Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-08-12
A REAL TREASURE ISLAND
Romantic Spot of Unusual IN
terest Which Is Located
Near Porto Rico.
THE HAUNT or PIRATES
An Ideal Spot for Freebotters to Hide
Their Booty-Cayes Galore, In
tricate and inaccessible.

4
Some of the Caverns of La Mona in the
| Vicinity of Cape Caigo Present still the
Undoubted Traces of Pirates-WaIls Are
Craven with sinister Designs $40, 900
in Coins and Jewels Unearthed.
! At the centre of the sea Of the An
| titles, at the middle of the passage
which separates st. Domingo from
| Porto Rico, there raises itself above
the waves a steep rock, to which the
ancient Spanish nayigators gave the
name of la Mona" or "Monita" the
Little Monkey. Among the sailors Of
the Antilles, La Mona is always called
the Island of Pirahes, and 1t is thought
to conceal mysterious treasures.
1t Is an immense chaIky block, seven
Kilometres long and four or five wide,
rearing its summit, fiat as table, TO
thirty or forty metres above the sea.
The waves, always agitated in these
COASTS, have shaped this block into a
pedestal of pointed cliffs and, except
In two or three points, where narrow
stretches of shore advance, the island
is almost inaccessible. Ships are kept
at a distance, as much by the violence
of the waves as by chain of rocks
which surround it, and where alone
At the southern point Of the island
an enormous rock seems miraculously
suspended from the crest OF cliff The
sailors have named it "Caigo no
caigo," which means, Shall | fall, or
shall l not fall" In spite of it's peril
| Gus position. the rock in equilibrium
has resisted for many ages the attacks
of storms and waves.
But one of the most curious particu-
lars of this island, so strange from
many points of view, is that its chalky
mass is throughout pierced by immense
caves, innumerable grottos, which ram
ify In all ways, and, having their en-
trance under the face of the cliff, con.
duct by siEuous passages to the very
summit of the plateau. The arottos.
inhabited by bands OF seabirds, were
but lately in part INSTRUCTED by guano,
which has been nearly all taken away.
The adventurer intrepid enough to
engage himself In this formidable
struggle soon finds himself arrested by
two very unexpected obstacles; in eff
feet, among the tangles of plants are
hidden swarms of immense wasps,
which, at the least rustling, precipitate
themselves on the Intruder and can by
their dangedous stings put his life in
guardians of the jungle. he has to
their dangerous stings put his life in
dwarf cactus, which in many places
stud the EARTH, and the pricks of
which, without being as dangerous as
those of the wasp, are very painful,
and cause high fever.
One can understand that this rocky
isle, so well defended by the forces of
nature, may have offered a refuge to
the daring filibusters, who have been
during many centuries the terror of
the Antilles. After having passed by
secret passages in the belt of rocks,
they sheltered their vessels in some in
tricacy of the cliff ana established
themselves i'll these grottos which
formed impregnabie natural fortresses.
There no one could reach them,
and surprising that daring assaiant
had succeeded in forcing an entrance
TO their haunt, the bandits would fly
through the detours Of the ineXtricable
labyrinth and would gain the impene-
trable thicket of the upper plateau,
where it would be impossible to track
them.
Some of these caverns in the vicinity
of Cape Caigo present still the I'M
doubted traces of pirates. One of
from the thick coat of SCOT which
covers its vault, is a vast chamber,
around which spreads network of
other chambers and passages. The
walls of this chamber are still craven
with sinister designs, representing gal
lows supporting rows of bodies and
above which are inscribed the names
of the victims. names where are found
represented all the nations among
which these rascals recruited their
band. and which are doubtless those
of traitors or rebels executed by their
companions. unless they We're the un-
fortunate captives sacrificed by these
wretches. Some cannon balls, still en-
crusted in the walls of the cliff, near
the entrance, also prove that the place
was besieged, without doubt, by some
war vessel sent In pursuit of the
pirates.
These grottos did not serve as places
Of refuge merely; the pirates used them
as storehouses and kept In them the
products of their captures. So when
Mt the close of the last century, France
and England had succeeded in destroy
ing this breed, it was thought that the
island must contain some of the i'm
mense treasures which the pirates had
hidden there during many years.
Searches were made, but the extent of
the caverns to be gone over was so
great that no result was obtained.
However, about forty years ago, an
American, guided, il appears, by a
mysterious document, landed on the
island with a troop of negroes from
San Domingo and succeeded in I'M
earthing in one of the grottoes an iron
box containing $4,000 in ancient
golden coins and Jewels. Allured by
This result. an American company was
formed in 1880 and undertook to search
methodically while taking up the thick
bed of guano deposited by the seabirds
on the floor of the gFottoes; but out
side the precious guano no treasure
was gained.
The samoan at Home.