Treasure Seekers: Lost Cities of the Inca Page #2

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what they said.

He had to find a method on the spot.

Fortunately, I had with me that

extremely useful handbook,

"Hints to the Travelers," published

by the Royal Geographic Society.

In one of the chapters I found out

what should be done

when one is confronted by

a prehistoric site:

take careful measurements,

plenty of photographs, and describe

as accurately as possible all finds.

He was soon eagerly examining Inca

sites all over Peru.

One episode of Inca history fascinated

him above all others Vilcabamba,

last stronghold of the Inca kings.

Sixteenth century chronicles recounted

how a core group of Inca nobles

and priests

had escaped the carnage of conquest

and fled into the impenetrable

high jungles

to the north of the Inca capital,

Cuzco.

And there, at a place called

Vilcabamba,

they'd constructed an Inca court

in exile.

A palace, a temple, a final

refuge of their world.

They had taken their sacred relics

of gold with them.

Many had been lured by the accounts

of Vilcabamba and gone in search of it.

None had ever succeeded in

finding it.

Perhaps the relics and the gold

were still there,

hidden in the jungle,

waiting to be discovered.

Hiram was spellbound.

It was a treasure seeker's dream.

Suddenly, Hiram saw a fantastic

adventure opening up before him:

he would discover Vilcabamba,

lost city of the Incas,

and unearth its hidden treasures.

Hiram returned to the U.S.

and threw himself into fundraising

and his researches on Vilcabamba.

He pored over maps and chronicles

of the Conquest.

Based on these, Hiram made

meticulous calculations of

where Vilcabamba must be.

After months of research,

he was certain

the last refuge of the Incas

had been in a remote place now

called Espiritu Pampa.

Now all he had to do was

raise the money for the expedition.

He was too proud to be totally

bankrolled by his wife's family.

He went down to the Yale Club in

New York City, and he gave a speech.

A number of the people came forward.

When they saw the pictures of

his earlier travels,

they became very excited.

Last night a classmate,

of whom I have seen very little,

came over and talked with me.

When I told him about my plans and how

I needed $1800

to pay for a topographer

he smiled and said,

"Eighteen hundred dollars?

I'll give you that."

I could have shouted with joy.

The New York harbor

on June 8th, 1911,

Hiram Bingham stood on the deck

of a steamer

once again waving goodbye

to his wife.

This time it was harder.

They had just had another son,

Hiram IV.

I shall never forget how you looked

as you stood on the wharf with Harry,

so brave and courageous,

and yet so little and so appealing.

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