Note 404 — Chapter LXXVIII
Clements R. (Clements Robert) Markham translation
The word for gold in Quichua is ccuri. In the Tupi language, which was prevalent among the Indians of the river Amazon, the word curí means coloured earths, much used in plastering huts, and for other purposes. It is very probable that Spaniards from Peru who descended into the valley of the Amazon, asked for ccuri (gold), and were told there was plenty of curí (coloured earth); and that from this mistake the fame of the wealth of Omagua and El Dorado arose.