When my ship comes in…

Some people use the term, ‘when my ship comes in’ …. to describe a situation where one wistfully hopes for good fortune or inspiration to strike and solve all problems… 

‘When the ship comes in’ became the ultimate dream and potential source of their happiness… although it forever more eludes them.

These dreams of boundless riches arriving with ships probably stem from the adventures of the ancient maritime explorers who brought back with them treasures of gold and gemstones which they plundered from tribes in the south.

Rumours of ancient cities of gold became widespread, which probably started from stories of El Hombre Dorado (“The Golden Man”) or El Rey Dorado (“The Golden King”), told by the Spanish in the 16th century who described a mythical tribal chief (zipa) or king of the Muisca people, an indigenous people tribe of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of Colombia, who as an initiation rite, covered himself with gold dust and submerged in Lake Guatavita.

Also, Cuchavira was the god of the rainbow for the Muisca. Cuchavira, who was called “shining air”, appeared before the Muisca when Bochica, the messenger of the supreme being Chiminigagua was sent to the plains of the Muisca. Also when rain god Chibchacum was angry, he sent heavy rains to the flatlands, causing the rivers to flood, destroying the agriculture and the houses (bohíos) of the Muisca. 

When the rains were over and the Sun was shining again, causing Cuchavira to appear, the people offered low-grade gold or gold-copper alloys (tumbaga), marine snails and small emeralds to thank him.

A second location for El Dorado was inferred from rumours, which inspired several unsuccessful expeditions in the late 1500s in search of a city called Manoa on the shores of Lake Parime or Parima. 

Besides “Cíbola”, names associated with similar lost cities of gold also included El Dorado, Paititi, City of the Caesars, Lake Parime at Manoa, Antilia, and Quivira.

In the 16th century, the Spaniards in New Spain (now Mexico) began to hear rumours of “Seven Cities of Gold” called “Cíbola” located across the desert, hundreds of miles to the north

The legend of the Seven Cities of Gold (Seven Cities of Cibola) led to Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition of 1540 across the New Mexico territory  became mixed with the stories of El Dorado, which was sometimes said to be one of the seven cities.

The stories may have their root in an earlier Portuguese legend about seven cities founded on the island of Antillia by a Catholic expedition in the 8th century, or one based on the capture of Mérida, Spain, by the Moors in 1150.

Besides “Cíbola” and El Dorado, names associated with similar lost cities of gold with great and limitless riches also included Paititi, City of the Caesars, Lake Parime at Manoa, Antilia, and Quivira.

However, explorers discovered that the stories were unfounded and that there were, in fact, no gold treasures.