Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1911-11-02
~ N1LzZR NOBLE BURNS

!; !; !; ! : =. !
with Thompson's ~ .MzX9W
chart to guide them. rMINxA
The cave. Keat- NWMM,S
ing said. was Is feet HNfN4
long by II feet W NWk
broad, with a cell =
ing high enough to 1855
permit q man to Soy
stand upright. It -. &C.,
: : !: !: !: ! : ! !
was full of bars Of . =
gold and sacks of c.l
money. Many Of the ~ ~
sacks bore the stamp s6
of the Bank Of nAmn
Lima There were
many golden cruel.
fixes, chalices and
church ornaments.
A statue of the Ma
donna of solid gold lay upon the
floor It 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 handkerchief and rowed
back to their ship They told the
sailors they had found 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 Bogu.
and Heating told as little, as possible,
but 1t was enough for the crew. who
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 II 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 of
their rotations and be ready to bring
the treasure aboard next morning. As
soon as they were asleep. Heating and
Bogue slipped of to shore in 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
Heating made second voyage to
Cocos island four years later He
told us of this adventure too. wrote
the tale out afterwards In Keating's
own language as nearly as could re-
member it,"
The first treasure was buried on
Cocos island by Benito Bonito 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--B Bo
nito was an assumed name He be-
gan his career as lieutenant of a
Spanish privateer. Al the close Of
the Napoleonic wars he became mate
of Portuguese trading brig In 1916
he quarreied 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
Frenchman named Chapelle. who also
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 busy and prosperous
career as 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 IL still considerable,
but In the early days Of the last cen
fury the richness of the plate and or
with which they were adorn-
ed was amazing. Bonito sacked cities