The penny press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1859-1860, 1859-10-01
The Golden Graves.

mas spent several years in South American
countries, furnishes the Crescent with some in.
teresting particulars concerning the "Huacas," !"
or Auriferous Graves, which have made such o
stir in the papers, and sent so many empty
pocketed Yankees in headlong pursuit Of
sacrilegious plunder, and, eventually, Of ter.
| ritorial conquest. If we may believe this gen.
| tleman, and there is no reason to do otherwise,
the stories we have heard about the golden
graves of Chiriqui are anything else than
Pixies Peak, Frazier River, or Arisonia
fables, gotten up by designing speculators to
gull needy or ayaricious fools.
Starting from Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, in
the month Of February, 1854, our travellers,
with the other gentlemen, made an excursion
up the coast in rhe direction Of Chiriqui. The
result Of his voyage may be gathered, from the
following extracts: 'i'-'4
At all the points at which we landed, seven
in number, embracing q distance of one hun
dred and twenty miles, we were either shown
these Huacas or told that by short trip into
the forests we would see others Of agreater
extent and much greater interest. =.
AT Gulf Dulce he was informed by the ma
tives that in the hills and mountains distant
from five to fifteen miles from the Gulf, the
same indications of previous race existed,
always with the same appearance Of un-
bounded wealth to be obtained by opening the
"Huacas" This the Indians disdaired to do,
preferring to gain precarlous living by hunt
ing, fishing, and pearl diving in the Gulf. 20
The day is dawning when this as we'll as
many other sources of wealth, now hidden,
will be opened up by the universal Yankee
nation on that coast. This coast, from Panama
to San Juan del Sur, is as covered with pearl
oyster beds as the coasts OF the north with our
common oyster. anil ..l, ''
Midway between Punta Arenas and Gulf
Dulce and twelve miles from the main land, IL
the uninhabited island Of Cunas- Of the
most beautiful spots he has ever seen in his
somewhat extended travels" It is never Wis.
tied except by the Indians in the summer time,
who 60 there to fish and battle. From what
follows it may be inferred that Cunas Island
will very shortly become favoIite resort both
in summer and winter for others besides In.
dians h.. ..,...'s -" ..''J l'li'
"This must have been one Of the favorite
dwelling places Of the now extinct race, whose
graves are causing such stir in cur land. The
| whole western end of the island is covered
with them and here, at the time, we found
! more indications Of their having been worked
to some extent, than at any other place we
vsited-hundreds Of them having been dug
into, aud tho pottery and broken stauetts were
scattered in all directions. 1t was hcre we
made our principal collection Of those articles
| Gu the north Of the island there are two safe
harbors for small vessels, into each Of which
there is small stream descending from the
mountains, furnishing an abundant supply Of
the most limpid water" IL y.
But there is not spot richer than Cunas.
"The point at which I found the greatest
&C kLccn VIpo &C. n.,sn
of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. In all directions
which Puuta Arenas is located, but particu.
larly on the peninsula lying between it and the
Pacific Ocean, they are to be found in the
greatest abundance. This district of country
is sixty miles in length, and varies in breadth
from fifteen to forty miles, and in all the nu-
merous vallies in which these interesting mon
uments of former time prove q prominent
feature to the traveller" '~
hAs to the amount which may be ''realized'
by an active and INSCRIPTIONS graye-digger,
this statement Is made: ,.;,,..5, E'77H
"About fifteen miles distance from the head
of the Gulf of Nicoya is one burying ground,
embracing about one hundred and fifty acres,
from which the former owner, Don Francisco
Giral, used in former years to extract mines Of
wealth, although he opened but few Of, the
Huacas He died in tho summer of 1855,
worth an estate valued in that country at
1915 ,0O0--most of which, it was reported, he
had taken from these graves"
This part OF the continent, on account of its
valuable mines, was called by the Spaniards
Costa Rica, or, Rich Coast If our Yankee
resurrectionists meet with anything like the
Don's luck, we suspect the name will be re-
tanned. But golden graves and gold mines
are not all the sources Of wealth in Costa Rica.
There is q, silver lake: M .-:
A tradition of the Indians is: "That being
| seized and taken to the mines, and made to
work as slaves, they arose en- masse and mas
sacred the entire population Of whites, closed
the entrance to the mines, and took all the
gold and silver found in the town and mining
establishments to- the lake, at some distance,
and cast it into the deepest part, SO that
should their oppgessors return they could
never recover it," ....s. .,.... ..-.... ...-.
Is not this enough to make an American
adventurer's blood tingle and his fingers
tchg And who shall dispute the traveller
when he sums up the "manifest destiny" of
erich Coast" in this wise: s.sv arer,. -i..
"This is only one of the many legends Of
the country, that 60 to show the wealth that
did at one time, and no doubt still exists, and
which will be developed when this interest,"
ing country shall pass from the possession of
the hybrid race who now inhabit it, into the
possession Of one whose energies are equal to
the task of bringing out tithe of its ex-
haustless treasure gli41Ya eiBt is....f.'
i I. MI, r -, n rTLs.. ~. .4.- A.. :. u