The Treasure of the Incas: A Story of Adventure in Peru Read online

  CHAPTER V

  AMONG THE MOUNTAIN

  Two days later the mules were brought round to the door at sunrise, andHarry and his brother sallied out from the hotel, dressed for the firsttime in the Peruvian costume. They were both warmly clothed. On theirheads were felt hats with broad brims, which could be pulled down andtied over the ears, both for warmth and to prevent their being blownaway by the fierce winds that sweep down the gorges. A thick poncho ofllama wool fell from their shoulders to their knees, and loosely tiedround their necks were thick and brightly-coloured scarves. They worehigh boots, and carried large knives stuck in a strap below the knee.The rifles were fastened at the bow of their saddles, and theirwallets, with provisions for the day, were strapped behind. By theadvice of Dias each had in his pocket a large pair of green goggles, toprotect their eyes from the glare of sun and snow. They tied these onbefore coming downstairs, and both agreed that had they metunexpectedly in the street they would have passed each other withoutthe slightest recognition.

  "It is a pity, Harry," Bertie said seriously, "that you did not haveyour portrait taken to send home to a certain young lady. You see, shewould then have been able to hang it up in her room and worship itprivately, without anyone having the slightest idea that it was herabsent lover."

  "You young scamp," Harry said, "I will pull your ears for you."

  "If you attempt anything of the sort, I shall tie the brim of my hattightly over them. I really think it is very ungrateful of you not totake my advice in the spirit in which I gave it."

  "If you intend to go on like this, Bert, I shall leave you behind."

  "You can't do it."

  "Oh, yes, I can! I might give you in charge for some crime or other;and in lack of evidence, the expenditure of a few dollars would, I haveno doubt, be sufficient to induce the judge, magistrate, or whateverthey call him, to give you six months' imprisonment."

  "Then you are an unnatural brother, and I will make no more suggestionsfor your good."

  So they had come downstairs laughing, though feeling a little shy attheir appearance as they issued out of the courtyard. Speedily,however, they gained courage as they saw that passers-by paid noattention to them.

  They had spent the previous afternoon in packing the bundles, in whichevery item was put away so that it could be got at readily, and inmaking sure that nothing had been omitted. The five baggage mules werefastened one behind another, and Jose stood at the head of the leadingone. As they came out Dias swung his wife on to a cushion strappedbehind his saddle, and mounted himself before her. Harry and hisbrother climbed into theirs. They had both refused to put on the heavyand cruel spurs worn by the Peruvians, but had, at the earnest requestof the Indian, put them in their saddle-bags.

  "You will want them," he said. "You need not use them cruelly, but youmust give your mules an occasional prick to let them know that you havespurs."

  On leaving the town the road ran up the valley of the Rimac, a smallriver, but of vital importance to the country through which it passes,as small canals branching from it irrigate the land.

  "The Spaniards have done some good here at least," Harry said to Dias,who was riding beside him.

  "Some of these canals were constructed in their time, but the restexisted long before they came here, and, indeed, long before the Incascame. The Incas' work lies chiefly beyond the mountains; on this sidealmost all the great ruins are of cities and fortresses built by theold people. Cuzco was the Incas' capital, and almost all the townsbetween the two ranges of the Andes were their work. It is true thatthey conquered the people down to the sea, but they do not seem to havecared to live here. The treasures of Pachacamac and the other places onthe plains were those of the old people and the old religion. Theinhabitants of the plains are for the most part descendants of thosepeople. The Incas were strong and powerful, but they were not numerous.That was why the Spaniards conquered them so easily. The old people,who regarded them as their masters, did not care to fight for them,just as the Peruvians did not care to fight for the Spaniards."

  "I expect it was a good deal like the Normans in England," Bertie putin. "They conquered the Saxons because they were better armed andbetter disciplined, but they were few in number in comparison with thenumber they governed, and in their quarrels with each other the bulk ofthe people stood aloof; and it was only when the Normans began theirwars in France and Scotland, and were obliged to enlist Saxon archersand soldiers, that the two began to unite and to become one people."

  "I have no doubt that was so, Bertie; but you are breaking ouragreement that you should speak in Spanish only."

  "Oh, bother! you know very well that I cannot talk in it yet, and yousurely do not expect that I am going to ride along without opening mylips."

