In all these countries a legend existed of a man or men
coming from the east, bearded and fairer than the inhabitants
of America, who introduced such civilization as they enjoyed.
Amongst the Chibchas he was an ancient man, with a long
beard, who appeared under various names, but whose chief
name was Chinzapagua, which is supposed to have meant
" the Envoy of the Lord." He found the Chibchas sunk
in barbarism, dressed but in cotton loin-cloths, and without
the least idea of laws or government. He taught the Indians
how to weave and spin, and for a considerable time wandered
from town to town preaching and teaching both by his
example and his words. Then suddenly he disappeared near
Sogamoso and was never seen again.
This missionary was accompanied, the legend says, by a
strange animal of great bulk and size.^

The priests and friars in their simple piety were certain
that the mysterious " Envoy of the Lord " could have been
none other than the Apostle Santo Tomas, and the great
quadruped that accompanied him they imagined to have
been a camel, an animaP that passes easily enough through
the eye of any needle if its possessor has but sufficient
faith.3

1 In the town of Bosa, one of the animal's ribs was found after the
conquest by the Spaniards: " Conquista de la Nueva Granada,"
Colonel Joaquin Acosta, p. 2og.
2 The rib found. Colonel Acosta thinks (p. 208), was probably
that of a mastodon, for bones of that creature have been found both
near Bosa and Suacha. In that case the miracle must have been
still more striking, for St. Thomas need not have brought the
mastodon across the seas, as there were native specimens ready to
be tamed.
