THE death of the Zipa and the complete subjugation of the Muscas, did not cause people to forget the story of El Dorado. On the contrary other nations soon began to fit out expeditions to search for him, and they went into some dreadful places in South America thinking they would find him.  
"What ails that dog of an Indian?" asked Aguirre, the tyrant, and the worst of all the Spanish adventurers looking for gold.
 
"He has fainted from fatigue," answered one of his men.
 
"Then cut off his head. We have no time to waste on these slaves."
 
"Let us unfasten the chain around his neck, and then he can drop behind the rest of the gang," pleaded some of the Indians, who were being used to help the horses carry the baggage. 198
 
"It will take too long, and the whole chain-gang of men would have to wait until we could unfasten his neckband and put some one else in his place. Chop off his head with this sword, and go on."
 
The other officers tried to console the terrified Indians by saying:
 
"If we were to leave him lying by the roadside, some wild animal would come along and eat him, so it is just as well for him as if we had done as you wished."
 
Many people now say that Aguirre was insane, and to this day the poor Christian Indians cross themselves when they hear strange noises at night, and exclaim:
 
"It is the soul of the tyrant Aguirre, who plunged a dagger through the heart of his own daughter when the King's officers came to arrest and punish him for his cruelties. He is doomed to wander over the swamps at night, and wail over his terrible sins. His soul can never be at rest."
 
Like thistle-down scattered by the wind, were the wonderful tales of El Dorado. No matter where white men went they failed to find it, but the cunning Indians always told them that it was still farther away, because they wanted to get rid of the unwelcome visitors, who tortured and enslaved, as well as robbed them.
 
Finally Sir Walter Raleigh, who helped colonize the state of Virginia, and named it for Good Queen Bess of England, heard about the city of 199 Omagua, and the White Sea of the Manoas, and he determined to find them, because there, he believed, was El Dorado.
 
Some English sailors under his command traded some pieces of old iron to the Indians for shields of gold.
 
"Where did you get this metal?" was asked of the Indians.
 
"In Omagua, where the tiles on the roofs of the houses are made from the same glittering substance, and where we hang crescents of it in front of our doors to keep away evil spirits."
 
"What they say must be true," said the sailors among themselves, "for they have gold crowns on their heads, and breast-plates and earrings."
 
"Where is this city of Omagua?" again asked the men.
 
"It is very far south, and is on a lake of gold. Our chief lives in the House of the Sun, and has many green stones in his shield and on the walls of the temples."
 
"What is the name of your chief?"
 
"El Dorado," answered the Indians, anxious that the white men should know that they could speak their language.
 
"It is all plain to me," said Sir Walter Raleigh, when told of it. "Those Spanish adventurers have failed to find the real El Dorado. We will search for it ourselves."
 
"The Indians say there are whole streets filled with workers in gold and precious stones," said one 200 of his officers, "and I dare say we shall make our enterprise quite profitable." So they, too, were looking for gold, only their methods were not so barbarous and cruel as the others had been.
 
As they went farther into the country they found a numerous band of Indians with flat heads, and when they examined the babies carried on the backs of their mothers it was seen that they had tied a board across the forehead so that it would sink in and leave the head pointed and flat in front.
 
"Why do you treat your heads in this manner?" some one asked their chief.
 
"Because our fathers did so, and we think it makes us beautiful," he answered. In that country there are still plenty of flat-headed Indians. As the men marched along they came to trees with holes cut through the bark, and little earthen pots hanging under them to catch the sticky-looking milk that oozed out.
 
"Can this be something good to eat?" the men said. "Let us taste it and see."
 
"Ugh! it has a nasty, disagreeable, bitter flavor," said the speaker, licking his finger after he had stuck it down into the pot. "It smells so badly that it makes me feel sick," he continued, spitting it out quickly.
 
"Here comes an old woman with some nuts from the palm tree she has been shaking in her hands. Let us ask her what this stuff is good for."
 
But the old woman evidently did not have a very good opinion of white men, and would not speak to them at all. 201
 
"We can watch her," they said, "and see whether she intends to eat it."
 
She paid no attention to them, but went on making a fire out of the palm nuts and some dry leaves, and as soon as they blazed brightly she set the little pot near the fire and began stirring the milk with a wooden paddle she carried in her hand. As soon as the blaze smouldered, she held the paddle over it until the milk began to get thick. Then she dipped it back into the pot and repeated the process until there was enough coating to scrape off and make a flat cake.
 
 Drying India Rubber
202
 
"Will you please give me the biscuit?" inquired one of the bystanders. Without a word the old woman threw it at him, and when he caught it in his hands, he exclaimed:
 
"It is India rubber! Now we can have a game of ball!" As it was still warm he rounded it into shape with his hands, and then he and his companions amused themselves for quite a while throwing the ball against the trees and catching it as it bounded back. While they were engaged in this sport the cooks were prepari............