The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-25
Il have bce., told by Malsyo. who have

treasurer was chosen for every gang
Everything Of value was turned over t.
him To care for. aud once in about every
Two wears he made division of the spoils.
This treasure lad to be zealously guarded.
and in this instance 1t was so carefully
hidden that no one but the treasurer could
have found it. He had come in advance
Of me to add fresh plumber to the great
store. and there were jewels in his hands
as he lay there bloody mass.
Some of you may doubt what am going
to tell YOU, but there is abundant proof
in the ROYAL museum. In the files OF The
Times, and yet in my own possession. The
treasures Of that cave amounted to mil
lions upon millions Of dollars. II must
have been the bank Of thousand pirates,
and it had probably been several years
since division was made Many Of
the baskets and boxes were Of European
make, but there were many of native
manufacture The pirates had not slowed
away silks and velvets and laces. They
had no such common stuff as that The
treasure consisted of money, watches, dia-
monds, rings, bracelets, earrings. watch
chains. charms. and whatever else could
be called iewelry. There were crosses and
badges and medals by the score, and no
less than six jeweled hits Of swords
There were at least fifty gold chronome
tiers, and verify believe the number Of
gold watches would have reached 500.
C'nlettered and unlearned, and brought
up TO look on $50 note as fortune, |
would not have believed that the wood
held as much money Is | found here
There were English, American. French,
German, Russian Swedish. Belgian and
all other sorts of paper money, and gold
and silver was hcapcd up until my eyes
we're ready to answer for hat pegs.
Strange how human nature works.
Before finding this wealth would have
given year of my life to know that
could make the next hundred miles in
;afety had no sooner got my eyes on
the great wealth than began to figure on
how could keep every last shilling of it.
would not go without it. 4 quarter OF
an hour ago was alarmed at the slightest
sound. Now | would have faced and
fought the whole pirate gang | never
inspected | had such determination, or
that would care so much for money. 1t
took me a good while to cool off and calm
down. and then found myself in favor OF
sticking right there 1t was like two men
arguing. There wasn't one chance In a
thousand Of my getting off with tenth
If the plumber, and 10 remain there was 10
invite discovery Then the other chap,
rs it were, argued that ! was fool to
leave such wealth behind, aud that | had
only to remain III tho cave TO be hidden
from any search the pirates may make.
As result | stayed There was fresh
water at hand. plenty of wild fruits
around me- and the only unpleasant thing
was the corpse As soon as my mind was
made up to stay lpulled it out from under
The stone and buried it in the bank as well
rs could with only stick and my hands
10 work with.
There was no alarm that day, but on
the next day [ had no sooner eaten a
hasty breakfast and returned to the cave
than heard men in the woods From an
hour after sunrise to sunset the pirates
were constantly coming and going through
the ravine, calling to each other and to
the missing man 1t was the same for
The next three days and then the hunt
was given up or extended far beyond me.
had sailed away from the island, and
have no doubt that searching parties were
started out by sea as we'll as by land. |
had 10 lie quiet now, and during the three
days | suffered much from hunger and
thirst | knew the fellows would not
give up as long as there was any hope,
and it was well that | was over cautious
On the fifth day 100 or more of them were
in the ravine for several hours, pulling
down rocks, uprooting bushes, and pass
'ng 50 near the mouth Of the cave that
held my breath This minute search
satisfied them, and 10 one came near me
again.
1t was two weeks to day before con
tinued my journey. On the second day
after burying the body exhumed it and
stripped it of outside clothing, and when
ready 20 20 | left my sailor toys behind
me in place of them. After handling
everything over and over again | fought
down my avarice and used Judgment in
determining what to take unset and
took over eighty diamonds, upward Of
SIC 600 in English paper money, about
G. 0U in English and American gold, and
a little over II 600 in French notes The
paper money was all bills of large demon
nation. wanted to load myself down
but | had sense enough to realize the
tramp before me. could not. however
resist selecting three of the finest gold
watches, one of which can to this day he
seen in the Royal museum at London. 1t
is of French make, but has never been
further identified
1t was terrible trip | undertook. For
six days lived on fruits and berries, and
was often without water, and in this time
| did not make ten miles in Il straight line,
being constantly alarmed and paying no
heed TO the compass points. On the sixth
night, about midnight, came to beach
and a settlement 1t may have been the
one near which first landed, and prob
ably was After making sure that no one
was about, approached the beach, hunted
out a canoe like craft which thought |
could manage with paddle, and launched
it and put into the straits without raising
IN alarm. Wind and tide were both i'll
my favor. and at sunrise next morning |
was picked up by tho Lord Nelson, an
English ship inward bound, fifteen miles
below and off the island. Two or three
years later. when we had the pirates on
the run, headed party to secure the
rest of the treasure but we found an
empty cave Accident or search had at
I IL Il l.