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Introductory Note
Introductory Note
Sir Walter Raleigh may be taken as the great typical figure of the age of
Elizabeth. Courtier and statesman, soldier and sailor, scientist and man of
letters, he engaged in almost all the main lines of public activity in his
time, and was distinguished in them all.
His father was a Devonshire gentleman of property, connected with many of
the distinguished families of the south of England. Walter was born about 1552
and was educated at Oxford. He first saw military service in the Huguenot
army in France in 1569, and in 1578 engaged, with his half-brother, Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, in the first of his expeditions against the Spaniards. After
some service in Ireland, he attracted the attention of the Queen, and rapidly
rose to the perilous position of her chief favorite. With her approval, he
fitted out two expeditions for the colonization of Virginia, neither of which
did his royal mistress permit him to lead in person, and neither of which
succeeded in establishing a permanent settlement.
After about six years of high favor, Raleigh found his position at court
endangered by the rivalry of Essex, and in 1592, on returning from convoying
a squadron he had fitted out against the Spanish, he was thrown into the
Tower by the orders of the Queen, who had discovered an intrigue between him
and one of her ladies whom he subsequently married. He was ultimately
released, engaged in various naval exploits, and in 1594 sailed for South
America on the voyage described in the following narrative.
On the death of Elizabeth, Raleigh`s misfortunes increased. He was
accused of treason against James I, condemned, reprieved, and imprisoned for
twelve years, during which he wrote his "History of the World," and engaged in
scientific researches. In 1616 he was liberated, to make another attempt to
find the gold mine in Venezuela; but the expedition was disastrous, and, on
his return, Raleigh was executed on the old charge in 1618. In his vices as in
his virtues, Raleigh is a thorough representative of the great adventurers who
laid the foundations of the British Empire.
Raleigh`s Discovery Of Guiana
The Discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful Empire of Guiana; with a
Relation of the great and golden City of Manoa, which the Spaniards call El
Dorado, and the Provinces of Emeria, Aromaia, Amapaia, and other Countries,
with their rivers, adjoining. Performed in the year 1595 by Sir Walter
Raleigh, Knight, Captain of her Majesty`s Guard, Lord Warden of the
Stannaries, and her Highness` Lieutenant-general of the County of Cornwall.
To the Right Honourable my singular good Lord and kinsman Charles Howard,
Knight of the Garter, Baron, and Councillor, and of the Admirals of England
the most renowned; and to the Right Honourable Sir Robert Cecil, Knight,
Councillor in her Highness` Privy Councils.
For your Honours` many honourable and friendly parts, I have hitherto
only returned promises; and now, for answer of both your adventures, I have
sent you a bundle of papers, which I have divided between your Lordship and
Sir Robert Cecil, in these two respects chiefly; first, for that it is reason
that wasteful factors, when they have consumed such stocks as they had in
trust, do yield some colour for the same in their account; secondly, for that
I am assured that whatsoever shall be done, or written, by me, shall need a
double protection and defence. The trial that I had of both your loves, when
I was left of all, but of malice and revenge, makes me still presume that you
will be pleased (knowing what little power I had to perform aught, and the
great advantage of forewarned enemies) to answer that out of knowledge, which
others shall but object out of malice. In my more happy times as I did
especially honour you both, so I found that your loves sought me out in the
darkest shadow of adversity, and the same affection which accompanied my
better fortune soared not away from me in my many miseries; all which though I
cannot requite, yet I shall ever acknowledge; and the great debt which I have
no power to pay, I can do no more for a time but confess to be due. It is true
that as my errors were great, so they have yielded very grievous effects; and
if aught might have been deserved in former times, to have counterpoised any
part of offences, the fruit thereof, as it seemeth, was long before fallen
from the tree, and the dead stock only remained. I did therefore, even in the
winter of my life, undertake these travails, fitter for bodies less blasted
with misfortunes, for men of greater ability, and for minds of better
