Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-14

elation. The surplus of Mexican revenue
was still oriental in its magnifeenee. The
Secretary sailed back to Acapulco, and sent
/ a courier over the mountains, on the danger
! Gus path to the Yaqui Indians, who were
| absolute masters of an extensive territory,
but had been hard pressed by the Spanish
| troops and were ready to make peace. He
knew more about the Yaqui chief than even
the Viceroy had ever known, and the chief,
who was sort of savage Napoleon, came
| to Acapulco to see him.
| A thousand legends tell the story Of the
\ hidden golden treasure of the Yaqui In
dians. It is among their fastnesses that the
| scenes of the widest adventures of prospec-
| tors and explorers have occurred. Braver
| than any other Indians of Mexico and more
| intelligent, the Yaqui tribes would die
rather than let Spaniard have the secret
of their mines. But the great chief of all
| the tribes had travelled over Mexico, and
| his heart held vague dreams of a Mexico
| that should drive out the Spanish Govern
ment. He had never dreamed that any of
| the Spaniards themselves could wish to
help in this revolution.
The Secretary won his confidence and
made a treaty with the Yaqui nations. If
this treaty should be ratified by the Viceroy
one clause, which was to be kept secret be-
tween the chief and the Secretary, was to
begin operation at once. The public treaty
withdrawing Spanish soldiers from the ter
ritory claimed by the chief, was easily and
promptly secured by the Secretary on his
return to Mexico. The secret clause ran az
follows:
'SThat the Yaqui nation will reveal to the
Secretary of the Viceroy, q natural store
house of gold, from which he will be per-
mitted to carry away a shipload, or morej
whatever, in fact, he deems necessary for
his project to secure the Independence Of
New Spain"
The next year there were pirate schooners
in the Sea of Cortez, and the Viceroy sent
royal corvette on a cruise along the shores
of Baja California. The brother of the Sec
retary commanded the corvette, and the
secretary, by dint of much persuasion and q
conFenient memory Of an uncle who owned
pearl fisheries, was passenger. The royal
corvette sailed up the gulf, sank several
piratical vessels, discovered new pearl oyster
beds, and finally cast anchor off the old
franciscan mission of Loreto, where the
Secretary obtained from his cousins the men
and the fishing schooner that he needed for
his enterprise. Sailing across the Gulf to a
bay named by the Yaqui chief, he sent
messenger inland. Within fortnight the
chief came and fulfilled his promise. He
showed the Secretary laguna, whose bot
tom when drained was sown thick with mug
gets of gold. The treasure was sacked and
carried to the vessel by many journeys until
the little fisher craft held one of the greatest
piles of wealth ever known in the New
World Then the Secretary and two men
whom he could trust sailed the craft to the
Revillag1gedo group, and buried it in one of
the lava caverns on the Island of Saint
Thomas.
This was the first of the treasure-gather-
ing of the shrewd, unselfsh conspirator,
who dreamed of the freedom of Mexico 0
third of a century before the revolution.
but it was not the last, for his position en-
abled him to halve the pearl revenues of
the gulf, and the silver revenues of the
mines of Sonora and chihuahua. So cor
rupt were many branches of the Govern
ment at that time, so open to bribery, so
used to false reports and the disappearance
of large sums of money, that the Secretary,
at the expense of acquiring rather worse
reputation than the average politician Of
his time, was enabled to add millions Of
dollars every year to the Viceroy's un-
known treasury. He sent pearls, sapphires
and opalsJ bars of silver and gold, Jewell
hilted swords and pistols, and many pre-
cious heirloom of ancient Spanish families.