LAKE OF GOLD

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3336, 3 May 1926, Page 10

LAKE OF GOLD

"‘here is a lake in a silent fold of the Colombian Andes, 10,000 ft above sea level, which is paved with gold, or very nearly so (says a "Dally Express” writer). Romance lies bcriiind the history of this gold and the lake wherein an English mining engineer named Knowles found it. The lake was one of five sacred to the religion of the Chibcha Indians whose faith was that an evil spirit dwelt therein. To appease this spirit, little gods, wrought in pure gold, were flung into Us waters. Later, when the Spanish drum was beaten in the passes of the Andes, and the breastplates and pennons of the invaders flamed up the mountain slopes and Toleda blades ran red with Indian blood, the royal house of Chibcha was overthrown, and the private treasure of its sovereign was flung into the lake. The Spaniards tried again and again to recover It. One man succeeded so far as to lower the lake by 10ft, and found many jewels and ornaments of gold. Then the Crown woke up, and laid its hands upon the lake of gold. A contract was entered into with an adventurer. He lavished his fortune upon the work of draining the lake, and found much treasure, all of which was claimed by the Crown. Bat lie failed to drain the lake entirely, and was loft penniless. His contract was thus invalid, and the Spanish Crown kept the treasure which he had found. Many other goldseekers followed him. Finally, in 1504 the the lake was drained entirely and dredged to a depth of 50ft. Many jewels and much gold were found, but more, say tho treasure-hunters, lies still deeper embedded in the age-old deposits of mud and silt which are us yet untouched.