The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-08-03
The Cocos Island and the Gold Hunters.

u - Z
A San Francisco paper tells the fol-
lowing: The swarthy. heavy-bearded,
short-haired, thickset buccaneer who
fabricated the tale of hidden treasure at
Cocos Island has probably accomplished
more than he originally intended. With
each succeeding year the yarn has sus
tanned embellishments. The original
buccaneer, like Washington's body ser
want, has grown into many. The secret
he has told has also been credited to
buccaneers innumerable. According to
o careful estimate a larger sum of money
has been expended in hunting the
treasure than the treasure itself-the
doubloons, ingots and jewels-is sup
posed to be worth. Hundreds of thou
sands of dollars have been wasted in
proftless searches, and not even the
color of gold has been discovered. Eu-
ropeans and, people of the Eastern States
have finally come to the conclusion that
the buccaneer bequeathed the tale with
malice aforethought, and that it really
has no foundation in fact. But we have
those in California who scout this theory.
They will succumb to the thinnest min
ing excitement and start on prospecting
expeditions upon the slightest provooa-
ton. We also have a credulous class; q
class who will accept Munchausen stor-
les for truth-not only accept, but relish
them-and pay for the enjoyment. The
Cocos Island treasure-seekers belong to
this class. They exhausted their means
a few months ago, but are now recuper-
ating for fresh start. In view of the
foregoing facts information relative to
the island is ofspecial interest. During
o conversation with gentleman who
returned from the island with the last ex-
pedition, our reporter learned something
of its characteristics. Cocos Island is
in the Pacific Ocean, about six hundred
miles west-south-west from Panama, in
lat. deg. 80 min. north. A majority of
the newspaper accounts have spoken of
the island as being very low and sandy.
This statement is incorrect. The island
is 1000 feet high and is accessible in
only two places. There is but one safe
anchorage, and here O small patch of
beach is found. The island, according
to our informant, is four miles across
and twenty miles around, ana is of vol
canic origin. Heavy timbers, species
of cedar, is found in considerable guam
titles. The greater portion of the island
is hilly, and is covered with d heavy
growth of vines, weeds and grass. The
vines form barriers at some points which
it is almost impossible to penetrate. An
immense amount of rain falls upon the
island, preserving its mantle of green
all the year round. Our informant has
visited the island several times at differ
ent seasons of the year, and always saw
more or less rain. When the storms pre-
vail the island presents beautiful sight.
| Torrents of water dash over the scared
| hills, forming lovely cascades, and wind
their way through the ravines to the
ocean. At one time 100 cascades were
visible from high bluff and some of
these wero of sufficient magnitude to
render them truly grand. While the
island is constantly green, and contains
an abundance of fresh water, our in
formant assures us that it does not pro-
duce any edibles. Wild hogs are found,
but they are decreasing in numbers and
do not seem to thrive. The pleasure
seekers have not made any attempts at
cultivation, but have devoted their en-
ergies to the main question. The little
beach is perforated with shafts, and the
hills and valleys abound in shafts-the
number runs into the hundreds. Some
of the excavations in solid rock are over
one hundred and fifty feet deep, and
surely could not have been accomplished
without q large outlay of time, labor
and money. This rock contains iron
pyrites, but no trace of gold, silver OF
other precious metal has been found. II
is now uninhabited. Such is Cocos Is
land, the land which has attracted at
tention for centuries past, and bids fail
to hold its peculiar sway for centuries
to come. Another pleasure seeking ex-
pedition is in process of organization in
this city.