Lost Gold Mine - Tsingal

LOST GOLD MINE

From Eagle magazine, 1950 April 28. Digitized by Doug Frizzle, December 2013.

The Lost Gold Mine -Tsingal from 1932 Eagle magazine

Mail-clad Spanish explorers, marching through the jungle of Panama, met natives wearing plentiful gold ornaments. The unsuspecting natives showed the Spaniards where the gold came from. They called it the Tsingal Mine. It lay in wild country two hundred miles north of Panama.

The ruthless Spaniards built a strong stone fort beside the mine. They enslaved the local tribes and forced them to build a rough, 50-mile track to the coast. Hundreds of chained natives were driven with whips to work in the mine.

Between 1620-1715, the Tsingal Mine sent a million pounds' worth of gold every year to Spain. Then Spain became weak. The Tsingal natives revolted, killed every Spaniard at the mine, tore down the fort, and dismounted the guns. The track to the coast was wiped out by fallen trees, boulders and streams. Tsingal Mine disappeared.

Only one white man has seen the mine since then — Mr. Hyatt Verrill, an American scientist, was guided to the spot in 1932 by a friendly chieftain. He saw great stones lying in the jungle, heavy brass guns bearing the date 1565 under the royal coat of arms of Spain, and remains of the hidden road. The chieftain pointed to a shallow depression in the ground. "The mine was there," he said. "We hid that also."

Now no-one knows where the mine is. The silent jungle helps guard the secret of its tragic treasure.