  "I know you too well to expect that," Harry laughed, "and will allow anoccasional outbreak. Still, do try to talk Spanish, however bad it maybe. You have got cheek enough in other things, and cheek goes a longway in learning to talk a foreign language. You have been four monthsat your Spanish books, and should certainly begin to put simplesentences together."

  "But that is just what one does not learn from books," the lad said."At any rate, not from such books as I have been working at. I could doa high-flown sentence, and offer to kiss your hand and to declare thatall I have is at your disposal. But if I wanted to say, 'When are wegoing to halt for dinner? I am feeling very peckish,' I should bestumped altogether."

  "Well, you must get as near as you can, Bertie. I dare say you cannotturn slang into Spanish; but you can find other words to express yourmeaning, and when you cannot hit on a word you must use an English one.Your best plan is to move along on the other side of Dias, and chat tohis wife."

  "What have I got to say to her?"

  "Anything you like. You can begin by asking her if she has ever gone along journey with her husband before, how far we shall goto-day--things of that sort."

  "Well, I will try anyhow. I suppose I must. But you go on talking toDias, else I shall think that you are both laughing at me."

  Five miles from Lima they passed through the little village of Quiraz.Beyond this they came upon many cotton plantations, and in the ravinesby the side of the valley or among the ruins of Indian towns wereseveral large fortresses. They also passed the remains of an oldSpanish town and several haciendas, where many cattle and horses weregrazing. They were ascending steadily, and after passing Santa Clara,eleven miles from Lima, the valley narrowed and became little more thana ravine. On either side were rents made in the hills by earthquakes,and immense boulders and stones were scattered about at the bottom ofthe narrow gorge. Four hours' travelling brought them to Chosica, wherethe valley widened again near the foot of the hills.

  Here they halted for the day. There was an inn here which Dias assuredthem was clean and comfortable, and they therefore took a couple ofrooms for the night in preference to unpacking their tents.

  "It is just as well not to begin that till we get farther away," Harrysaid. "We have met any number of laden mules coming down, and if wewere to camp here we should cause general curiosity."

  He accordingly ordered dinner for himself and his brother, Diaspreferring to take his meal in a large room used by passing muleteers.The fare was as good as they had had at the hotel at Lima.

  "I am not sorry that we halted here," Bertie said; "I feel as stiff asa poker."

  "I think you got on very well, Bertie, with Mrs. Dias. I did not hearwhat you were saying, but you seemed to be doing stunningly."

  "She did most of the talking. I asked her to speak slowly, as I did notmanage to catch the sense of what she said. She seems full of fun, anda jolly little woman altogether. She generally understood what I meant,and though she could not help laughing sometimes, she did it sogood-temperedly that one did not feel put out. Each time I spoke shecorrected me, told me what I ought to have said, and made me say itafter her. I think I shall get on fairly well at the end of a fewweeks."

  "I am sure you will, Bertie; the trouble is
only at the beginning, andnow that you have once broken the ice, you will progress like a houseon fire."

  There were still four hours of daylight after they had finished theirmeal, so they went out with Dias to explore one of the numerousburying-grounds round the village. It consisted of sunken chambers. Inthese were bones, with remains of the mats in which the bodies had beenclothed. These wrappings resembled small sacks, and they remarked thatthe people must have been of very small size, or they could never havebeen packed away in them. With them had been buried many of theimplements 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 girlhad been placed a kind of work-box, containing the articles that shehad used, and the mummy of a parrot, some beads, and fragments of anornament of silver. Dias told them that all these tombs were made longbefore the coming of the Incas. He said that round the heads of the menand boys were wound the slings they had used in life, while a piece ofcotton flock was wrapped round the heads of the women. Many of thegraves communicated with each other by very narrow passages; thepurpose of these was not clear, but probably they were made to enablethe spirits of the dead to meet and hold communion with each other.

  "I don't want to see any more of them," Bertie said after they hadspent three hours in their investigations; "this sort of thing isenough to give one a fit of the blues."

  Beyond Chosica civilization almost ceased. The road became little morethan a mule track, and was in many places almost impassable by vehiclesof any kind. Nothing could be wilder than the scenery they passed. Attimes rivers ran through perpendicular gorges, and the track wound upand down steep ravines. Sometimes they would all dismount, though Diasassured them it was not necessary; still, it made a change from themonotonous pace of little over two miles an hour at which the mulesbreasted the steep incline.

