Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1911-11-03

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The cave, keaI- /dWMXhI, h
permit man \ to ..m,,asS 8
stand upright. 1t -
| was full of bars of a AZ
gold and sacks of CT g
money. Many of the ~ ~
sacks bore the stamp IeE
of the Bank of NAMuN
Lima. There were
many golden cruel NJ
fixes, chalices and
church ornaments.
| A statue of the Ma
donna of solid gold lay upon the
| floor. 1t was so heavy that Keat-
| ing and Bogue together could not
| lift it, but could only push 1t along
| The glitter of the piles Of gold,
Heating said, fairly made him reel
and seemed to fill the cave with
ghostly radiance that at first
struck him with awe.
"Bogue and Heating tied few
| coins in a handkerchief and rowed
back to their ship. They told the
sailors they had found a spring OF
fresh water, but they were so excited
with what they had seen that they act
ed unnaturally and the crew. may be.
| had suspicious of the truth, anyway
One word led to another, and Bogus
and Heating told as little as possible,
| but it was enough for the crew, VINO
made them promise to go shares.
Fright here Heating and Bogue be-
gan to play their game more >shrewd-
| ly. They served out unlimited grog
as if to celebrate treasure trove. Long
before night the whole outfit was glori-
ously drunk except Heating and Bogue,
who took care to remain strictly sober.
All hands turned in early to sleep OH
their rotations and be ready to bring
the treasure aboard next morning. AS
soon as they were asleep, Heating and
Bogue slipped off to shore in a whale
boat. They beached their boat and
again made their way to the cave.
They filled their pockets with doub-
looms and pieces-of-eight and louis
d'ors. Not satisfied with the money,
Bogue, stuffed bar gold into his sea-
boots so that he could hardly walk
| for the weight. In launching the boat,
Heating said Bogue went under and
was drowned.
"Keating," Captain Hackett went on,
ESCAPED to sea with his plumber, leav-
| ing the ship to its fate, and the men
never were seen or heard Of afterward
Four days later he was picked up by
Spanish coasting vessel which land
ed him safely near Punta Arenas. He
slowly worked his way back to New
foundland and deposited much money
in the st. Johns bank.
"Keating made second voyage to
Cocos island four years later. He
told us of this adventure too. l wrote
the tale out Afterwards in Keatings
own language as nearly as could re-
| member It"
The first treasure was buried on
| Cocos island by Benito Bonito a few
months before his death in 1921. Bo-
/
Spaniard of supposed gentle blood. His
real identity is not known-Benito Bo-
nito was an assumed name. He be-
| gan his career as a lieutenant OF
Spanish privateer. At the close OF
the Napoleonic wars he became mate
of a Portuguese trading brig. In 1915
he uuarreled with his captain, MUIR
| dered him and seized the vessel. From
that date he followed the life Of a pi-
rate. One of his first prizes taken in
West Indian waters was an English
SLAYER named the Lightning. Having
cut her out Of MatanZas, where she
was lying at anchor one night, he
burned his own brig and, transferring
| his flag to the British vessel, renamed
her the Relampago, which is Spanish
for thanksgiving. Most of the crew
| of the SLAYER were made to walk the
plank. Two pleaded for their lives and
| offered to join Bonito. On this condi-
| ton Bonito spared them. These two
men were Thompson, known in Cocos
island traditions as Bugs" and a
Frenchman named Chapelle, who also
| figures later in the story OF Cocos Is
| land
In the long, low, rakish Relampago,
which could show a clean pair of heels
to anything sailing the Spanish main,
Bonito had a busy and prosperous
| career as a pirate. From Rio to the
Bahamas he became scourge and col
lected an immense amount OF booty.
When the Spanish government sent
warships to hunt him, Bonito slipped
around Cape Horn to fresh pastures In
the Pacific.
The wealth of the churches of
Spanish America Is still considerable.
but In the early days Of the last cen
tury the richness Of the plate and or
naments with which they were adorn-
ed was amazing. Bonito sacked cities