The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1910-05-13

above sea level Two other craters Of lesser
height rise one on either side Of the main crater
then sheer drop of several thousand feet of sui
pnur-coated rock to the highest signs of vegeta-
ton. 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 the year 1884 in going through the
archives at Carriage, Costa RIGA, some official doc
nments pertaining to this mine were found and
permission was obtained from the Costa Rcan
government for their publication. Shortly there
after company was formed in Cartago 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
have come into the hands Of the writer in which
is preserved the old style Spanish in which they
were originally written during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. TRANSACTIONS of these pa
pers have been made and the information con-
tanned therein summarized to which have been
added data obtained through a personal acouaint-
ance with the country described During last
year an unsuccessful attempt was made by the
writer TO ascend the highest crater of the Chiri-
qui volcano for the purpose of verifying certain
information purported to have been secured in
the year 1905 from this point and pertaining to
the Tisingal mine. During the dry season of this
year 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 Chir
qui contiguous to the Republic of Costa Rica
exist places rich in gold, known by the names of
Iisingal. Quebrada Ancha, Quebrada de Orc and
others quite important. The first of these places
was explored some time ago by Spanish colony,
which IN the year 1901 founded the city of Con-
cepcion de la 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
to work, mining the gold of the Tisingal These
Indians became tired of the excessive work and
bad treatment and became desperate In the year
16ll they revoted against their oppressors and
exterminated them; but other Spaniards at the
place of the mutiny again compelled the Indians
to resume the working of the mine and made
harder for them their state of slavery This al
most 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;
and 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
the SpanlaTds. The only traces remaining of
tnese ancient buildings today are the foundations
OF the church and bell belonging to 1t.
AT last the news of the new rebellion reached
Carriage in Costa RIGA, where immediate prena.
rations were made for revenge 1t is known that
at the beginning of the year 171O the government
at Carriage sent 200 men by the way of Boruca
and Tuis TO San Jose Cabecar, a town to the east
about 10 leagues from Conception. This exnedi.
ton took 500 Indians Of both sexes prisoners and
reduced them TO state of slavery. and as sueh
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
mountains in all directions up to distance of 10
leagues turned bitter enemies of the foreigners
and up to 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 Law on
the route to Conception de la Estrella and Tisin-
gal were lost and the trails of communication
with the mines were covered with brush and
completely destroyed, so that after 40 years in
Carriage no knowledge was to be obtained as to
person living knew or had seen the mines at