Gold flakes catch in the water casks’ hoops at Rio del Oro

… The Admiral believed that, coming down that river, it was ground fine along the way, although he says that in a small space he found many grains as large as lentils; but of the very fine stuff, so he says, there was a great quantity. And because the tide was full and the salt water came in with the fresh, he ordered the boat to go up the river a stone’s throw: they filled the casks from the boat, and on returning to the caravel they found little pieces of gold caught in the hoops of the casks, and the same in the hoops of the pipe. The Admiral named the river the Río del Oro, which inside, past the entrance, is very deep, although the entrance is shallow and the mouth very wide, and from it to the town of La Navidad is 17 leagues. In between there are many other large rivers, three in particular, which he believed must have much more gold than that one, because they are larger, although this one is almost as large as the Guadalquivir at Córdoba; and from them to the gold mines it is not 20 leagues. …