  Jose rode on the first of the baggage mules, which was very lightlyloaded; he generally sang the whole time. When on foot, Donna Mariastepped gaily along and Bertie had hard work to keep pace with her. Hewas making rapid progress with the language, though occasionally a pealof laughter from his companion told of some egregious error.

  There were villages every few miles, but now when they halted they didso as a rule a mile before they got to one of these. Dinner was cookedover a fire of dead sticks, and after the meal Harry's tent was erectedand the bed spread in it. The Indians went on to the village for thenight, while Harry and his brother sat and smoked for a time by thefire and then turned in. At daybreak Dias rode back leading theirriding mules and a baggage animal; the tent, beds, and the cookingutensils were packed up, and they rode in to the village and passed onat a trot until they overtook Maria and Jose, who had started with theother four mules when Dias rode away. At last they reached the head ofthe pass, and two days' journey took them to Oroya, standing on anelevated plateau some ten thousand feet above the sea, and fivethousand below the highest point of the road.

  The scenery had now completely changed. Villages were scattered thicklyover the plain, cultivation was general. The hillsides were lined byartificial terraces, on which were perched chalets and smallhamlets--they had seen similar terraces on the way up. These were asthe Spaniards found them, and must at one time have been inhabited by athriving population. Even now gardens and orchards flourished upon themup to the highest points on the hills. Oroya was a large place, and,avoiding the busy part of the town, they hired rooms, as it wasnecessary to give the mules two days' rest. On the first evening aftertheir arrival they gathered round a fire, for the nights were cold, andeven in the daytime they did not find their numerous wraps too hot forthem.

  "Now, Dias," Harry said, "we must talk over our plans. You said that wewould not decide upon anything till we got here."

  "In the first place, senor, I think it would be well to go to the northto see the Cerro de Pasco silver mine, they say it is the richest inthe world. It is well that you should see the formation of the rocksand the nature of the ore; we may in our journeyings come acrosssimilar rock."

  "It is gold rather than silver that one wants to find, Dias. I do notsay that a silver mine would not be worth a very large sum of money,but it would be necessary to open it and go to a large expense to proveit. Then one would have to go to England and get up a company to workit, which would be a long and difficult matter. Still, I am quite readyto go and see the place."

  Dias nodded.

  "What you say is true, senor. I could take you to a dozen places wherethere is silver. They may be good or may not, but even if they were asrich as Potosi the silver would have to be carried to Lima, so great adistance on mules' backs that it would swallow up the profits. And itwould be almost impossible to convey the necessary machinery there,indeed to do so would involve the making of roads for a great distance."

  "At the same time, Dias, should you know of any silver lodes that mightturn out well, I would certainly take some samples, and send two orthree mule-loads of the stuff home. They might be of no good for thepurpose for which I have come out here, but in time I might dosomething with them; the law here is that anyone who finds a mine canobtain a concession for it."

  "That is so, senor, but he must proceed to work it."

  "I suppose it would be sufficient to put two or three men on for thatpurpose."

  "But if you were away for a year difficulties might arise. It would bebetter for you only to determine the course of the lode, its thicknessand value, to trace it as far as possible, and then hide all signs ofthe work, and not to make your claim until you return here."

  "Very well, I will take your advice, Dias. And now about the realobject of our journey."

  "I have been thinking it over deeply," Dias said. "First as to mines;at present almost all the gold that is obtained is acquired by washingthe sands of rivers. Here and there gold has been found in rocks, butnot in sufficient quantities to make mining pay. The rivers whose sandsare richest in gold are in the mountains that lie behind Lake Titicaca,which lies to the south of Cuzco and on the border of Bolivia. No onedoubts that in the time of the Incas there existed gold mines, and veryrich ones; for if it had not been so it is impossible to account forthe enormous amount of gold obtained by the Spanish conquerors, and noone doubts that they got but a small portion of the gold in existencewhen they arrived. It is of no use whatever for us to search the oldruins of the Incas in Cuzco, or their other great towns; all that canbe found there has already been carried away.

  "Now you see, senor, Huanuco, Jauja, Cuzco, and Puno all lie near theeastern range of the Andes, and when the alarm caused by the arrogantconduct of the Spaniards began, it was natural that the treasuresshould be sent away into the heart of those mountains. The towns on thewestern sides of this plateau, Challhuanca, Tanibobamba, Huancavelica,would as naturally send theirs for safety into the gorges of thewestern Andes, but all traditions point to the fact that this was notdone by the Incas. As soon as the Spaniards arrived and struck thefirst blow, the great chiefs would naturally call together a band oftheir followers on whose fidelity they could rely, load the treasureson llamas, of which they possessed great numbers, and hurry them off tothe mountains.

