Carbunclo
Carbuncle (In Spanish: "Carbunclo", "Carbunco" or "Carbúnculo") is a legendary species of small animal in South American folklore, specifically in the mining folklore of northern Chile. The animal is said to contain riches of some sort; in some versions it is a precious stone that gives fortune and good luck to its owner.

The description of the animal vary. The chaplain and explorer Martín del Barco Centenera describes it in "La Argentina" (1602) as "a smallish animal, with a shining mirror on its head, like a glowing coal". As explained in the "Book of Imaginary Beings" Barco Centenera "underwent many hardships hunting the reaches of Paraguayan rivers and jungles for the elusive creature; he never found it." In the same book, the mirror in the carbuncle's head is said to be akin to two lights observed by Spanish explorers in the Strait of Magellan. Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés identified these lights with the gemstones hidden in the brains of dragons. The association is likely derived from the 7th-century "Etymologiae" of Isidore of Seville. 

In Chile some say it moves like a firefly in the night. In Tarapacá, it is said to look like a bivalve with a strong white-blue shine from within the shell which can be observed from a great distance. This "bivalve" is said to have the form of a maize ear, with more than four feet. The "bivalve" Carbunclo is said to have a very good sense of hearing, which it uses to hide from people by closing its shell to be mistaken for a stone. The shining in the interior of the carbuncle is thought by some miners to come from the gold it has inside.

During the great drought of 1924–25 there were reported sightings of carbunclos on moonless nights. Around 1925 a family of carbunclos was seen descending from the mountain of Tulahuén towards Río Grande (Coquimbo Region). Also in northern Chile, a man named Gaspar Huerta is said to have encountered a carbunclo while digging an acequia, but reportedly he could not see what its shape was because he killed it on the spot to recover its riches.
Q36192
folklore
Concept
Q6865557
mining
UNK
Q83437
precious stone
Concept
Q2361449
Martín del Barco Centenera
PER
Q3206315
La Argentina
MEDIA
Q2529048
Book of Imaginary Beings
MEDIA
Q733
Paraguayan
LOC
Q48365
Strait of Magellan
LOC
Q919967
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés
PER
Q665934
Etymologiae
MEDIA
Q166876
Isidore of Seville
PER
Q25420
firefly
Concept
Q2114
Tarapacá
LOC
Q6363287
great drought of 1924–25
UNK
Q2121
Coquimbo Region
LOC
Q1385463
acequia
Concept
Q17239653
Carbunclo
Concept
Q17239653
Carbunclo
Concept
1924-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1924
DATE
1925-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1925
DATE
+1602^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1602
NUMBER
+7^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
7
NUMBER
+25^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
25
NUMBER
author
author
notable work