The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-07
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hprpp@SS railroad between Cuzco and eRSfs{t1i Lake Titicaea. It is more than
 ,,,g .A.es above the sea, nigh up in the
 Andes and not far from Lake urcos, in
 which are said to be buried treasures of the Incas worth many millions When the
 Spaniards under Pizarro had killed the
 Inca King Atahualpa they maj ched upon
 Cuzeo. The Indians knew their greed for
 the precious metals, and they took most
 of their treasures from the capital city and secretly buried them. According 10
 tradition, they threw millions Of dollars
 worth of gold into this lake, and with other things the great golden chain that
 ran around their main plaza. This plaza
 remained intact until q few years ago.
 II was about Jeo feet long and several
 hundred feet wldo, 80 that the length of the chain was probably between 1ooO and 20J0 feet. The chain was pure gold
 wrought into links about foot long and as large around as the wrist of a man.
 The links were go heavy that Il man could not lift more than ono of them at a time. and It Is said that hundreds of In- dians were required to carry tho chain They took 1t into the lake, and there it is supposed to lie this day. although many have searched for it in vain. Tho treasure hunters have dived Into the waters and elawed over the mud near the shore They have also dragged the lake with grap- bling hooks, but in plaepk 1t is exceed insly deep, and so far the treasure has not been discovered At one time a syndi- cate was organized to drain the lake. This syndicate had a capital of s5.00O,000 and its plan was to tunnel the mountainside. But the rock was toe tough and the enter prise was abandoned.
 The treasures of the Incas were not confined to Cusco, have heard stories of buried hoards all along the Andes From Panama to Lake Titicaca. They had vast quantities of gold and silver in Quito. and at Cerro de Pasco I found a party of Americans and British who were prospecting for one of these hoards They have already spent thousands of dollars, and are sinking more every day. While I was before the vault of the Cuzco cathe- dral was shown a golden box weighing S6 pounds, made of the plates that were torn from the Inca Temple of the Sun,
 
 largely built of Inca gold.
 l understand that the treasures of gold that were stored on the holy islands of the Sun and the Moon were thrown into Lake Titicaca, and I hear other traditions of the vast amounts of gold and silver the Spaniards failed to get. That which they obtained was greater than the wealth of Croesus. The amount taken from the temples of Cuzco alone is said to have been worth more than s90,0000.0O0. and part of this went to Cajamarca to free the Inca Emperor Atahualpa when he was treacherously imprisoned by Pizarro. The Inca emperor had come in friendship. He was carried to Caiamarca in litter of massive gold covered with d cloth em- broidered with the plumes of tropical birds. The cloth was studded with gold and silver plates. Atahualpas hair was decorated with gold. He had on golden crown, and around his neck was a collar of emeralds.
 At the start Pizarro treated Atahualpa well. but a little later on charged him with treachery, and put him in a prison about 10 feet square. The Inca king took a stone and scratched q mark on the wall as high up as he could reach, telling Pfzarro that he would fill the room to that height with gold if he could only be free. This proposition was accepted, and gold in the shape of vases, utensils and plates was brought in from all parts of the empire It melted down by the Indians under the direction of the Span iards When the prison room was filled to above the mark made by Atahualpa, he was released. But he was still kept under surveillance and little later was accused of plotting against the Spaniards. He was given a mock trial and was to be burned. his execution being brought about largely by Friar valverde. who was afterwards made Bishop of Cuzco.
 During my stay in Cuzco I visited the Temple of the Sun, upon whose founda- tions now stand the church and convent of the Dominicans. This was known by the Incas as The Coricancha" or the place of gold" It was rectangular on three sides, with a great oval at the back and its walls were two stories high and altogether about 1200 feet long. These walls were surrounded by thick cornice or border of gold about eight inches wide, and where the wall poined the roof there was a broad, golden band The roof was covered with gold, and the inner walls of the temple were literally plated with it, vegetables and vines of all sorts being engraved upon them.
 Opposite the entrance to the temple was mighty plate of solid gold. heavily tnorusted with emeralds and precious stones. This represented n human face surrounded with rays. It was the image of the sun whom the Incas worshipped, and used gold in doing 50. They consid- cred that metal sacred to the sun. and often referred to 1t as the tears of that heavenly body. On both sides of the image were the embalmed bodies of the Incas of the past each seated on chair of solid gold.
 In addition to the Temple of the Sun, the lncas had temples to the stars and moon. The traditions say that there were chapels to these heavenly bodies in the great temple at Cuzco, and it is whis- pered that evidences of these have re- gently been discovered. When I went through the church my guide was not permitted to go with me. The holy father in charge performed this duty him. self; and the guide thought that 1t was to prevent me from learning what they had recently discovered.
 All of the ornaments and utensils de- voted to the religion Of the Incas were made of gold or silver. In the great hall of the sun there were golden ewers which held the water used at the time of the sacrifices; and there were F silver jars filled with Indian corn. There was a gol- den llama with golden fleece; and also gblden birds and golden flowers all of life size.
 The Spaniards found vast amount of gold in the cemeteries of the Jncas. Some of those monarchs. after death, had their royal bowels filled with gold. Gold was ( Thar fc nrd hpf