"No indeed: they are common huts with thatched roofs on which the salt and mica glisten and sparkle as they do in the grass and sand."
"Are the natives warlike? and do they eat each other, as we have been told?"
"They are armed with javelins, wooden shields, bows and arrows, and a short sword which they make for themselves. We found them very friendly, and as for their being cannibals that is all imagination, but it may have been true in olden times."
And this is really what people spent millions of money trying to find, and for which hundreds of lives were uselessly sacrificed.
The Mountain of Gold
VERY far to the north of Lake Parima, is the celebrated Roraima, the "Mountain of Gold," one of the objects sought by the men who were looking for El Dorado.
"Let us set out on an expedition to see if we cannot solve the mystery of this mountain, that is not only rich in gold and precious stones, but grows the Plant of Life in abundance, which keeps one alive for hundreds of years," said some idle Cavaliers who had become reckless in their eagerness to acquire sudden riches.