Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-05

Il will tell you what I can" said David
resolutely. But first-what has Raoul
written about mc?"
"Merelv a reference Read Il after YOU
have told me your story our experiment is
still unfinished, you know"
unfortunately cant tell YOU the very
thing you want TO know The series OF
words in your test seemed to revive some
forgotten nightmare: ana the horror of it
was that this nightmare kept just beyond
MY rcaCh--as it always does--its riddle un-
solved This with your strange knowledge
of what had happened surprised me into
this ridiculous weakness"
so I thought" said Leighton. Now,
what do you remember
."Ill have to go back little. But--you
probably knew it all you know so much of
my history"
Never mind want you to prove the
truth Of what know"
David looked at Leighton doubtfully.
very we'll" he said, "rll do what
Much of his story. as he told it. was de-
cided'y vague In the main outline. how
ever. II was simple enough although ending
in a mystery that he was unable to clear
up.
Three years ago. it seems. David went to
work on a project based legend be-
longing to prehistoric America. Traditions
of the immense wealth and the civilization
round in certain parts Of South America by
the Spanish conquerors had always fas-
c'nated him. And of all these traditions the
one telling of FL Dorado the Glded Man
interested him most.
From the early South American chronicles
he learned that within a few years of P-
zarlos discovery of Peru. three other eX.
p'orers, starting independently from points
on .the Caribbean and Pacific coasts after
months of perilous adventure, reached great
laDteldnU in the Timer Andes whore
gotta. the capital of Colombia now stands
II was "El Dorado" who drew these ex-
| pIorerS thither. From the Indians on the
| coast they had heard stories of the great
| Man of Gold. who lived among the noun
| 1ains of the interior and who possessed
| treasure so vast that all the wealth of the
| rest of the world could not equal 1t.
| Arrived in this mysterious region. they
| found not El Dorado. but superior race of
| people, somewhat like the ancient PeruViauS
| showing. in the barbaric splendor of their
| temples and palaces. every evidence of
| wealth and culture These people however
| known as the ChibChas from their worship
| of the god ChibchaCum. were suspicious of
| the Spaniards. A war of conquest followed
| in which thousands of the natives were mas
| sacred and their finest temples and monu-
| ments destroyed Sajipa, the Chbcha king.
| was subjected to the Crueles torture by his
| conquerors in their effort to find out from
| him where he had hidden his treasure. But
| he proved hero enough to suffer martyrdom
| rather than reveal the secret. For this he
| was put to death. and the Spaniards con-
| tented themselves with the trivial amount OF
| gold and emeralds eXtorted from his sub
| jects. They then established themselves in
colonies on the Plains of Bogota. The climate
| was delightful. the land fertile and as they
| soon discovered, rich in minerals From the
few surviving Indians they learned some
| of the native legends In one of these. the
| legend Of IL Dorado they believed they had
| the clue to the treasure they had been seek
! ing. This legend mixed up with the
ancient mythology of the Chbchas. and had
played leading part in their religious cere-
monial for centuries before the arrival of
the Spaniards. 1t was as follows:
on the edge of the Bogota tahleIand, not
many miles from the city that is today the
capital Of Colombia, there is a lake. Guata-
Nita--the Sacred Lake of the ChibChas
Geologicaly 1t is a pocket formed by a
cluster of spurs near the foot of a conica
mountain. 1t. is small, circular in shape. and
reaches a central depth of PA feet. Beneath
this lake, according to tradition. lived the
national god. Chibchacum. To keep on the
right side of this god, to make atonement for
The people. a semannual feast was observed
| the Feast of El Dorado.
| Twice a year the king of the ChhChaS. in
| celebrating this feast, was fl0atcd on a rat
TO the center of the sacred lake. lie wa,
then stripped of his royal robes, his body
anointed with oil and covered with gold dust
| Glttering in the sunlight this glded MAJ
stood at the edge of the royal raft and was
sauted by his subjects. who cncircled the
shores of the lake. each one bearing Al
offering Of gold and cmeraNds. Then. as /
dazZled by the Splendor of their monarch
the people reverently turned their face,
away from him and, at a signal from th'
priests, threw their treasures over thet
heads into the lake. while the gilded man
followed by the heaps Of precious stones ant
metals which were with him on the raft
plunged into its waters No god ever re
ceved such shower of wealth at his shrin
was thus lavished twice a year. for cen
turies on the god Chibchacum. All thi
wealth. except an insignificant sum that tn
Spanards rescued. is today according +
the legend. at the bottom Of Guatavita.
Besides this semannual tribute, it wa
rumored that at the time of Saiipas murde
the entire remaining treasure of the thihcha
has been thrown into the lake. not as
votive offering hut as means of hiding
from the Spaniards. II took fifty men. $
runs tradition. to carry the gold dust L
Guatavita from the kings treasury alone.
All the minor chieftains Of the kingdo,
made q similar sacrifice of their possession
this occasion
Years afterward. tho Spaniards. stirred h
these stories. attempted to drain the lak'
This meant the piercing Of earth and roc
walls nearly nine hundred feet thick an
proved too great an undertaking for tn
engineering machinery that they hhd
those days But before they gave w III
work they succeeded in lowering the level Z
the lake sufficiently 10 recover ceria'
amount Of treasure. Since that time III
secret of Guatavita has remained und'
turbed To solve il David went to Bngot;
Raoul Arthur. who had done most of III
practical planning for the eNnedtion. weT
with him.
The motives of the two men engaged in III
enterprise were not exactly similar. baN''
according to what he told Leighton. hoped
solve an archaeological riddle and to STUDY
hitherto lost people whose prehiStori" civiliz'
| tion euualed that of their neiGhhors, the InC*
| of Peru. Arthur. the contrary, Who'
fortune was still to he made. regarded
| frankly as a mining scheme that promise
| fabulous returns in money, with a comnari
| lively small amount of risk and labor. w
| two points Of view were not antagnniSfic. hr
| for time the friends worked a'n'cah
| enough together In Rognta they easily 81
cured from the Government the necessary p"
, | init to drain Guatavita But the attraction
| of the Colombian capital tn" hospitality vii
| which theN wera raceiNeh. DELAYED the act u