"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Sr 020 - Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

Columbus. He and his men had had days of weary sailing and had sought in
vain for shallow water in which they might come to an anchorage. Finally
they reached the point now known as Cape Gracias-с-Dios, and when they let
the anchor go, and found that in a short time it came to rest on the floor
of the ocean, some one of the sailors -- perhaps Columbus himself -- is
said to have remarked:

`` `Thank the Lord, we have left the deep waters (honduras)' that
being the Spanish word for unfathomable depths. So Honduras it was called,
and has been to this day.

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``It is a queer land with many traces of an ancient civilization, a
civilization which I believe dates back farther than some in the far East.
On the sculptured stones in the Copan valley there are characters which
seem to resemble very ancient writing, but this pictographic writing is
largely untranslatable.

``Honduras, I might add, is about the size of our state of Ohio. It is
rather an elevated table-land, though there are stretches of tropical
forest, but it is not so tropical a country as many suppose it to be. There
is much gold scattered throughout Honduras, though of late it has not been
found in large quantities.

``In the old days, however, before the Spaniards came, it was
plentiful, so much, so that the natives made idols of it. And it is one of
the largest of these idols -- by name Quitzel -- that I am going to seek.''

``Do you know where it is?'' asked Ned.

``Well, it isn't locked up in a safe deposit box, of that I'm sure,''
laughed the professor. ``No, I don't know exactly where it is, except that
it is somewhere in an ancient and buried city known as Kurzon. If I knew
exactly where it was there wouldn't be much fun in going after it. And if
it was known to others it would have been taken away long ago.

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``No, we've got to hunt for the idol of gold in this land of wonders
where I hope soon to be. Later on I'll show you the documents that put me
on the track of this idol. Enough now to show you an old map I found, or,
rather, a copy of it, and some of the papers that tell of the idol,'' and
he spread out his packet of papers on the table in front of him, his eyes
shining with excitement and pleasure. Mr. Damon, too, leaned eagerly
forward.

``So, Tom Swift,'' went on the professor, ``I come to you for help in