"The natives have a tradition that there are vast amounts of treasure concealed in the pyramid of Cholula, and we remark that this tradition seems to prevail concerning old structures in all parts of the world. We heard it in Egypt, India, Japan, China, Palestine, and other countries, and presume we shall continue to hear it wherever we go until we give up travelling and settle down to home life.
"Mr. Brocklehurst tells a good story about a priest who once learned through the confessional that one of his parishioners had discovered the cave where Montezuma's treasures were hidden. He explains that there is a belief common through Mexico that at the time of the invasion Montezuma hid all his treasures, and afterwards he and his high-priest put to death all that assisted in the hiding, so that only they two should possess the secret.
"The priest persuaded the Indian to show him the cave, but it was only on the condition that he should be blindfolded while going to it. The priest thought to outwit the Indian, and so he managed to drop the beads from his rosary, one by one, as he walked along; in fact he had provided himself with several rosaries, so that he would have beads enough for the road.
"The priest saw the treasures in the cave and then walked home blindfolded, as he had come. When home was reached, the Indian remarked to his reverence, 'You had the misfortune to break your rosary, and drop the beads on the road; I picked them up, and if you count them you'll find they're all here.' And to this day no white man has found out where those treasures are concealed.
AN AZTEC RELIC.
"Secrets are preserved generation after generation by these people; there may or may not be any treasures of Montezuma in the caves around Mexico, but if the Indians know of their existence and the place of their concealment, and believe it their duty not to reveal the hiding-place, nothing can ever wring the secret from them. Persuasion, threats, punishment, torture, have been tried repeatedly upon these primitive people, but all to no purpose.
"There is a document among the records of Tlascala which says a tribe of Tlascalans brought in large quantities of gold-dust, and gave to the Church enough to make and pay for the crown of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Spaniards tried to find out whence it was obtained, but the Indians would not reveal the locality of the placer. Losing all patience, they tied up several of the Indians, and flogged them 'within an inch of their lives.' The Indians bore the pain without a murmur, and within a week the whole tribe left for Guatemala, and with them all who knew the location of the placer. To this day it has not been revealed."