encouragement, that thereby, if it were possible, I might recover but the
moderation of excess, and the least taste of the greatest plenty formerly
possessed. If I had known other way to win, if I had imagined how greater
adventures might have regained, if I could conceive what farther means I might
yet use but even to appease so powerful displeasure, I would not doubt but for
one year more to hold fast my soul in my teeth till it were performed. Of that
little remain I had, I have wasted in effect all herein. I have undergone many
constructions; I have been accompanied with many sorrows, with labour, hunger,
heat, sickness, and peril; it appeareth, notwithstanding, that I made no
other bravado of going to the sea, than was meant, and that I was never hidden
in Cornwall, or elsewhere, as was supposed. They have grossly belied me that
forejudged that I would rather become a servant to the Spanish king than
return; and the rest were much mistaken, who would have persuaded that I was
too easeful and sensual to undertake a journey of so great travail. But if
what I have done receive the gracious construction of a painful pilgrimage,
and purchase the least remission, I shall think all too little, and that there
were wanting to the rest many miseries. But if both the times past, the
present, and what may be in the future, do all by one grain of gall continue
in eternal distaste, I do not then know whether I should bewail myself, either
for my too much travail and expense, or condemn myself for doing less than
that which can deserve nothing. From myself I have deserved no thanks, for I
am returned a beggar, and withered; but that I might have bettered my poor
estate, it shall appear from the following discourse, if I had not only
respected her Majesty`s future honour and riches.
It became not the former fortune, in which I once lived, to go journeys
of picory;^1 it had sorted ill with the offices of honour, which by her
Majesty`s grace I hold this day in England, to run from cape to cape and from
place to place, for the pillage of ordinary prizes. Many years since I had
knowledge, by relation, of that mighty, rich, and beautiful empire of Guiana,
and of that great and golden city, which the Spaniards call El Dorado, and the
naturals Manoa, which city was conquered, re-edified, and enlarged by a
younger son of Guayna-capac, Emperor of Peru, at such time as Francisco
Pizarro and others conquered the said empire from this two elder brethren,
Guascar and Atabalipa, both then contending for the same, the one being
favoured by the orejones of Cuzco, the other by the people of Caxamalca. I
sent my servant Jacob Whiddon, the year before, to get knowledge of the
passages, and I had some light from Captain Parker, sometime my servant, and
now attending on your Lordship, that such a place there was to the soulhward
of the great bay of Charuas, or Guanipa: but I found that it was 600 miles
farther off than they supposed, and many impediments to them unknown and
unheard. After I had displanted Don Antonio de Berreo, who was upon the same
enterprise, leaving my ships at Trinidad, at the port called Curiapan, I
wandered 400 miles into the said country by land and river; the particulars I
will leave to the following discourse.
[Footnote 1: Fr. picoree (marauding).]
The country hath more quantity of gold, by manifold, than the best parts
of the Indies, or Peru. All the most of the kings of the borders are already
become her Majesty`s vassals, and seem to desire nothing more than her
Majesty`s protection and the return of the English nation. It hath another
ground and assurance of riches and glory than the voyages of the West Indies;
an easier way to invade the best parts thereof than by the common course. The
king of Spain is not so impoverished by taking three or four port towns in
America as we suppose; neither are the riches of Peru or Nueva Espana so left
by the sea side as it can be easily washed away with a great flood, or spring
tide, or left dry upon the sands on a low ebb. The port towns are few and poor
in respect of the rest within the land, and are of little defence, and are
only rich when the fleets are to receive the treasure for Spain; and we might
think the Spaniards very simple, having so many horses and slaves, if they
could not upon two days` warning carry all the gold they have into the land,
and far enough from the reach of our footmen, especially the Indies being, as
they are for the most part, so mountainous, full of woods, rivers, and
marishes. In the port towns of the province of Venezuela, as Cumana, Coro, and
St. Iago (whereof Coro and St. Iago were taken by Captain Preston, and Cumana
and St. Josepho by us) we found not the value of one real of plate in either.
