The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-11-12

been 1OuIu near the Slc1S, dlu - N
said that a party Of Englishmen are
now planning to drain the lake and
min the bed for the treasures. They
are making q tunnel to let of the
water.
/ heard OF similar treasure boards
in this same region OF South America.
There is one in Ecuador said TO con-
tain the treasures Of the 1ncaS. and
another in Peru where it is claimed
that something like 16 million dollars
worth Of gold was thrown at the time
Pizarro broke faith with Atahaulpa
and caused his death.
You may remember part Of the
story. Pizarro had conquered Peru
and was taking away the silver by the
shipload. That metal was SO common
that the Spaniards a their horses
shod with it. 1t was at this time that
Pizarro, the Spanish general. had cap
tured the Inca king Atalhauipa, who
was also a sort of a prophet and high
priest Of the people. He offered to
ransom the latter if the Indians would
fill the room in which the king was
imprisoned with gold.
The room was seventeen feet wide,
twenty feet long and nine feet high.
The gold was brought in in great
quantities. 1t comprised gold plates
torn from the Temple of the Sun at
tuLcO. SCiu VASES, "OHucIAullE FSd,
immense gold basins and hundreds Of
drinking cups and dishes of various
Kinds. There was so much Of it that
it took the Indian goldsmith a whole
month, working day and night. to cast
it into ingots, and SO much that 1t
filed the room, as PiZarro demanded.
After Pizarro got the gold he treach-
erously killed the king, and it is said
that h Indians then gathered togeth-
or t1n onl6 ac 4ho" hn1 1>f& ~
buried it in that unknown lake.
There are said to be gold boards at
the bottom OF Lake Titicaca, but that
can never be drained. There are 9TH
er gold boards in the nitrate fields far
Their south, and indeed, no one knows
just where the greatest treasures OF
the past lie 1t is very probable that
there is some on the isthmuS Of Pan
anna, n the excavation Of old Pan
anna City, which is about to begin
when the new fOa there is completed,
will unearth some which were hidden
at the time that Morgan took and
destroyed the city. Morgan is said to
have taken away a hundred and sew
enty-five horselOads Of jewels. silver
! and gold, and he tortured the people
to make them confess where the
money was hidden.
Pearl Islands OF the Western Pacific.
If treasures are found at old Pan
anna it Is not improbable that jewels
and pearls may be found among them.
The waters adjoining Panama and
other parts of Central America have
long been noted for their magnificent
pearls. Some OF those in the crown
OF Spain came from here, and in the
cathedrals in Seville n Toledoare
strings and clusters OF pearls which
n early explorers took from the In
dians. Columbus met natives Wearing
ropes Of pearls while he was in this
part Of the world, and he took one
pearl weighing 800 grains home to the
queen. Cortez found black pearls
which came from the waters Of Lower
California, while Ferdinand De Soto
is said to have robbed one Of the In
dian queens OF a grea, string Of fine
pearls.
There are pearl fisheries just out
side Panama bay and the diving is go
ing on now. I find pearls for sale
here in Punta Arenas and the walters
at the hotel tables will unite knots ir
their handkerchiefs and ask you tc
buy them between bites. Some Of the
pearls are only seeds, out others are
as big as a pea. In the stores you will
see little bottles of pearls which car
be bought by the lot for all sorts O.
prices, but as a rule the pearls arr
either very small or not perfectly
round. I was told that one was taker
out a few years ago which weighed
fifty carats and I have heard Of an.
other which a ~12-year-old boy fount
in an oyster and sold for $4,000. I
was taken to Panama and there sole
to a banker and in time reached Paris
where it was valued at $40, 900. No.
long ago some pearls were found nea.
our canal sanitariuEn on Taboga Is
land, and one OF them brought 81, 00o
, The most Of the pearls. however
!. come from the Pearl Islands, which
lie on the west side of Panama bay
. about thirty miles from the islands or
which we are now building the fortif.
= cations which command the western
end OF the Panama canal, There ar,
sixteen Of these islands. the most o
9 them small, They are Populated
y chiefly by the Indians. who are en-
!, gagged in pearl diving, The men US
SiEfrO o,,if0 and thew bring I'M tn.