  "It is among the mountains, therefore, that our search must be made.All our traditions point to the fact that it was along the easternrange of the Cordilleras, and the country beyond, that by far thegreater portion of the treasures were taken for concealment. At anyrate, as we have but eighteen months for the search it is on that sidethat we must try, and ten times that length of time would beinsufficient for us to do it thoroughly. As to the gold mines, it iscertain that they lie in that portion of the range between Cuzco andLake Titicaca. It was near Puno, a short distance from the lake, thatthe Spaniards, owing to the folly of an Indian, found great treasuresin a cave. They would probably have found much more had not a streamsuddenly burst out which flooded the whole valley and converted it intoa lake. Which do you think we had better look for first, gold mines orhidd
en treasures?"

  "Of course that must depend on you, Dias, and how much you know aboutthese matters. I need not say that a hidden treasure would be of vastlymore use to me than the richest gold mine in the world. To obtain thegold from a mine an abundance of labour is required, besides machineryfor crushing quartz and separating the gold from it. In the bed of ariver, if it is rich and abounding in nuggets, three or four men, withrough machinery, could wash out a large quantity of gold in a shorttime, and a place of that sort would be far better than a rich mine,which could not be worked without a large amount of capital."

  "I have heard tales of such places on the other side of the mountainsto the south. From time to time gold-seekers have returned with as muchas they could carry, but not one in a hundred of those that go evercome back; some doubtless die from hunger and hardship, but more arekilled by the Indians. Most of the tribes there are extremely savage,and are constantly at war with each other, and they slay every whiteman who ventures into their country."

  "Then is it not probable, Dias, that the gold could have come fromtheir country?"

  "Not from the plains, but from the streams running down into them; andalthough the Incas never attempted to subdue the tribes beyond themountains, they may have had bodies of troops to protect the workersfrom incursions by these savages."

  "Are there many wild beasts there?"

  "In some parts of the mountains pumas and jaguars abound."

  "That is not altogether satisfactory, though I should not mind if wefell in with one occasionally. But how about game, Dias?"

  "The chief game are the wild vicunas, which are very numerous in someparts; but they are very shy and difficult to hunt. Deer are plentiful,and there are foxes, bears, and hogs; but the great article of food isfish. On the plains the manatee, which is very like the seal, iscaught; turtles are found in great numbers, and the people make oilfrom their eggs; and the buffo, a sort of porpoise, also abounds. Thenatives do not eat these, except when very pressed for food; they catchthem for the sake of their oil. There are many kinds of fish: thesunaro, which I heard an English traveller say are like the fish theEnglish call the pike; these grow to the length of seven or eight feet.And many smaller kinds of fish are caught by throwing the juice of theroot of the barbasto into small streams. This makes the fish stupid,and they float on the surface so that they may easily be caught byhand. There are also many sorts of fruit."

  "Well, then, we ought to do fairly well, Dias."

  "Yes, senor; but many of these creatures are only found in the forestsand in the rivers of the plains, and they are so much hunted by thesavages there that they are very shy. But there are some creatures withwhich we certainly do not wish to meet, and unfortunately these are notuncommon. I mean the alligators and the great serpents. The nativesfear the alligators much, for their weapons are of no avail againstthem, and they would never venture to attack a great snake."

  "And besides these, what other disagreeables are there, Dias?" Bertieasked cheerfully.

  "There is one other disagreeable," Dias replied, "and it is a seriousone. There are in the mountains many desperate men. Some have slain anenemy who had friends influential enough to set the law in motionagainst them, or have escaped from prison; some have resisted thetax-collectors; many have been suspected of plotting against thegovernment; and others are too lazy to work."

  "And how do they live?" Harry asked.

  "They live partly on game and partly on plunder. They steal fromcultivators; they are paid a small sum by all muleteers passing throughthe mountains; they rob travellers who are worth robbing; and sometimesthey carry off a proprietor of land, and get a ransom for him.Occasionally they will wash the sand, and get gold enough to send oneof their number into a town to buy articles they require."

  "And do they go in large bands?"

