Walter Ralegh, Discoverie of Guiana

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The Discoverie of Guiana

relates Sir Walter Ralegh's first voyage under royal commission into the Amazon basin in search of the mythical region of El Dorado and the golden city of Manoa. According to legend, Manoa was situated on a 200-league salt-water lake in the upper Amazon where much colonial activity had already taken place in the 1580s and 1590s. Ralegh was not the first to lead an exploration down the Orinoco River into present-day Venezuela in search of “abundance of Golde”, and

The Discoverie

details the recent invasion and suppression of neighbouring territories by the Spanish conquistadors. Ralegh's geographical and topographical survey was designed to function as an advertisement for English trade and imperialism in South America. However, the voyage also represented a…

1050 words

Citation: Craik, Katharine. "Discoverie of Guiana". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5573, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5573 Discoverie of Guiana 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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