The day dawned with its usual morning noises. After breakfast, Miller gathered up the two anthropology professors from the University of Pittsburgh, who were thrilled to go see the ancient symbols in the cave. Dolores Clark said, “I can’t believe that rumor we heard from the Indians is actually true. Thanks for letting us come with you. This is a real treat!”
Miller said, “Dolores, I suggest that you follow us in your vehicle. We have too much stuff in our van. There is no way we can carry more than four people short of unloading the van. We need to be at Mr. Mendez’s office at nine o'clock. Who knows—we may be escorted by forty Mexican soldiers. Those guys really made me nervous yesterday. They kept fooling around with the triggers on their submachine guns. I was afraid they were either going to shoot themselves or us accidentally. I guess they came from the barracks along the road paralleling the Río Amajac.”
When the six scientists arrived at Mendez’s office, Mendez greeted them warmly. Arturo introduced Mendez to the two anthropologists from the University of Pittsburgh. Dolores Clark quickly tried to explain to Mendez about their studies of the languages of the local Indian tribes near Tamazunchale.
Mendez suggested that everyone pile into one of his official vans and leave their vehicles at his headquarters. The tall and rather rotund Mendez sat in the front seat beside his driver, and the scientists sat in other seats in the large fifteen-passenger Dodge van.
Mendez said, “We are going to drive up to Taman, cross the river to Barrio Guadalupe, and then use some four-legged off-road vehicles to take us up in the hills to the cave that you are all interested in. Do you all know how to ride horses? Certainly you geologists from Texas can all ride horses. Actually, some of the animals may be mules. Mules are a bit more surefooted in the mountains.”
Miller said, “I hate to disappoint you, but the only experience I’ve had riding a horse was when I was ten years old at some summer camp that my parents sent me to. All I can remember is that the damn horse did what he wanted to—which mostly included stopping and eating leaves off bushes. However, with a little help, I’ll manage somehow. Why walk when you can ride? That’s my motto—but Arturo’s is ‘Why ride when you can walk?’ How far is it from Barrio Guadalupe to the cave?”
“I would estimate that it’s about fifteen kilometers round-trip. We’ll have to rest the horses several times along the way. The terrain is very rough and the slopes, as you geologists know, are very steep.”
Miller wondered how the six-foot-five and overweight Mendez was going to be able to ride any beast short of the Clydesdale carriage horses that you see in beer commercials. He hoped Mendez knew what he was doing.
The van finally arrived at a very large stable in Barrio Guadalupe filled with mules and a few horses. Mendez told the stable owner to pick out a good, surefooted mule for Miller to ride. He suggested that several handlers come along to take care of the horses and mules.
Miller slipped a couple of times trying to mount the mule, but with a little help from the mule handler, he finally made it. With Miller on board, the group headed out towards the cave.
To start with, the horse trail contoured the sides of the ridges and stayed at about the same elevation. The trail cut through small farms containing orange groves, banana trees, papayas, and mango trees. Finally, Mendez took a trail that angled upslope to the top of a major ridge capped with thick bedded white limestone, which Miller judged to be the Chapulhuacan Limestone, a formation that overlies the Pimienta Formation. The trail was about five thousand feet above the floor of the Río Moctezuma river valley and passed through areas that were covered with coffee trees. By now, Miller was getting a little saddle sore and hoped they would soon be getting to their destination. He guessed that the cave probably formed in the Chapulhuacan Limestone, the same limestone that occurred at the cave of the Virgen de Montserrat in the Sierra Cruillas.
Finally, the group stopped in front of a small farmhouse made of the Chapulhuacan Limestone and covered with a thatched roof. Two pigs were tied up to a huge mango tree near the farm house and were happily consuming large quantities of fermenting mangos. In Mexico and the Caribbean, it was common practice to fatten pigs with mangos. Unfortunately, sometimes the combined smell of fermenting mangos and pig manure was overpowering. Mendez told everyone to dismount from their horses and mules. The handlers tied the animals to fence posts and every available bush.
Miller asked, “Where is the cave?”
Mendez replied, “We will have to hike up the ridge a little ways. It will be too rough to take the horses and mules. The terrain is very rocky. We will have to walk upslope about two kilometers.”
“How far will we have to go into the cave to examine what the ‘ugly Americans’ were looking at?” Miller asked.
Mendez said, “We will have to go in about fifty meters. The farmer said that there should be some torches inside the cave entrance. We will have to light these. If any of you have flashlights, it would be a good idea to bring them along.”
