Raleigh, while holding the Spaniard as a captive on his flag-ship, treated
him with every courtesy, and had him to eat at his own table. Here Berreo,
who did not suspect the purpose of the English, talked freely about his
former expedition and gave his captor a good deal of very useful
information. One thing Raleigh learned was that his ships could not be
taken up the Orinoco, on account of the sand-banks at its mouth and its
dangerous channels. He therefore felt it necessary to leave the ships at
Trinidad and cross to the mainland in the boats he had brought with him.
One hundred men were chosen for the journey, the others being left to
guard the fleet. An old galley, a barge, a ship's-boat, and two wherries
carried them, and a young Indian pilot, who claimed to be familiar with
the coast, was taken along. Trinidad lies at no great distance from the
mainland, but stormy weather assailed the voyagers, and they were glad
enough to enter one of the mouths of the river and escape the ocean
billows. But here new troubles surrounded them, the nature of which
Raleigh described later, in his account of the expedition. He wrote:
"If God had not sent us help, we might have wandered a whole year in that
labyrinth of rivers, ere we had found any way. I know all the earth does
not yield the like confluence of streams and branches, the one crossing
the other so many times, and all so fair and large, and so like one
another as no man can tell which to take. And if we went by the sun or
compass, hoping thereby to go directly one way or the other, yet that way
also we were carried in a circle among multitudes of islands. Every island
was so bordered with big trees as no man could see any farther than the
breadth of the river or length of the branch."
The Indian pilot proved to be useless in this medley of water-ways, and
only chance extricated the voyagers from the labyrinth in which they were
involved. This chance was the meeting and capturing a canoe with three
natives, who became friendly when they found they had nothing to fear from
the strange white men. One of them was an old man who knew the river
thoroughly, and whom presents and kind words induced to guide them past
their difficulties.
Resting that night on a little knoll on the wooded banks of the stream,
they were off again early the next morning. The river was still swift and
violent, broken here and there with rapids, where they had to land and
pull the boats. There were shoals also, which they had much trouble in
getting over. And the banks were so crowded with trees and high reeds that
they could not land, and were almost stifled from the closeness of the
air.
After four hard and weary days of this kind they reached a smoother
channel and could proceed more easily. But their work was still far from
easy, for the inflowing tidal waters had left them and they had the swift
current of the river to breast, while the tropic heat grew more oppressive
day by day. It was hard work for the gentlemen rovers in that tropical
climate, where the dense forest growth cut off every breath of air and
their diminishing bread forced them to be put on short allowance. They
began to complain bitterly, and Raleigh had to use all his powers of
persuasion to induce them to go on.
Yet the country was in many ways beautiful. Here and there the woods
ceased and broad plains spread out, covered with luxuriant herbage, amid
which rose at intervals groves of beautiful trees. Graceful deer would
come down to the water's edge and gaze fearlessly on the travellers with
their big, soft eyes. "On the banks of these rivers," says Raleigh, "were
divers sorts of fruits good to eat; flowers, too, and trees of such
variety as were sufficient to make two volumes of travels. We refreshed
ourselves many times with the fruits of the country, and sometimes with
fowls and fish. We saw birds of all colors: some carnation, some crimson,
orange, tawny, purple, and so on; and it was unto us a great good passing
time to behold them, besides the relief we found by killing some store of
them with our fowling-pieces."
The adventurers at length reached an Indian village of which their old
guide had told them, and here, after the natives had got over their fright
and learned that the strangers meant them no harm, they were very
hospitably entertained. Thence they went onward, day after day, seeing
many canoes on the river and landing at various villages. One of the
canoes contained three Spaniards, who escaped from the effort to capture
them, and Raleigh soon learned that the Spaniards had told the natives
that the English were robbers and cannibals. To overcome the effect of
this story, the greatest care was taken to treat the Indians with kindness
and gentleness, and to punish in their presence any of the men who
maltreated them. This quickly had its effect, for the news spread that the
new-comers were the friends of the red men, and they were rewarded by
every attention the natives could bestow on them. Provisions were brought
them in profusion,--fish, fowl, and fruit, great roasted haunches of
venison, and other viands. Among these were sweet and delicious pineapples
of enormous size, "the prince of fruits," as Raleigh called them.
