed the Atlantic and
encountered the hurricanes of the West Indies. Decked only at bow and
stern, the waves dashed into the hold and wetted the provisions, while
the sun poured down upon the water casks and burst their wooden hoops.
The butter and cheese stank, the flour in sacks became mouldy, and the
bacon and salt fish putrid. Then the hull of the vessel was unprotected,
and the teredo, or ship worm, bored it through and through, until
nothing but careening and caulking could save the poor craft from
sinking. When we understand the privations and dangers of this
navigation we are not surprised that the adventurers often came to
grief, but rather wonder that any of them survived.

Living in the West Indies, we have often thought of the pain and
suffering it would produce if we were compelled to walk or sit in the
burning sun armed as were the soldiers at that period. We can hardly
believe that they wore steel body armour, yet the evidence is too strong
to be refuted. True, they gave