The San Francisco call., 1901-10-14
GOLD Of COCOs
NOT FOR THEM
Governor Of Island Has
the Sole Right to
Explore.
Notifies Persons in Victoria
That Expedition Can
not Land.

August Gissler, Governor of Cocos ISL
and, OF the. coast Of Costa Rica, where a
large amount of treasure is said to have
been buried and which has been made the
quest OF many expeditions, has taken
steps to prevent any further attempts to
recover the treasure on the part of out
siders. A dispatch from Victoria, B. c.,
announced yesterday that expedition
was being fitted out in that city by
Captain Hackett to search the island,
widow in Nova Scotia having furnished
the information - 60 the whereabouts of
the treasure.
AS soon as Governor Gissler read the
dispatch in The Call he at once sent a
letter to w. E. Won Johannsen, Consul
General of Costa Rica, in which he says
that no company with any such inten-
upon Cocos Island, as Governor Gissler
holds concession from the Costa Ricap
government in regard to the treasure,
IN which the Government is interested
l happen to be here in San Francisco"
says Governor Gissler, ION a business
visit, but certainly anything that might
De undertaken by such a company from
Victoria would amount to naught without
my consent
Would Find Gunboat Waiting.
Consul Won Johannsen at once placed
himself in communication with Captain
Hackett at Victoria, informing him that
ne and his expedition would find a Costa
a force of soldiers on the island when
would prevent his landing. It is there
fore likely that the widows information
VII be useless and that peculiarly
the expedition was to take along to aid
in the search, will remain idle.
There is an old story to the ef-
treasure @ is an buried nenas en the aoufs ISLAND
In 1920 Captain Don Pedro Bonita, COM
manding the brig Relampago, after bury
ing some treasure gained by piracy in
the West Indies, sailed to the Pacific
Ocean through the Straits of Magellan.
He left part of his crew in Valparaiso and
sailed northward. He fel! in with Span
ish galleon laden with treasure, captured
the vessel and sailed for Cocos Island.
Stories of Buried Bullion.
After burying the treasure there he
sailed as far north as Acapulco and cap
tured two more Spanish vessels. killing
both passengers and crew and transfer,
sailed again for Cocos Island where the
treasure was buried In one excavation
was buried 3o00 900 pounds of silver and
a0sBS 5 bars of god each in sze
4x3 inches and inches thick Another
cache contains 273 gold-hilted and be-
jeweled swords, precious stones and sew
eral kettles filled with gold. Marks were
made describing the locations, but as the
pirates fell out and nearly exterminated
the entire party no one has been able to
ascertain the exact location.
With a remnant of the crew Captain
Benita sailed south again, capturing an
other treasure-laden Spanish ship. The
treasure obtained from it was also buried
on the island. Then it was proposed to
return to the West Indies, get what had
been left there, return to Cocos Island
and have a general division: But the pi-
rates were captured by the British man
of-war Magician, and eighty-one of them
were hanged. The Magician afterward
visited Cocos Island and recovered a
part of the treasure. Other parties have
also succeeded in finding part of it, but |
the bulk still lies buried