  "No, senor; as a rule some ten or twelve keep together under the onethey have chosen as their chief. Sometimes, if people make complaintsand troops are sent against them, they will join to resist them; butthis is not often. The authorities know well enough that they have nochance of catching these men among the mountains they are so wellacquainted with, and content themselves with stationing a few troops inthe villages."

  "And is it through the robbers or the savages that so few of the goldexplorers ever return?"

  "It is chiefly, I think, from hardship," Dias said; "but undoubtedlymany who venture down near the Indians' country are killed by them.Some who have done well, and are returning with the gold they haveaccumulated, fall victims to these robbers. You must not, of course,suppose that there are great numbers of them, senor. There may be somehundreds, but from Huancabamba--the northern frontier of the westernCordilleras, where the Maranon crosses the eastern range--down to LakeTiticaca on the one side, and Tacna on the other, is nigh a thousandmiles, and the two ranges cover more square leagues than can bereckoned, and even a thousand men scattered over these would be but somany grains of sand on a stretch of the sea-shore."

  "It certainly sounds like it, Dias; but perhaps those worthy peoplecongregate chiefly in the neighbourhood of the passes."

  "That is so, senor; but even through these a traveller might pass manytimes without being troubled by them."

  "Have you fallen in with them often, Dias?"

  "Yes; but, as you see, they have done me no harm. Sometimes, when I getto the end of my journey, the mules are not so heavily laden as when Istarted; but generally the people for whom I work say to me, 'Here areso many dollars, Dias; they are for toll.' There are places in thevillages at the foot of the most-frequented passes where it isunderstood that a payment of so many dollars per mule will enable youto pass without molestation. In return for your money, you receive aribbon, or a rosette, or a feather, and this you place in your hat as apassport. You may meet a few men with guns as you pass along, but whenthey see the sign they salute you civilly, ask for a drink of wine ifyou are carrying it, then wish you good-day. It is only inlittle-frequented passes that you have to take your chance. I may saythat though these men may plunder, they never kill a muleteer. Theyknow that if they did, all traffic on that road would cease, and thesoldiers would find guides who knew every path and hiding-place in themountains."

  "Anyhow, I think it is well, Dias, that I took your advice, and handedover my gold to Senor Pasquez, for if we do fall into the hands of anyof these gentry, we can lose practically nothing."

  "No money, senor, but we might lose everything else, except perhaps themules, which they could not use in the mountains. But if they were totake our blankets, and tents, and provisions, and your firearms, weshould be in a bad way if we happened to be a couple of hundred milesin the heart of the mountains."

  "Well, I don't think they will take them," Harry said grimly, "withoutpaying pretty dearly for them. With your gun and our rifles, and thatold fowling-piece which you got for Jose, which will throw a fairlyheavy charge of buck-shot, I think we can make a very good fightagainst any band of eight men, or even one or two more."

  "I think so," Dias said gravely. "It is seldom I miss my mark. Still, Ihope we shall not be troubled with them, or with the Indians. You see,it is not so much an attack by day that we have to fear, as a surpriseat night. Of course, when we are once on the hills, Jose and I willkeep watch by turns. He is as sharp as a needle. I should have no fearof any of these robbers creeping up to us without his hearing them. ButI can't say so much for him in the case of the Indians, who can move sonoiselessly that even a vicuna would not hear them until they werewithin a spear's-throw."

  "The spear is their weapon then, Dias?"

  "Some tribes carry bows and arrows, others only spears, and sometimesthey poison the points of both these weapons."

  "That is unpleasant. Are there remedies for the poisons?"

  "None that I know of, nor do I think the savages themselves know ofany. The only chance is to pour ammonia at once into the hole that ismade by an arrow, and to cut out all the flesh round a spear-wound, andthen to pour in ammonia or sear it with a
hot iron."

  "That accounts for your buying that large bottle of ammonia at Lima. Iwondered what you wanted it for. When we get into the country theseunpleasant people inhabit, I will fill my spirit-flask with it, so thatit will always be handy if required. Now we understand thingsgenerally, Dias. It only remains for you to decide where we had bestleave the plain and take to the mountains."

