This lake bears the Indian name of Tacarigua, as does a bay or lake on the coast, which is situated a league and a half from the mouth of the river Tuy, of a circular form, and is twenty-one miles in length from the sea on the north-east to the south-east, it abounds in fish, and is remarkable for the great number of alligators it contains.
The lake of Parina, or Paranapitinca, in Guiana is said to be an oblong sheet of water, 100 miles in length, and 50 broad, in an island of which is a rock of glittering mica, celebrated as having been the seat of El Dorado, a supposititious city, the streets of which were paved with gold, alluded to by Milton in his Paradise Lost.
"And yet unspoil'd Guiana
Whose great city Geryon's sons
Call El Dorado."
This lake is in 3° 40' north latitude, and 45° 20' west longitude, and gives birth to a large river, called Rio Blanco, or Parima, which we have before spoken of.
PROVINCE OF NEW ANDALUSIA.
This province, which is also known by the names of Cumana and Paria, is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea; on the east by the Atlantic ocean; west by Barcelona, and south by Spanish Guiana, or the river Orinoco.
The government of Cumana usually includes the adjacent province of New Barcelona. We shall therefore describe these two under the same head, mentioning however the distinct boundaries of—