Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-04-21
A Buccaneers Booty.

bucciHctf'S D0Otrs
The following dispatch from Kingston
needs an explanation. which the World
Is glad 10 be able To make, inasmuch rs
the story hidden in these few lines is
really full of curious interest:
"kIXGsToN. jamaica. December 6-An ex-
petition has iii~t sailed from tins port convey
ed hy British vessel uf war in search Of com
c'alrd treasure on ON" of th.. islands NEAR the
coast of th" l~ihmuS Uf Panama. wh,'r,., il il
stated. tn polls of IIurcmnccr Morgan have
t'ru discovered 10y Mr.. CurriC, native of
Nassau. y. -
The island here alluded To is the iSlct
of Santa Catalina, lying about ninety
miles of the Mosquito coast in the
Caribbean Sea and forming one of the
little group known To the few who know
anything of Spanish-Amcriran history ~;
the islands of san Andres aud La Provi..
dcncia. 1t is just north of La Provi-
dHria, more familiar TO American
traders rs Old Providence, IL name given
to il to distinguish it from New Proyi-
drncc i'll the Bahamas. For many wears
after the Spanish occupation of Central
America these islands were attached
alternately to the Captaincv-Gencral of
Guatemala and to tho Nicc-Rovaltv of
New Granada. Lying undcra fine climate
and not destitute of decent harbors.
they are also susceptible of profitable
cultivation. Ii was from san
Andres. indeed, that the first seeds of
the since famous sca-iSland cotton were
brought To the coast of South Carolina
one of the smuggling. trading, fighting
jamaican adyrnturrr-. who then fire.
qucntri the Caribbean coasts of Span
ish America. During the seventeenth
century these Central American islands.
lying aS th"y 10 out of the immediate
control "f the Spanish authorities, were
continually visited and for years at Il
time occupied by all sorts of intcrlopcrS.
and especially by English. Dutch and
French advrntnr"rS ns the free and-caSv
type famous rs buccaneers One of
The most eminent of these advcnturerS,
Henry Morgan, Il WclShman. made
Santa Catalina one of his stronyhold5
during those brillian, operations against
the lSthmIs of Darirn in 1870 and l67l. ..
which ended with the capture and sack
inT of Panama and the spelling of the
rich Spanish silver @allconS in tha; port.
One. nj least. of Sir Henry ships re-
turning To Jamaica laden with the booty
both of Panama and Of Pori,-,rllo. is be-
lievcd I" have been plundcrcd and de-
StroNcd by her crew ii Santa Catalina.
and for two centuries past legendary
stories like those which cluster in our
Northern ATTITUDES around the lost
treasure" OF Captain Kidd have been
current i'll those parts touching the spoil
hidden in some corner of this remote
iSlct.
During the winter of 1879 80. while
the Earl of Lonslalc, then cruising in
the West Indies, lay with his Yacht at
Kingston, trader of that place sought
him ont and told him u tale of the dis
covcry on Santa Catalina, by a certain
Mr.. Currir. of Il cavern. natural or arti-
fetal, filled with ancient boxes and bar
rrlS. one or two of which on being care
fully opened proved to contain great
quantities of Jewels of various kinds and
coin. chiefly of the Spanish mints of the
seventeenth century. Some very curl
ouS ornaments set with diamonds in an
antique fashion and good many old
Spanish douhloons were exhibited to
the Earl as proofs of the authenticity of
the story, and he was strongly urged to
take the narrator on board. 90 in quest
of Mr.. Curric To the Bahamas. and then
sail for Santa Catalina, to investigate
the matter. He was assured that Mr..
Currie had been driven away from the
island by some of the inhabitants under
the leadership of an cntcrpriSing Yankee
who had got an inklng of the exist
ence of the treasure and was de-
termned not 10 allow Mr.. Currie to
profit by it unless he would make u
fair division. The story was told so
circumStantially and supported with
such evidence rs TO tempt Lord Lonsdale
into making the trip, whichhc probably
would have done had not the heart of
the jamaican at the last moment failed
him, so that he cvaded his engagement
to come on board of the yacht and dis
appeared. From the dispatch which
now reaches lis il would seem that Mr.
Currie has taken up his own case so
encrgctically as 10 get the support of an
English man-of-war in an attempt to
secure his treasure trovp. Should this
prove To be the case, il really is not i'm
probable that the speculation may turn
out more adrantagcouSly than any
quest for Kidd hidden gains has done.
Morgan, who was knightcd by Charles
II! for exploits which in these days
wn;!I have sent him to the gallow>,
'l;cl in the English service ii Jamaica.
leaving Il lar-e fortune behind him, and
there is no doubt whatever that he and
his men carried away from Panama an
enornml> sum for those days in specie.
in Jewels and in church ornaments of
gold and silvcr.-N \. IlOrM