The adjacent country was, moreover, particularly rich in gold,
which, collected from the washings of the streams, still forms
one of the staple products of Barbacoas. Here, too, was the fair
River of Emeralds, so called from the quarries of the beautiful
gem on its borders, from which the Indian monarchs enriched their
treasury. *21
[Footnote 20: Pizarro's secretary speaks of one of the towns as
containing 3,000 houses. "En esta Tierra havia muchos
Mantenimientos, i la Gente tenia mui buena orden de vivir, los
Pueblos con sus Calles, i Placas: Pueblo havia que tenia mas de
tres mil Casas, i otros havia menores." Conq. del Peru, ap.
Barcia, tom. III. p. 181.]
[Footnote 21: Stevenson, who visited this part of the coast early
in the present century, is profuse in his description of its
mineral and vegetable treasures. The emerald mine in the
neighbourhood of Las Esmeraldas, once so famous, is now placed
under the ban of a superstition, more befitting the times of the
Incas. "I never visited it," says the traveller, "owing to the
superstitious dread of the natives, who assured me that it was
enchanted, and guarded by an enormous dragon, which poured forth
thunder and lightning on those who dared to ascend the river."
Residence in South America, vol. II. p. 406.]
The Spaniards gazed with delight on these undeniable evidences of
wealth, and saw in the careful cultivation of the soil a
comfortable assurance that they had at length reached the land
which had so long been seen in brilliant, though distant,
perspective before them.
Pages:
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298