ON THE RELIGIOUS USE OF VARIOUS STONES 311
the
abiding place of a powerful divinity or demon, whose good will must be
secured at any price if dire disease were to be held aloof from the
people. Four other sacred lakes on the plateau, Guasca, Siecha,
Teusaca, and Ubaque, shared in a lesser degree with the principal one
in the attribution of mysterious power. As early as 1534 word was
brought to Sebastian de Belalcazar, founder of Quito, that in the
course of the religious ceremonies held by the Indians at the Lake of
Guatavita, they were wont to cast into its waters immense quantities of
gold dust, emeralds and other precious stones. It was also related
that at these semi-annual festivals the Caciques and the principal
chiefs, bearing valuable gifts of gold-dust and emeralds, were paddled
out in canoes (or on rafts) to the exact middle of the lake, this point
being determined by the intersection of two ropes stretching from four
temples erected at four equidistant points on its banks. Arrived at
this spot the offerings were cast into the lake, and the Cacique of
Guatavita, whose naked body had been coated with an adhesive clay, over
which gold-dust was sprinkled in profusion, sprang into the water, and
after washing off the gold-dust, swam to the shore. This resplendent
living golden figure strongly appealed to the Spaniards ' imagination,
and the name they bestowed upon the Cacique, El Dorado ("The Golden,"
or "Gilded"), is used to our day as a designation of a region or a spot
exceptionally rich in gold. At the moment the "Golden Cacique" made his
plunge into the lake, the assembled people scattered along its banks
turned their backs toward the water, shouted loudly, and threw their
propitiatory offerings over their shoulders into the lake.
Attempts
have often been made to secure the treasures by drawing off the waters
of the lake, but only with very partial success so far. The first
serious effort is said to have been made by Antonio de Sepulveda, a
merchant of
