190 A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



In his explorations on the Isthmus a few years later, Vasco Nunez de Balboa 

 was even more successful in wresting from the native chiefs their golden treasures. 

 From Chiapes he received " five hundred pounds weight of wrought gold," and 

 from another cacique, Tumaco, "jewels of gold weighing six hundred and fourteen 

 crowns." l On his return trip across the Isthmus, Balboa's net booty from three 

 chiefs and their followers amounted to 14,000 crowns. 



Seemann speaks of copper and gold being found all over Panama. He states 

 that as long as the Spaniards retained possession of the country, the extraction 

 of gold was carried on to some extent, certain mines being very productive. 

 " The most important were, and still are, those of the Mineral de Veraguas. The 

 gold is found there on the plains, and large pieces are also obtained from the 

 beds of rivers and rivulets." The mines of Estrella in Chiriqui are mentioned as 

 having been celebrated and as still holding a place in the traditions of the country. 



J. H. Smith, 2 a contemporary of Seemann, states that tradition bears witness 

 to the auriferous richness of the lands sloping from the volcano of Chiriqui toward 

 Punta Burica. He locates the gold mine of Tisingal, one of the richest ever 

 worked by the Spaniards, as being "behind the volcano of Chiriqui and among 

 the range of the spurs of the Cordillera, forming the northern limits of Burica." 

 According to the same author, gold is found at Guanavano, Charco Azul and in 

 an extensive quartz formation at Las Brenas that is visited regularly by the Indians 

 of Terrora, who grind the rock and extract the gold. This locality is on the road 

 leading from the territory of Burica to Costa Rica. 



In a recent article Mr. Charles Melville Brown 8 also discusses Tisingal. He 

 says that somewhere on the immense slopes of the volcano of Chiriqui, probably 

 in the district of Bugaba, " lies the lost mine of the Indians, ' Tisingal,' known to 

 and worked by the early Spanish settlers, who changed its name to ' La Estrella.' " 

 Brown also states that during the year 1833-'34, some old official documents 

 relating to this mine were found in the archives at Cartago, Costa Rica. He 

 gives a translation from one of these documents, which will throw some light on 

 the possibilities of placer mining by the Indians of Chiriqui: 



" In 1587 Don Diego de Sojo, Captain of the Guard of the Governor of Veraguas, 

 set out from Santiago de Veraguas to explore this little-known part of the King's 

 province, and in his report to the Governor of Veraguas he says : 



The quantity of gold that abounds here is great and of good karat, as can be 

 seen from the plates of gold the Indians beat out, it not being alloyed with other 

 metals. The rivers abound with gold, besides there being other precious metals 

 in all the ranges of the Province extending over an area of 20 leagues on the 

 shores of Almirante Bay, called thus as it was discovered by Admiral Colon 

 (Christopher Columbus) ; being on the very coast of Veraguas, a distance of some 

 15 or 20 leagues from the Escudo de Veraguas (a small island near the mouth 

 of the Chiriqui Lagoon on the Atlantic). 



1 Irving. Life and voyages of Christopher Columbus, III, 147, 1892. 



2 Observations on the territory of Burica, in the province of Chiriqui, Isthmus of Panama. 

 Jour. Roy. geographic soc., XXIV, 257, 1854. 



3 Tisingal, The lost mine of Panama. Bull. Inter, bur. Amer. republics, XXX, 424, 1910. 



