- LIMA, Peru -- An international
team of explorers claims to have found the legendary Inca city of gold
that the Spanish knew as "El Dorado," deep in the heart of the
Peruvian Amazon.
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- The quest began on June 30, when more than two dozen
researchers began combing the wild and unexplored jungle region along the
basin of the Madre de Dios River.
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- El Dorado, called "Paititi" by the region's
Indian population, is known as the last bastion of the Incas as they sought
refuge from advancing Spanish conquistadors.
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- The leader of the expedition, the Polish-Italian journalist
and explorer Jacek Palkiewicz, told EFE Saturday he was very pleased with
the expedition and felt "certain" he had found El Dorado.
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- After two years of research and exploration, Palkiewicz
said, the lost city had been found in an area adjoining the Manu national
park, southeast of Lima.
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- The journey to El Dorado has allowed the researchers
to confirm all the written accounts and myths surrounding the lost city,
including reports that it was a 10-day walk from Cuzco, the ancient capital
of the Inca empire.
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- Palkiewicz said he was most surprised to learn that stories
of the city being under a lake were completely accurate.
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- The lake has been discovered in a four-square-kilometer
(1.5-square-mile) plateau totally covered in vegetation.
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- Russian specialists taking part in the expedition used
terrestrial radar to confirm the existence of an underwater network of
caverns and tunnels.
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- According to legend, the treasures of the last Inca rulers
were buried under the lake.
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- He added that a final extensive expedition would be carried
out in October and would include scientists specializing in the study of
caves.
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- Palkiewicz said he had found traces of pre-Inca constructions,
which indicate that the Incas had only begun to colonize the area shortly
before arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
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- The man described by Britain's Guardian newspaper as
a "self-styled academic" did not rule out the existence of other
Inca constructions, but said the dense jungle and the region's torrential
rains prevented the team from investigating further.
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- The expedition, which was made up of scientists from
Argentina, Italy, Poland, Russia and Peru, used terrestrial radar and satellites
to locate the lost city.
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- The journey was planned after two previous visits to
the area and was given a further boost by the discovery of a 16th-century
manuscript ostensibly proving that El Dorado had been discovered by Jesuit
missionaries.
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- In the manuscript, which was found in the Vatican archives
of the Society of Jesus, the pope authorizes the Jesuits to evangelize
the Indians of Paititi.
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- Palkiewicz, a teacher of survival skills who has written
some 20 books about his journeys to the most remote areas of the planet,
has extensive experience in the Amazon jungles.
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- In 1996, he led another expedition that succeeded in
locating the true source of the Amazon River.
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- His most recent expedition had a budget of more than
$1 million and received the symbolic support of Peruvian President Alejandro
Toledo, Poland's Aleksander Kwasniewski and Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi.
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- Efforts to locate the legendary city began with the arrival
of Spanish conquerors in 1532.
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- Rumors of a jungle city that supposedly held priceless
treasures to be used to pay the ransom of the last Inca ruler, Atahualpa,
prompted searches of the region.
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- Many previous El Dorado expeditions ended in disaster
on account of the region's hostile environment and difficult terrain.
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- One such failed expedition took place in 1925, when famous
British explorer Col. Peter Fawcett disappeared in western Brazil while
looking for the city.
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- In 1970, a French-American expedition led by Serge Debru
disappeared, most likely at the hands of Huachipairi Indians.
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- A 1997 expedition led by Norwegian anthropologist Lars
Hafksjold also disappeared after setting out for the Madidi River, not
far from the site of Palkiewicz's discovery. By David Blanco Bonilla. dub/mc/dr
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- Copyright © 2002, Agencia EFE, all rights reserved.
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