Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-11-07

THE LOST
GOLD MINE
An Inscription In Lost Language I
Tells Where 1t Is Located.

for some stray asphalt bed IN one or
the wooded wildernesses of Venezuela.
Accompanied by two native servants,
a half breed guide and n young COM
panion from the States, who knew lit
tie of roughing it. he had left the dingy
old river steamer at the point where
the Caura flows into the OrinOco and
rowed slowly up the smaller stream In
to the province of Guiana.
The chief adventurer had heard, in
his rambles among the old inhabitants
of Caracas, of lakes of bitumen in this
region which had never been discover
ed by the all consuming companies
which were creating such disturbance
by their disagTeements. This was the
land of the Parabena Indians, de-
scendants of the ancient Toltecs, quiet
and gregariOus. 1t was probably
through some wandering trapper from
these Indians that the story Of the
Of civilization.
But the chief Of the expedition had
read of the strange discovery Of the
diamond mines Of Golconda, of the
gold Of the Transvaal, and he was will
ing to risk something to find the hidden
asphalt beds of Venezuela. He and his
companions rowed up the Caura for
three days, camping by night in their
little boat. as Il partial protection
against the fauna that abOunded on
shore.
On the night OF the third day they
found a clear space by the side of the
stream, and there they decided to land.
They slept that night in their boat
again, but were up early next morn
ing, ready for the explorations of the
day The boat was snugly moored un-
der a clump of trees whose luxuriant
travellers started out.
The soldier of fortune found that he
was near Mount ChanarO, right In the
heart of the Parabena country. AS he
had been told that these Indians were
very docilc. like the North American
Lenapes, he was rather curious than
otherwise TO meet one Of them. But
he encountered no sign Of habitation
or trail on that day. 1t was all wild
country, covered with high underbrush
and an abundance Of trees. The trees,
however, were not very close together,
and travel was made correspondingly
easy.
1t was late i'll the afternoon. Allison
Glenn and his party were walking
along the mountain side, about q hun
dred yards from where the earth be-
gins to ascend No asphalt had been
found Suddenly the leader of the
party espied a curious projection Of
leaves, stone, and dirt rising some six
feet not far ahead.
An examination was made, more as q
matter of curiosity than anything else.
The dead leaves were brushed away,
and at one end of this long projection
there was found carving that resem-
bled closely the head of a huge fish.
The carving was so accurate that
Glenn made up his mind that this was
not a mere freak Of nature, and he
ordered his men to completely uncover
the rock, for the entire projection ap-
peared to be a rock covered over with
the fallen vegetation of years upon
years
The sight that met the eyes of the
travellers when all was made bare was
a startling one. It was a carved piece
of solid stone, some 20 feet long and
about feet from the ground at the
highest point. The lines of the fish
were carefully reproduced, although
with the hand of an amateur. The
years that had passed had disintegrat-
ed parts of the huge rock, but enough
was there to make it certain that this
was the handicraft Of human beings.
What was still more convincing Of
the fact that man had been there was
a line of hieroglyphlcs on one side and
near the head of the fish. These crude
letters closely resembled inscriptions
Glenn had observed on old Toltec re-
lies preserved in Caracas. But they
meant nothing TO him then except Hle
belief that became firmly rooted in his
mind at once that he had encountered
an uUuSudl mystery.
The next day the adventurers were
early at work clearing away the debris
from around the stone fish, cutting
down the trees and digging into the
surrounding earth. Surely something
must be in this neighbOrhood, it was
reasoned. But nothing was found
Glenn then determined to clear away
the trees and get a good photograph Of
the object with the small camera he
carried This was done.
No trace Of asphalt had been found.
The soldier of fortune, like all his ilk
at times of uncertainty, was restless.
He longed to have the mystery OF
Mount Chanaro solved. He decided at
once to return to Caracas and there to
report his curious find.
Glenn was q taciturn, inquiring kind
of fellow lie liked to ask questions,
but little relished the answering of
them. He had no intention of making
any formal report of his discovery. He
had little opinion, anyway, of the aris-
tocracy of the Venezuelan capital upon
ilAllfI : VI 'li'li'f'l'-l'sil illltIfSlp htib
50 ne determined once again to seek
his old friends 0f the suburbs of the
town -euaiut individuals who lived in
the post. whose language was still
quite as much Indian as Spanish.
An aged woman had told the story of
tn" hidden asphalt beds. Glenn thought
she perhaps might know something of
the carved fish. The imperturbable
creature, possessed Of the stoicism of
her race was little surprised appar
emily to see the adventurer back in
the city 50 soon.
"Ah, sir. fear you did not find the
lake of tar" she observed in her native
vernacular
No Glenn responded. but there
are other mysteries in that land"
Yes. yes, senior; il is a strange. weird
country. Long has Mount Chanaro
been Stunned
why should that small mountain be-
feared by the uativesF" he persisted
II was not long before this line OF
inquiry. with no revelation on Glcnn's