A Contractor in Rio Janerio Makes a Haul

chunk 879 · paragraph 1044

le which occupies almost the entire front page of the newspaper. According to this account the find was made by an engineer who was tearing down the castle of San Antonio. Before it was converted into a castle San Antonio was a monastery under the control of the Jesuits. It was during this period of its history that the treasure is supposed to have been hidden. Underneath the castle are vaults built like the corridors of a mine and in one of these a large number of chests and bundles were discovered. The contract for the demolition of the castle stipulated that in the event of a discovery of any precious metals half of the treasure should belong to the state. The engineer promptly noti- fied the Brazilian government, making a state- ment of the find and soliciting official advice and assistance. His memorandum enumerates the following as taken from the vaults. One hundred and twelve wooden boxes with iron clasps and three locks on each, weight 850 kilo- gram, about two pounds each. Four cast iron chests weighing 615 kilograms each, sixteen leather sacks sewed, weighing 95 kilograms each, 806 packages of parchment with a total weight of 1457 kilograms. The boxes containing papers, 26 packages slightly damaged. At the examination of the contents of these chests and packages resulted in a most astonishing find. ( 62 )