One of the many chancers and treasure-seekers determined to make their fortunes in this brave new world was a Peruvian trader named Julio Cesar Arana. Arana acquired vast estates in a region named after its largest river, the Putumayo, and, as many others were doing at the time, realized that only by enslaving huge numbers of the local Indians to collect the latex could his visions of vast wealth become reality. (Slavery had, of course, been abolished decades earlier in the US, but brazenly continued in Amazonia).
The Philippines treasure seekers are excavating a gold trove allegedly hidden by a Japanese commander during World War II. An anthropologist believes Filipino folklore motivates the pursuit of rumored hidden wealth. There may not even be any of the lost gold belonging to Yasuhiro Yamashita, according to historians.
Possibly the most sophisticated of the treasure seekers were the crew of a survey vessel, the Ronald P. Jensen. Captaining the boat equipped with $1 million worth of high-tech hydrographic devices was Connor Rogers.
Near this room, according to Spanish treasure-seekers, there was also a fantastic zoo. The zoo made such a tremendous impression on them that many members of the expedition wrote in their accounts more about the zoo than they did about any other aspect of the city.
aa06259810