The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-14
the king. and be was taken on beard with

US and all his men.
This deponent deposing further saith
that this Capt. de Vega on the voyage to
charles Town related a most incredulous
story. He sworesthat the brigantine had
been loaded at st. Augustine with silver
and gold, the sum thereof in English
sterling being e5, 500, 900. That he and the
first mate, Miguel AretinO, had agreed TO
make good to themselves this money. and
that they should bury it on Long Island.
That they had boldly permitted the whole
crew into the conspiracy, and on the after
noon OF Aug. 81 the captain and the mates
and the crew went ashore in the small
boats. That the mate selected a large pine
tree near the shore which was blazed with
circle with two inner cross marks on the
side or the tree turned from the shore. That
from this tree the mate took a bearing with
land compass-northeast- deg.-min. The
captain next measured distance of about
twenty chains, OF nearly a quarter of a
mile, the end thereof being In a marsh. The
commander and the mate had made unto
themselves an agreement that the COM
mander should keep the memorandum Of
the distance secret from the mate and crew.
and that the mate should keep the bearing,
SO that there should be no foul play
or treachery. At about l o'clock
on the morning Of Sept. l
the first mate boarded the brigan-
NAHOo COL4pLuADll SCuOODGE anu convened
eight small boats loaded with the coin to the
shosr, and it was buried. The captain fur
Their said that when the small boats and
convoy were on the way to the shoar they
were run through by a schooner, as he
thought the same being my vessel, which
was blown alongside. and on which he fired.
but the most villainous part of the cap
tain's tale is that it had been agreed that
when the fleet of small boats should return
krfr-a A.
schooner were to bear away from the feet.
the same to he abandoned to death.
The commander further said that on the
return his schooner must have been fright
ened away by fear of the vessel on which he
had fired, and kept well away. This. the
deponent further states, that on passing
into Charles Town yesterday, he saw the
wreck OF schooner on the beach of Sand
Island, and picked up one of the boats Of the
Cid Campeador,' in which a share of the
Spanish kings money had been carried
to the Long Island. He hath no doubt
and verify believes that the Schooner
drlfted southwark from Sullivan's Island.
and was cast ashore on Sand Island, The
mate on board the schooner, who was lost,
had with him the bearing of the gold and
silver, where it was buried in the marsch,
from the pine tree; and peradventure il
would be idle to search therefor without
the chart, but by Gods grace, this deponent
deslreth an order from the kings lawful
officer to search therefor, and will true re-
turn make to any magistrate of tae king "
Another paper bearing the same date as
the above, recites the granting Of the de-
sired order to search for the hidden treas
ure, but the return which the aforesaid
Garviu pledged himself to make is nowhere
TO be found. Z, or course it will never be-
known il he made it; but in those DAYS
magistrates Of the king" were not 80 plen-
tiful as country justices are to-day, and the
return regarding SO important a mission
would in all probability have been carefully
preserved. So it will ever remain q oues-
ton whether J ohm Garvin found the treas
ure, or whether to this day over S25, 900, 900
in Spanish gold and silver
lies buried in the woods of Long Island. 1t
might be mentioned by way of explanation
that this island lies about ten miles from
Charleston, just outside of Sullivan's Island,
and that "Sand lsaudn is the old name for
Morris Island, which became so celebrated
during the late civil war. Some parts Of
the story are undoubtedly true. The wreck
of the brigantine on one of the islands at
the mouth Of Georgetown harbor is said by
local chroniclers to be a matter of authentic
history.
Considering it from all sides, however. It
does not seem highly improbable that either
Garvin or De Vega spun "a very extensive
sea yarn. The most improbable feature of
the story is the agreement to abandon the
men In the small boats off Long Island
shore. Had this been done, nothing would
have been easier than to have rowed back
to shore, unearth the treasure, which they
could easily have found at that time, and
carry it into Charleston, which was in sight
of all these operations. Nobody knows what
became of the villain De Vega and his con-
federates. There are no records of any pro-
ceedings against them that have yet been
found. Whether he escaped and recovered
his gold, or whether he was punished for
piracy, will never lie known. 1t is almost
certain, however, that had the latter taken
place the records of the courts of the colony,
which are preserved intact. would throw
| some light on che subject. The only exist
ing documents are given here, and it now
remains for some future historian to explain
the strange affair.