METAL. 



But the greatest quantity of gold exists in the hills of Corotapa, on the shores 

 of the same bay near the banks of the Rio de la Estrella (River of the Star now 

 supposed to be the Changuinola River), a prodigious river and the richest in the 

 world, whose sands are of gold ; defended and guarded by a bellicose nation that 

 lives along its banks at its mouth at the place known as Horobaros . . . 



And the Indians extract gold with calabashes in very large grains, and a cacique 

 of the same town named Ucani works it into the said pieces . . . 



From these same hills Captain Munoz, Sergeant-Major of Don Perafan de Ribera, 

 Governor-General and Captain that he was of Costa Rica took from the tombs 

 of the dead, which he found one league inland from the coast, such a great 

 quantity of gold as to swell two large chests of the kind in which shoes and 

 nails for the cavalry are brought over from Castile. And being covetous of more 

 treasure he started inland with 60 men he had with him, leaving the two chests 

 buried at the foot of a ceiba tree, well locked and nailed, and started inland in 

 search of the Indian village. But after having traversed hardly a league he was 

 attacked by such a number of natives that some of his companions were killed, 

 he turning and fleeing pursued by the natives to the very waters of the sea; and 

 with difficulty did he embark in his frigate and escape, leaving his heart buried 

 at the foot of the ceiba tree where he had left the chests of gold, and where 

 they remain to this day." 



According to Brown the search for the golden treasure of Tisingal still continues. 

 " During the dry season of 1909 there was discovered about four days ' journey 

 from the present town of Bugaba a l guacal ' or burying ground, from which there 

 has been taken over $25,000 worth of gold up to the present time. This ' guacal ' 

 is located in the district of Corregidor, and as many as 400 natives have been 

 at work in it at one time. Don Antonio Anguizola, Governor of Chiriqui, has 

 sent out a party of 20 men in search of other ' guacales,' and it is not improbable 

 that during the present dry season others will be located . . . The gold ornaments 

 are usually found in the bottom of the grave, arranged as though they had been 

 on the breast of the body at the time of burial. Sometimes the ornaments are 

 found in one of the ' cantaros ' or little drinking jars, and in several graves recently 

 opened it was found under the second slab. A few years since an Englishman 

 in Boquete opened a grave from which he took over $2,000 worth of bullion." 



In his report to Captain F. Engle, Dr. John Evans, 1 geologist of the Chiriqui 

 Commission, states that on the tributaries of the Cricamola river several panfuls 

 of earth were washed by one of his men, and in every instance gold was found. 

 The aggregate value of the gold in three panfuls was about one dollar, which is 

 considered a large yield. Cricamola is a stream that flows from the Valle Miranda 

 northward into the Chiriqui lagoon. In other localities, Dr. Evans found ores 

 of iron, copper and platinum. Judging from the geology of the country and the 

 discoveries previously made, he believed it to be rich in minerals. 



M. A. L. Pinart 2 believes the Guaymis who inhabit Valle Miranda to be 

 descendants of the Indians that constructed the ancient cemeteries (huacals) 

 found everywhere over Chiriqui, Veragua, Azuero and Cocle. They have a 



1 New York Herald, Dec. 8, 1860. 



2 Bull. Soc. de geog. 7 ser., VI, 433, Paris, 1885. 



