The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-08-15
The Golden Graves Of Centrsi Amer
HISTORY OF THEIR DISCOVERY AND
CONTENTS.

CONTENTS.
The steamer North Star, arrived at New
York from Aspinwall. brings Panama papers
of the and instant. The Purser of the ship
| states that the excitement occasioned by the
| reported discovery Of rich Indian graves or
huacas in Chiriqui 10 now bying out. These
| discoveries continue, however, to form the
| leading topic Of discussion in the newspapers.
| The schooner Carolina had sailed for the re-
| gion with fifty passengers on board, and an-
other vessel was shortly to leave. The Pana-
| ma Star of the I'd instant says:
| "Letters received in this city from David,
| dated July 14th, state that the people from all
/ directions continued to flock to the gold dig
| gings. and that the yield Of gold obtained from
| the 'huacas' continues undiminished The
| prefect Of the department. informs the Cover
nor that the elections flor Procurado, &c. did
| not take place the day appointed, as no elec-
tors appeared at the poll all being too buslly
| engaged in the diggngs.
A letter received from Sir Carlos Wagner,
dated June oath, Though rather out of date,
contains few items worth transcribing:
"Ar old, half-east Indian, who lives in Do
| lega Roberto Delsi whom you probably know,
and who has been iii the habit of digging up
Indian graves, for the sake OF the earthen,
| ware and piedras de moler generally found
therein, took 1t into his head to dig little
deeper, which brought him to the real grave.
| where the body is deposited in coffin OF
| rudely-flxed stones, and there he found the
skeleton of the deceased, together with beau
| tifuIly worked bat in gold. Since then 1t has
| been ascertained that every 'huaca' contains
gold images, in more or less numbers, the
| earthen ware and other articles having been
| buried only half way down. and this explains
why up to the present time so few OF the re-
mains of the bodies had been found on the
| graves One man took out of one grave in one
day 600 worth of things, among which We're
three gold plates, of the size Of dessert plates
| and the thickness of a stout tin plate, an eagle
of the size of span, and many other animals
| and insects beautifully manufactured.
| "This is the richest grave that has been
found as yet, but none have been opened that
! have not produced something. The old man
| who made the discovery kept his secret for
| some time and it is reported that he succeeded
| in accumulating about $1,000. The place
| where the first discovery was made is called
| Bugaba, situated on the other side Of the river
| Pledra, on the road towards the Costa Rica
| frontier but as the whole of the foot of the
Cordilleras, in Chiriqui, is full of 'huacas,' it
will take many thousand people during many
wears before the whole will be dug up. The
| finding of 50 much worked up gold in the
! 'huacas is positive proof that the country
must be very rich in gold, and have no doubt
| that as soon as the above facts become known
| to the real mining public, rich and extensive
| deposit Is of The ore will be discovered.
| 1.-THE rivers are now very high, and most OF
| them i'm passable, owing to the rains, otherwise
| more persons would have started for the dig
| rings People who come to work here must
! expect to rough ii, live on the tasajo (drled
| beef and plan tains, and sleep in the open air;
| it is no easy matter TO dig holes eight to ten
| feet deep and remove large stones.
"An kinds Of ghost stories are af1Oat among
| the natives, who report hearing unearthly
noises and tambores tdrums) in the Cordille-
/ ras W hich they attribute to his Sable Majesty,
who does not wish the graves to be molested."
A correspondent of the same paper, who is
evidently familiar with the locality in which
| III hav hes m a. Is
| lows:
THE discovery is a very interesting one in
many points Of view. The possession of such
| aquantity of the precious metal mus tinevita-
| bly, tend to improve the industrial prosperity
| of that province populate the country, and
| eventually lead to the discovery of the mines
! from which the gold has been originally OBJ
tanned, and which can only be in the adjacent
| Cordilleras.
| "They further show the universaltyo of tha.