But the cities of Barquasimeta, Valencia, St. Sebastian, Cororo, St. Lucia,
Laguna, Maracaiba, and Truxillo, are not so easily invaded. Neither doth the
burning of those on the coast impoverish the king of Spain any one ducat; and
if we sack the River of Hacha, St. Martha, and Carthagena, which are the ports
of Nuevo Reyno and Popayan, there are besides within the land, which are
indeed rich and prosperous, the towns and cities of Merida, Lagrita, St.
Christophoro, the great cities of Pamplona, Santa Fe de Bogota, Tunxa, and
Mozo, where the emeralds are found, the towns and cities of Marequita, Velez,
la Villa de Leiva, Palma, Honda, Angostura, the great city of Timana, Tocaima,
St. Aguila, Pasto, [St.] Iago, the great city of Popayan itself, Los Remedios,
and the rest. If we take the ports and villages within the bay of Uraba in the
kingdom or rivers of Darien and Caribana, the cities and towns of St. Juan de
Rodas, of Cassaris, of Antiochia, Caramanta, Cali, and Anserma have gold
enough to pay the king`s part, and are not easily invaded by way of the ocean.
Or if Nombre de Dios and Panama be taken, in the province of Castilla del Oro,
and the villages upon the rivers of Cenu and Chagre; Peru hath, besides those,
and besides the magnificent cities of Quito and Lima, so many islands, ports,
cities, and mines as if I should name them with the rest it would seem
incredible to the reader. Of all which, because I have written a particular
treatise of the West Indies, I will omit the repetition at this time, seeing
that in the said treatise I have anatomized the rest of the sea towns as well
of Nicaragua, Yucatan, Nueva Espana, and the islands, as those of the inland,
and by what means they may be best invaded, as far as any mean judgment may
comprehend.
But I hope it shall appear that there is a way found to answer every
man`s longing; a better Indies for her Majesty than the king of Spain hath
any; which if it shall please her Highness to undertake, I shall most
willingly end the rest of my days in following the same. If it be left to the
spoil and sackage of common persons, if the love and service of so many
nations be despised, so great riches and so mighty an empire refused; I hope
her Majesty will yet take my humble desire and my labour therein in gracious
part, which, if it had not been in respect of her Highness` future honour and
riches, could have laid hands on and ransomed many of the kings and caciqui of
the country, and have had a reasonable proportion of gold for their
redemption. But I have chosen rather to bear the burden of poverty than
reproach; and rather to endure a second travail, and the chances thereof, than
to have defaced an enterprise of so great assurance, until I knew whether it
pleased God to put a disposition in her princely and royal heart either to
follow or forslow^2 the same. I will therefore leave it to His ordinance that
hath only power in all things; and do humbly pray that your honours will
excuce such errors as, without the defence of art, overrun in every part the
following discourse, in which I have neither studied phrase, form, nor
fashion; that you will be pleased to esteem me as your own, though over dearly
bought, and I shall ever remain ready to do you all honour and service.
[Footnote 2: Neglect, decline (lose through sloth).]
