The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-03-23

was ~NAE5IEGA WALL Las SNA S%A-kg 49, 49,
coastwise trade of the Pacific coast.
He heard and believed of the $50.
100000 cache and thought that he might
be as likely as another to be the lucky
man. So he went, poking around the
shores of Cocos Island and, so he de-
clared afterward, found the treasure.
With his own eyes he saw and with his
own hands he handled great piles OF
gold and silver and jewels. But his
vessels was not in very good condition,
and so he feared to take away more
than just enough of the treasure to
prove that he had found it,. and make
it possible to get backing to return and
secure the rest. And tropical storms
did fall upon him and force his ships
out of her course and beat her to pieces
upon the shore of a cannibal island.
The natives ate his crew, one after an
other, keeping him until the last. And
on the evening of the morrow when he
too was to have furnished the feast, he
made his escape in, small boat. How
long he drifted about under the fierce
tropic sun, his tongue swollen and
black with want of water, and his body
sud- EHlS 1UE IOOdB Aic iAoN hAAOfs
But at last he was picked up by an
English vessel homeward bound. Then
he encountered a second shipwreck,
and more hardships and hair-breadth
escapes from death. And when at last
he reached his Cape Breton home he
was a mental and physical wreck.
When he told his story Of the gold and
jewels he had seen people shook their
heads and said his brain had been
turned by his hardships. But his wife
believed it all, and treasured the maps
and charts he drew from memory.
After he died she gathered together
the maps and notes he had made, ana
crossed the continent to Victoria,
There she soon found men Of wealth
whose eyes glistened and whose hearts
beat quickly as she told of the wonder
full hoard of gold and jewels in the lit
tla island down the coast. In few
weeks an expedition was ready to set
forth with Mrs. Trevan, modern and
feminine Jason, at the head of the
argonauts. But they did not find the
golden fleece, and four months later
they returned, bringing with them a
man named Hartford, who told a wild
and thrilling tale of adventures and
dangers through which he had passed
on Cocos Island. Among other things
he declared that he had found the
| treasure. <..- ....a
Hartford said that he had got con-
cession from the Costa Rican Govern
ment in 1896 to search for the treasure
| cache. He had found on the island a
German and negro, and he told grue-
some tales Of their encounters and OF
| the skeletons which he found scattered
over the island, nerve-daunting re-
mains of former attempts to find the
treasure. Hartford declared that he
had found the much-desired hoard, had
| himself seen and handled the gold coin
and bullion and the jewels, and had
| found the silver buried in another
place. But he had quickly covered up
all traces Of his work, lest his murder
GUS enemy should discover his good
| fortune. And when Mrs. Trevan's ex-
petition dropped anchor he watched
them dig for what he had already
found, and smiled and smiled. When
they grew discouraged and went away
| they took him with them to Victoria.
| There he found Admiral Palliser of
the British navy, with the Imperieuse.
| The admiral lent an interested ear to
| his tales, took him upon the Imperi-
euse and cruised down the coast to- CO.
Goa Island. When he returned to civil
ization his officers admitted that they
| had dug for the treasure and had
found, as Hartford had told them they
would, a huge stone slab, from the face
of which he had chiselled the directions
| he had found on it. As they dug deep
er to find the entrance to the tunnel
leading to a cave where he had discov-
cred the precious hoard-he declared II
could not be less than forty million dol
lars-rwater filled up the excavation
and rocks tumbled into it, Moreover,
| the flagship could not stay longer
away from her station; so they put a
blast into the hillside that covered up
all traces of their search, and went
away. A few months later the Am
phion, of the British navy, took Har-
ford on board, and made trip to Co
| cos Island But all her officers would
say about their expedition when they
| returned was that they had not found
| the treasure.
The last expedition, that sent by
| Lord Fitzwilliam, some of the mem
bers of which were in New York last
week ON their way back to London,
| was as ill-starred as were its predeces-
sors.5 The earrs information led him
to believe that the hoard is hidden in
a cliff a hundred and fifty feet high,
| and the first thing the members OF the
| expedition did was to put a dynamite
blast into the face Of the cliff. They
| neglected to stand from under when
the blast went off, with the result that
| they quickly lost interest in mysterious
buried treasures and started for home.
Admiral Palliser seems to have been
the inspiring cause of this effort to get
possession of the Cecos Island hoard.
Apparently he still keeps some rem
nant OF belief in the stories Carlos Har.
ford told him.. Another party, under
| the command of man named Gray
has been at work this winter on the is
land, searching for the hidden gold, but
so far without results, even disastrous
ones.-New York Evening Post.
A TRIPLE SURPRISE. !;