River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-11-02

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chart to guide them. THkzNfZEEA
1.-THE cave, Keat- /1MyMYNf, "a
ing said, was Is feet NM/EAJ "
long by IL feet w MSY<
broad, with a cell I YNsss
ing high enough to A
permit man to ..u,,no
stand upright 1t -
was full of bars Of I IN.
gold and sacks Of c,H NE
money. Many of the ~ ~
sacks bore the stamp lSok
of the Bank of TSMLs
Lima. There were ""
many golden cruel ~
| 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 it 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 Bogue
and Heating told as little as possible,
but it was enough for the crew. who
made them promise to so 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 glorl-
ousIy drunk except Heating and Bogue,
who took care to remain strictly sober.
All hands turned in early to sleep off
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.
Heating" 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
a 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 a second voyage to
Cocos island four years later. He
told us of this adventure too. l wrote
the tale out afterwards in Keating's
own language as nearly as l could re-
member it.
The first treasure was buried on
Cocos island by Benito Bonito a few
months before his death in 1921. Bo-
nito was born in 1888. He was a
Spaniard of supposed gentle blood. His
real identity is not known-Ben1to Bo-
nito was an assumed name. He be-
gan his career as a lieutenant of a
Spanish privateer. At the close OF
the Napoleonic wars he became mate
of a Portuguese trading brig. In 1916
he quarreled with his captain, MUIR
dered him and seized the vessel From
that date he followed the life of 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 chain-lightning. 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
/ uduOu GAdpCA1CJ VIM oASO
figures later in the story of Cocos is
| land
In the long. low, rakish Relampago,
which could show 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 a 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 GEN.
fury the richness of the plate and or
naments with which they were adorn-
ed was amazing. Bonito sacked cities