THE GOLD OF THE INCAS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 7 January 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE GOLD OF THE INCAS.

A PERUVIAN LEGEND.

When Mme.H.P.Blavatsky was travelling in Peru the following curious story waa told her by one of the natives. The same story was told to her some time afterward by an Italian gentleman, who claimed he had received his information from an old priest whom he had hypnotised, and to whom the secret had been divulged in confession: The inca was made prisoner by tne cruel Pizarro and his Spanish soldiers, and his wife offered for his liberation a room full of gold, from the floor up to the ceiling, as high as hi., conqueror could reach, before the sun would se. on the third day, She kept her promise but according to Spanish practice, Pizarro broke his word. Marvelling at the exhibition of such treasures, the conqueror declared that he would not release the prisoner, but would murder him unless the Queen revealed the place whence the treasure came. He had heard that the incas had somewhere an inexhaustible mine, a subterranean road or tunnel running many miles underground where were kept the accumulated riches of the country. The unfortunate Queenbegged for delay and went to consult the oracles. During tho sacrifice the chief priest showed her in the consecrated 'black mirror' the unavoidable murder of her husband, whether she delivered the treasures of the crown to Pizarro or not. Then the queen gave the order to close the entrance, which was a door cut in the rocky wall of a chasm, and under the direction of the priest and magicians the chasm was filled to the top with h-ige masses of rock arid the surface covered over so as to conceal the work. The incas was murdered by the Spaniards and his unhappy wife committed suicide. Spanish treachery and greed had overreached themselves and the secret of the buried treasures was locked in the breasts of a few faithful Peruvians. The Peruvian asked that, in consequence of Peruvian added that, in consequence of certain indiscretions at various times, persons had been sent by different governments to search for the treasure under pretext of scientific exploration. They had rummaged the country through without realising their object. This tradition is corroborated by the reports of Dr. Tschuddi and other historians of Peru. Mme. Blavatsky had in her possession a map showing the plan of the tunnel, the sepulchre and the doors, which was givento her by the old Peruvian. She never thought of profiting by this secret, but adds in her account of it: 'Even if we had thought of so doing, it would have required the co-operation of the Peruvian and Bolivian governments on an extensive scale. To say nothing of the physical obstacles, no one individual or small party could undertake such an exploration without encountering the army of smugglers and brigands with which the coast is infested, and which, in fact, includes nearly the whole population. The mere task of purifying tne mephitic air of the tunnel, which has i not been entered for centuries, would be a serious one. There however, the treasure lies, and there, the tradition says, it Will lie until the last vestige of Spajnish rule disappears from the whole of North and South America.' Thus runs the story of the treasures "of the incas. j