Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-12
a DEVIL FISH IN A CAVERN.
An Old Sailors Yarn About His Expe-
rience with one Of Them.

saith:
81 was knocking around San Francisco
several years ago, out OF berth and out
Of money, when / got a lay with half a
dozen men who mad chartered a schooner
called the Wave to proceed to the south
ernmost island of the Santa Barbara
group, OF the Lower California coast, and
dig up treasure which had been buried
there by a bold buccaneer. An old chap
from sacramento, rich but cranky, had
got mold OF the secret somehow, and j l
was his enterprise, and be went along
with us. As the pay was good, and WAS
70 come whether we got the treasure or
not, YOU will understand that we had a
pretty soft Job, l was mate, and we had
Captain, cook, the old man, and four
sailors aboard. We took along a lot OF
tools, ropes, gunpOwder, and the pro-
visions put aboard we're fit for any gentle
mans table.
I'VE had a pleasant run down the
coast. and one afternoon dropped anchor
OF the east side of The Island, bringing
up IN very secure harbOr and having
midsummer weather with us. That even
ing the Old man, whose name was ravlor,
let us into the details OF his plans. II
seemed that some old sailor had been
giving him tafy. He had it
down in writing that in the year
nos Spanish buccaneer. named
Gomez something or other, landed there
and buried q large iron-bound chest Tiled
with gold and silver plate and iewelrv.
just as he was getting away with his ship
British man-Of-war comes along and
blows the whole crowd sky nigh. As no
body was saved it seems Old that the
treasure could afterward be heard of. hut
the story got started and was passed
around until the old salt gives it to Tay-
Tor.
Then what does Taylor do hut consult
a clairvoyant, and she tells rim the story
is true. and gives him a description OF
the spot where the chest is buried. She
said that on the southeast end of the
island were three trees in line. He must
start from the tree nearest the south
shore and pace off 80 PAGES to the west.
Then he must pace 10 PAGES to the north,
and under his feet would be the treasure.
lie must only dig between > and s O'Clock
in the afternoon, and while any digging
was going on he must read from the Bible
in loud voice.
''Of course 1t was all bosh, sir. and of
course none of us believed it. However,
1t was none Of our business, as we had a
soft thing Of it, and we kept straight
faces while the old man figured out MS
latitude. There was nothing to do next
day except to locate the spot. SIngularly
enough, the clairvoyant had hit it right
about the trees. The island was pretty
fairly wooded, but we had little
trouble in finding three trees in
line. That set Taylor wild, and it was
laughable to see him stumbling and
plunging and pacing around. He finally
made up his mind as 10 the spot. and we
drove stake and returned to the schooner
to wait until afternoon. She was an
chored about 200 feet off shore. Right IN
front of her was a gravelly beach, but a
little further to the north was a rocky
shore standing up about ten feet high.
The waves had worn a great cavern in
this blum, and the waters made curious
sound as they rushed IN and out.
1.-The sailors proposed q swim among
themselves, and the Captain, TAYLOR, and
myself satin the shade of tree while the
men stripped ana went into the water.
We paid no particular attention to the
men, but as they came out, IL minutes
later, they called to us that man named
Nisbett was missing. He was the best
swimmer Of the lot, and had last been
seen in front OF the cavern.
The time of his disappearance was
not noted, and no one could
say he was missed until they were ready
to come out. The water along the. b ufs
was not over feet deep. and 50 clear that
YOU could have seen a button on the bot
body could not have been carried out to
sea. He had not called for help, as would
have been the case ii he had caught
cramp, and we were soon certain that
he was not hiding TO play joke on US.
At length, after searching and
talking for half an hour, we
came to the conclusion that the
poor fellow had taken look into the
cavern, and in some way got his death
blow. We were bound 10 get the body, at
all events, and when we had cut some
long poles | got into the boat with the old
man Taylor and one OF the crew. 1 don't
exactly understand why IL should have
been us three. but so IL was. and the
others walked along to the bluffs and
stood looking down at us as we brought
the boat in front of the cavern. Taylor
was in the bow and was amidsnips,
while the sailor was clear astern. We
began pOking into the cavern with our
poles, and presently the old man cried out:
"'Here's the bOdy-here it isr
Just as | turned my face to him some
thing shot out from the cavern like a flash
and struck MIN, but before he cried out
there were two more flashes, and the men
on the bluffs screamed out in holy horror.
The three flashes | saw were three of the
ing and twisting about the old man like
snakes, and the yells he uttered could
have been heard a full mile. | was so
parayzed for the moment that
/ made no move in his favor.
Ii was not until saw him
being pulled overheard that I raised my
pole and brOughtit down on those squirm-
ing arms. But only got in one blow. Be-
fore | could repeat il Taylor was twisted
out OF the boat and drawn into the cavern.
You may guess, sir, that " e were not long
getting the boat away from the butts. In
deed, so great was our CONSERVATION that
we at once hurried aboard the schooner,
and il was fnllhOu before we recovered
our nerve. Some of the men were for
weighing anchor and leaving the island at
once, but by and by We realized that we
had been oYerirightened, and that We must
make some decided move against the enc
my. The tide was now on tue turn, and we
soon got plan. The CAPTAIN had been in
the torpedo service OF the Confederacy
during the war. and knew all about the
way to manage powder and fuses. He
built BIT Of a raft, placed 20-pound
key Of powder on IL, and we tOwed the
raft 10 the right spot and let the tide set
IL into the cavern. The keg had been
fused, and the fuse lighted. and after a
minute there was an explosion which
crumbled the bluffs and scOOped the cav
ern high and dry. out came the two hui
man bodies. both badly mutilated, AMI
along with them the remains OF two devil
tsh. They were lust fragments.