The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-31

ire ne constructed q rhIb ana uOdJeu
away to the north. His chances of being
picked up were not one in ten thousand,
but on the fourth day he was sighted and
rescued by the English whaling ship John
Bull, which landed him at the cape four
months later, whence he got ship to
England. When Lee was picked up he
told cock -and-bull story of being washe d
overheard from an American merchant
man, and of reaching the island on piece
of wreckage, The captain told him the
island was one of the Christmas group,
which numbers fourteen large and small
islands. The main island is named Ker-
guelen, and at present has population Of
about 4,000
When Lee told the captain of the whaler
false story he was thinking of the treas
ure left behind him on the island. The
whaler carried large crew and did not
propose to divide with so many. The man
simply kept his mouth shut about the
whole affair, and when he finally reached
England no one knew that he had ever
seen the lost clipper. He thought it
would be an easy matter TO get a craft to
go for the treasure, but was sorely disap-
pointed Indeed, he had no sooner landed
in England than he realized that he must
keep quiet or he would be oyerhauled.
The insurance companies, the owners Of
the ship, and the relatives of the lost had
from Lee would arouse them,
and he would lose the treasure
and perhaps get into serious trouble. He
made two or three voyages to distant
ports, and on the breaking out OF the war
in the United States became blockade
runner. This was his story as he told it
to me, and he added that he had never
told human being of the location of the
wreck and the treasure, and he believed
fI,nf h hull cd In, "a
disturbed. Unless party made a land
ing on that side of the island there was
hardly u chance Of discovery. He had
broken into the treasure room and handled
its contents, and he believed that the
pursers safe, which he could not open,
held considerable jewelry and considera-
BILE cash.
SEARCHING FOR THE LOST TREASURE.
While believed that Lee told me the
truth from the beginning TO end, felt no
richer when he was dead. The trouble
would be TO convince others of the truth
of the story. My first care was to ascer-
tain If such a ship as the Rising Sun had
been lost in the year he named. In about
q month was satisfied on this point. She
was supposed to have foundered at sea,
and what Lee had stated about her cargo
was found to be correct. The chart of
the Indian ocean showed the island, and
continued to investigate until l learned
that there was an English whaler named
John Bull. ] wrote to Messrs. Harcourt
~ Smead, her owners, at Bristol and
they in turn communicated with her cap
tain, who was then on a cruise, and after
many months / got n letter from him,
written from the Falkland Islands, in
which he stated that he did pick up a
sailor floating on a raft at the time and
place named. The war was about ended
when had secured all my proofs, and
then started out TO interest others in
the story.
Do you remember reading stray items
about the Indian Ocean Treasure Com
pany in the year 1862 In spite of all our
efforts the newspaper folks got hold of
some things. though not enough to betray
us. The company was, composed of six
men, all of whom had served in the
federal navy, and our capital was the
prize money and pay due US at the close
of the war. We bought from the govern
ment the bark Racer, which was captured
of Wilmington while trying to run the
blockade in the last days, and she was
fitted out for the voyage at Charleston.
We engaged twelve negro sailors for the
voyage, making with cook and steward a
crew OF twenty men. We took on board
shovels, picks, axes, jackscrews, powder
and fuse, and whatever we might need in
cleaning out the hulk, together with lum-
Der to build us a house ashore, and we
cleared for Sidney at the custom house.
The six of us had put in every dollar we
could raise, and there was just sl32 in the
common purse when we set sail from
Charleston bar. All of us believed in the
treasure, however, and we were happy
and enthusiastic at getting away.
FORTUNE GUIDED STRAIGHT TO THE SHIP.
The details of that long voyage would
not interest you. Our first and only stop
was at Cape Town, and we renamed there
only three days. One day. months after
leaving Charleston, the island of KerRue-
len rose out of the water before US. We
passed between it and Solitary Island,
coasted around Cape Challenger into
Royal sound, and finally brought up in a
sheltered bay on the north side Of the
sound. From thence, starting out In the
morning soon after sunrise, we ran around
to the east coast Of Christmas Island in
the yawl, and few minutes before din
ner we landed on the spot described by
Lee, and our eyes rested on the
big hulk of the wrecked clipper. We
raised a cheer, but there was no hearth
ness in it. We had found the wreck and
believed it untouched, but the sight of
that battered hull gray and weather
DbuLeu huu EObbluR away WIS lAhO CDlA-
ing upon the skeleton of a human being
on the great plains. We stood contem-
plating IL for several minutes and then
clamored aboard, The birds had visited
the wreck, but not another living thing
had touched her decks since Lee left the
island. A storm had cut out the beach
half mile above and filed in Just there,
and the wreck now lay fifty feet above
high tide, and the basin in which she
rested was quite dry. This being the
windward side of the island, with no
haPbor for the bark, we spent Two days
looking for sheltered spot. We found
1t in the sound, two miles away overland
and about ten by water. We spent day
constructing fairly good road to go and
come by and on the next, having light
breeze and no sea, we ran the bark around
and got our lumber and other stun ashore.
When the bark returned to her
haven we made her secure and left only
the cook, steward and one white man
aboard. We built q shanty behind the
rocks with our lumber and four or five
days after our arrival were ready TO be-
gin work on the cargo The treasure
room was first looted. Lee had broken
open only one of the iron hound boxes and
had taken none Of the contents Of that
AWAY We got the Durser's safe on deck