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CHAPTER XXVIII
A HIDDEN TREASURE OF THE IXCAS
[THE following narrative forms one of the most
curious pieces of genuine history in connection with
the never-ceasing search for buried treasure in the
territory of the Incas. We owe to the persevering
exertions of Richard Spruce the discovery and the
translation of one of the few remaining copies of the
official order of the Spanish king to search for this
treasure, with the accompanying detailed "Guide"
to its
locality. Still more are we indebted to
his generally esteemed character and ingratiating
manners for obtaining permission to copy the
unique map of the district containing the treasure,
and for undertaking o the considerable labour of
and elaborate
copying in the minutest detail so large
a map, without which both the " Guide " and the story
of the search for the treasure would be unintelligible.
The essential portions of this map, containing the
whole of the route described in the " Guide," as
well as the routes of the various explorers (marked
in
red), have been reproduced here (see end of
chapter). The portions farther east and south,
which have no immediate relation to the quest for
the treasure, having been omitted in order to make
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