The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1897-01-18
euAouERos OF COLOMBIA.
Men who Hunt For Gold buried with the


Ancient Iniiabitants of tho Country.
The burial places of the ancient
inhabitants of Colombia, more par
ticularly in the provinces of An
tioquia ard Cauca, have for more
than three centuries afforded pre-
carious livelihood, first to como of
the Spaniards who colonized the
country and then to Some of the
present inhabitants, for the Indians
Of Colomb bia followed the custom of
burying the dead with their posses
sions and treasures. In Antioquia
nnd Cauoa, IN Indian tomb is known
as guach and a group of tombs as
pueblo. The guacas are said to be
rich when they contain largo
amount of gold, poor when they
contain little and empty when they
contain only bones and pottery.
1.-THE art of the guaqueros, or
grave searchers, "says Don Manuel
Uribe, a quaint writer of century
ago, "'has perfectly plain rules, easy
to be understood, whose application
is SO certain in it's results that they
are almost exact"
Of the mon themselves he says:
Like all who seek treasure, their
life is enthusiastic and full of
dreams that too often are dispelled
and replaced by painful realities.
There is in the Antioquian guaqrero
something strange and typical that
makes its impress on his character
and gives him peculiar physiogno-
my. Light hearted and Observing,
he is always sanguine of finding
enormous treasures; he speaks of
his occupation with pride, praises it,
defends it with tenacity, and often
shows signs of a kind Of insanity
which might well be called gar
cophagomania. !" f'"''a i'i ii
The don might have added that
once guaquero always guaquero,
and that the guaqueros are the only
miners in all the country who can
not obtain credit This is saying
good deal, form Colombia every re-
| tail as we'll as every wholesale
merchant expects to give from 6 to
IL months credit .f
The searchers claim to be able to
locate a guaca with unfailing ac-
euraey, but the writer's has seen
them fail, too many times to believe
it to ,be other than matter of great
luck. The sole Indication Of guaca,
so far as an outsider can learn, is a
sinking Of the ground correspond
ing to the size of the grave, but III
the course of centuries such indica
tons have disappeared to large eX-
tent. The tools required are few
a crowbar, shovel, a botea for wash
ing the dirt, and a block and tackle
if tho grave be deep.
Having located his guaca, the
guaduero can, after digging little,
ttell pretty nearly what he may ex-
pect. II he finds a stone wall or
signs of steps, he may be pretty
sure that the grave is of some one
of Importance. If the wall is Of
hewn stone, well Joined, he knows
it must be of a great chief or a
Iscacique.a BY the hardness and COM
pactness of the,soil he knows wheth-
er the grave is very ancient or COM
! paratiyelyI modem. BY the kind Of
utensils found he. can tell whether
| the grave is that of man or a
woman. He can also tell whether
| the grave has been previously rob-
bed and whether by Indians or
Spaniards. This he determineslby
indications that would appeal very
forcibly to Sherlock Holmes. The
ancient Indians were extremely
careful in filling the grave to place
. the different earths, generally black,
blush gray, and brown, in the ex-
act order in which they occurred.
If the grave was subsequently rob-
bed by Indians, the bones and pot
terry would be carefully replaced,
but the same care would not be ex-
ercised in replacing the earth. II
tho grave was robbed by Spaniards
the grave would be hurriedly filled
with, bones, broken pottery, and
earth indiscriminately
When it becomes evident to the
guaquero that he is nearing the bot
7 tom, the earth is removed in thin
slices and every piece is carefully
examined. When the bones are un
covered, the place about the head is
+ searched for earrings and nose rings
The pottery is broken and washed
for gold fishhooks or rings, but it il
under the body that the larges
quantity of gold is generally found
, If the amount found is satisfactory
the guaquero fills up the grave, al
the time praising and flattering thu
, memory of the dead, his ancestors
=. and heirs; but if the grave is empty
the dead man is cursed and hi
bones are left to fall to pieces.
! The greatest find of this kind re
! corded by history was that of Dol
, Pedro de Heredia, who left Carriage
ma for Ell Dorado in 1884. The party
4 came across an Indian town calleC
A Zemi, and from a large graveyard
or pueblo near it they obtained 81
/. much gold that Don Pedro dividet
n s400, 900 among his followers, afte
/, deducting the royal fifth and a fai
share for himself. New York Sun