West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-06-04


! FIRMLY resolved in his heart, he works
away with zeal which could not be
/ otherwise inspired. IN he would depend
more on pluck, ingenuity and modern
mining machinery he would succsed a
| better than To put his whole de-
! pendence ON luck and the delusiye hope
/ of finding buried or enchanted cities
| They reason that these towns, like
! Pompeii, have been buried i'm some
/ great Eruption or earthquake. and that
| treasures untold lie within them. The
more superStitious speak OF them as
! being enchanted, and the stories told
| by some of the white headed Indiana
would rival the Arabian Nights. The
! Spanish prOverb POGO burbd, pOcO Uer-
! 9ucHzd {" little beard, little shame"
j. frequently applied 20 the garrulous
Indian to discrcdit any thing he may
say. Surely one would have to be very
credulous to believe some of them.
The legends are worthy Of repetition
from their richness i'm Imagination, if
from no other cause.
Let the reader imagine himself
beneath some wide-spreading tcpi-
guagc, To avoid the fierce RAYS of a
tropical sun; with the Handicapped
Los Frailes, FL CerrO Pelon and Qua
guento, looking like carth's gigantic
Scntincls, or towers reaching MP to the
skies. and white-haircd Indian guide
relating strange stories OF Reals Peri
dos, and he will have some feelings
similar TO the writer's.
My narrator was an old Indian
named Ramirez whose chief occupa-
ton was guiding tourists and miners
who visit this almost unknown part of
the world. Ramirez had RECALLED him
self with Il drink of pUigUe, which is
the tavorite beverage of Mexico, and
lighted an antique pipe which seemed
TO afford him infinite satisfaction His
OronZed skin cOntrastcd strangely with
his white jacket and trousers, and inn
mense sombrero on the ground mt his
side. Ramirez was half sitting and
half reclining on the ground, lazily
| watching the donkcVs and mustang,
| lariatted a short distance away. |
don't know that the old rascal ever en-
joyed him elf better, while / was IN
constant dread lest some wild mountain
brigands, who infcst the Sierra Madrc
might suddenly appear from some con
vcnient chaparral and deprive me of
the few reals and pesetas of silver |
! possessed, or take away our animals
and arms, leaving us helpless in the
mountain wilds. Ramirez seemed to
have no concern about the wild
| maraudors, and took matters as coollv
ns If he had been in the heart of cvilza-
ton. To my urgent requests 10 90 on,
he answered:
Don't be in too great haste, senior;
we can not reach them before night
fall. 1t is never safe to travel when
the sun is so hot. We will be able to
pass the night on the top of Quaguento.
from which you can get good view of
the Vermillion Sea.
81 have almost given up the idea of
exploring the canyons, Ramirez" |
said, for having heard so many stories
of the wild robbers, was afraid to
venture too near those dangerous
looking places.
why, senor?' asked Ramirez, fix
ing his great dark eyes on me.
~ am afraid of these mountain rob-
bers who Turk in the canyons
well, sometimes the pronunciados
do get among these canyons, but we
are more likely to find prospectors.
hunting for the Reals Pcrdidos - Encan-
tados They are harmless and would
help u. After a moments pause,
with a sigh he continued: II may not
" VIZ piANf bhA " hOtNNl llt - nt VIII
be rich. -
What do You mean?" | asked
Whoever inds the enchanted towns
will be rich"
Are you so foolish rs to believe any
thing OF the kind exists?" [ asked i'm
no little amazement.
He opened his eyes. and for few
moments | never saw such complete
picture of astonIshment and indipna-
ton. AT last removing his pipe the
Aztec said:
81 am very sorry senior said that. Ii
shows that much as may be known of
other countri's, nothing is known. Of
Mexico, or the history of the Ahtecs.
The Reals Perdidos are true"
Mining towns may be lost" |
answered, land doubtless are. They
may be buried beneath land-slideS.
earthquakes. and sometime in the
future he dug out; but | greatly fear
that they will never pay for the dlscov-
cry If found. As to there being en-
chantcd towns and cities, inhabited or
uninhabited, j believe that TO be wholly
a myth. ~
Though using the best Mexican AT
my command, / am vet i'm doubt
WncJhel the Ola AItcC tully understood
me. He seemed, however, 60 catch
the drift of my idea, and as if to con
vince the most skcptical mind pro-
posed TO narTate one of those strange
legends. As ! had heard many before.
and knew that while they abounded in
the eXtravagant, they were rich i'm in
cidcnt, ] consented TO listen toanOthcr
IL would b. fully three hours before
The lazy guido could be induced to stir
from beneath the tepiguagc. so the
time might as well be passed IN story
telling a. in any other way His story
was Of one Of these enchanted cities. and
hidden orange groves. ! here give It
rs near as ] can remember it, The
translation may not be literal, but i'm
substance it j. the same.
MANY years ago when the children
OF the sun ruled this part Of the world.
while the grandfather of Montemma
was ON the throne there was Young
man of noble birth i'm his court. He
was brave, and one Of the Kings best
Generals Ills name was Heraclio
and wherever he led the armies Of
Moutezuma, they were successful. Thi.
IlcracliO POSSESSED q very violent tenn
per. and when boz q rage was terrible. a
witch ~ the mountains cautioned him
when hc was child 10 restrain his
f.r Il d..