I begin by bringing the Golden Hearted from an island in the east, the Tlapalla, from whence he came, and to which he returned in the legend. In all variants he gave a distinct promise of return. This accounts for the awe inspired by Europeans in the minds of the natives, causing them everywhere to fall easy victims to the unscrupulous adventurers swarming into their country. That there should have been confusion seems unavoidable under the circumstances, but certainly Fate never played a more cruel prank than to have one race of men speak and act constantly from the standpoint of tradition and religious belief, while the other thought solely of material gain.
Only in Hiawatha and the Pueblo Montezuma have I taken liberty with the original. The former is based on the recent researches into Algonquin and Chippewa myths of Michabo, the great White Hare. In the Pueblo Montezuma I have followed Prof. Bandelier as to the latest conceptions of the Wrathy Chieftain. My authority for making the Amazon Queens degenerate priestesses of the sun, is J. A. Von Heuvel, the defender of Sir Walter Raleigh's connection with the South American version of the El Dorado legend. To Hubert Howe Bancroft's abridgement of Father Sahagan's translation of the Popol Vuh am I much indebted.
In all accessories I have utilized the products or characteristics of localities visited by the mythical hero, but have avoided investing him with a religious character or surrounding him with supernatural phenomena. It will be wise to make a distinction between the purely mythical, and that which led to history.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| The Happy Island | [11] |
| Zamna, the Eye of the Sun | [18] |
| Votan, the People's Heart | [31] |
| Lord of the Sacred Tunkel | [39] |
| The Stars' Ball | [45] |
| The National Book | [52] |
| Manco-Capac, the Powerful One | [61] |
| Bochica and the Zipa | [71] |
| The Song of Hiawatha | [78] |
| Michabo, the Great White Hare | [80] |
| The Birth of Corn | [90] |
| The Wrathy Chieftain | [99] |
| Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent | [109] |
| Cholula, the Sacred City | [117] |
| Tulla, the Hiding Nook of the Snake | [125] |
| Departure of the Golden Hearted | [132] |
| El Dorado, the Golden | [140] |
| Bimini, the Fountain of Youth | [151] |
| Montezuma and the Paba | [161] |
| The Child of the Sun | [176] |
| The Gilded Man | [189] |
| The White Sea of the Manoas | [197] |
| The Mountain of Gold | [207] |
| The Amazon Queens | [219] |
| The Seven Cities of Cibola | [228] |
| The Kingdom of Quivera | [240] |
| The Land of Gold | [250] |
| The New El Dorado | [262] |
| Appendix | [ 271] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| Leaving the Happy Island (Drawing by Xavier Martinez) | [17] |
| "Each Stitch Must Be Counted" (Painting, The Weaver, by Amadee Joullin) | [21] |
| The Ball Player (Drawing, Xavier Martinez) | [30] |
| "Who Art Thou?" (Painting, Alexander Para, Mexico City) | [35] |
| "An Old-Fashioned Almanac" (Photograph, Calendar Stone, Mexico City) | [48] |
| "Behold the First Word" (Painting, The Hieroglyph Maker, A. Joullin) | [55] |
| The Tapir (Tail-piece) | [60] |
| A Suspension Bridge (Drawing by Xavier Martinez) | [64] |
| "The People Shouted 'Haille'!" (Painting, The Sun Worshippers, E. Narjot) | [69] |
| "The Flower-Laden Balsa" (Tail-piece) | [77] |
| "The House of Wunzh" (Tail-piece) | [89] |
| The Wrestling Match (Tail-piece) | [93] |
| "The Wrathy Chieftain" (Painting by J. W. Clawson) | [104] |
| The Pottery Maker (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [107] |
| "The Humming-Bird Alighted" (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [111] |
| "The Snakeskin Canoe" (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [124] |
| "Here Is Medicine for You" (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [129] |
| "A Song of Farewell" (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [137] |
| The Torch Bearers (Tail-piece) (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [139] |
| "On, and On the Caravels Sailed" (Official photograph) | [147] |
| "Land! Land Ahead!" (Official photograph) | [148] |
| "The Fountain of Youth" (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [159] |
| "Their Naked Bodies Hacked to Pieces" (Drawing, X. Martinez) | [185] |
| Drying India Rubber | [201] |
| "The Old Witch, Monella" | [214] |
| "A Flower Offering" (Sketch by X. Martinez) | [224] |
| "One of the Seven Cities" (Sketch by X. Martinez) | [235] |
| "Fray Marcos" | [239] |
| "An Old Community House" | [249] |
| "Discovery of San Francisco Bay" (Painting, Arthur Matthews, by courtesy of S. F. Art Association) | [253] |
| "A Prairie Schooner" | [261] |