Cañon City record., 1902-09-18
Bought Fer Z 5ixpence
Copyright 1902 by :. b. Lewis.l

fects were sold, and bought them for
sixpence. Among them was n rude
chart or drawing, and the writing was
In pencil and displayed very poor
hand. 1t ran:
"North of Timor Laut about seventy
three. Enter north bay.
Bring up line with three tall trees
on highest point and in five fathoms.
"Spring of fresh water to left of big
rock on port bow
/ found the chart when aboard ship.
l was mate of the schooner. and ut
once laid the paper before the captain.
We got out chart of the Banda sea.
found the island of Timor Laut and
then measured of seventy-threc miles
to the north. This brought us to Pope's
island Neither of us had ever landed
there. but understood that the island
was not inhabited. The Instructions
were to enter the north bay and bring
up at n certain spot. What for? The
existence of spring was mentioned,
but why should we go ashoref Unless
there was something of value on or
about the island why had II been noted
and the writing carried around by "A
| sailor:
The captain and l talked the matter
over and over. but could make II no
palmer. II was natural under tile cir
cumstanccs that our minds should run
| to buried treasure Indeed we couldn't
get rid of the feeling that the sailor
| who had died in the hospital had
| planted something OF value. on Pope's
island, and that being the case we de
cided to have try for it. What has
tened our decision was II conversation
overheard between two sailors who
| had been Mt the hospital inquiring
about Kane and his effects.
| think IL was on the twenty-third
day ont OF sydney that we entered the
bay on the north side OF Pope's island.
After having reaclssd the shore we
found the spring, but as we stood be-
side - we looked at each other and
asked what should be the next move.
\ The island was thicltly wooded, and
| we soon realized that we had better
| have hunted for needle ina haystack
ut home.
The chart mentioned three tail trees
1 in group and the spring. We found
the trees standing back II quarter OF II
mile from the beach, with never n
| mark OF any sort on the trunks to fur
nisn us Il hint. The spring was nbout
| 200 feet above high tide. but nothing
around 1t furnished the clew we Were
| after.
| For n week after our arrival we had
every man ashore ON the hunt. We
paced on SO many PAGES from the
spring In every direction and then dug
into the earth. We dug about the
roots OF the three tall trees and then
at ten, twenty and thirty PAGES. When
the tide was out, we dug mp the beach
In dozen places. The island was
/ finally explored In every direction. but
we had our toilsome work MS a reward.
I On the afternoon Of the eighth day we
gave IL up. We did not doubt the cx-
istencc OF treasure there, but we
were satisfied that we couldn't lay our
hands on IT. We pulled on 10 the
schooner about 3 o'clock in the after
noon, and had there been any breeze
we should have weighed anchor and
put to sea at once. but II had fallen
dead calm. and the day was n hot one.
ON getting aboard the captain and l
sat down to luncheon. while the Ma
lays went overheard for bath and n
frolic In the water. We heard them
shouting and splashing, but we were
\ glum. We'd made II failure Of II and
were financially busted" Under such
circumstances some one must bc held
blamable. The captain suddenly be-
n gan to blame me for the biggest fool
that ever lived, and IL the course OF n
4 couple OF minutes our conversation
|, was a great deal hotter than the wealth
er. We'd been 'pards' u long time
without n word. but were now on the
Y point of walking into each other tooth
and toe nail when n wild yell from the
Malays stopped us.
"Nipped by shark. just ns ! expect
edr growlcd the captain as he made u
dash for the deck. followed, OF
course. and as reached the quarter
deck and looked over the four Mnlays
We're In the yawl, and one OF them was
II holding up something for the captains
II inspection. We both knew what II
was before 1t was passed up to us. II
was n pearl oyster. and monstrous
large one too.
4 where did you find it," asked the
captain.
H "On the bottom" was the answer
'There Is one great bed of them dowr
therew
Five minutes later we had half 9
dozen more, and inside of an hour W,
had surveyed the bed and found ouI
treasure-thc treasure of John Kane's
rude chart. In bringing up In five faith
oms and In line with the trees we hat
VI anchored on the center of the bed. VIII,