Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-04-08
A QUEER QUEST.
The Debt Uncle Sam Contracted
with Jonny Crapeau.
search for Buried Treasure Ends In Capt
ure by Moorish Pirates Who In Turn
Receive Their Deserts from
French Frigate.

was mating inquiry at the STATE de-
partment in Washington the other day
about debt which our Uncle Sam in
cured on land and sea in the spring OF
1860, and ] felt much disappointed to
learn that no steps had been taken to
pay it--not even to acknowledge its ex-
lstence. The French Government is
the creditor in this instance, and so
much has occurred to excite the public
mind in both countries since the date
mentioned that it has doubtless formed
an excuse for our State Department to
perhaps pigeonhole and forget the mat
ter entirely.
In the fall of 1859, man named James
Shields, who hailed from Charleston,
appeared In Boston and interested sew
eral capitalists in a strange adventure.
As near as | was ever able to learn, for
reasons which ! will explain, he had
located treasure wreck to the East of
the Canary Islands-between them and
the coast of Morocco What papers he
had is known only to the other members
Of the syndicate. He must have had a
pretty plausible yarn, for they
bought and QUILTED brig and sailed
away on the search. was second mate
Of the brig, and all | knew about the
voyage was that the articles read: "To
tho Canary Islands and surrounding
waters and return" The first mate
knew no more than did, and while the
captain, no doubt, knew all about it, he
was as mum rs any oyster. Shields
went along as passenger, and man
named Harper was aboard to act as
agent for the others.
While the object OF the voyage was
kept secret, we had hardly cleared Bos-
ton harbor before it was understood by
all that it was treasure hunt. We
were in ballast only, had full crew
and one man over, and the chains and
cables and diving bell put aboard all
went to prove that we were going to fish
\ for dollars lying under the water.
1t is a long voyage from Boston to the
Canaries, but we had fairly good run
Of 1t. Our brig was called the Swallow,
and as She was good sailer and well
provisioned, there was no growing
among the men, when, at times, she lay
heaving on the CLASSY seas without
wind enough to flare candle.
The object of the voyage had al
most been forgotten when the islands
were finally sighted. 1t was not until
we ran into Simm's bay, on the eastern
side of the group, that interest was
again at fever heat. Here we took in
fresh water, overhauled the standing
rigging, secured fresh provisions, and
were almost ready to sail away when a
large dLow, such as the Arabians use in
the slave trade, and seemingly carrying
q large number of men, arrived in the
bay and anchored within cables
length of us. The West African coast
OF thirty years ago was not traversed
almost daily by the steam war ships
and steamships of several nations, and
the merchantmen never felt perfectly
safe outside the Straits of Gibraltar
Whether this dhow was bound down the
coast after cargo of blacks or was
cruising for nobler fry was an enigma
We carried an arsenal of small arms
but nothing in the way of cannon. One
of our men who was sent aloft for the
purpose, reported that he was certain
the dhow carried two pieces of ordnance
forward
The dhow came in about ten o'clock IL
the morning, and as soon as her anchor
was down her boats started for the
shore, What the errand was we could
not tell, but guessed they were aftel
fruits. After dinner her captain wa
pulled aboard of us. He was an Al
gerine. with as wicked face on him a.
any pirate ever carried. and though ht
tried to render his visit very pleasant
he left nothing but distrust and suspi
cion behind. One and all believed tina
he came AS spy lie asked, as wa.
natural, our port of hail, whittier bound
our cargo, and So on, and it was though
best to tell him that we had been sen
out by the American Government t,
rescue a crew of American sailors ship
wrecked some time before about tire,
hundred miles down the coast We hat
put in for water and repairs, and woult
soon resume our voyage. This stor,
seemed to satisfy him, and, after lunch
in the cabin, he took his departure
That afternoon he dropped out of tn,
bay with the tide, and we expected W,
had seen the last of him. We were al
glad enough to see him go, for no maj
aboard doubted that he was up to mis-
chief.
The next morning we were ready t,
sail, and now | learned more of the oh
lect of the voyage than ever before
Shields had British chart of the wa
tors, and midway between the north
eastern island and tho mouth of tn,
Draha river he had made pencil mark
Whether this stood for shoal or
wreck did not learn
At five o'clock in the afternoon. hay
ing held a course to the northeast sine
We left the bay, we took soundings, an,
found bottom at five fathoms. Thi
. went to show that Shields had marke
shoal. heard the captain and mat
talking about coming to anchor, but n
orders had yet been given, when tn
dhow came stealing down upon us fror
the east, coming out of the blur whic
hung over the water as one might sud
denly appear from behind curtain
She wasn't over two miles away whe
first sighted, and after a hurried COZ
suleation the briggs head was permitte
o to fall off and we headed to the mort
with light wind abeam. The dho,
altered her course to intercept us, at tn
: same time signaling that she wanted t
speak us. Her appearance created SUI