When Columbus saw the mouth of the Orinoco River, he thought it flowed from this legendary biblical garden
Quoted in Jean Dulemeau 
History of Paradise; The Garden of Eden in Myth and Tradition p54... [DOC] [TLE] Crossing the Ocean Sea - Christopher Columbus' Third Voyage [PAR] Christopher Columbus left on his third expedition on May 30, 1498, soon after 
John .... On July 22, a Sunday, the ships saw innumerable birds pass from the ... 
since so great a river flows out that it makes a fresh-water sea of 48 leagues.