"I think so too, but we must not press him to begin with. Of course there
is a question too as to how far he can help us. He may know vaguely where
the rich mines once existed; but you must remember that they have been
lost for three hundred years, and it may be impossible for even a man who
has received the traditions as to their positions to hit upon the precise
spot. The mountains, you see, are tremendous; there must be innumerable
ravines and gorges among them. It is certain that nothing approaching an
accurate map can ever have been made of the mountains, and I should say
that in most cases the indications that may have been given are very
vague. They would no doubt have been sufficient for those who lived soon
after the money was hidden, and were natives of that part of the country
and thoroughly acquainted with all the surroundings, but when the
information came to be handed down from mouth to mouth during many
generations, the local knowledge would be lost, and what were at first
detailed instructions would become little better than vague legends. You
know how three hundred years will alter the face of a country--rocks roll
down the hills, torrents wash away the soil, forests grow or are cleared
away. I believe with you that the Indian will do his best, but I have
grave doubts whether he will be able to locate any big thing."

"Well, you don't take a very cheerful view of things, Harry; you certainly
seemed more hopeful when we first started."

"Yes. I don't say I am not hopeful still, but it is one thing to plan out
an enterprise at a distance and quite another when you are face to face
with its execution. As we have come down the coast, and seen that great
range of mountains stretching along for hundreds of miles, and we know
that there is another quite as big lying behind it, I have begun to
realize the difficulties of the adventures that we are undertaking.