I know of but one thing in the world more remarkable than that the Spaniards should have believed such self-evident myths; and that one thing is that so many, many Americans believe them to-day. Not long ago I visited the most remote and inaccessible22 ruins in the Southwest, and found there the work of these sanguine23 dupes, who had actually dug through solid rock in search of buried treasure. And even while I write a party is digging, a hundred miles to the west, for a treasure as mythical24, and as palpably so, as that at the end of the rainbow. The stories of golden mountains, of buried millions and of mysterious “lost mines”—far richer, of course, than those which any one can find—in New Mexico alone would fill a volume.
I had once the good fortune to run across some old and fragmentary Spanish manuscripts of the last century and the beginning of this, which are extremely interesting.[164] It is not often that we get so much documentary evidence concerning the golden will-o’-the-wisps which have lured25 so many to disappointment and death. The writings all bear the stamp of implicit26 belief, and the old soldier, in particular, who is the hero of the fragmentary story, is often unconsciously eloquent27 and sometimes pathetic in his recital28. I translate all the documents literally29.
The first manuscript is a certified30 copy (certified in the City of Mexico, March 5, 1803), of the “relation” and petition of Bernardo de Castro, a copy for which the Spanish governor of New Mexico had sent. Bernardo’s story and appeal are as follows, rendering31 as closely as possible the quaint32 language of the day:
“Most Excellent Sir: Bernardo de Castro, retired33 sergeant34 of the company of San Carlos [St. Charles] of the government of the City of Chihuahua, in the Provinces of the Interior, admitted to citizenship35 in the City of Santa Fé, capital of the kingdom of New Mexico, and resident of this capital, goes on and before Your Excellency says: That having served our Royal Monarch36 for the space of nine years and eight months as sergeant of the said company in the countless37 combats at which I assisted against the[165] nations of the ynfidels [Indians], I came out with a lance-thrust in one leg, of the which it resulted that I was placed in the Ynvalid corps38 by the Sir Commander Don Juan de Ugalde. But considering that with time and medicines I recovered and gained strength to seek my subsistence free from the hardships to which the frontier troop is exposed from the Mecos [probably the Apaches], I gave up for the benefit of the royal exchequer39 my pay as invalid40 sergeant, and have followed working in the same kingdom of New Mexico. There I have suffered various fights—as it befell in the past year of 1798, that while I was conducting a multitude of large cattle and other effects, the whole valued at more than $14,000, from New Mexico to El Paso del Norte, the barbarous Mecos assailed41 me, and after a long battle, in which flowed much human blood, they carried off all I had in the world. And we gave to God thanks for having saved us even the life.
“This continual contact with the savages42 has contracted me a friendship with the Cumanche nation, which is at peace with the Spaniards, and understanding their idiom facilitates me in trading with them to gain my livelihood43.
[166]
“In the past year, 1798, I arrived in Santa Fé and presented myself to the Sir Governor Don Fernando Chacon. His Lordship informed me that there had come a Frenchman and had shown him a piece of metal of fine gold, assuring him he knew the spot where it was produced, and that it was a peak which the ynfidel nations called Peak of the Gold, where there was such an abundant breeding-place of this precious metal that all the peak and even its surroundings could with propriety44 be said to be pure gold. That he offered to show the spot if his Lordship would guard him with three hundred men of troops, and this he was bound to grant for the benefit of our monarch. That the distance, he considered, would be a matter of eight or nine days’ journey. The faithful love to our Sovereign animated46 the Sir Governor, and he supplied the escort which had marched two days before, and his said Lordship informed me that if he had found me in the city he would have made me one of the commanders. This offer inspired me, and I offered to follow after the expedition, and the love with which I have always served my lord, the King, enabled me by the utmost exertion47 to overtake the expedition,[167] with which I incorporated myself on the third day.
“And journeying on our course, on the ninth day the French guide slipped away from us, leaving us in the plains without knowledge of the road to our desired peak. At the which it was resolved by the leaders of the expedition to return to Santa Fé. But I, not suffering from the short march, separated from the expedition and went on alone to verify the report. And in the rancherias [villages] of the Cumanches, where I was entertained, when I told them the trick and the mockery that the Frenchman had put upon us, they assured me with one accord that the said Frenchman did not know the location of the peak at all, and that he had never been there, for the gold which he took to New Mexico they themselves had given him in exchange for various trinkets of coral, belts and other trifles. But that they knew the peak of gold, that was indeed with an abundance never seen before, and if I would go with them they would show me it, and I could pick up all I wished, and if we met any other nation [of Indians] I should not be harmed if with them, for they were all friends.
