The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-10
A LEGEND OF PORTO RICO
Quantities Of Gold Reported to
Have Been Found There.

I Desperate Hattie Between Span
iarIs and Indians Many Years Ago
for One OF the Richest Mines.
wealth of the CorOzaI District.
An American writing of Porto Rico's
mineral resources nays special attention
90 the gold deposits of the island He
saws:
Although Porto Rico has long been
celebrated for her salubrious climate, her
remarkably rich soil, and her beautiful
mountain scenery, still none Of the mod
ern world has ever dreamed that Dame
Nature had added to her other gifts Won
dcrfuIIy rich deposits OF gold For the
first thirty years after the settlement of
Porto Rico the Spanish official figures
show that $500 pounds Of gold was ship
ped to Spain. But this by 20 means rep
resents the whole amount obtained from
the island. since gold is 50 portable that
the Kings officers were not always. we
may be sure. able to obtain the correct
figures, as the King claimed one-ffth-
From the middle of the sixteenth century
the gold deposits are supposed to have
Leen exhausted. except in the beds Of
some rivers where placer mining has been
carried on. on q small scale, up to the
present time. Only recently, however
there has been staked a claim TO vein
of gold-bearing quartz situated on the
summit of the mist-CoveTed hills OF the
Hottest range in Porto Rico, the Sierra dc
IuquiIlo. which promises TO revive all the
old Spanish tales of the marvellous wealth
in the precious metal OF this island This
lode has been known for number Of cen
turtles for it was worked by tho Indians
! long before the coming Of the despoil.ng
| Spaniard- Why no work has been done
on it since then must remain somewhat
| of q mystery, since the district of Corozal
has been long known As a place where
/ the precious metal could be found. the
Government reports estimating that about
| 800 families obtain their livelihood from
the auriferoUs sands Of the River HCrozaL
What makes this all the more remark
| able is that the decomposed quartz lode
| from which. by the action Of the heavy
rains. the River Corozal obtains its gold
| pans out decidedly better than the river
| sands The natives in the ueighbOrhoOd
tell q most gruesorne history Of the mine
| and for want of i better explanation We
| must accept their version. and indeed
| there is corroborative evidence Of its
! truth of no mean value They affirm that
the mine was worked many hundreds Of
years before the dramatic event occurred
| that stopped all further work. and that
! it Was the chief source Of their golden
/ ornaments. which, exciting the cu1idity Of
the Spaniards. resulted in their being en-
shaved or bounded to death We may be
sure. when we consider the size of the
dump and their rude mining tools. that
! mining must have been carried on for cen
turtles, and that it must have been ex-
| tremely remuneTative, for they threw
away as useless hundreds of thousands Of
( tons Of ore which # the samples that
/ have been sent to Ricketts, & Banks. and
} tests. is not only workable but fairly good
paying
The method of mining was very simple,
as It must of necessity have been on &C
count Of their crude implements. Into the
hill which contains the lode one can see
several deep cuts where the Indians dug
either with crude copper picltaXes Zone OF
the points Of one has been found in the
/ miae) or with sharDened sticks. as the
Vein. being very much decOmpoSed- would
I allow TINS The pieces Of ore that con
( tanned the nuggets we're then carried in
baskets across the River COT9zal. which
( flows at its base 10 q stone caster where
the precious metal was extracted from the
ore under the supervision OF the chiefs Of
the tribe The remains Of this caster are
still plainly to be seen being made Of
large flags of j hard stone fitted 10 q
Two stone seats at the ends for the chiefs.
The labOrers-if the natives. the de-
/ SCcuG2EtS OF the Indians. are to be be
| lIcTCd-CunSlSJed OF prisoners and slaves
| as well as the sTeeTnen of the tribe. and
| were well organized. They showed one
! Of the features of modern industrial life.
! the check For they say that a T-shaEed
I metal piece was a check which must De
kept by every workman in the mine OF
woe to him for the penalty was not as
( light As IT modern times. but the extreme
penalty Of death on the spot Thus did
/ the caciGues prevent irresponsible work
/ men from carrying away any Of the mug
/ gets Of virgin gold. sometimes Of cDuSid-
! cradle size. with which the rock abounfs
! The tradition that keeps the suDoTsti-
/ tiOuS natives from the mine after feuI
/ centuries have passed dates back 10 The
settlement and subjugatioH of the island
/ by Ponce de Leon.
According to this tale the Spaniards
/ having heard Of the enormous wealth OF
this mine determined to seize it In or
der &c do this the doughty leader himself
organized an expedition. 4 TGr0Cr OF this
reached the ears Of the owners Of the
mine and great CONSERVATION il must
have created But their cacigU-. warned
by the experience Of his brothers in other
parts Of the island. at a great mass meet
I ing announced has intention to fight rath-
I er than submit to slavery and the loss OF
/ his property This speech Of their dis
I tiEgUished chief aroused great Cuthusi-
/ asm in the hearts Of his followers and
when the SIagiaTds drew near they sal
lied ont to meet them Long and furious
I was the battle Though the Indians
fought with the Jury of deSTai-. the IS
/ were their primitive weapons against
/ their maiI-coated adversaries or what
protection could their wicker shields AZ
ford them against the cannon balls and
/ steel SW 3TdS of the SpaHiardS, Cfraat
[ numbers Of the INDIANS were slain, in
gliding their chief, and but few escaped
from the massacre 10 find shelter in the
( woods Stealing from their hiding places
/ during the night. survivors carried their
dead comrades 20 the mine and placed
them IN the tunnel where for safe keep
/ ing. considerable amount o. gold had
also been stored
After the rites of seDuIture had been
! completed they commenced to divide W
the gold. but quarreiiu2 over its alIot-
I ment- they fell finally to fighting despeT-
ately among themselves the outcome OF
which was that all but two or three were
killed These latter. after carefully con-
/ cea!iug the mouth Of the tunnel fed from
I the bloody spot, and after that the in
Ia bitautS have accounted It an accurSed
spot Thus the story was. whether Gre
/ dence Is 10 he put in il or not is q queS-
ton Since that date up TO the present
time the mOuntalneeTs say that no one
has ever worked the miTc. Whether tae
Spau}ards worked u OF not is oDeu to
conjecture. but certain II is that ~ mod
: crn times. as the report Of the Commits
sioner Of the interior says no careful
I investigation has been made
/ But at last an American miner, w ".
/ DUIa. after twenty-five years OF prospect
/ his claim TO this mine and if his hopes
| are realized, and II surface indications are
/ a true guide. he has struck it and struck
vrg nil g---. FT~4 -