To The Reader
Because there have been divers opinions conceived of the gold ore brought
from Guiana, and for that an alderman of London and an officer of her
Majesty`s mint hath given out that the same is of no price, I have thought
good by the addition of these lines to give answer as well to the said
malicious slander as to other objections. It is true that while we abode at
the island of Trinidad I was informed by an Indian that not far from the port
where we anchored there were found certain mineral stones which they esteemed
to be gold, and were thereunto persuaded the rather for that they had seen
both English and Frenchmen gather and embark some quantities thereof. Upon
this likelihood I sent forty men, and gave order that each one should bring a
stone of that mine, to make trial of the goodness; which being performed, I
assured them at their return that the same was marcasite, and of no riches or
value. Notwithstanding, divers, trusting more to their own sense than to my
opinion, kept of the said marcasite, and have tried thereof since my return,
in divers places. In Guiana itself I never saw marcasite; but all the rocks,
mountains, all stones in the plains, woods, and by the rivers` sides, are in
effect thorough-shining, and appear marvellous rich; which, being tried to be
no marcasite, are the true signs of rich minerals, but are no other than El
madre del oro, as the Spaniards term them, which is the mother of gold, or, as
it is said by others, the scum of gold. Of divers sorts of these many of my
company brought also into England, every one taking the fairest for the best,
which is not general. For mine own part, I did not countermand any man`s
desire or opinion, and I could have afforded them little if I should have
denied them the pleasing of their own fancies therein; but I was resolved that
gold must be found either in grains, separate from the stone, as it is in most
of the rivers in Guiana, or else in a kind of hard stone, which we call the
white spar, of which I saw divers hills, and in sundry places, but had neither
time nor men, nor instruments fit for labour. Near unto one of the rivers I
found of the said white spar or flint a very great ledge or bank, which I
endeavoured to break by all the means I could, because there appeared on the
outside some small grains of gold; but finding no mean to work the same upon
the upper part, seeking the sides and circuit of the said rock, I found a
clift in the same, from whence with daggers, and with the head of an axe, we
got out some small quantity thereof; of which kind of white stone, wherein
gold is engendered, we saw divers hills and rocks in every part of Guiana
wherein we travelled. Of this there have been made many trials; and in London
it was first assayed by Master Westwood, a refiner dwelling in Wood Street,
and it held after the rate of twelve or thirteen thousand pounds a ton.
Another sort was afterward tried by Master Bulmar, and Master Dimock,
assay-master; and it held after the rate of three and twenty thousand pounds a
ton. There was some of it again tried by Master Palmer, Comptroller of the
Mint, and Master Dimock in Goldsmith`s Hall, and it held after six and twenty
thousand and nine hundred pounds a ton. There was also at the same time, and
by the same persons, a trial made of the dust of the said mine; which held
eight pounds and six ounces weight of gold in the hundred. There was likewise
at the same time a trial of an image of copper made in Guiana, which held a
third part of gold, besides divers trials made in the country, and by others
in London. But because there came ill with the good, and belike the said
alderman was not presented with the best, it hath pleased him therefore to
scandal all the rest, and to deface the enterprise as much as in him lieth. It
hath also been concluded by divers that if there had been any such ore in
Guiana, and the same discovered, that I would have brought home a greater
quantity thereof. First, I was not bound to satisfy any man of the quantity,
but only such as adventured, if any store had been returned thereof; but it is
very true that had all their mountains been of massy gold it was impossible
for us to have made any longer stay to have wrought the same; and
whosoever hath seen with what strength of stone the best gold ore is
environed, he will not think it easy to be had out in heaps, and especially by
us, who had neither men, instruments, nor time, as it is said before, to
perform the same.
There were on this discovery no less than an hundred persons, who can all
witness that when we passed any branch of the river to view the land within,
and stayed from our boats but six hours, we were driven to wade to the eyes at
our return; and if we attempted the same the day following, it was impossible
either to ford it, or to swim it, both by reason of the swiftness, and also
for that the borders were so pestered with fast woods, as neither boat nor man
could find place either to land or to embark; for in June, July, August, and
September it is impossible to navigate any of those rivers; for such is the
fury of the current, and there are so many trees and woods overflown, as if
any boat but touch upon any tree or stake it is impossible to save any one
person therein. And ere we departed the land it ran with such swiftness as we
drave down, most commonly against the wind, little less than an hundred miles
a day. Besides, our vessels were no other than wherries, one little barge, a
small cock-boat, and a bad galiota which we framed in haste for that purpose
at Trinidad; and those little boats had nine or ten men apiece, with all their
victuals and arms. It is further true that we were about four hundred miles
from our ships, and had been a month from them, which also we left weakly
manned in an open road, and had promised our return in fifteen days.
