The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-16
HUNTING FOR PIRATE GOLD.
A PURSUIT STILL POPULAR ~
THE WEST INDIES.
Many Expeditions to Seek Buried Treasure
Some Searchers Successful, Espe-
clally In Hlsytl--StOries OF Lucky
Finds and strange Adventures.

arc continually being fitted out at ports
along the Atlantic seaboard to search the
palm-covered islands and coral Gays of the
West Indies for the hosrds Of old Spanish
gold and pirate booty which are supposed
to be hidden there
Not long ago private yacht was secretly
fitted out in New York for West Indian
treasure hunt. Other expeditions have
started recently from Philadelphia, Boston,
Newport News, New Orleans and other
ports.
Nor is the hunt confined to Americans.
year does not pass without expeditions
leaving London, Glasgow, Liverpool or
other British ports, while the West Indians
themselves, living in an atmosphere of
treasure stories, are naturally the keenest
OF all the hunters Of phantom gold.
Sometimes these expeditions never re-
turn The ship is reported missing and
another is added to the long roll of ocean
tragedies OF which the public hears little
or nothing. Years afterward a few bleached
bones on remote iset, or derelict float
ing in the track of shipping, tells tale
of shipwreck, mutiny or death by those
diseases most dreaded by seafaring men
yellow fever and beri-beri,
Some months ago no fewer than five
treasure-hunting expeditions were reported
at Kingston, Jamaica. The Earl of Craw-
ford and Balcarres had brought his yacht
into the harbor on West Indian cruise.
and it was said that he was combining
business with pleasure and meant to search
for pirate treasure reported to be buried
on the tiny island of Anegada, in the Virgin
group. Apparently ne had no luck
The second expedition was headed by an
Engllshman, who hoped to find the secret
hoard left by King Christophe Of Hayti
| The third was small affair, got up by
Jamaican planter. who aimed at locating the
treasure of that buccaneer king, Sir Henry
| Morgan. This is said to be buried in cave
in Gun Hill, Trelawny jamaica and to be
guarded. like Capt Kidd's by the devil in
person-hoofs, horns, tail, pitchfork and
all.
Two other expeditions were working
| in Santo Domingo and the Cayman Islands.
| This was period of special activity
in the treasure-huntng line. but such
enterprises are so familiar to the creoles
that they hardly excite comment. Some
men waste their lives and fortunes fitting
all over the Caribbean Sea, from one re-
ported pirate haunt to another, and digging
for buried gold. When the mania once
gets hold of man it never seems to leave
him until it has soured his temper and ruined
his life
Barbados is favorite resort of the
treasure seekers. Several caches of doub-
looms and peces-of-eight have been found
there in digging among old ruins.
Capt, Kidd once ran his ship ashore at
Barbados when chased by a cruiser. He
left paper describing a spot in a small
wood near Bridgetown, the island capital,
where he said he had buried an immense
treasure.
Whether this was n post morton joke
or not, il is impossible to say. If it was,
it succeeded to perfection.
For acres around the spot Indicated"
says Hesketh Bell. a colonial official, THE
soil has been perfectly honeycombed by
the excavations of treasure seekers. No
one knows whether the booty was secured,
as the finder would in all probability
have been most careful to keep his success
a secret, so as not to have TO share with the
Government and the owner of the land
besides
Even now, when any one is noticed to
become suddenly well of and flush of money,
he is at once set down TO have discovered
a buried jar of gold, when, perhaps, the
reason Of his affluence may be much more
questionable
In Hayti, not long ago, hidden treasure
was brought to light in the picturesque
town Of GonaIves III a rather curious way.
mulatto lived there who was almost
pennless. He inhabited IL desolate ruin
which had once been fine old planters
chateau in the days when the French owned
the islands, and he cked out "A miserable
OF 1,Ny fitlti II n
patch.
Suddenly this mulatto blossomed out
as a man of wealth. He bought "a fine
house, a provision store, "a rum shop and
horses and mules galore.
Everybody wondered where he got his
money, but only one man, another HaytiAn
muatto, had sense enough to figure the
matter out.
"See here said the second mu.atto,
ave taken fancy to that cid ruin Of yours.
Kind of picturesque, isn't il: IN give
vou $500 for II.
The first mulatto Jumped at the offer.
As soon as the deal had been effected, the
purchaser had the house carefully pulled
down, brick by brick, and the foundations
dug up
A. the result, he found nine small iron
bound chests filed with treasure. They
contained great deal OF French gold and
silver coin of the eighteenth century, gold
and silver plate, jewelry, church ornaments
and other vauables. Altogether, the nine
chests were valued at over S5OO,OO0.
When the first owner heard of it he was
furious. 1t then came ont that one day
by accident he had found a similar chest
hidden in the wainscoting of the hall
and had realized upon it.
1t never struck him that there might be
more behind so he gladly sold the house,
fondly imagining that it was an empty
shell from which he had extracted the
kernel. He raved like a mailman when
he heard the news, but the other mulatto
possessed political pull and soon Quoted
him by the simple expedient of having him
thrown into Jail.
There il a firm belief throughout the |
West Indies that there are many other
hidden treasures of the same character |
in Hayti and Santo Domingo. When the |
negroes rose in instruction against the |
French and Spanish masters, the latter |
had to flee to the towns or the woods for |
refuge.
In most cases they could not take their |
valuabes with them, and they concealed |
them somewhere about their chateaux, !
These fine old mansions are now mere !
ruins, overgrown by the rank luXuriance |
of tropical vegetation and inhabited only |
by goats and vultures " man must
go treasure hunting, these are the places
he should select, in preference to mythical
pirate lairs vaguely indicated by legend |
or by some incomprehensinle chart drawn |
in blood on piece of rag, after the fashion
OF King Solomon's Mines
In the Bahamas they tell queer story