The Treasure of the Incas A Story of Adventure in Peru

both warmly clothed. On their heads were felt hats with broad brims, which could be pulled down and tied over the ears, both for warmth and to prevent their being blown away by the fie

for the day, were strapped behind. By the advice of Dias each had in his pocket a large pair of green goggles, to protect their eyes from the glare of sun and snow. They

home to a certain young lady. You see, she would then have been able to hang it up in her room

rry said, "I will pul

my hat tightly over them. I really think it is very ungrateful

n like this, Bert, I s

an't d

dence, the expenditure of a few dollars would, I have no doubt, be sufficient to induce

other, and I will make no mor

ir appearance as they issued out of the courtyard. Speedily, however, th

ules were fastened one behind another, and José stood at the head of the leading one. As they came out Dias swung his wife on to a cushion strapped behind his saddle, and mounted himself before her.

hem cruelly, but you must give your mules an occas

mall river, but of vital importance to the country through which

od here at least," Harry said to

d almost all the towns between the two ranges of the Andes were their work. It is true that they conquered the people down to the sea, but they do not seem to have cared to live here. The treasures of Pachacamac and the other places on the plains were those of the old people and the old religion. The inhabitants of the

ey were few in number in comparison with the number they governed, and in their quarrels with each other the bulk of the people stood aloof; and it was only when

but you are breaking our agreement t

lk in it yet, and you surely do not expect that

, however bad it may be. You have got cheek enough in other things, and cheek goes a long way in learning to talk a foreig

ing at. I could do a high-flown sentence, and offer to kiss your hand and to declare that all I have is at your disposal.

t you can find other words to express your meaning, and when you cannot hit on a word you must us

I got to

he has ever gone a long journey with her husband bef

ow. I suppose I must.

think that you are

d the remains of an old Spanish town and several haciendas, where many cattle and horses were grazing. They were ascending steadily, and after passing Santa Clara, eleven miles from Lima, the valley narrowed and became little more than a ravine. On

ured them was clean and comfortable, and they therefore took a cou

Harry said. "We have met any number of laden mules coming down,

preferring to take his meal in a large room used by passing mule

lted here," Bertie said; "

Mrs. Dias. I did not hear what you were sa

altogether. She generally understood what I meant, and though she could not help laughing sometimes, she did it so good-temperedly that one did not feel put out.

t the beginning, and now that you have once broken

them. With them had been buried many of the implements of their trade. One or two had apparently not been opened. Here were knitting utensils, toilet articles, implements for weaving, spools of thread, needles of bone and bronze. With the body of a girl had been placed a kind of work-box, containing the articles that she had used, and the mummy of a parrot, some beads, and fragments of an ornament of silver. Dias told them that all t

they had spent three hours in their investigations; "thi

wilder than the scenery they passed. At times rivers ran through perpendicular gorges, and the track wound up and down steep ravines. Sometimes they would all dismount, th

n on foot, Donna Maria stepped gaily along and Bertie had hard work to keep pace with her. He was making rapid pr

hile Harry and his brother sat and smoked for a time by the fire and then turned in. At daybreak Dias rode back leading their riding mules and a baggage animal; the tent, beds, and the cooking utensils were packed up, and they rode in to the village and passed on at a trot until they overto

These were as the Spaniards found them, and must at one time have been inhabited by a thriving population. Even now gardens and orchards flourished upon them up to the highest points on the hills. Oroya was a large place, and, avoiding the busy part of t

ver our plans. You said that we would no

o silver mine, they say it is the richest in the world. It is well that you should see the forma

um of money, but it would be necessary to open it and go to a large expense to prove it. Then one would have to go to England

nod

rich as Potosi the silver would have to be carried to Lima, so great a distance on mules' backs that it would swallow up the profits. And it

and send two or three mule-loads of the stuff home. They might be of no good for the purpose for which I have come out her

r, but he must pr

ficient to put two or thre

to determine the course of the lode, its thickness and value, to trace it as far as possi

advice, Dias. And now about t

gold are in the mountains that lie behind Lake Titicaca, which lies to the south of Cuzco and on the border of Bolivia. No one doubts that in the time of the Incas there existed gold mines, and very rich ones; for if it had not been so it is impossible to account for the enormous amount of gold

