Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-21


hottest villages and the Older people many
legends and tales of the aacient glory Of
their nation: but among the half-cfviiized
| members. who speak more or less Spanish.
such tales are of the crudest and most ele-
mentary description. OF all these, the most
concrete, and the only ones which can be
brought to the touchstone Of proof, are
those referring to treasure hidden during
times of war or trouble and never removed.
The vast districts formerly known as Upper
Peru TEEN with such stories; some of these
are palpably false, a small proportion have
been proved to be more or less true, and
the great bulk of them remain uninvesti-
gated, awaiting the time when the country
shall be sufficiently civilized for the dotation
of a treasure-seeking company, limited, to
be managed on the most approved princi-
pies.
Discoveries Really Made.
During many years, even centuries, of
disturbed and often despotic rule doubtless
great quantities Of the precious metals have
been secreted. the greater part of which will
probably never be brought to the light Of
day; but during recent years, by systematic
search when the tradition of the hidden
treasure appeared to be more definite than
usual, some tapadas (hoards) have been dis
covered, and have well repaid the time and
expense Of the search, apart from the ex-
element inseparabie from such an enter
prise
One of the latest of the Incas, to escape
from a victorious rival, had retired to a
wild spot just below the submits of the
eastern Cordilleras; and here the tradition
persstently fingered that in certain spot
high in the mountains the fleeing Inca had
buried treasure which had never been re-
| covered, as he had been murdered on his re-
turn to CuZco. Many generations of the
local landholders searched in vain under the
| scorching midday sun shivering in the
| bitter wind that blows at 1900 feet above
| the sea.
At last the time came, and the man. to
| open the tomb closed by the fugitive ruler
| of that lonS-dead empire. The old proprie
| tors. who, at the conquest, had received a
| grant OF the district from the Spanish
crown, had degenerated into a race of dis
| solute gamblers; and they sold part of
| their possession about the size of British
county for few thousand pounds to a new
man more capable and enterprsing than
| the old race. The legend was investigated;
| then different versions were obtained from
various sources and carefully compared. 1t
| soon became evident that some keywOrd
| had at first been attached to the story; but
| the most diligent inquiry could discover
neither the word itself nor the use to which
1t was to be put when ascertained. Many
| years passed; the new owner by managing
| the property upon slightly more modern
methods-that is, by adopting the improve
ments Of the time of the sixteenth century
instead Of adhering strictly to the mode Of
| farming as carried on by primeval man
had accumulated considerable fortune
He had discontinued his diligent search for
| the lost treasure of the Incas and was
now about to definitely retire to the town
| and sell the property. One winter night,
however, message was brought that far
| away in a distant valley a woman, reputed
| to be over a hundred years of age, was
dying, and had word to say to the patron
before she died. In the morning he started
on the long journey over the immense
| slopes Of rock covered with coarse grass,
| the snow-crowned submits rising overhead.
| At the end Of the journey deep in the re-
cesses of the mountains, was a mud hut
| within which lay shriveled decrepit OBJ
! ject that hundred years before had first
| looked out, a black-eyed baby upon the
wonderful view of cloud mountain and far
| distant forest She was alone, and dying
without relatives friends to assist her;
| for she was a witch, and none had dealings
with her or ventured near of their own free
will. Feared and hated by her own people
she turned at the end to her patron who
| had cared neither for her charms nor her
| curses, to tell him that word which was
whispered to her in the dim past by the
! aged grandmother. who had died more than
| eighty years before, where she was diving
now-the word that would reveal the hiding
| place of that treasure, the secret Of which
was to be carefully guarded until the Incas
should appear again to claim their own and
| drive the cOnquerors back to the sea The
word was whispered; 1t meant in the old
| language "the lake Of the two stones"
| That was all; she knew nothing of Its an
| plication, had no more to tell, and died that
| night.
Although the word was now known the
difficulties were not all overcome; in fact
many months of Eager search followed. Al
| last the place was found-a narrow valley
containing two small lakes, in one of which
stood, showing above the water, two stones
| After long and unsuccessful search upon
the margins, the searchers determined tn
| drain the lake containing the stones This
was next done. and 1t was at once discov-
cred that the larger stone had been care
fully placed where 1t stood, for under it
was platform of masonry resting on the
bed of the lake. With infinite labor an
opening was made, as the structure had be-
come solid. What followed will probably.
never be known except to very few in
terested persons. That the treasure was
found, and was Of considerable worth, is
undoubted; but its precise value or of what
| 1t consisted has never TRANSFERRED A pater-
nal government Is occasionally little ex-
| acting. and in this case. at least, silence
was golden.
Valuable Wall.
Another and less extraordinary narrative
Of treasure hidden many years ago by an
old Spanish immigrant states that the
owner had built on his property a high and
thick adobe wall, far too substantial for
the purpose 1t was ostensibly designed to
serve-a division between two sections of
the farmland before he died had left
strict injunctions that, no matter what else
was sold. the strip Of land on which this
wall was built should always be retained in
| the family. He left two children one q
SON, who took the property; the other a
daughter married to the owner OF a neigh
boring proprietario, who had received her
dowry. In course Of time the descendants
of the son became gradually poorer and
| little by little alienated the estate. few
years ago the remnants of a once extern
sive property, including the ancient wall,
now half in ruins and wholly useless were
offered for sale. The proprietor Of the adj
| jacent farm, the lineal descendant of the
daughter of the old Spaniard, bought IT )
| eagerly. In this branch of the family had
fingered the memory of the last words of
the long dead ancestor, which the other
branch had forgotten, and directly the
transfer was made the former owner was
astonished to see the new proprietor, with
all his poems, busily engaged in demolishing
| the apparently useless structure, long an
eyesore to the neighborhood. The tapada