The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-11-30

Then, rs now, trading vessels from Nova
Scotia freQuented the coast to supply the
scattered settlements with the necessa-
ries Of life, receiving in return furs and
fish.
l. the year 1880 the captain of one OF
these vessels happened to be in an inn iii
Halifax talking over his summer voy-
ages, while smoking a pipe with q friend.
They observed that an old man, sitting
at a table near them slipping his whisky
and water slowly, appeared highly inter-
ested in their conversation.
When Captain Black left the inn the
old man followed him into the street and
eagerly questioned him about the Labra-
dor coast. Before they parted he made
the captain promise to take him to the
Bay Of the Dead the following spring.
Captain Black had harbored there once
during a great storm. In the spring,
when the warm rays of the sun had
loosed the icy barriers OF the coast, Cap
tain Black, mindful of his promise,
sought the mysterious old man, but
found him dying of fever. Amid the
rawlings Of delirium the astonished and
AUIIOI StIlChcu CdpIdlu WIS tOlu d thlO
of murder, bloodshed and robbery on the
high seas, and of the hidden treasure of
the Bay Of the Dead. .
Manning flor the dying man was none
other than the notorious ex-pirate), with
blasphemous curses foretold death and
destruction to any n who should at
tempt to secure the i'll gotten wealth.
In a paroxysm of fear and despair he
died unrepentant, unabsolved. The
captain was too bold a ma to be deter
red from seeking the treasure by a dying
mans curse, SO he Immediately set sail
for the Bay of the Dead.
The weather being foggy and the coast
dangerous, he approached with the ut
most caution. Within a few hundred
yards of the coveted goal, the brrying
ground, a strange faintness came over
him, his limbs refused to bear him.
Eager to secure the treasure, which had
from long brooding become his sole OBJ
ject in life, he with a great effort drag
ged himself to the bow of the vessel.
At that moment the ominous words,
death, death, death!" sounded in his
startled ears.
A mortal fear o~verspread him, and he
had barely sufficient strength to order
the crew to put about. The sailors.
wondering at the strange conduct OF
their captain, obeyed just in time to pre-
event striking a sunken reef. Among the
crew of Captain Blacks vessel on this
occasion was q lad of some thirteen years
or age. Ricketts, by name. The captain
had made rather a pet of this boy, and
during the long voyage had related to
him the story of Manning. Thirty
years passed, and no further attempt
was made to wrest the wealth from its
ghostly keeper. In the year 1860 Rick
etts, then in middle g and living in
the United States, was a haunted
In dreams and in his waking hours the
apparition of Manning followed him,
urging him to go to the Bay of the Dead
and secure the treasure. Old inhabitants
of the coast say that in that year (1860)
a strange vessel flying the American flag
sailed into the harbor of the Bay of the
Dead. The captain, whose name was
Ricketts,, hired a fishing boat, and while
ostensibly engaged in fishing operations
spent u great pant of his time in explor-
ing the shore and digging. After a
month spent in this mysterious way he
departed, returning, however, the fol-
lowing summer
Again he was watched, and from the
burial ground at the Bay of the Dead
was seen to unearth a large wooden box
or cask, which he carried off with him.
Again, so late as 1880, a strange Amer
lean vessel paid mysterious visits to the
bay. Their object was and is a subject
of endless conjecture among the fisher
folk.
There are now many graves at the Bay
of the Dead, and the good people of the
coast, with their great respect for the
dead, disturb them not to search for hid
den treasures.
1t cannot be asserted positively that
the treasure of Manning has been torn
from its hiding place and the spirit of
the murdered negro released from his
long and faithful vigil. But it is a sure
and certain fact that a dweller under the
cliffs of the bay has of late, without ap-
parent effort, become very wealthy, and
rumor hints Of treasure trove. SUCH Is
the story of Manning as related by q ma
tive of that bleak and desolate coast, and
though the mellowing hand of time has
thrown a halo of romance over the pic
turesque Bay of the Dead and the deeds
done there, the main facts are well es-
tablished.