To the people of the Old World it seemed that a country which could
afford to dress its inhabitants in this fashion must be well worth
finding, and so the old navigators were always trying to find it.

Of course they never did, but the source of the legend of El Dorado has
been traced to the yearly ceremony of an Indian tribe near Bogota, in
the Republic of Colombia.

The Spaniards declared that it was part of the religious duty of this
tribe to have their chief bathed once a year in a certain lake which was
sacred to them.

Great preparations were made for this ceremony. The body of the chief
was first smeared with gold-dust and oil of balsam, and, a handful of
gold and precious stones was given to him. He then advanced to the
shores of the lake, and amid the prayers and chants of his tribe, first
cast the gold and jewels into the water, and then plunged in himself.

This ceremony was supposed to bring his people good luck for the coming
year.

The Spaniards who conquered New Granada, or the Republic of
Colombia, declared this story to be strictly true, but as none of them
had ever witnessed the ceremony, it is supposed to be merely another
form of the El Dorado legend.

* * * * *

In British India there is a fresh uprising which appears to be of a very