The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-08-19
TREASURE HUNT
 MADE IN VOLCANO BritiShers Pin Faith to an An-
 Clent Tale SIX YEARS SEEKING GOLD The "eIIded Man" Supposed to Guard Fortune In Extinct Colombian
 crater-They Are Walt
 Ing for Raln Now.
SIX YEARS SEEKING GOLD

1 In a small city office situated in Lon donwall news Is nnxiousy awaited from a man who is sitting on the edge of a mountain lake in Colombia, Central America. waiting for rain, says the Lon don Express,
 Heavy rain may mean for him and for those in tho city office in Lon donwall the recovery of treasure worth, so experts say, at leagt 91OOO. oo0,0oo. The hero of tho vigil is II. Knowles mana- glng director in Bogota of Contractors, limited. The story of the company Is one of the most amazing romances of treasure seeking in history
 The Lake of Gnutavtn, in Colombia, lies In the basin formed by the zone of an extinct volcano. It stands nine to ten thousand feet above the sea level, and Is but few miles from the thriving little coal city of Bogota. Many centuries ago 1t was the sacred lake of the Chlbchas, race which at the time of the Spanish conquest numbered over 1.OOOOOo0 indi- viduals.
 The Chlbchas worshipped the "Gilded Man." and devoutly believed that their deity made his home at the bottom of the Lake of Guatavita. Periodically they are declared to have made pilgrimages to the lake, where they cast every imag- inable kind of treasure, gold, silver and jewels, into the waters with the object OF propitlating the "Gilded Man." who, through his army of priests, threatened all kinds of pains and penalties unless the treasures were offered In sufficient quantities.
 The story of the Chibchas has many times been investigated by travellers, and all agree in believing that the lake con- tains untold treasure. Humboldt, the fa- | nous traveller and historian, was one of those who estimated its value at | 21,O0O 100000
 Quesada Told the Story. Quesada, the Spanish conqueror of the I Chibchas, was told the story of the | treasure, and succeeded in reducing the 1 water of the lake, then 2l4 feet deep to 15 feet. Then the sides fell in and all | his labor was wasted Further attempts were abandoned, and the lake regained | to large extent it's former depth.
 Where the great Spanish administrator | failed however Contractors, limited, prosaic British syndicate formed just over six years ago, has determined to | succeed.
 | The syndicate was formed for the pur- | pose of exploiting a concession obtained from the Colombian government to drain the lake and recover for their own uses the treasure believed to be hidden by It's | waters. Among its directors are R. J. | Price, M. P, for the eastern division of Norfolk, chairman, and c. J. Murietta. It's capital was originally G3O,O0O and was increased to a35,00O in 1903.
 After six years of hard work however, some of those connected with the compa- ny are beginning to believe that the | "Gilded Man" Is till at the bottom of the | lake guarding his treasure. Encouraging l finds of isolated gold and silver gods and | 1eweled goddesses have from time to time supported the tradition of the treas- ure, but so far the dreams of untold wealth have not materialized. 1 First the lake was drained It was not | an easy task for 1t is some nine miles in length, and unforeseen difficulties were continually confronting the workers The most harrassing of these was the | constant rain which, winter and sum- mer, hardly ever ceased.
 At last, however. toward the end of 1903, the welcome news reached London that MT. Knowles and his staff of engin- eers and workmen had succeeded In cut ting through the basin of the lake and | the water had been drained off success | fully There was great jubilation and preparations were made for the large consignments of gold, silver and jewels which might be expected to arrive by | the next boats.
 | Unfortunately, however, the water is | not the only barrier on which the "Gilded | Man" has to rely for the safe keeping of his treasure. The iubilation In London | wall was summarily ended by cable | gram stating that twenty-five feet of solid mud, or some SOO00,OOO cubic feet in all, still lay between the treasure seekers and their quest.
 But what Is Is SO.O0o.O0o cubic feet of mud when e100 coo, 900 is at stake? new | engineering feat was dscided on-the con- l structlon of a great dam across the l hole made in the side of the basin ter mnating in a shaft through which the mud should be washed and carefully precipitated, so as to secure the gold and silver treasures as they were distributed from their hiding places of centuries.
 Strange Thing Happened.
 The dam was constructed, and with 1t | the cleansing shaft, but while the work was in progress strange thing happen ed. The "Gilded Man" was evidently at l work again.
 1 For more than three years the engineers | had worked in the rain, in such down. pour, indeed as was unprecedented in | Central America. As the water ran from 1 the lake, however. the rain had stopped and a drought equally without a paral- | Tel in the history of the country set in. For more than two and half years not a drop of rain had fallen at the scene of the operations, and when the engineers dam 1t was only to find that the sun had | l,al lrad ha