Finally, after they had gone about one hundred and fifty miles up the
Orinoco, they reached the point where another great river, the Caroni,
empties into it. The country here was more beautiful than they had yet
seen, and prosperous Indian villages were numerous on the bordering
plains. The natives had heard of the amicable character of the new-comers,
and greeted them with great friendliness, doing all they could to show how
they trusted and admired them. With one old chief, named Topiawara,
Raleigh held many interesting talks and learned from him much about the
country and the people. In return he told him about his own country and
its great queen, and one day showed him a portrait of Queen Elizabeth,
before which the simple natives bowed themselves as if it were the figure
of a goddess they saw.
Many days were spent with these people, in hunting, fishing, and
exploring, but, ask as they would, they could learn nothing about the land
of gold and the marvellous city they had come so far to seek. The old
chief told him that Guiana had many fertile plains and valleys and had
mines of silver and gold, but the gold-dust king he knew nothing about.
Finally, Raleigh decided to go up the Caroni, three parties being sent to
explore its vicinity, while he with a fourth rowed up the stream. He had
been told of a mighty cataract, which he was very anxious to see, and this
was at length reached, after a long struggle with the strong current of
the river.
The cataract proved to be a series of giant cascades, ten or twelve in
number, in the words of Raleigh, "every one as high above the other as a
church tower, which fell with that fury that the rebound of waters made it
seem as if it had been all covered over with a great shower of rain. And
in some places we took it at first for a smoke that had risen over some
great town.
"I never saw a more beautiful country," he continues, "or more lively
prospects; hills so raised, here and there, over the valleys; the river
winding into divers branches; the plains adjoining all green grass without
bush or stubble; the ground of hard sand, easy to march on, either for
horses or foot; the birds, towards evening, singing on every tree with a
thousand sweet tunes; cranes and herons of white, crimson, and carnation,
perching on the river's side; the air fresh, with a gentle, easterly wind;
and every stone we stooped to pick up promising either gold or silver by
its complexion."
On the return to the junction of the rivers, the land parties had similar
stories to tell, and had pieces of golden ore to show, of which they
claimed to have found plentiful indications. This story filled the whole
party with dazzling hopes. Here, in the rocks at least, were the riches of
which they had heard so much. If El Dorado did not exist, here was the
native wealth that might well bring it into existence.
The prospectors had done all that lay in their power, and now felt it
necessary to return to their ships, taking with them, at his request, the
son of the aged chief, who wished him to see England, and perhaps to
return at some time to succeed him, with the aid of the valiant English.
We must briefly close the story of Raleigh and his quest. After various
adventures, the party reached Plymouth again in August, 1595, and the
narrative of their discoveries was read everywhere with the utmost
interest.
But many years passed before the explorer could return again. He became
engaged in the wars against Spain, and after the death of the queen was
arrested for treason by order of James I. and imprisoned for thirteen
years. In 1617, twenty-two years after his first expedition, he returned
to the Orinoco, this time with a fleet of thirteen vessels.
His release from prison had been gained by bribery and the promise to open
a rich mine of gold in Guiana, but the expedition proved a failure. There
was a sharp fight with a party of Spaniards at St. Thomas, in which
Raleigh's son was killed. As for the gold mine, it could not be found, and
the expedition was forced to return with none of the hoped-for wealth to
show.
And now Raleigh's misfortunes culminated. He had been sentenced to death
for treason in 1603, but had been reprieved. The king had him arrested
again on the old charge, and the king of Spain demanded that he should be
punished for the attack on St. Thomas in times of peace. James I. did not
like Raleigh, and wished to stand well with Spain, so the famous explorer
fell a victim to the royal policy and dislike and was beheaded under the
old sentence in October, 1618. Since then El Dorado has lain concealed in
the mists of legend and romance, though mines of gold have been worked in
the region which Raleigh explored.