XXVIII HIDDEiN TREASURE 503 
right, and pass above the cascade, going round the 
offshoot of the mountain. And if by chance the 
mouth of the socabon be closed with certain herbs 
which they call ' Salvaje,' remove them, and thou 
wilt find the entrance. And on the left-hand side 
of the mountain thou mayest see the ' Guayra ' (for 
thus the ancients called the furnace where they 
founded metals), which is nailed with golden nails.^ 
And to reach the third mountain, if thou canst not 
pass in front of the socabon, it is the same thing 
to pass behind it, for the water of the lake falls 
into it. 
" If thou lose thyself in the forest, seek the river, 
follow it on the right bank ; lower down take to the 
beach, and thou wilt reach the canon in such sort 
that, although thou seek to pass it, thou wilt not 
find where ; climb, therefore, the mountain on the 
right hand, and in this manner thou canst by no 
means miss thy way." 
[Having read this remarkable document, we 
shall better understand Spruce's account of the 
various attempts to discover the treasure, the chief 
routes followed being marked by red lines.] 
With this document and the map before us, 
let us trace the attempts that have been made 
to reach the gold thrown away by the subjects of 
Atahuallpa as useless when it could no longer be 
applied to the purpose of ransoming him from the 
Spaniards. 
Pillaro is a somewhat smaller town than Ambato, 
and stands on higher ground, on the opposite side 
1 [Query — sprinkled with gold. — Ed.] 
