The Lost Treasure

When Cusco was the capital of Peru, it contained a temple of the sun, famed far and near for its magnificence. It was roofed with thick plates of gold, and the walls were covered with the same precious metal; the eave-troughs were also of solid gold. In the west wall the architects had contrived an aperture in such a way that when the sunbeams reached it, it focussed them inside the building. Stretching like a golden chain from one sparkling point to another, they encircled the walls, illuminating the grim idols, and disclosing certain mystic signs at other times invisible. It was only by understanding these hieroglyphics - identical with those which may be seenn to this day on the tomb of the Incas -that one could learn the secret of the tunnel and its approaches.

Among the latter was one in the neighbourhood of Cusco, now masked beyond discovery. This leads directly into an immense tunnel which runs from Cusco to Lima, and then turning southward, extends into Bolivia. At a certain point it is intersected by a royal tomb. Inside this sepulchral chamber are cunningly arranged two doors; or, rather, two enormous slabs which turn upon pivots, and close so tightly as to be only indistinguishable from the other portions of the sculptured walls by the secret signs, whose key is in the possession of the faithful custodians. One of these turning slabs covers the southern mouth of the Liman tunnel - the other, the northern one of the Bolivian corridor. The latter, running southward, passes through Trapaca and Cobijo, for Arica is not far away from the little river called Pay’quina, which is the boundary between Peru and Bolivia.

Not far from this spot stand three separate peaks which form a curious triangle; they are included in the chain of the Andes. According to tradition the only practicable entrance to the corridor leading northward is in one of these peaks; but without the secret of its landmarks, a regiment of Titans might rend the rocks in vain in the attempt to find it. But even were some one to gain an entrance and find his way as far as the turning slab in the wall of the sepulchre, and attempt to blast it out, the superincumbent rocks are so disposed as to bury the tomb, its treasures, and - as the mysterious Peruvian expressed to us - "a thousand warriors" in one common ruin.

There is no other access to the Arica chamber but through the door in the mountain near Pay’quina. Along the entire length of the corridor, from Bolivia to Lima and Cusco, are smaller hiding places filled with treasures of gold and precious stone, the accumulations of many generations of Incas, the aggregate value of which is incalculable."

H.P.Blavatsky was the daughter of a Russian princess or so the introduction to her book tells us, and took her name from the army colonel she married, although she separated soon afterwards and devoted the rest of her life to travelling the world and searching out lost secrets, her ultimate work being "The Secret Doctrine" published in several volumes.

But if we disregard Wilkin’s map and start again, heading eastwards from Arica where the stone known as "Tomb of the Incas" was said to be located, we come to the edge of the level Altiplano. And here, 80 miles east of Arica, there is indeed a "curious triangle" of mountains. A group of three mountains forms a perfect right-angled triangle, not only that but it is virtually an Isosceles triangle where the northern and western sides are equal.

Now to a race of master-surveyors, builders of stone cities, canals and roads spanning thousands of miles, such a perfect triangle of mountains would surely be an irresistible landmark for a tunnel entrance. Especially when one also learns that the eastern peak of the three is Nevado Sajama - the highest peak in Bolivia and itself a beacon for miles around. The southern peak is called Quimsachata and the NW peak is a twin peak known as "the Payachatas - or Guardians" - guardians of Sajama or of the Inca treasure?

Today the region around Sajama is designated as a national park. It is a favourite haunt of climbers and the whole region is one of outstanding natural beauty, protected by its own remoteness and inaccessibility to civilisation.

Ancient legends indicate that mysterious men of a pastoral race and impassive faces called Aymaras, who lived on the banks of Lake Chungará, situated some 14763ft above sea level, were obliged to leave those places, as a result of a destructive cataclysm. The Aymaras came from Tiwanaku, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, a numerous group settled in the valley of Azapa in Arica and on the coast according to some historians. The Aymaras occupied the zones between Arequipa, Tacna and Arica and established contact with the Atacameños, disseminating from the Bolivian Altiplano, spreading their culture.

And at Arica itself there is a giant rock known as "Morro de Arica" which local legend says contains mysterious tunnels. At the base of this rock were recovered numerous ancient mummies, recently carbon dated to 8,000 years BC ie 4,000 years older than the Egyptian mummies.

It seems on this point at least Blavatsky was correct, since she said at the base of the rock were found to be the tombs of the Incas… And if we proceed south in the direction she indicated, there is indeed a triangle of mountains near the River Loa which might well contain the entrance to the southern end of the tunnel.

This site up to now has seemed somewhat elusive, but it's location is more logical  than that which we would arrive at by pure guesswork. Follow the Rio Loa upstream to it's source and you come to the triangle of mountains. Bordering on the Salar de Ascotan, these mountains contain modern mining operations centered around a peak known as Tres Monos -  "The Three Monkeys."

On the death of the last Inca emperor Atahualpa at the hands of the Spanish Conquistadors, the Inca queen gave orders for the tunnel entrances to be sealed forever, before she herself committed suicide. Numerous pack trains of gold and jewels were hastily concealed, some it is said thrown into lakes, like the great gold chain which disappeared forever. Some sealed up in the tunnel system to be lost forever.

Perhaps the Tres Monos - or "Three monkeys" are the guardians of the tunnel entrance, keeping their well known motto... "See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil..."

Kemo D. (a.k.a. no.7)