| belief in Immortality, which, like geological
| strata. we find in the new world as we'll as in
| the old. From this tumulus which contained
the warrior his horse and his drinking cup, to
! be used again in the halls of Odin of our Sean
dinayian ancestors, to the play things of the
| Indian children, now brought to light in the
| 'huacas' of Chriqui; the earthen barrows of
ancient Troy, Greece and Scythia in the step
| pes OF Tartary, {where two corpses were found
| wrapped in sheets of gold weighing forty
| pounds,) the mounds of the valley of the Mis-
sissippi and the table lands OF Mexico-all
| speak the same sentiments, and it is to be re-
GREETED that no in telligent artist and 'corres-
| pondent'' is present at Chiriqui TO depict and
| record the nature and form of those interest
| ing relics of the lost tribes us modern avarics
| shall have destroyed the only hiaroglyphics
| that remain to us of their industry, their hopes
and fears about future existence
"The ancient burying- grounds are indicated
| in various ways. Some have heap of stones
| piled up rudely over the grave; others are
| shown by a piece of the column of basaltic
| rock, placed in the centre; some have a circle
| o enclosing
| everywhere throughout the province, from
| the shores of the Lagoon of Chiriqui to the
islands of the Pacific. They exist in the deep
est valleys and along the highest recesses of
| the Cordilleras. Such as have been opened
| hitherto in the unwooded plains produce but
little gold. They were probably an agricultu-
relation thereto. The present discovery has
taken place near two villages, caAed Boqueron
and Bujaba, westward towards Punta Gurica
and Golfo Dulce The plains thence become
found over the 'huaeas.' The data as to their
! age is by no means precise. That they were
there before the conquest is plain enough, see
| ing that the conquerors respected neither the
| temples of God nor the repose of the dead, if
| gold was to be gained.
These tribes, then, were well acquainted
| with the precious metals, and show a great
| deal of ingenuity and taste in the working of
| it into favorite images and figures of reptiles
and tigers. have myself traced these graves
in happy ignorance to the shores of Golto
Dulce, and ii the gold mines are found, they
Will probably be about the head waters of the
Chiriqui, Viejo, or the abandoned gold mines
Of Tisingal, which used to give the King of
Spain an annual fifth of 250,0OO cast stellanOs OF
gold. These mines were located somewhere
between Bocos del Toro and Golfo Duke. The
enmity OF the buccan GERS, combined with the
Mosquito Indians. is said to have caused their
| abandonment
"Chriqni, judging from its dead must have
been an exceedingly populous country, and
while the present few inhabitants are rejoicing
| over the spoils of aboriginal industry and
superstition, it is to be hoped that the discovery
may lead to better knowledge Of the resources
OF the country and the development thereof"
DISTRESSING AcCIDENT--Tree Young
Girls Drowned-Two nieces of Dr. Train.
of Sheffield, aged seven and nine years, and a
daughter Of James Branford, Esq, aged II
years, were drowned in Sheffield, Mass Thurs
day, in a little cove, where they were bathing.
The names of the nieces of DIR. Train were
Mary and Gertrude Lemist. The Boston
Traveller, says:
| 1t seems that all three went in bathing in
| the Housatonic river, between and O'Clock
| on Wednesday afternoon, the 1ith inst At
| about O'Clock the cry of children was heard
| in the water, but before any assistance could
| be rendered, all of them had sunk in deep
water. 1t is supposed that Mary, the eldest OF
| the two sisters, was on shore At the time the
other two were struggling in the water, and
IN Trying 10 save tnen Wo6 ueIociA didW n H.
Miss Bradford was q daughter OF Jas. Brad
ford, Esq, a lawyer in Sheffield.
The alarm was immediately given, and
dozen or more men were at the river side in
few moments. 1t was, however, too late. The
bodies were soon found and placed side by
side upon the bank Of the river, and about two
hours were spent by two or three physicians
and others of the place, in endeayoring to re-
store life. To-day, the bodies of the Misses
Lemist will be brought to Medford, where
their grandfather, Samuel Train, resides
The funeral will take place tomorrow, from
his residence. The father was in New Yorkat