ated the hidden treasure
with the blood of their last king, and this feeling doubtless prompts
them to keep the secret inviolate.

From traditionary accounts, which bear the appearance of probability,
it would appear that the gold was buried somewhere in the Altos of Mito,
near the valley of Jauja. Searches have frequently been made in that
vicinity, but no clue to the hiding-place has yet been discovered.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 65: Some derive the word Andes from the people called Antis,
who dwelt at the foot of these chains of mountains. A province in the
department of Cuzco, which was probably the chief settlement of that
nation, still bears the name of Antas.]

[Footnote 66: From the most remote times the Ratanhia has been employed
by the Indians as a medicine. It is one of their favorite remedies
against spitting of blood and dysentery. Most of the Ratanhia exported
to Europe is obtained in the southern provinces of Peru, particularly in
Arica and Islay. The extract which is prepared in Peru, and which was
formerly sent in large quantities to Europe, is now scarcely an object
of traffic. For several years past no Ratanhia has been shipped from
Callao, and but very little from Truxillo.]

[Footnote 67: More lengthened information respecting them may be found in
the "Fauna Peruana." I have there noted all their specific varieties,
and have corrected the erroneous accounts given of them by some previous
travellers.]

[Footnote 68: _Phalcoboenus montanus_, Orb.]

[Footnote 69: The Magay is the stem of the American Agave. It has a sort
of spungy sap; but it is covered externally with a strong tough bast.
The Magay supplies the inhabitants of Upper Peru with an excellent kind
of light and strong building wood.]

CHAPTER XII.

Cerro de Pasco--First discovery of the Mines--Careless mode of working
them--Mine Owners and Mine Laborers--Amalgamating and
Refining--Produce of the Mines--Life in Cerro de Pasco--Different
Classes of the Population--Gaming and Drunkenness--Extravagance and
Improvidence of the Indian Mine Laborers--The Cerro de San
Fernando--Other Important Mining Districts in Peru--The Salcedo
Mine--Castrovireyna--Vast Productiveness of the Silver Mines of
Peru--Rich Mines secretly known to the Indians--Roads leading from
Cerro de Pasco--The Laguna of Chinchaycocha--Battle of Junin--Indian
Robbers--A Day and a Night in the Puna Wilds.

Having traversed the long and difficult route from the cap