The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-21

except us three. They must have been
given poison, but I was not in on the plot
and kept my mouth shut
Il guess the skipper overplayed his
hand. He surely did not intend to kill al,
but three of us for we were not enough
TO man the ship to take our treasure
away But the men were dead and we
had to do the best we could. Possibly the
old pirate intended to do Just what he did
and come back for the treasure later on.
At any rate. from that time on / kept
my weather eye on him. ready to stand
| by for squalls at a moments notice. !.
didn't propose to let him kill me, too, II
| could WIp it.
I'VE scuttled the ship. loaded what
treasure could in a boat and set sail
lor Australia. On our voyage the steward
sickened mysteriousy ard died and We
pitched his body overheard, ! gness the
captain settled him. | pretended to be
mighty friendly with the old man after
that. but deep down in my heart ! knew
he Intended to murder me next and land.
the treasure alone We raised the coast
Of Australia and as we drew near shore
the captain drew ii pistol and aimed at
me point blank and fired. There was
little sea running and the rocking of the
boat upset his aim and he missed me.
Before he could fire again had drawn
my own weapon and killed him. ltsswasi
with no little satisfaction that l fed that
Il landed the treasure little later and
buried it. Then ! went into Melbourne
and gradually. little by little. managed to.
dispose of my gold without arousing sus-
picion. 1t netted me over 100000. On
this snug fortune | lived a life of ease
and luxury for several years, but finally
, lost everything had in unfortunate spec
ulations.
Fitted Out Expedition
mate.
In 1902 Captain Brown. having drifted
home to his native village on the coast of
Maine. induced number of wealthy men
to fit out expedition to sail to the
island where he said he and his comrades
had buried the treasure from Cocos and
from the Melbourne ship. His vessel was
wrecked off the coast of South Africa
and he never reached the island Several
| Years later he tried to raise money for
second expedition, bat failed. So whether
| his story is true or not remains yet to be
| proved But the old sea rover still swears
| he alone in all the world now holds the
| key to the secret of the Cocos Island
treasure, and he stands ready, despite his
| so years. to lead an expedition to the
| South Seas to recover it.
| The first treasure was buried on Cocoa
| Island in 1921 by Benito Bonito. who has
been called the last of the great pirates
| Bonito began his career as a lieutenant
| on Spanish privateer during the Napo-
| eonic wars. In 1916, while he was mate
| of a Portuguese trading brig. he mur-
! dered his captain. seized the vessel and
! turned pirate. He cut an English SLAYER
named the Lightning out of Matanzas
| harbor one night renamed her the Re-
| lamrago which is Spanish for chain
| lightning burned his old brig and trans
ferred his flag to his prize. He made all
| the crew of the English vessel walk the
plank except two men, who asked to be
| allowed to join his forces. one of these
men was Bugs" Thompson and the other
| a Frenehman named Chapelle.
In the long. low. rakish Relampa go,
which could show a clean pair of heels
| to anything sailing southern waters, Boz
| nlto had a prosperous career as free
| booter, plundering ships and laying cities
| under tribute up and down the eastern
/ and western coasts of South and Central
| america Ills most notable achievement
WAS the sackins of Vera Cruz where he
and his men obtained sl2,000,000 in plate
and money. With this treasure he sailed
to Cocos Island and buried it In a cave
| While on the island his, crew mutined
| because they wished the punder divided
and a battle was fought ON the beach
In which, ii is said 15 men were killed
Soon after, while the ship was in Carri-
bean waters, Bonito was captured by a
British gunboat and hanged at the
| yardarm.
Got Away With Eleven Millions
! Thompson disappears from history until
| 1888, when. as caotain of the Enc,ish
| brig Mary Dear. lie anchored before
Callao. A revolution was under way in
Peru at the time. The government an
thorities obtained permission from Cap
tain Thompson II place 81, 100000 in
treasure under the british flag aboard the
| for ff,i-o
ure consisted of money, plate and orna-
ments stripped from the churches Of
| Lima dating pack 10 the days of the
Spanish conquest. Four Peruvian soldiers
We're left on the brig rs custodians OF the
treasure. Thompson murdered them and.
| sailing to Cocos island, slowed his plum
der in Bonito's old cave
| lie was captured a little later bv A
Peruvian war vessel and all his mon
were put 10 .leatll, but Thomson was
| taken back to the island TO point out the
| hiding place of the treasure. lie esca ped
| to the brush.
For four days armed parties hunted
him. pouring volleys into every piece of
! thick scrub or likely hiding place At
the end of this time. thinking perhaps rho
| fugitive had been ;. He'd by the broad-
sides with which the jungle had been
raked, the warship sailed away Tholnp-
son got away from the island on . yes
sci that touched at Cocos for water
| Thompson was next heard of in 1Sn in
st. Johns, Newfoundland. There he fell
in with James Xeating, sailor To
| keating he gave a map showing the 1oca-
| tion of the Cocos island hoard and .old
him how the treasure might be found.
Soon after this disclosure Thompson died
| suddenly Heating was later suspected
| of having killed him. Heating organized
| an expedition to Cccos In partne rship
with a Captain Bosue. After eaohng
| the island the crew became mutinous and
| demanded a share in the treasure. Hav-
| ing made the sailors drunk one Light
Keating ana Bosue went ashore in a
| boat found the cave, and loaded their
| boat with gold I>cating sailed to the
Mexican mainland with his reasure, but
| Bogue was missing In attempting TO
climb into iJhe boat with his pockets and
sea boots filled with gold Bogue. keat-
| ing declared. had been drowned. Heating
was generally thought to have murdered
him. The ship with the crew that had
taken Keating to Coos was never heard
of again.
| Heating made second expedition In
| 1SdS, Again the crew mutinied. Heating