The Red Cloud chief., 1910-05-12

above sea level. Two other craters of lesser
n'isht rise one on either side of the main crater;
then n sheer drop Of several thousand feet of sui
phur-coated rock to the highest signs of vegeta.
uon. Below this on the Pacific slopes stretch
beautiful rolling llanos or steppes. lower and
lower. on down to the palm.fringed coast line.
somewhere on these immense slopes lies the
lost mine of the Indians. "Tisingal." known to
and worked by the early Spanish settlers. who
changed its name TO la Estrella." or Mine OF the
Star.
During TIE year 1894. in going through the
atchlNcs at Carriage, Costa Rica, some Official doc.
. nmonts pertaining to this mine were found and
permission was obtained from the Costa Rican
government for their publication. Shortly there.
after a company was formed in Carriage to send
out exploring parties. and although considerable
time and money were wasted and several lives
lost in an endeavOr to locate this mine, no indica.
tons Of its whereabouts were found.
Reprints OF some OF the documents referred to
nave come into the hands Of the writer. In which
IL preserved the old style Spanish in which they
we're originally written during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. TRANSACTIONS of these pa.
pers have been made and the information con.
tained therein summarized. to which have been
added data obtained through a personal acquaint.
ance with the country described. During last
year an unsuccessful attempt was made by the
writer to ascend the highest crater of the Chiri.
pd volcano for the purpose of verifying certain
information purported to have been secured in
the year ZOOS from this point and pertaining to
the Tisingai mine. During the dry season of this
year q second attempt will probably be made.
Among the documents consulted is one that,
literally translated. reads as follows:
within the limits of the department of Chiri.
qui. contiguous to the Republic Of Costa RIGA,
exist places rich in gold, known by the names of
Tisingal. Quebrada Ancha, Quobrada de ORC and
others quite important. The first Of these places
was explored some time ago by a Spanish colony.
which in the year 1901 founded the city of Con.
cepcion de Ia Estrella, near this mine of great
wealth. The excessive stinginess OF the conquer
ors reduced the Indians of the locality to the con.
dition OF slaves. they being forced by the Spanish
70 work, mining the gold of the Tisingal. These
Indians became tired of the excessive work and
had treatment and became desperate. In the year
1911 they revolted against their oppressors and
exterminated them: but other Spaniards 6. the
place OF the mutiny again compelled the Indians
to resume the working OF tho mine and made
harder for them their state of slavery. This al.
ernost eliminated the Indians from this stretch of
country.
ION the twenty.eighth of September. some
years after these happenings. the Indians re-
turned. and without pity or consideration took
the life of every foreigner living in the country;
aud not only this, but, carrying stones from dis
tant localities. they covered up and destroyed all
traces of the workings of the mines, and they
also RACED all houses and churches belonging to
"> NS N~t NNNs'' ~
these ancient buildings today are the foundations
of the church and a bell belonging to It.
"At last the news OF the new rebellion reached
Carriage in Costa RIGA, where immediate prepa-
rations were made for revenge, 1t is known that
at the beginning Of the year 1910 the government
at Carriage sent 200 men by the way of Boruca
and Tuis to San Jose Cabecar, n town to the east
about Is leagues from Conception. This expedi.
ton took 300 Indians of both sexes prisoners and
reduced them to a state of slavery, and as such
consigned them to the inhabitants around about
Carriage upon their return to that place. These
prisoners and all other Indians they met along
the way were massacred shortly thereafter.
From that time all Indians living in the
7 mountains In all directions up to a distance of 70
leagues turned bitter enemies of the foreigners
and up to a few years ago would have nothing to
do with the white races. Due to these events all
traces OF the villages of Turrialba. Tuis. Atirro,
San Jose Cabecar and other places that lay on
the route to Conception de la Estrella and Tisin-
gal were lost and the trails of communication
wish the mines were covered with brush and
completely destroyed, SO that after 40 years in
Carriage no knowledge was to be obtained as to
the locality of the Estrella and practically no
person living .-khew r-er .had@seen the ainesSat