It was about noon when the party of politicians, a few soldiers, and six scientists entered the cave. The entrance of the cave was wide and flat and oriented towards the east. A fifteen-passenger van could have easily driven in. However, as the group proceeded into the cave following Mendez, the passageway rapidly narrowed to about four feet. Suddenly, the passageway made a right-angle turn to the north. Miller saw an intense beam of light from the roof of the cave that focused on the cave wall. The wall emitted an eerie green glow.
“Do you know what the green glow is from?” Miller asked Mendez.
“No, I have never been here before.”
Miller said, “It sounds like all of this may be tied in with the time of day. It’s now high noon. This may be the only time of day that the sun rays penetrate the hole in the cave roof. Maybe there is some substance embedded in the limestone that irradiates when the sun hits it and causes the green glow. Let’s take a look at this; it’s quite interesting.”
When the group got close enough to the wall, they observed the strange symbol that the geologists had observed at the shrine of the Virgen de Montserrat in the Sierra Cruillas to the north. This time, however, all parts of the engraving were outlined with small pieces of clear stone that emitted the eerie green glow. The engraving was much larger than that at the cave in the Sierra Cruillas. It occupied an area of about six square feet on the cave wall. Again, there was an arrow on the cave wall that pointed due south. In addition, there appeared to be hieroglyphs of some sort written on the wall.
Miller asked, “Dr. Clark, do you recognize the hieroglyphs?”
Clark responded, “They appear to be Aztec, but you need a good archaeologist to translate this. I suggest that everyone with a camera take pictures of the symbol on the wall. You can send your best pictures to me, and I will forward them to the appropriate experts to translate the hieroglyphs and see what they can make of the drawing. If the rumors that we have heard in our visits with the Indian shamans are true, then this drawing, as well as the one that Dr. Miller and his colleagues observed in the Sierra Cruillas, represents a symbol for ‘Moctezuma’s Treasure.’ Given the fact that the wall of this part of the cave is oriented in a north–south position, the arrow indicates that the treasure is located somewhere to the south of here.”
Mendez said, “Maybe the drunken Americans who visited the cave before you guys came were really on to something. Perhaps I chased them off too soon!”
After taking a few pictures, the group left the cave and descended down the mountainside on horseback—or muleback, in Miller’s case. Miller found that the trip down was even more treacherous and uncomfortable than the trip up. He did everything he could to stay on the back of the mule. The rock chips that had fallen inside his pants when he was crawling around in the cave didn’t help matters. He suspected that it would take several days to get rid of his saddle sores.
When they reached the vehicles, Mendez treated everyone to a beer. He suggested that they meet him for dinner later in the evening at a restaurant in Tamazunchale. Miller and his companions were pleased to hear that it was the same restaurant that they had pigged out on the acamaya several nights before. Since Mendez had missed his four o'clock meal, which is normally the biggest meal of the day in most Latin American countries, he was more than eager to eat as soon as possible.
Dinner was enjoyable. Miller guessed that Mendez consumed about five pounds of acamaya. When dinner was over, the conversation briefly turned to the events of the day.
Gary said, “Why do you think those crystals on the cave wall gave off a green glow?”
Arturo said, “I don’t know. I pried out one of the small stones with my pen knife. We’ll get it analyzed with the electron microprobe when we get back to the Institute.”
Dolores Clark asked, “What do you geologists plan to do tomorrow?”
Miller responded, “We’re heading south to do some geology in the Canyon of the Río Vinasco near a village called Huayacocotla. It’s going to be a long drive.”
Mendez smiled and slapped Miller on the back and said, “As long as you don’t have to ride on a mule, you’ll be alright. I have at least one contact in Huayacocotla. Give me a pencil and a piece of paper and I will write down his name. As you can see, the guy’s name is Guillermo Toa Vaca. He is the veterinarian for the district. He would be a good person for you to contact when you get there. He may be able to find you lodging or a place to camp out. Where do you plan to go when you descend into the Canyon of the Río Vinasco?”
Miller explained, “When we descend from Huayacocotla, we plan to start our investigations at a place called La Calera. Our studies follow the work of a famous Swiss geologist, Charles Burckhardt, who studied the area in the early twentieth century.”
Roberto Mendez said, “I hope you are aware of what you are getting into. The terrain in this area is pretty formidable—even more so than it is here. As much as I hate to suggest this, Dr. Miller, I would see if you can persuade my veterinarian friend to round up some burros or mules for you. I have only been to Huayacocotla once, but I know for a fact that the descent into the canyon is very steep along a winding trail.”
As the group exited the restaurant and prepared to go their separate ways, they all agreed to stay in contact with each other by e-mail. Dolores Clark jokingly said, “If you geologists happen to find Moctezuma’s Treasure, let me know. I will help you spend it.”