Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-04-11

message TO the world Of sunlight.
Perhaps this Will get through the
fires and float to the surface some
where. ] am convinced that the
river which brought me here flows
on into the Gulf of Mexelco and
that sooner or later my log will be
picked up. Perhaps this river is
really the source of the Cult
Stream.
l will now write down my dlscov-
cries, not in order, but as Whole.
My story must be brief, or this
scant means of record will fail me.
This place seems to have been
approached only by the river. 1t
consists of six large, dOmed halls,
connected with a seventh, in which
the light burns. There are bronze
swords, spearheads and other wea-
pons stored in one cham ber. There
have been costly fabrics, also, but
thes have perished and only few
fragments and lett. IN another
ball are many treasures accumula-
ted. | do lot attemp, to estimate
the riches here. MonIezuma's lost
treasure is said TO have been eighty
million dollar, but l believe the
hidden treasure house OF this for
gotten race would dwarf to inslg'
nlficance the riches of Aztecs and
Peruvians put together. The gold
is III great bars, which | cannot
lift, or | would haYe tried to make
golden vessel to CARRY my story
The silver Is in a yet more huge
blocks, perhaps five feet square.
Everything here is clclopean. a
granite chest, h CHER than my
head, is full to the brim with rings
and precious stones. What a
widely extended commerce this
people must have had before they
descended TO this subterrauean
river and hid their treasures here !
One hall is especially the hall OF
pictures and OF writing. | spend
many hours there. 1 see the his
tory of this race, their wars, their
heroes, their mythology. They are
like the Egyptians ir many things,
but they are not Egyptians, never
theless they have some of tue art
spirit, too. Perhaps they lived in
the tire before Atlantis was over
NheImed perhaps they were ante
diluvians. One thing is certain,
they had poets, historians, hlloso-
pliers, in those days. | wish l
could write drown here a 1.-THE OF
the way and wisdom that | find on
the gayly painted walls of these
ancients of so many eges.
The most wonderful chamber OF
OF all is the hall to tie earth. That
ls the chamber of death and silence.
When first l entered this hall J
lighted all the gasiels. Around
the walls were high cases of draw
ers. and on the front of each was a
portrait. examined them fol
hours before | felt any desire TO dc
more. Among them observed a
very beautiful face-that of a
young girl Just entering woman
hood. This wonderful race pos
sessed the highest artistic skill and
dellcacy of expression. The tact
of this girl, except that the color'
had faded, might have been the
admired masterpiece of the Parii
Salon. felt sudden interest II
the face, and caught the drawei
handles and pulled it out. In thu
wide, deep space into which look
ed lay, robed in white, her hands
folled, the form OF the girl whose
picture was outside. How beanti
full she was She lay as if onl.
asleep. Then, slowly, as I looked
the whole figure melIed down ant
fadded away to pile of dust.
closed the shrine and touched n
more of them, but l often 60 ant
look at the faded painting an
think how lovely the girl was.
The paintings on the walls Q
this mural chamber show tha
| the people had two systems c
disposing of their dead
The great mass were consigne
to the river, but the bodies OF a
those who were famO1s for beauty
] wisdom or any good quality wei
a preserved by process of embalu
ing, which they evidently though
would make them endure for age
There are probably 10000 separat
I bodies here and they represer
' more than twenty successive gel
e erations, if | rightly understan
t the system OF family grouping.
b people lived as long as they {
f now, there was an average of aboI
( fifteen additions each year to th