The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-19
ILL-FATED MILLIONS.
THE RAJAH OF GwALIOR's VAST
TREASURE DEFIEs SEARCH.
Hidden store of Gold and Precious
stones In India That Has Eluded
Capture for Forty Years-EXPedi-
lions End in Death.


Every now and then We hear Of eXpedl-
tions starting In search Of treasures lost
or hidden in various parts Of the world,
India being the most favored. If somewhat
vague. destination Of such parties. Most
people viii remember an eudeavor being
made not long ago under the direction Of
the British government, TO wrest from the
waters Of the Ganges vast treasure that
has been missing since the time Of Indian
mutiny. For this search there was more
justification than many We hear Of. but
after four months Of ceaseless exert.ons
it had to be given up in despair. That the
treasure is hidden somewhere in India is
undoubted; portions of It have been
traced at one time or another, but there
is still enough left to make its finder
should il ever be found-a millionaire many
times over.
Six or seven years previous to the out
break OF the Indian mutiny the rajah OF
the province of Gwalior was dethrOned
for treason to the English. He had long
been a ruler over one Of the largest prov
inces Of India, and was known to be one
Of the wealthiest in the empire. He had ar
army Of 1900 men. herd of 200 elephants.
and lived in a style no European monarch
could approach. While protesting to be
friendly. he was continually plotting
against British rule, and when this was
discovered steps were taken to curtdil MS
powers. His army was reduced TO BODY
guard of 100 men; his right TO issue edicts
and make local laws was abrogated; Eng
| fish civil officers were stationed mere ana
there to collect the taxes, until at length
the rajah held only his empty title. He
bowed TO the terms imposed, but became
one Of the bitterest foes the government
| had to deal with, and was hrst and fore
most in bringing about the mutlny. Inc
date of the outbreak was known by the
depOsed rajah weeks in advance; II was
/ even said that he fixed the date himself.
| Although his army had been disbanded
| for three or four years, he had secretly
purchased and stored away large quanti-
/ ties of equipment, and for TWO months ar
terward previous to the outbreak 1t was
afterward learned he was secretly enlist
/ ing and arming his subjects.
Two weeks before the uprising the ratah
| made preparations TO secure the SAFETY OF
| his vast treasure. In his palace, thirty
miles from Gwalior he had a secret cham
| Der, in which the wealth of his family had
| been stored for three generations. No Eu-
ropean had ever set foot In the palace, put
| IL was currently reported that the value
| of the gems and jewels, many of which
| had been handed down from his great
| grandfather aggregated $l5,W0OOO. one
| day the rajah left his palace with an es-
cOrt of ten or his oldest and most trusted
soldiers, and each soldier had charge of a
! pack horse, carrying a share of the treas
/ ure His band Travelled to the northwest
for two days and then halted amid the
ruins of an ancient city between the town
| of Jeypore and the river Ganges. This, OF
| course. was only learned years after. AT
the end of five days the rajah returned to
| his palace, accompanied only by a servant
who had acted as cook. But almost imme-
/ diately this servant was locked in dun
! geon on some preteXt, and was never seen
again No one dared to asked what had
r.f "a he en1l
| who suspected wisely kept their thoughts
| to themselves, well knowing what would
| follow a word of gossip.
Two mouths after the rajah had taken
the field against the English at the head
! of a thousand men he was killed in battle.
| A month later his palace was captured.
| When the treasure-room was entered a
great find was expected, but 1t was emp
! ty From some of the servants 1t was
| learned how and when the wealth had been
| removed, but the government was too busy
| quelling the mutiny to search for 1t just
then.
When peace came a party in charge Of
an official was started out to search for
/ the rajah's treasure BY this time not a
soldier or servant who knew anything of
! the matter could be found All that could
| be discovered was that the party had gone
toward the northwest. After several
| days search the treasure hunters came
upon the ruins, and the spot commend
| ing itself as a likely hiding place they be-
| gan work Their operations had to be
| spread over fully a square half mile of
standing and fallen walls, with trees and
| bushes and vines growing in the greatest
i profusion, containing quite thousand
| safe spots in which to hide treasure. The
| party, which numbered four Englishmen
/ and sixty natives, went to work, however,
| and It was Ave months before they gave
| up the hunt, and the leaders reported to
! the government that it would take a
! thousand men fully two years to clear
/ away the debris
| Not long after a native was arrested at
| Delhi, charged with the murder of two
| European women at the outbreak of the
mutiny. When he was placed on trial an
| English ensign came forward to testify
| on his behalf, proving that it was a case
| of mistaken identity. AS soon as the ma
| tive was released from custody he went
! to his preserver and declared that he was
one of the rajahs soldiers who removed
| the treasure. 1t was buried in the ruins,
| he said, and when the work had been fin
! ished the rajah had given the party sew
! eral bottles of wine to drink to his health.
| This wine was poisoned. Every man who
| partook of it, except this one, died within
| two hours. He had partaken sparingly
| of it, but was made very ill., and had sim
ulated death to escape the rajah's dag
| ger. When the cold-blooded ruler depart
| ed, leaving the dead to be devoured by
| beasts of prey, the sole survivor crawled
| away, and after a time recovered and
made good his escape. He fought against
| the English to the last, but was ready to
divide the hidden treasure with the man
| VINO mad saved MS lie. AL that time the
| government offered % per cent to finders
| of treasure, and the officer and native
! proceeded to Jeypore and made up a par
! ~. In due time they reached the ruins,
| but only to find that the treasure had
! gone The native pointed out the spot
| where It had been concealed, and there
was no doubt of his veracity, but some
| one has removed the wealth. AS it had
| been taken away during the war it was
! almost useless to hope for a clew, al
| though the native declared he would de-
! vote the remainder of his days to follow
! ing the matter up.
1t was three years before anything fur
! Their was learned of the rajah's treasure
! Then a native who was confined in prison
! at Lucknow for the theft told a story
/ which subsequently reached the ears OF
! the government officials. During the last
| six months of the mutiny the regiment to
/ which he belonged was encamped for some
| days near the old ruins. BY that time
most of the natives began to realize that
| ultimately English rule must be restor-
/ ed, and this man and FIVE others decided
| to desert their colors and make their way
! to the east. Believing they would be pur-
! sued If they started off across the cOu1-
| try, they secreted themselves among the
| ruins until their comrades marched away