Two nights after this, as I was about to throw myself on my bed of leaves to sleep, Manco came to me.
“We will at once set forth to obtain the gold I promised,” he said. “Pedro and your countryman may accompany us to carry what we find. We must return before the morning, lest we encounter any of the Spanish forces, who are ravaging the country on every side.”
A few words served to let Pedro and Ned understand what was to be done, and providing themselves with two bags, they instantly declared themselves ready to proceed. Manco had provided torches, one of which we each of us bore; but he told us not to light them till we should reach the spot to which he was about to conduct us. As we were setting out, he also distributed among us two spades and crowbars, and a pickaxe. He led the way along the ledge and across the bridge; we following in silence. He then descended the mountain, and proceeded down the valley for some distance, when he once more began to ascend. The ground was rugged and difficult in the extreme, and path there was none, so that, had we desired it, we could not again have found our way. For two hours we toiled on, up and down hill, following close upon the heels of Manco, who seemed to know the road by instinct. At length we reached a valley, the hill on one side of which was covered completely with buildings, one rising above the other, and some apparently hewn out of the solid rock. The moon, which had lately risen, lighted up the scene, and increased its wild and mysterious appearance. Not a sound was heard, not a human being appeared from this city of the dead. Manco stopped and gazed up at the city.
“Two centuries ago, thousands of human beings, full of life and activity, thronged those walls,” he remarked. “All are gone, and of descendants they have left none. All, all have been victims to Spanish cruelty. Follow me.”
He moved on, and led us into several. Some had two and even three stories, and the floors of slabs of stone or slate still remained. We at last reached a house larger than the rest, with a number of windows. Manco stopped in the centre of the chief hall, and said, stamping his foot, “Dig there.” Lighting our torches, we stuck them in the ground, and set to work. After digging about two feet, we came to a mass which proved to be the body of a human being, swaddled up in bandages of cloth, and in good preservation. It was in a sitting posture, with the knees drawn up to the chin. Placing it on one side, we dug on. Clearing away another stratum of earth, we reached a collection of household utensils, which at first I thought were of copper and clay; but as Ned was examining them, he exclaimed—
“They are gold, every one of them!”
“Dig, dig,” said Manco; “you have more to find.” A third layer of earth was now removed, and we came upon a number of idols, all of gold or silver, and surrounding them a quantity of bars of pure gold. None of us had ever seen so much wealth in one mass. “There, take what you can carry, and cover up the rest,” exclaimed Manco. “You call that wealth,” he continued, as if divining our thoughts; “yet of what use is it to mankind thus locked up from sight? Now hasten, or daylight will surprise us before we can reach the cave.”
Following his direction, we loaded ourselves with as much of the pure gold as we could carry; and then replacing the body as we found it, we again covered up the grave. Then extinguishing our torches, we set out to return to our cavern, which we reached in safety. It was with very great satisfaction that I bade adieu to the cavern which had for so long a time been our home. We had three horses, on one of which Nita was mounted, and the other two were loaded with a supply of provisions; each of the Indians, besides, carrying enough for his own wants, till a part of the country should be reached where more could be procured. Manco took every precaution for our safety which prudence could suggest. He sent the Indians on ahead as scouts to inspect the country before we advanced, and to bring us timely notice of the approach of an enemy. At that time it was difficult to know who were friends and who were not, for many of the Indians had gone over to the Spaniards, in the hopes of saving their lives and property; and others, still worse, we had too good reason to know, were ready to act the part of traitors, and to deliver up their countrymen for the sake of the reward they expected to receive.
We proceeded for some way along a series of wooded ridges, called by the Spaniards Ceja de la Montaña (the Mists of the Mountains), on account of the thick mists which, rising from the rivers in the valleys below, are attracted by the trees, and hang over them in dense clouds. In summer these mists are absorbed by the sun’s rays; but in winter they discharge themselves in endless torrents of rain. At night we took up our abode in some deserted hut; but never, if we could avoid it, did we rest in the abode of man, and whenever we did, Manco kept three or four of our allies watching at a distance outside; and we always again started at early dawn. As we reached the extreme eastern edge of the Ceja, we looked down on an interminable extent of forest, composed of trees of a height with which few in other parts of the world can vie. These wooded plains are called Montañas, which is the name given to the whole of the country eastward of the Andes.
As we advanced, our ears were saluted by the cries of numerous birds and animals. Sometimes I thought I heard the roaring of a bull at a distance, when I found it to proceed from the black ox-bird; and at others the grunting of a hog sounded close to us; and a beautiful bird called the Tunqui, like a cock with a tuft of red feathers, and an orange bill, started up and astonished us with the contrast between his gruff note and gay plumage. In the evenings, groups of the pheasant-like Hachahuallpa summoned their distant companions with the cry of Ven acá, ven acá—Come here, come here; and owls and bats flew out with noiseless wings to pounce on their unwary prey. Bears and ounces, pumas and tiger-cats crossed our path; and stags started from their thickets, where they had sought shelter from some of those above-named enemies. Monkeys chattered at us, and squirrels leaped among the trees; rats and mice were found in the huts, and argutis in the maize-fields; snakes crawled along the ground, and birds of prey circled high above our heads. But in truth it would be impossible to describe one-tenth of the beasts, the birds, and reptiles we encountered in our journey; though I shall mention those I had opportunities of examining.