  Dias was silent for a minute. "I should say, senor, that first we hadbetter journey down to Cuzco and then down to Sicuani, where thewestern Cordilleras, after making a bend, join the eastern branch, andthere cross the Tinta volcano. On the other side are many gorges. Inone of these I know there is some very rich gold sand. Explorers havesought for this spot in vain, but the secret has been well kept by thefew who know it. It has been handed down in my father's family fromfather to son ever since the Spaniards came. He told it to me, and Iswore to reveal it to none but my son. I have no son, and the secrettherefore will die with me. Whether it has been passed down in anyother family I cannot say. It may be, or it may not be; but as I oweyou my life, and also the debt of gratitude to Senor Barnett, I feelthat you are more to me than a son. Moreover, the secret was to be keptlest it should come to the knowledge of the Spaniards. The Spaniardshave gone, and with them the reason for concealment, so I feel now thatI am justified in taking you there."

  "I am glad of that, Dias. Assuredly the gold can be of service to noman as long as it lies there, and it would be better to utilize it thanallow it to waste. I need not say how grateful I shall feel if you canput me in the way of obtaining it."

  "That I cannot absolutely promise," he said. "I have the indications,but they will be difficult to find. Three hundred years bring greatchanges--rocks on which there are marks may be carried away bytorrents, figures cut in the cliffs may be overgrown by mosses orcreepers. However, if but a few remain, I hope to be able to find myway. If I fail we must try elsewhere; but this is the only one of whichI have been told all the marks. I know generally several places wheregreat treasure was hidden, but not the marks by which they could bediscovered, and as we may be sure that every measure was taken to hidethe entrances to the caves, the chances would be all against ourlighting upon them. I may say, senor, that, great as was the treasureof the Incas, that of the Chimoos or Chincas, a powerful people whoinhabited part of this country, was fully as large; and traditions saythat most of the treasures hidden were not those of the Incas, but ofthe Chimoos, who buried them when their country was invaded by theIncas.

  "This is certainly the case with most of the treasures hidden to thewest of the mountains. It was so at Pachacamac; it was so at Truxillo,where the Spaniards found three million and a half dollars of gold; andit is known that this was but a small hoard, and that the great one,many times larger, has never been discovered. Probably the secret haslong been lost; for if there are but few who know where the Incasburied their gold, it may well be believed that the exact locality ofthe Chimoo treasures, which were buried more than eight hundred yearsago, is now unknown, and that nothing but vague traditions have beenhanded down."

  "That one can quite understand," Harry agreed, "when we consider howmany of the Chimoos must have fallen in the struggle with the Incas,and how 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 thirtyyears. It seems strange, however, that the treasures in the temple ofPachacamac were left untouched by the Incas and allowed to accumulateafterwards."

  "It was so generally regarded as the sacred city," Dias said, "that,powerful as they were, the Incas did not attempt to interfere with it,as to do so would certainly have stirred up a formidable insurrectionof the natives throughout the whole of their territory; and instead,therefore, of taking possession of the temple and dedicating it totheir own god, they allowed it to remain untouched and the worship ofthe old gods to be carried on there, contenting themselves withbuilding a temple of their own to the Sun-god close at hand."

  "Whether any treasure we find belonged to the Incas or to the Chimoosis of no consequence whatever. I certainly think that before enteringupon what would seem to be almost a hopeless search for such stores, weshould try this place that you know of. In that case it seems to me,Dias, that if we had gone down the coast to Islay, and up throughArequipa to Cuzco, our journey would have been considerably shorter."

  "That is true, senor, but we should have found it difficult to take apassage for our mules; the steamers are but small craft, with pooraccommodation even for passengers. And besides, until we had made allour arrangements for the journey from Lima, I could hardly say that Ihad made up my mind to bring you to this place. Only when you and yourbrother saved my life did I feel that I was bound to aid you, even tothe point of divulging the secret. It is different now from what it waswhen it was first handed down. At that time the Spaniards weremercilessly slaying all known to be in the possession of any secretconnected with gold, and every discovery of gold entailed the forcedlabour of thousands more of the natives. Well, senor, all that ischanged; we are our own masters, and those who find mines are allowedto work them on payment of certain royalties. There is, therefore, nogood in keeping a secret that has been useless for hundreds of years."

  "Certainly, Dias, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that youare injuring no one by the act, and are besides doing a very goodaction to my brother and myself.

  "Well, Bertie," Harry said when Dias had left the room, "I think we maycongratulate ourselves. For the first time I really think there is achance of the expedition turning out a success."

  "It certainly looks like it," Bertie agreed. "For your sake I hope itwill be so. As for me, I am quite content; what with Indians andbrigands, wild beasts, alligators, and snakes, the journey is likely tobe an exciting one."