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that the desire of discovering hidden treasure 

 has not prompted the undertaking. During my 

 travels in Peru, in visiting the vast ruins of the 

 city of Chimu, near Mansiche, I went into the 

 interior of the famous Huaca de Toledo, the 

 tomb of a Peruvian prince, in which Garci 

 Gutierez de Toledo discovered, on digging a 

 gallery, in 1576, massive gold amounting in 

 value to more than five millions of francs, as is 

 proved by the book of accounts, preserved in the 

 mayor s office at Truxillo. 



The great teocalli of Cholula, called also the 

 Mountain of unbaked bricks (tlalchihualtepec), 

 had an altar on its top, dedicated to Quetzal- 

 coatl, the god of the air. This Quetzalcoatl, 

 whose name signifies serpent clothed with green 

 feathers, from coat I, serpent, and quetzalli, green 

 feathers, is the most mysterious being of the 

 whole Mexican mythology. He was a white 

 and bearded man, like the Bochicha of the 

 Muyscas, of whom we spoke in our descriptions 

 of the Cataract of Tequendama. He was high 

 priest of Tula (Tollan), legislator, chief of a 

 religious sect, which, like the Sonyasis and the 

 Bouddhists of Indostan, inflicted on themselves 

 the most cruel penances. He introduced the 

 custom of piercing the lips and the ears, and 

 lacerating the rest of the body with the prickles 

 of the agave leaves, or the thorns of the cactus ; 

 and of putting reeds into the wounds, in order 



