The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-03-05
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 making 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-
iStence. 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, a man named James
Shields, who hailed from Charleston,
appeared in Boston and interested sew
eral capitalists in 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 lslands-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: $40
the Canary Islands and surrounding
waters and return" The first rate
knew no more than | did, and while the
captain, no doubt, knew all about it, he
was as mum as 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 a 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 a fairly good run
of it. 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
large dhow, such as the Arabians use in
the slave trade, and seemingly carrying
large number of men, arrived in the
bay and anchored within a cables
length of us. Tho West African coast
OF thirty years ago was not traversed
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 q 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 in
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 after
fruits. After dinner her captain was
pulled aboard of us. He was an Al
gerine, with as wicked face on him as
any pirate ever carried, and though he
tried to render his visit very pleasant,
he left nothing but distrust and suspi-
cion behind. One and all believed that
he came as a spy. He asked as was
natural, our port of hail, whittier bound,
our cargo, and so on, and it was thought
best to tell him that we had been sent
out by the American Government to
rescue crew of American sailors ship
wrecked some time before about three
hundred miles down thee We had
put in for water and repairs, and would
soon resume our voyage. This story
seemed to satisfy him, and, after a lunch
IN the cabin, he took his departure.
That afternoon he dropped out of the
bay with the tide, and we expected we
had seen the last of him. We were all
glad enough to see him go, for no man
aboard doubted that he was up to mis-
chief.
The next morning we were ready to
sail, and now / learned more of the OBJ
Ject OF the voyage than ever before
Shields had a British chart of the wa
tiers, and midway between the north
eastern island and the mouth of the
Draha river he had made pencil mark.
Whether this stood for shoal or a
wreck did not learn.
AT five o'clock in the afternoon, hav-
Ing held a course to the northeast since
we left the bay, we took soundings, and
EHand bottom at FIVE iathoms, This