Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/575

Rh his mind was excited by reports of distant realms, where gold was found in such abundance that the commonest utensils of the inhabitants were made of that metal. What may have been vague rumors of the civilized kingdoms of Mexico and Peru was construed by the heated imagination of the great admiral to mean no other than the gorgeous cities of the Genghis Kahn. Along the coast of Honduras the natives wore ornaments which they called guanin, an inferior quality of gold. No pure gold was found until the discoverers had arrived at a bay of Costa Rica, called by the natives Caribaro, a place well known to the inhabitants of Honduras as rich in gold. Here pure gold was worn by the natives in plates suspended from the neck by cotton cords. They also exhibited rude imitations of eagles and other objects in guanin. Perceiving with what cupidity the strangers regarded their golden ornaments, the Indians of Caribaro informed the Spaniards that two days' journey easterly along the coast would bring them to a province called Veragua, where that metal was found in abundance, and where all their ornaments were fabricated. This Indian province of Veragua was situated on what is now known as the river Veragua running through the north-western corner of what was later the state of Panamá The earnest desire of the admiral to find a passage to India prevented his landing at that point on his downward passage; but failing to find a strait, and the supply of gold growing less as he departed from this point, he returned to Veragua, anchored his ships, and prepared to examine the mines of that country. The adelantado, Bartholomew Columbus, on the 6th of February 1503 set out with sixty-eight armed men,