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492 NOTES OF A BOTANIST CHAP.
I could not leave Ambato and Riobamba, where
my goods were deposited, for more than a few
I days together.
evidence that the
obtained, however, indisputable
" Derrotero " or Guide to Llan-
ganati of Valverde had been sent by the King of
Spain to the Corregidors of Tacunga and Ambato,
along with a Cedula Real (Royal Warrant) commanding
those functionaries to use every diligence
in seeking out the treasure of the Incas. That one
expedition had been headed by the Corregidor of
Tacunga in person, accompanied by a friar, Padre
Longo, of considerable literary reputation. The
Derrotero was found to correspond so exactly with
the actual localities, that only a person intimately
acquainted with them could have drawn it up ;
and
that it could have been fabricated by any other
person who had never been out of Spain was an
impossibility.
the end of the
This expedition had nearly reached
route, when one evening the Padre
Longo disappeared mysteriously, and no traces of
him could be discovered, so that whether he had
fallen into a ravine near which they were encamped,
or into one of the morasses which abound all over
that region, is to this day unknown. After searching
for the Padre in vain for some days, the expedition
returned without having accomplished its object.
The Cedula Real and Derrotero were deposited
in the archives of Tacunga, whence they dis-
appeared about twenty years ago. So many people
were admitted to copy them that at last some one,
not content with a copy, carried off the I
originals.
have secured a copy of the Derrotero, bearing date
August 14, 1827 ;
but
I can meet with no one who
recollects the date of the original documents.