The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-12-27
RICHES IN SOUTH SEAS.
WRECKED SPANISH GALLEON
 OFF THE GALAPAGOS,

Riches That Disappeared From the
 Tower Island--Many Quests for the
 Hidden Gold of Ecuador sOIdiers-Pi-
 rates Wealth Buried on the Cocos
 Islands.
 Uncharted islands of the sea, hiding mysterious buried treasures, are a fa- vorite theme of novelists, but one scarcely expects to meet them in real life. They seem rather to be designed by a considerate Providence for re- warding the hero in the last chapter and enabling him to marry the heroine.
 And yet buried treasures. as myste- rious as any that ever figured In the most romantic tales do exist in the is- lands of the Pacific, says the San Fran cisco Call, and numerous expeditions have gone out from San Francisco with the purpose of finding them.
 Captain Parker of San Francisco, who has been cruising around the Galapagos Islands whaling for sperm oil, reports that in clear weather he could plainly see the wreck of a Span ish galleon under the water, close to the weather side of Hood Island, He picked up some coins, which evidently came ashore from the broken cases of the wreck and had been thrown up on land by the power of the waves. The coins were Spanish dollars, and it is supposed that the galleon came from Spain around Cape Horn carrying money to pay off troops in Colombia or Panama.
 The vessel would pass not far from the islands, and must have drifted on the rocky shore Though there is new CT a gale in the locality, the strong currents and the fog are just as dan gerous to mariners. The shore rises very abruptly out of the water, and close to the steep rocks the treasure ship is sunk. It would require a divers outfit and be expensive as well as dif- ficult to lift her cargo. That is prob ably the reason why the story of it can be published to-day, since people who find hidden treasures do not usually proclaim the fact unless there is a fly in their ointment
 The Galapagos Islands seem to be a favorite place for buried treasures, for there are rumors of another nice little pile concealed on Tower Island. Alas! te,v b71t xx,b 41n1F if 2 That is the question. The members of the scientific expeditions that have sailed from San Francisco to explore the Hands know only that it was there, but it is gone, and they did not get it, moro ig the pity.
 When the Lila and MLttie allied from San Francisco in 1901 it carried picks and shovels for unearthing the treas ure, which it seems Professor Harris and his learned colleagues had heard of in the east. After completing their scientific labors they were going to re- ward themelves with whack at the buried dollars, but the trouble was that they did not know the exact spot. While beating around the island for fresh water one day they aW a sloop mysteriously appearing from behind a point of land. For a moment it was plainly visible, masts and all, then as suddenly and mysteriously vanished. This was something that needed to be investigated by science. So boat, with six armed men was sent out from the Lila and Matte and returned within an hour with the loop in tow. It was manned by an Irlshman who seemed to be the captain, a Portuguese and a native. They had been digging for treasure, the Irishman said, but though they had dug till their parched tongues hung out of their mouths, they had found nothing.
 Here, then, was confirmation of the report of the hidden wealth, but in- stead of giving clue to the location it seemed to indicate that even learned professors would have lot of trouble finding the spot. Perhaps the men of science did not have the true adven- turous fortune hunting spirit after all; at any rate, they abandoned the quet.
 When the expedition was homeward bound Captain R. Lindbridge of the Lila and Mattie heard the whole story of the treasure from Captain T. Levick then living on Charles Island. The Irishman and the Portuguese who had been digging with their tonbues out of their mouths drop out of the story at this point and are not the same as the worthy pair that shall apper later.
 Captain Levicks blood curdling tale is as follows: A small party of sol diers in Ecuador has been sent down the mountain carrying heavy loads of money for the government to pay off the troops The soldier woke up and found their moral fibre all but worn through with the strain. So they took both money and captain, got a vessel some way and sailed for the Galapagos Islands. Unfortunately it WIS necessa- ry to let the sailors into the secret, and the effect of the money on their morals was worse even than that experienced by the soldiers. There were mumblings and grumblings in the forecastle and much excited talk when no outsider was listening, and when the forecastle plottings had been carried out the sol diers who had distracted the money in the first place were dead. So were the officers of the ship, with the exception of the second mate, who had been left alive to navigate the vessel.
 The sailors planned to divide ,the treasure between them and bury each Id zl..o 1I h