It was made of thirteen gold plates, irregular in form, about as broad as a man's thumb-nail, and linked together with fibres.

I was allowed to examine it, and had no doubt that the pieces were of pure gold, beaten flat by the savages.

When questioned about it, they said it was originally obtained from the Indians of Parahuari, and Parahuari, they further said, was a mountainous country west of the Orinoco.

Every man and woman in that place, they assured me, had such a necklet.

This report inflamed my mind to such a degree that I could not rest by night or day for dreaming golden dreams, and considering how to get to that rich district, unknown to civilized men.