Others have devised that the same ore was had from Barbary, and that we
carried it with us into Guiana. Surely the singularity of that device I do
not well comprehend. For mine own part, I am not so much in love with these
long voyages as to devise thereby to cozen myself, to lie hard, to fare worse,
to be subjected to perils, to diseases, to ill savours, to be parched and
withered, and withal to sustain the care and labour of such an enterprise,
except the same had more comfort than the fetching of marcasite in Guiana, or
buying of gold ore in Barbary. But I hope the better sort will judge me by
themselves, and that the way of deceit is not the way of honour or good
opinion. I have herein consumed much time, and many crowns; and I had no other
respect or desire than to serve her Majesty and my country thereby. If the
Spanish nation had been of like belief to these detractors we should little
have feared or doubted their attempts, wherewith we now are daily threatened.
But if we now consider of the actions both of Charles the Fifth, who had the
maidenhead of Peru and the abundant treasures of Atabalipa, together with the
affairs of the Spanish king now living, what territories he hath purchased,
what he hath added to the acts of his predecessors, how many kingdoms he hath
endangered, how many armies, garrisons, and navies he hath, and doth maintain,
the great losses which he hath repaired, as in Eighty-eight above an hundred
sail of great ships with their artillery, and that no year is less
infortunate, but that many vessels, treasures, and people are devoured, and
yet notwithstanding he beginneth again like a storm to threaten shipwrack to
us all; we shall find that these abilities rise not from the trades of sacks
and Seville oranges, nor from aught else that either Spain, Portugal, or any
of his other provinces produce; it is his Indian gold that endangereth and
disturbeth all the nations of Europe; it purchaseth intelligence, creepeth
into counsels, and setteth bound loyalty at liberty in the greatest monarchies
of Europe. If the Spanish king can keep us from foreign enterprises, and from
the impeachment of his trades, either by offer of invasion, or by besieging us
in Britain, Ireland, or elsewhere, he hath then brought the work of our peril
in great forwardness.
Those princes that abound in treasure have great advantages over the
rest, if they once constrain them to a defensive war, where they are driven
once a year or oftener to cast lots for their own garments; and from all such
shall all trades and intercourse be taken away, to the general loss and
impoverishment of the kingdom and commonweal so reduced. Besides, when our men
are constrained to fight, it hath not the like hope as when they are pressed
and encouraged by the desire of spoil and riches. Farther, it is to be doubted
how those that in time of victory seem to affect their neighbour nations will
remain after the first view of misfortunes or ill success; to trust, also, to
the doubtfulness of a battle is but a fearful and uncertain adventure, seeing
therein fortune is as likely to prevail as virtue. It shall not be necessary
to allege all that might be said, and therefore I will thus conclude; that
whatsoever kingdom shall be enforced to defend itself may be compared to a
body dangerously diseased, which for a season may be preserved with vulgar
medicines, but in a short time, and by little and little, the same must needs
fall to the ground and be dissolved. I have therefore laboured all my life,
both according to my small power and persuasion, to advance all those attempts
that might either promise return of profit to ourselves, or at least be a let
and impeachment to the quiet course and plentiful trades of the Spanish
nation; who, in my weak judgement, by such a war were as easily endangered and
brought from his powerfulness as any prince in Europe, if it be considered
from how many kingdoms and nations his revenues are gathered, and those so
weak in their own beings and so far severed from mutual succour. But because
such a preparation and resolution is not to be hoped for in haste, and that
the time which our enemies embrace cannot be had again to advantage, I will
hope that these provinces, and that empire now by me discovered, shall suffice
to enable her Majesty and the whole kingdom with no less quantities of
treasure than the king of Spain hath in all the Indies, East and West, which
he possesseth; which if the same be considered and followed, ere the Spaniards
enforce the same, and if her Majesty will undertake it, I will be contented to
lose her Highness` favour and good opinion for ever, and my life withal, if
the same be not found rather to exceed than to equal whatsoever is in this
discourse promised and declared. I will now refer the reader to the following
discourse, with the hope that the perilous and chargeable labours and
endeavours of such as thereby seek the profit and honour of her Majesty, and
the English nation, shall by men of quality and virtue receive such
construction and good acceptance as themselves would like to be rewarded
withal in the like.
[Footnote 3: Exploration.]
[Footnote 4: The name is derived from the Guayano Indians, on the Orinoco.]
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