The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-28
WEALTH or THE INCAs.
stories About the Vast Amounts OF
Gold Reported 10 Have Been Hurled.

| cola Ncp0rteu 10 ltnNc Hcen hufich
From Letter to the Chicago Record
According to the official records in the
archives at quito aud also in the council
of the Indies. which mad charge of Amer
lean affairs in Spain, the buried ransom OF
the Inca has been three times discovered
during the last four ccuturies-tirst by an
Indian named Francisco Ybarra. who be-
came suddenly and mysteriously rich, ana
| was popularity believed TO have discovered
| a gold mine. lie built the Church Of san
| Francisco which sull stands in the city
of quito as a Votive offering TO his patron
saint.
Half century later a dissolute fellow
| named Nalverde fed 10 the mountains to
| escape arrest aud took up his abode in
| village of Indians, whore he married the
daughter of the cacique, or priest Al
| though the Indians have uominaly nc
| cepted the Catholic religion, they stun
cling TO many of their ancient rites The
| secret of the buried gold Is supposed to be
| iutrustcd to the priesthood, and Is passed
down from generation TO generation as
| their most precious tradition with ram
| and expectation similar to that of the M
! tees in Mexico that Atahunlpa like Monte
| yuma. viii some time return 10 re-esiabisn
| his empire. and viii require this treasure
as working capital But no amount OF
| persuasion. temptation, or torture has sue
ceeded in wringing from the priesthood tha
location of the deposits.
ValVerde is supposed to have obtained
| the Information from his wife or father
in-law and carried away immense quaint
! ties of gold by stealth through a series OF
years. which he sent to Guayaquil concc III
| ed in packages of indigo When ne
| thought he had enough he deserted his
family and went TO Madrid, where ne itVed
| Ike Monte Cristo, and dying, iett WIZ
| bedueathng his property 90 the King OF
| Spain, and a skillfully drawn chart Of the
| Llanganau wilderness showing the location
| of the treasure.
This chart is stil on file among the ar
| chives of the Council Of the indies Inc
| King sent a copy TO the Bishop OF quito,
| who organized am expedition about the
| middle Of the eighteenth century, under
| the command of a Franciscan frar named
| Padre LongO, guarded by sixty soldiers
and accompanied by about 400 natives VINO
| were to do the digging ana pack out the
| gold
Padre I.ongo followed the chart OF Val
verde until he reached the proper place.
| There he went into camp late in the AFTER
noon and waited until morning before cooh-
mencing operations. In the meantime
| however, in the heat of his curiosity, ac-
! companied by one other friar and the cap
tain of the military, he fastened down INTO
| a rayine ana after an hours absence re-
| turned to the camp with number OF cufl-
| Gus vessels and ornaments OF gold' Wnlch
| were passed around among the soldiers
| and the Indians of the expedition ana
caused great rejoicing. Orders were given
for certain number of the poems 70 re-
port al daylight in the morning with shoV-
| els and others were detailed TO make bags
in which to cary away the bulhof bul
when morning came Padre Lonso the
| friar who had gone with him, ana the cap
tain of the guard were found dead IN their
| Ga 10 heart with rIirnIllO.
a .broad knife which the Indians carry.
| The COPY of the derrOterro, or chart, winch
had been used by the friar TO locate the
gold and "A volumnous Journal IN winch
| he had described the landscape ana kept
an account of the journey were missing
The assassins were supposed "a be Indians,
who faithful to the traditions ~ their ma
| ton determined TO prevent the dissertation
| OF the place
,rbe senior officer Of the guard made ev-
orv possibe effort 10 carry out the Cd
| loot Of the expedition, and indeed, he pro-
| longed the search until his provisions were
| almost exhausted when all the Indians
deserted him and he was left IN the VIII
| derness without supplies or guides TO lead
| him back to civilization. Several OF the
soldiers died Of fatigue and starvation, and
| the remnant Of the band finally reached
the town Of Taguna in a desperate condi-
| ZION. with nothing 10 show for their LABOR
| except the queer objects that Padre Long0
| had brought into camp that afternoon.
| These were considered sufficient proof that
| the treasure had been found and that Val
verde's chart was correct
| Baron Won Humboldt, who visited TINS
| country early In the present century, fol-
lowed the trail of Valverde In company
with Dr. Atanasio GuZman, q local natu-
| ralist and reports that while the topo-
| graphy of a portion of the country has
| been changed by terrestrial commissions.
| there is no doubt that the derretero was
| prepared by man familiar with the To-
| cality In which the treasure Is supposed
| to be concealed. DR.. Guzman continued
| the search with great energy and persist
ence, and made reports TO the capitalist
who furnished him means that indicated
confidence of success. His life was sud
| denly terminated at place called Sutllo,
| where IN a III of somnambulism he walk
ed over a precipice.
The latest foreigner to undertake the
search was DR., Spruce, the famous Eng
| lish botanist. who was Gent 10 South
America in 1857 to collect botanical speci- !
mems for the royal gardens at Kew and
cinchona plants, which were sent to Java,
Ceylon and British colonies in the East
Indies where they have since been culti- |
waited with great success. Although DR.
Spruce did not succeed in recovering the
treasure il Is clear from his writings that
he believed in Its existence and had faith
In the accuracy Of Vaverde's diagram
1t will be remembered by those familiar
with carly Peruvian history that after the
arrest and confinement Of Atahualpa In
his own palace at Cajamarca Pizarro
10 power If he would hll with god The