s. The towns on the western sides of this plateau, Challhuanca, Tanibobamba, Huancavelica, would as naturally send theirs for safety into the gorges of the western Andes, but all traditions point to the fact that this was not done by the Incas. As soon as th

ths for the search it is on that side that we must try, and ten times that length of time would be insufficient for us to do it thoroughly. As to the gold mines, it is certain that they lie in that portion of the range between Cuzco and Lake Titicaca. It was near Puno, a short distance from the lake, t

the gold from a mine an abundance of labour is required, besides machinery for crushing quartz and separating the gold from it. In the bed of a river, if it is rich and abounding in nuggets, three or four m

ould carry, but not one in a hundred of those that go ever come back; some doubtless die from hunger and hardship, but more are killed by the Indians.

ias, that the gold could ha

the Incas never attempted to subdue the tribes beyond the mountains, they may ha

many wild b

he mountains pumas

gh I should not mind if we fell in with on

umbers, and the people make oil from their eggs; and the buffo, a sort of porpoise, also abounds. The natives do not eat these, except when very pressed for food; they catch them for the sake of their oil. There are many kinds of fish: the sunaro, which I heard an English traveller say are like the fish the Engli

ought to do fa

hey are very shy. But there are some creatures with which we certainly do not wish to meet, and unfortunately these are not uncommon. I mean the alligators and

r disagreeables are there, Di

have slain an enemy who had friends influential enough to set the law in motion against them, or have escaped from prison; some

they live?"

ugh the mountains; they rob travellers who are worth robbing; and sometimes they carry off a proprietor of land, and get a ransom for

ey go in l

troops are sent against them, they will join to resist them; but this is not often. The authorities know well enough that they have no chance o

or the savages that so few of t

s. You must not, of course, suppose that there are great numbers of them, se?or. There may be some hundreds, but from Huancabamba-the northern frontier of the western Cordilleras, where the Maranon crosses the eastern range-down to Lake Titicaca

erhaps those worthy people congregate chi

these a traveller might pass many t

en in with the

rstood that a payment of so many dollars per mule will enable you to pass without molestation. In return for your money, you receive a ribbon, or a rosette, or a feather, and this you place in your hat as a passport. You may meet a few men with guns as you pass along, but when they see the sign they salute you civilly, ask for a drink of wine if

handed over my gold to Se?or Pasquez, for if we do fall into the

in the mountains. But if they were to take our blankets, and tents, and provisions, and your firearms,

r gun and our rifles, and that old fowling-piece which you got for José, which will throw a fairly heavy charg

ar, as a surprise at night. Of course, when we are once on the hills, José and I will keep watch by turns. He is as sharp as a needle. I should have no fear of any of these robbers creeping up to

their weapon

hers only spears, and sometimes they p

. Are there remedie

e is to pour ammonia at once into the hole that is made by an arrow, and to cut out all

ntry these unpleasant people inhabit, I will fill my spirit-flask with it, so that it will always be handy if required. Now we u

is spot in vain, but the secret has been well kept by the few who know it. It has been handed down in my father's family from father to son ever since the Spaniards came. He told it to me, and I swore to reveal it to none but my son. I have no son, and the secret therefore will die with me. Whether it has been passed down in any other family I cannot say.

s it lies there, and it would be better to utilize it than allow it to waste. I ne

fail we must try elsewhere; but this is the only one of which I have been told all the marks. I know generally several places where great treasure was hidden, but not the marks by which they could be discovered, and as we may be sure that every measure was taken to hide the entrances to the caves, the chances would be all against our lightin

t is known that this was but a small hoard, and that the great one, many times larger, has never been discovered. Probably the secret has long been lost; for if there are but few who know where the Incas buried th

ow more than half the population were swept away by the Spaniards, to say nothing of those who have died in the wars of the last thirty years.

up a formidable insurrection of the natives throughout the whole of their territory; and instead, therefore, of taking possession of the temple and dedicating it to their own god,

g upon what would seem to be almost a hopeless search for such stores, we should try this place that you know of. In that case it seems to

e. Only when you and your brother saved my life did I feel that I was bound to aid you, even to the point of divulging the secret. It is different now from what it was when it was first handed down. At that time the Spaniards were mercilessly slaying all known to be in the possession of any secret connected with gold, an

wing that you are injuring no one by the act, and are b

k we may congratulate ourselves. For the first time I really th

be so. As for me, I am quite content; what with Indians and brigands, wild