The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1889-01-15

leper to justify his action with the
crew, and il was planned that should
not live long ashore. When l came to
undo the bundles found them to be
composed of empty bottles, oakum,
and bits of canvas. There was not a
particle of food--not an article of
clothing-nothing but rubbish It was
then / realized the kindness of tho
second mate. He must have overheard
them plotting TO maroon me, and he
went as far as IL was safe for him TO
60.
When, at about noon. [ rose up and
understood my position, felt that the
first thing to 90 was 10 explore the
island. am writing of the year 1852.
At that time many of the islands in the
Caribbean Sea had not been chartered
or named. was, as | afterwards as
certained. on sey or isle to the north
of Trinidad, and up TO twelve years ago
it was down on the charts as Little
Coco"
1t was about three miles long by one
and half wide and fairly wooded.
There were various birds. troops of
monkeys and numerous snakes, but no
wild animals TO put one in fear. 1had
been landed in the little bay on the
western side of the island. found a
spring of water Il quarter of a mile in
land, with plenty Of wild fruit all
around me. and on the first night of
my stay slept on the open beach. 1t
was three days before | fully realized
! my position and saw that | must de-
pend entirely upon myself. Then L
walked clear around the island and
across it, and ! decided that my best
location was near where | had come
ashore. Had | gone To the east end of
the island and raised u signal. | should
have been taken off within a week, as
there was channel between that and
the next island north mach used. but
this | had no means of knowing.
When found myself the sole inhabit-
ant. made up ny mind that escape
was impossible, and that | was To live
out my years right there. The cap
tain called me leper. had never
heard the name before. He had sent
me ashore because ] endangered the
| safety of the crew. While | suspected
that this was subterfuge. ! was not
quite satisfied about il. II was some
thing to be Stunned and afraid of, why
should | desire to escape? II taken
off had no home to so To, no friends
TO welcome me. ! was lonesome and
sOlnewh hat afraid here, hut was. never
theless enjoying She novelty of the
situation.
built me a rude shelter. wandered
over the island, fished. set snares and
captured parrots and monkeys, and
the first week was quite content. |
had been on the island three weeks
before the second mystery occurred.
The peninsula ~ neck on the western
end OF the island was composed of
sand, and bare Of tree or bush. 1t
was about three hundred feet long.
There had b,cn heavy blow from the
south. with Il big sea roll
ing in. and az" this had
lasted two days there was an
unusually low tide caught sight of
a timber he"vcd mp "r this spit, and
went out To inspcc: l.. ana while sur
veying the banks which the low tide
had uncovered | caught sight of some
queer little boxes half buried in the
sand. ! dug one ont 10 find il so heavy
that | could hardly dra" It away.
They were OF wood. hoped with iron,
and ten or twelve inches long by eight
or ten inches high. had little curl
Osity as TO the contents. and the idea
that they contained treasure never
crossed my mind. rot out four be-
fore the tide turned. and there were
several more in ~i.;.'. After j had
them all together above high water. |
began to wonder whether they con-
tanned nails or bullets. and set about
breaking one open. When rows upon
rows of silver coins greeted my eyes |
came near losing what little sense |
had. Two others contained silver,
the fourth one ~1.l. l. N2S English
money, every piece % it. and a. 1 had
never seen any % 1t before | was at a
loss to estimate the value.
Before the discovery of that money
| wanted nothing but Il pain. of shoes,
and the sight o. Il sail would not have
affected me. Now was wild to get at
the other boye-. anl my eyes were
constantly searching the sea for sight
of relief. ] dragged the boxes to my
house. and most Of each day for the
next week was spent on the neck in
hopes of getting at more treasure.
The water continued high, however,
and got nothing more.
On the eighth day after got the
treasure. and about thirty DAYS after