The Stories of El Dorado

by Frona Eunice Wait

For a moment there was a look of pain on the face of the Golden Hearted. Then he said gently:

"You, more than any one else need help, because you are unable to govern yourself much less a rich and prosperous nation."

When it became known that the representatives of the Children of the Sun would not compel the people to accept a Zipa they did not like, they came out of their houses where they had been hidden all day for fear of violence, and marched up and down the streets playing on shell trumpets, gongs and kettle drums, and shouting the name of the oldest son of the Zipa who was in due time crowned as the rightful heir to the throne.

His first official act was to pierce the upper part of the ear of his subjects and put in gold wheels of fine filigree work, as large around as an orange. As he did so he said to each one:

"Swear by Him who gives and sustains life in the Universe, that you will faithfully keep the Good Law brought to us from the sea, by Bochica, our deliverer."

This was the name the Zipa gave the Golden Hearted, and as each man passed by him he gave them a little cake made of corn meal, and continued:

"To-morrow our good friends leave us for many days to come, but Bochica will return again, and to show him that we will do his bidding willingly let us take balsas or rafts with sails and go out on the lake where he may see the intent of our minds reflected in the water. Put wreaths of many colored flowers on the balsas, and carry with you gold and emeralds which we will cast into the lake in token of our pledge to him."

For hundreds of years afterwards, the Mucas and their descendants kept this holiday as an anniversary of the departure of the prince and the wise men. They knew that he was called the Golden Hearted in the Happy Island, and every year they selected a young priest from the temple of Gautavita, to impersonate him. After his bath the priest smeared himself all over with a fragrant oil, and then his attendants blew gold dust through reeds onto his body until he looked like a solid statue. They put him in the center of the flower-laden raft, and with chants and hymns rowed out on the lake and threw emeralds and gold dust into it. The young men wore white shirts with a red cross on the breast, and tied a red sash around their waists. On their heads were crowns of flowers and evergreen leaves to show that their virtues would continue as long as they lived, and that they were followers of the teachings of the Golden Hearted. They were always hoping and praying for his return.

We shall hear more of this ceremony and what came of it when we read the story of the Gilded Man.