MUDLARKING FOR MILLIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 65, 16 March 1907, Page 9

MUDLARKING FOR MILLIONS.

There was a queer little.exhiibtion of antiquities held the other day in London Wall. It was composed of images, emeralds, and metal ornaments, which were the result of a treasure recovery enterprise, and was held for the encouragment of shareholders in a concern known as "Contractors,. Limited." This company was formed some six years ago for the purpose of recovering the contents of a sacred lake called Giiatavita, near Bogota. The directors of the company from the first made it known that their venture was a gamble, and involved the expenditure .of £50,000; yet, if successful, the plunder, according to a famous French statistician, -would be worth at least £120,000,000. The odds, therefore, could not be called unsatisfactory. Humboldt and other.-travellers.of repute have placed on record the legends cf Colombia, which go . far to support the statements in the prospectus, of Contractors, Ltd., and, further, it is-shown beyond doubt that the Spaniards in the early 17th century < recovered from the lake treasure to the value of a million sterling. Their modesty in not removing the remaining £120,000,000 is explained on the ground of their lack of engineering skill. The reason why a people should throw gold and precious stones' into an almost inaccessible lake 10,000 ft above the sea level is not obvious, but is easily explained. Numerous, authors assert that when the Spaniards first landed in ; Colombia they learned that the natives" ■ considered the Guatavita Lake an object of veneration, and associated-it with the disposal of the. gold -. and emeralds in which the country abounded.' The iking of the country was also high priest,, and periodically assembled his people," who were knoWn as the Chibchas, at the lake side for worship. Their rites consisted-in the king being well oiled, {covered with gold dust, then rowed to .the centre 'of

the lake and immersed until all the gold was washed "off his .body, 'Meanwhile his subjects sang, danced and threw offerings of gold and prpcrous stones into the lake, such donations being supposed to purchase advantages ' in; proportion to their value. But" it was. forbidden for anyone to.recover the sunken : gifts, and even -to the present day the natives consider it sacrilege to despoil the lake of such offerings.

"When the Chibchas first began to make the • lake the receptacle for their offer-

ings no one professes to know, and !tj is difficult to . conic at the premises oa which' the French statistician based his estimate of 120 millions. But the wealth 1 of. the lake does not entirely-accrue from; religious rites. When the Spanish landed on the coast of Colombia, the natives soon found that they: thirsted, for gold and precious stones, arid the Indian chiefs ordered their people to circumvent tho aims of .their despoile'rE- Thus: it happened, that thte .natives .placed, oil -such wealth ihat they possessed inside images and vases, and .then... threw it in tha lake, which it was. sacrilege, .to deplete, and for nearly three hundred years it has remained unrecovered, except m part by the Spaniards., as stated. *The history of the English company formed to recover the remainder of tha treasure has been somewhat checkered. Its first problem was to draw off the water: but the rain for the first two years was so plenteous a3 to cause serious delays. About two years ago, the mud was reached,"and then occurred a droughwhich has lasted to the present date. It thus became impossible "to wash the mud, and,, therefore, the wealth which Is supposed to-be reposing a dozen feet below, the 'bottom"of the lake cannot be coma at. In the meantime,- the only results of six j-ears of hard work: haV-'-qeh antiquities, valued at a few pounds, and! —the issue of a circular to the shareholders pleading for another £5000 as an alternative, to abandoning the venture.