“Indeed, most illustrious Sir, only by my fidelity48 and obedience49 to my superior could[168] I contain myself not to march to the peak without delay; and I told my friends the Mecos Cumanches, that I was going to seek permission of that Sir Governor of the New Mexico, and with it would return. I arrived in Santa Fé and sought that permission, but it was denied me. But continuing my visits to the Mequeria [I find that] so strong a desire have they formed for the granting of that permission and the development of this treasure, and the facility there is that the Spaniards enjoy it and that their Sovereign make heavy his royal coffers, that I resolved to make a walk of more than seven hundred leagues to seek the aid and encouragement of Your Excellency. [The brave sergeant so fully15 believed in his Peak of Gold that he actually walked nearly 2,200 miles alone through a most dangerous country to lay the matter before the Viceroy in Mexico.]
“My plan being approved, it is undeniable that the Royal treasury50 will be swelled51 by the tithes52 and dues to the Royal crown; new interest will animate45 men to follow up the discovery, and there will be civilized53 (with time and the friendship which is contracted with the nations of the Cumanches, Yutas and Navajosos) more than three hundred leagues of virgin54 and[169] powerful lands—that being reckoned the distance from the city of Santa Fé to the Peak of Gold. The inhabitants of the internal provinces, who now live under the yoke55 of the assaults of the hostile Indians, will revive; it will be easier for the Sovereign to guard the frontiers of these his vast dominions57. Settlements will be made, and insensibly will follow the conquest and pacification58 of the ynfidels, who will easily embrace the holy Gospel and come under the faith of Jesus Christ. What results to religion, to the monarch and to his vassals59 are presented, even by this clumsy narration60!
“I do not intend to burden the Royal treasury with the slightest expense, nor do I think to involve the Royal arms in actions which might imperil the troops. My person is declared past its usefulness for the Royal service, and I count myself as a dead man for entering matters of importance. But my military spirit does not falter61, and I only desire to manifest, even at the foot of the tomb, my love to my Sovereign. With only one faithful companion I intend to go among my friends, the Cumanches, and, with the protection and guidance of them, to enter and explore the land, silently, without noise or preparation, to force a passage.[170] Quietness, the gray shadows of the night and our own courage are the only preparations I make for the difficult undertaking62, and, above all, the divine aid. Having found the desired Peak of Gold, charted the roads to it, made the due surveys, and gathered so much of the precious metal as we can transport without making danger (and under the divine favor), I will present myself again to Your Excellency, and by your Superiority will be taken such steps as the state of the case demands.
“Under which considerations, and the solid arguments which I have expressed, of which Your Excellency can receive full confirmation63 from the most excellent Se?or Don Pedro de Nava, commander-in-chief of the interior provinces, and Don Joseph Casiano Feaomil y Garay, lieutenant-captain of dragoons of San Luís Potosí, I humbly64 beg of Your Excellency that in use of your Viceroyal powers, you deign65 to grant me your superior permission to go in search of the Peak of Gold; being kind enough to send to the Se?or Don Fernando Chacon, actual Governor of the New Mexico, that he put no difficulty in my path, and giving orders to the captains and chiefs of the friendly nations—Cumanches, Yutas and Navajosos—that[171] they accompany and guide me in this expedition.
“And I respectfully say that my delay in getting to this Capital [the City of Mexico] was because I had to come nearly all the way on foot, my horse having given out in that great distance, and that now I am supported here by alms, such is my great anxiety for the benefit of the monarch, and beg that I be excused for this paper. [He was too poor to buy the stamped and taxed paper on which petitions to the Viceroy must be addressed.]
“For so much I pray Your Excellency’s favor.
Bernardo Castro.”
He had the real spirit of the Argonauts, this crippled old soldier, to whom poverty and danger and 2,000-mile walks were trifles when they stood between him and his Peak of Gold.
The Viceroy evidently gave the desired permission—without which, under the strict Spanish laws, no such venture was to be thought of—and there were one or more expeditions, but unfortunately we have left no account of them. It is clear that the Viceroy ordered Governor Chacon, of New Mexico, to assist Castro in his undertaking, and that the matter aroused a good deal of interest throughout the provinces of New[172] Spain. Don Nemecio Salcedo, military commandant at Chihuahua, seems to have interested himself in the matter, for the next document in this fragmentary series is a draft of a reply to him from Governor Chacon, as follows:
“According to that which Your Lordship advises me in communication of the 16th of September of the current year, I repeat that as to the expedition of Bernardo Castro to the discovery of the Peak of Gold, I will help him and the others who accompany him, that they may have no difficulty with the General of the Cumanches, whom, however, I have not yet seen, since he has not yet returned with the ransom66 he offered me when he was last in this capital.
“God, etc. Santa Fee, 25th of Fber, 1803.
“To Se?or Don Nemo. Salcedo.”
