The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-13
A COLOMBIAN GOLD FIELD.
Extraordinary story Told by Captain
GreenIeaf Three Years Ago.

New York Sun.
This row we are having with Colombia
said man who has been around some. re
minds me of story told by Captain Green
leaf, of the government service, and when
saw something the other day in the papers
about the Colombian forces landing on the
Isle de los Pinos. in the Gulf Of Darien. it
began TO get warm. l met the captain three
years ago doing secret service work on the
Pacific coast. and as an incident 10 the
Nome gold excitement he told Of his expert
ence on this island in the Gulf of Darien.
HE said he had been down there several
years previously on trading ship and they
had put in at the island No trading was al
lowed, however. as the island was a govern
ment>reservation used as prison or hos
pital, or something Of the kind, but visitors
were allowed ashore and they could hunt
over the island IL they wished. The captain
and companion, awaiting themselves or the
privilege, went into the interior for the day
and rambled around through the forests.
During the afternoon they came to a small
stream, along whose banks were low cliffs
with many stones loosened and lying about
over the ground. These stones were rough
looking at little distance, but a closer In
spection showed them to be or peculiarly
bright quartz where pieces had been broken
off, exposing surface. Evidently, how
ever, the place had not been visited in long
time and the stones had never been dis
turbed.
1.-The captain and his companion each car
ried away a piece Of stone weighing two or
three pounds, as souvenirs. They eXclJed
no particular comment on shipboard and
the other man one day threw his piece over
board with a lot of rubbish. When they
reached San Francisco several months later
the captain rescued his piece from corner
where it was almost hidden in the dust
and took it along with him.
Just at that time ii was the FAD along
the coast for men to wear watch chains
made of small pieces OF quartz linked
together and the captain concluded TO have
his Darien quartz made up If 1t was worth
it. The jeweler told him it was, and TO
come back in four five days. He did so,
and the jeweler showed great anxiety TO
know where the quartz had come from. The
captain became suspicious and would not
tell. When the jeweler was convinced that
he could not learn where the quartz came
from, he informed the captain il he had any
more Of that kind he was rich man. The
captain said he knew where there We're tons
and tons of it-whole chunks and Gins, IN
fact. The jeweler almost had fit, and told
him that one or two of the smallest pieces
had been assayed and showed a value or
$4,000 to the ton.
Naturally enough the captain was pretty
rying away TO some friends he told them
the story. They maintained the greatest
secrecy, but at once began efforts to get at
the field in the island. They tried TO Sc
| cure concessions without betraylng their
secret but the Colombian government
would not permit them to take any part of
the island, and they would not say what
they were after, because they knew they
would get none of it if they did, and at
the time he told me the story they were
such rights that even Bogota boodlers
couldn't work desolating graft upon them
still waiting their chance 10 get in with
such rights that even the boodlers couldn' I
work a desolating graft upon them and
their gold field -