Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-08-02
The New Discoveries Of Treasurer
Gold from the Grave

One of the most interesting items of news
from the Isthmus by the arrival of the Moses
Taylor is the discovery of gold in large
quantities in the ancient Indian tumuli and
burial places to the northward of Panama, in
the Province or State of Veraguas. The
statements as to the amounts discovered it
is probable, are considerably exaggerated;
but OF the fact of the discovery there can be
no doubt. The Spaniards drew large amounts
of treasure from similar graves throughout
the Isthmus. from Costa Rica to New Grana-
da, and it may be supposed exhausted pretty
nearly the entire supply from these sources
in all places easily accessible; but the region
around Chiriqui lagoon, where the present
discoveries are reported to have been made
as well as the district of Veragues generally,
was occupied by warlike and indomitable
Indian tribes, who repulsed the inroads of
the Spaniards; and hence. probably, these an
cient graves ESCAPED the general sacking
which the Others suffered. The old historian,
Herrera, tells us that in the ancient province
of Zenu, a little to the southwark of Chagres,
of which the people were the same with those
of Panama and Veraguas, the Spaniards
found abundance of graves some of them so
ancient that large and tall trees were grow
ing over them; and within them was found an
immense quantity of gold, besides what the
Indians took out and what is still lost under
ground" In Peru, we know. vast quantities
of gold and silver were taken from the huaeas
or burial places of other kings and chieftains
In some instances the bodies OF the dead were
wrapped, like those Ofthe old Scythian chiefs,
in plates of hammered gold. A skeleton
thus enveleped was recently discovered in
making excavations for a railway in that
country.
For some time after the Conquest class
OF Spanish adventures devoted themselves to
excavating the hudcas, and the product was so
great as to lead the government of the Crown
TO appoint special officers for collecting the
royal ffths. Thus. as early as 1856, from one
of these tombs among the ruins of Chimu,
near the port of Truxllo, in the north of Pc
ru, a single explorer. named Garcia Cutter
rez, paid no less than S5,575 castellanos of
gold in the form of royal ifths. which would
give 42T ,S25 castellanos, equal to about $685.
900, as the amount which he obtained from it,
But he did not get all the gold.ifor in 1892
ii was again excavated, and AZ ,000 castellanos
paid as ifths in the royal treasury. so that it
seems that not less than GIT 900 castellanos of
gold, equal to 1891, 900, were taken out of
this hti0cca alone.
Within few years the inhabitants of Trux-
lilo organized company for new explorations
of the hldecds, but with very limited results.
The old Spaniards had pretty effectually sack
ed the richest, so that only an inferior class
,emained undisturbed, and these were found
to contain but little treasure. Still, consid-
cradle quantities of gold bad been annually
dug up in New Granada and Peru, most OF
which has found its way to England. Sever
al thousand pounds worth are melted down
every year at the British Mint. 1t is mostly
n the form of nude figures of men and ami
uals, which have been cast in moulds of sand
IN some cases the indurated sand of the ma
,rix is left in the hollow parts of the figures
The yellow. or golden fever, is always
narked by hyperbole Of the most extravaganza
ind and the statements of our excited
riends on the Isthmus must be taken with
ONE grains Of allowance. There are by no
means '.thousands and milionsu Of these
-old-bearing graves "on the Isthmus and
roughont Central America" and II there
"ere, they would be found TO have been very
fectually exploited by the early Spaniards
n All the districts of country where the Span
;sh authority became established. Gold will
only be found in the tombs which exist in re-
mote and secluded districts, and in these few
hundred men will soon exhaust the supply
N. y. Herald.