The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-08-24
Espt. J. H. Boig, of the chesa.
peake and Ohio Company
HAS LETTERS AND CHARTS
Several Expeditions Have Failed. But
Captain Hoig's Father Found 1t
and Then Lost His Life--Be-
iieves He Can Secure 1t.
tspee,.l p,.pa,eh to INC T,nes.o


NEWPORT NEWS. VA. August q
Captain ]. H Boig. port captain OF the
Chesapeake aid Ohio Steamship Com
many, has received from a Boston friend
khE following clipping:
Vancouver, B. c., August S-The elab-
orntely QUILTED expedition which sailed
From here early in January on the brig
arrtine Slakcly to search for the mythical
Z treasure of Cocos Island, has returned
Sgfthout having seen a sign OF treasure OF
1 my kind The expedition was ar utter
! Failure. The instruments which were 10
! locate the supposed buried treasure failed
Ia all instances. The Blakeiy was -oi Gays
reaching the island from Victoria
The clipping was sent to Captain BoiE
because he happens TO be vitality interest
| cd The Captains grandfather. Captain
William Boig Of Glasgow. Scotland, was
The first man to fit out an eXpecation 10
search for the hidden treasure That was
over half a century ago. rms eApeoi.o!i
came to grief, and Captain Boig, of Glas-
HoV, never returned to his native heath,
+. shark having devoured him while he
was trying to swim TO safety from ms
ehipwrecked boat. It was the first on
6eries of perhaps q. score of expeditions
Atted out to find the treasure. ana all OF
them were Inflated They were marked
by shipwreck, mutiny. murder. suicide
and myriad bitter disappointments.
The present Captain Harry Boig' grand
Father, however, actually found the treas
are There is nothing mythical about it.
and had the sturdy old mariner escaped
the Jaws of the ravenous shark. he would
probably have succeeded in bringing a
farge part of the booty home and the
,<oloody story Of greed and murder that
Followed would never have been told.
: AN OLD SALT.
. Old Captain Boigs son. also Captain
William Boig. who was with him on this
1pedition, escaped with his lie, MADE
two other trips to the island, and is now
living in Scotland He is the uncle of the
Newport News Captain, and thoroughly
esth enticates the story Of the finding OF
the treasure and of the subsequent dis
aster. Captain ]. II. BoiE. better known
~ Captain Harry Boig. has in his pos
Resion letters from his uncle and from
other individuals, bearing on the treasure
and the original expedition. that are sin
kularly interesting, even in these unro-
snantic days.
But the story Of hidden treasure never
ecses its charm. and there is glitter
about buried gold that daZzles as dazzles
the CLEAN Of 10 other gold. The fever
and the fascination of the quest has bit
ten the Boig family. and Captain Harry"
is ready to head the expedition to the
treasure island to-day, If money can be
found to supply the necessary funds. lie
believes that he may succeed where so
many others have failed, because he has.
access to certain charts and information
out of the reach OF others. with the ex
ception. possibly. OF the uncle. who is
too old now fer further adventuring.
What lends peculiar interest to the
story OF this buried treasure is the fact
that there is every reason to believe that
1t is the basis of Robert Louis Steven
sons immortal tale Treasure Island
It is a parallel. There is hardly fea-
ture lacking: hardly a character. hardly
a scene-even the ten men on the dead
mans chest are there. and many more;
the pirates. the island of tragedy that
sleeps in tropic seas, the quest for clu-
sire treasure and the curse of the hid
den gold
Stevenson probably picked the story
up in Scotland. or perhaps he ran across
n in Frisco. from which port several
urc. Be that as it may. the great story
Keller never wrote a tale more fraught
with gruesome adventure.
INTERESTING FACTS
From documents in the possession OF
Captain Harry Boig. some of the more
important and vivid details have been
obtained for the first time for publica-
lion.
Once upon a. ume-it was away back
In the strenuous years between 1923 and
1887. when the South American nations
were knocking each others heads about
In indiscri inmate warfare-an English
-