There was other correspondence between these two on the same matter, for now we come to an original letter from Commandant Salcedo to Governor Chacon, replying to a late one of his. It says:
“The communication of Your Lordship, No. 36, of the 18th of last November, leaves me informed of all the assistances you gave Bernardo Castro, that he might undertake the second journey [so he had already made one] from that city, with the object to discover[173] the Peak of Gold, which he has described in the territory of that province. And of the results I hope Your Lordship will give me account.
“God guard Your Lordship many years.
“Chihuahua, January 5, 1804.
“Nemecio Salcedo.
“To the Sir Governor of New Mexico.”
Poor brave, misguided Bernardo de Castro! I wish we might have more of the documents about his venturesome wanderings in quest of the Peak of Gold. He must have gone far out into the wastes of Texas; and at last he, too, yielded up his life, as did countless of his countrymen before him, to that deadliest of yellow fevers. We lose all track of him until Governor Chaves writes from Santa Fé, in 1829, to his superior in the City of Mexico, who had written to ask him about these and other matters. His letter says:
“Most Excellent Sir: In compliance67 with that which Your Excellency requests in your official letter of the 19th of August last, that I make the necessary verifications upon the mineral reported by the Rev56. Father Custodian68 of these missions, Fray69 Sevastian Alvares, to be found among the gentile Comanches, I have investigated the matter, and place in the knowledge of Your[174] Excellency that which various of the citizens of this capital—and all of them most veracious—say. They all agree in that it is a fact that Don Bernardo de Castro [the old soldier had evidently won honorable recognition, else a Governor of New Mexico would not speak of him by the respectful title of “Don”] entered this territory with the object of seeking the said mineral; that he made various expeditions with this object, until in one of them he was slain70 by the heathen Apaches.
“Passing to information received from the travelers to that nation, all agree in the statement that the Comanches offer to sell them pouches71 filled with a metal which appears fine and of great weight, which they say they get from the neighborhood of the Ash peaks (which are very well known to our people, but not explored or charted, because they are distant from the trails).
“The citizen Pablo Martin has been he who expressed himself most fully. He, knowing that the said Don Bernardo de Castro sought a mineral in the Comanche nation, has procured72 them to look for the said mineral. The only result was that one Comanche named Pa?o de Lienso [‘Cloth of Linen’], who made himself his companion, gave him information that beyond[175] the Ash peaks, in some round hills, were stones with much silver, whereof the said Comanche had carried some to the province of San Antonio de Bejar [Texas], where they made buttons for him. He who made the buttons charged the Comanche to bring him a load [of that metal], but he did not do so, because in that time came the war of his people with that province. Other Comanches also have told him [Pablo Martin] that in said spot were stones with silver.
“This is all I have been able to find out as the results of my investigations73, the which I place in the knowledge of Your Excellency, that you may put it to the use which you deem best.
“Santa Fee, 30 of 8ber of 1829.
“Chaves.”
And there, so far as we know it now, is the story of the Peak of Gold.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
conquerors
|
|
| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
conqueror
|
|
| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
fable
|
|
| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
untold
|
|
| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
gallant
|
|
| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
alleged
|
|
| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
arid
|
|
| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
gilded
|
|
| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
commotion
|
|
| n.骚动，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
pueblo
|
|
| n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
adobe
|
|
| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
aboriginal
|
|
| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
fabulous
|
|
| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
fables
|
|
| n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
preposterous
|
|
| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
followers
|
|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
inaccessible
|
|
| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
sanguine
|
|
| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
mythical
|
|
| adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
lured
|
|
| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
implicit
|
|
| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
eloquent
|
|
| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
recital
|
|
| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
literally
|
|
| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
certified
|
|
| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
rendering
|
|
| n.表现，描写 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
quaint
|
|
| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
sergeant
|
|
| n.警官，中士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
citizenship
|
|
| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
corps
|
|
| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
exchequer
|
|
| n.财政部；国库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
invalid
|
|
| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
assailed
|
|
| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
savages
|
|
| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
livelihood
|
|
| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
propriety
|
|
| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
animate
|
|
| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
exertion
|
|
| n.尽力，努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
fidelity
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
obedience
|
|
| n.服从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
treasury
|
|
| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
swelled
|
|
| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
tithes
|
|
| n.（宗教捐税）什一税，什一的教区税，小部分( tithe的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
civilized
|
|
| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
virgin
|
|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
yoke
|
|
| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
rev
|
|
| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
dominions
|
|
| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
pacification
|
|
| n. 讲和，绥靖，平定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
vassals
|
|
| n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 )；（封建时代）诸侯；从属者；下属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
narration
|
|
| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
falter
|
|
| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
confirmation
|
|
| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
humbly
|
|
| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
deign
|
|
| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
ransom
|
|
| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
compliance
|
|
| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
custodian
|
|
| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
fray
|
|
| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
pouches
|
|
| n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
procured
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
investigations
|
|
| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |