Untitled - The Alfred Russel Wallace Website

HIDDEN TREASURE 503
right, and pass above the cascade, going
round the
offshoot of the mountain. And if by chance the
mouth of the socabon be closed with certain herbs
which they call '
Salvaje,' remove them, and thou
wilt find the entrance. And on the left-hand side
of the mountain thou
'
mayest see the
'
Guayra (for
thus the ancients called the furnace where they
founded metals), which is nailed with nails. golden 1
And to reach the third mountain, if thou canst not
pass in front of the socabon, it is the same thing
to pass behind it, for the water of the lake falls
into it.
" If thou lose thyself in the forest, seek the river,
follow it on the right bank ;
lower
down take to the
beach, and thou wilt reach the canon in such sort
that, although thou seek to pass it, thou wilt not
find where ; climb, therefore, the mountain on the
right hand, and in this manner thou canst by no
means miss thy way."
[Having read this remarkable document, we
shall better understand Spruce's account of the
various attempts to discover the treasure, the chief
routes followed being marked by red lines.]
With this document and the map before us,
let us trace the attempts that have been made
to reach the gold thrown away by the subjects of
Atahuallpa as useless when it could no longer be
applied to the purpose of ransoming
him from the
Spaniards.
Pillaro is a somewhat smaller town than Ambato,
and stands on higher ground, on the opposite side
1
(i^u< TV sprinkled will) gi>]cl.
F.i>. ]