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PRINTED AND
ENGRAVED BY
SUNSET PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO
THE
Stories of El Dorado
BY
FRONA EUNICE WAIT
Happiness is found only in El Dorado, which noone yet has been able to reach.
—Spanish Proverb
Copyrighted 1904, by Frona Eunice Wait
San Francisco, California
This book is dedicated to dear little Jack
Morgan Gillespie, with the most affectionate
and sincere regards of his devoted friend,
FRONA EUNICE WAIT
Preface
"It has only recently been recognized as afact," says Prof. A. F. Bandelier, "that on thewhole American continent, the mode of life of theprimitive inhabitants was formed on one sociologicalprinciple, and consequently the culture ofthese peoples has varied, locally, only in degree,not in kind. The religious principles were fundamentallythe same among the Sioux and the Brazilians,and physical causes more than anythingelse have been at the bottom of the local differences."Such has been my own experience instudying the stories of El Dorado which form thesubject of this book, and in presenting a man—aculture hero—who came by sea from the East, I amjustified by a more complete set of records than isknown to the superficial student. As this man'sprinciples of life were the same, we are forced tothe conclusion that all the heroes were one conception,handed down by oral tradition, but widelyseparated as to locality, by the lapse of time, bymigrations and commercial relations of the differenttribes.
As to where these myths originated, or howold they are, I have nothing to suggest, since inpresenting these simple variants, it is no concern ofmine. It is sufficient for my purpose to know thatthey exist. To me they lend a dignity to our countryby investing it with a misty past, replete witha mythology as rich and sublime as that of any ofthe races of antiquity. Not only will the study of6them inspire patriotism and make us betteracquainted with the inner lives of the red men, butit will tend to create an interest in our sisterrepublics which cannot fail to be of lasting practicalbenefit. We know much more of Europeans thanwe do of the peoples of this continent.
If mythology is to be taught in the schools atall, surely our own should have consideration, andin familiarizing ourselves with the traditions ofEl Dorado, we shall have one more incentive forhigher living. We shall learn that the great soulsof the races that have preceded us, in the Americas,hav