hat of the Chimoos or Chincas, a powerful people who
inhabited part of this country, was fully as large; and traditions say
that most of the treasures hidden were not those of the Incas, but of
the Chimoos, who buried them when their country was invaded by the
Incas.

"This is certainly the case with most of the treasures hidden to the
west of the mountains. It was so at Pachacamac; it was so at Truxillo,
where the Spaniards found three million and a half dollars of gold; and
it is known that this was but a small hoard, and that the great one,
many times larger, has never been discovered. Probably the secret has
long been lost; for if there are but few who know where the Incas
buried their gold, it may well be believed that the exact locality of
the Chimoo treasures, which were buried more than eight hundred years
ago, is now unknown, and that nothing but vague traditions have been
handed down."

"That one can quite understand," Harry agreed, "when we consider how
many of the Chimoos must have fallen in the struggle with the Incas,
and how more than half the population were swept away by the Spaniards,
to say nothing of those who have died in the wars of the last thirty
years. It seems strange, however, that the treasures in the temple of
Pachacamac were left untouched by the Incas and allowed to accumulate
afterwards."

"It was so generally regarded as the sacred city," Dias said, "that,
powerful as they were, the Incas did not attempt to interfere with it,
as to do so would certainly have stirred up a formidable insurrection
of the natives throughout the whole of their territory; and instead,
therefore, of taking possession of the temple and dedicating it to
their own god, they allowed it to remain untouched and the worship of
the old gods to be carried on there, contenting themselves with
building a temple of their own to the Sun-god close at hand."

"Whether any treasure we find belonged to the Incas or to the Chimoos
is of no consequence whatever. I certainly think that before entering
upon what would seem t