CHAPTER XXVIII 
A HIDDEN TREASURE OF THE INCAS 
[The following narrative forms one of the most 
curious pieces of genuine history in connection with 
the never-ceasing search for buried treasure in the 
territory of the Incas. We owe to the persevering 
exertions of Richard Spruce the discovery and the 
translation of one of the few remaining copies of the 
official order of the Spanish king to search for this 
treasure, with the accompanying detailed "Guide" 
to its locality. Still more are we indebted to 
his generally esteemed character and ingratiating 
manners for obtaining permission to copy the 
unique map of the district containing the treasure, 
and for undertaking the considerable labour of 
copying in the minutest detail so large and elaborate 
a map, without which both the " Guide " and the story 
of the search for the treasure would be unintelligible. 
The essential portions of this map, containing the 
whole of the route described in the " Guide," as 
well as the routes of the various explorers (marked 
in red), have been reproduced here (see end of 
chapter). The portions farther east and south, 
which have no immediate relation to the quest for 
the treasure, having been omitted in order to make 
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