Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-06-24

s23,OOO,G coo in plate, ingots, douploons'
nieces- of eight, louS dors, moldores'
sequins and double guineas, wealth
bevond the potential dreams of Monte
Cristo-has been lifted!
Yes. lifted. and more than fifty
wears ago. at that, on the word OF that
worthy old sea dog, Captain James
Brown. of Cedar Grove, Maine.
IN 1851" says Captain Brown. Il
was a sailor on a Halifax ship lying at
anchor at Kingston. Jamaica. Kings
ton was the Port Royal of old times
and used to be the outfitting point OF
Sir Henry Morgan. rOllonois, Roche
Braziliano. Pierre lie Grand and other
noted gentlemen of fortune in the days
when those old freebooters sacked
cities and looted galleons up and down
the Spanish Main. There was another
ship lying in the harbor, which was
supposed to be bound for the pearl
fisheries in the South Pacific. l was
offered the berth of first mate aboard
her. 1t was not until we had cleared
ITOIIl NllSS(Oil "NAN 'N't
voyage south that the captain inform
ed me we were bound in a treasure
hunt to Cocos island. Our ship -
armed with howitzers and cannon and
carried a crew of fifty-two men, as
hard a lot of cut-throats as ever drank
grog in a ships company.
THE captain was a rough old sea-
dog, with a livid knife scar that start
ed on his forehead, just missed MS
right eye, and continued across his
cheek. He said he was the son OF
one of the pirates who had sailed with
Bugs Thompson. and showed me
chart. yellow with age, greasy and
thumb-marked, which, he declared
his father had handed down to him
and which showed the exact bearings
Of the treasure cave on CocoS island.
with the old chart was ragged
piece of paper on which was scrawled
these instructions: You must go TO
the northeast part of the island, fol-
low the coast line of this bay until you
find q creek. From the high water
mark of this creek you must cllmp
along the bed of the stream, measur-
ing 20 PAGES in a direction west py
south You cannot mistake the spot,
for from there you can see standing
clear against the sky line and quite
close a gap in the hills. From any
where else this gap is invisible. Turn
to the north and walk until you cross
q stream. You will then see rock
with a smooth face like wall. En-
anime it carefully. 1t rises sheer up
like a cliff, but at the height Oh
mans shoulder from the ground you
will see a crevice or hole in which
man might insert his thumb. Thrust
an iron bar in this hole and lever
outward. You will open cave IN
which are bars of gold and silver
money. church images and golden cru
cifiXeS.'
I'VE rounded Cape Horn" Captain
Brown continues stood up for Cocos
and at last dropped anchor in Chat-
ham bay, on the northeast coast Oh
the mountainous island. We landed
in the boats and had no trouble IN 10
eating the cave. 1t was about 10 1eet
long by II wide and high enough TO
permit a man to stand upright. IL
was full of bars of gold and sacks Oh
money, golden chalices, cruciiiXes ana
church ornaments. y statue OIL the
madonna lay upon the floor so heaVy
that il took four men TO lit II. we
carried the treasure to the beach and
there loaded it in the boats and rowed
il out TO the ship. The boats mad 10
make many trips before it was all got
aboard and battened down beneath the
matches. We made a clean sweep. We
didn't leave a centavo behind.
Then we sailed away. L expected
we would head back for Kingston, but
| was surprised TO find that our skip
Der set course southwest by south
across the Pacific. In calms and light
winds we sailed for several weeks
until we raised little island. 1t was
in a lonely part of the ocean, several
hundred miles from Australia and tar
to the south of the equator. The eX-
act bearings Of this island are Sc
crct known to me of all the men IN
the world today. I'll tell later how
came to be the sole pOSsesSor of the
secret.
We landed the treasure on the is
In,l ,.,rria1 II inland SnvprIl hundred
yards beyond the possible reach of
high tides or of waves driven land
ward by typhOon or tornado, and
buried it at the foot of Il palm tree
After our treasure had been buried
the captain ranged the crew about
him and told them he was going tt
sail to Australia to rob treasure Shll
and that he would then return It
the island and divided all our plundcr
He left Il number Of the men or
the island and stood away for Mel
bourne. There he and his men man
aged To ship as members of the crew
Of a ship loaded with gold bullior
from the mines and bound for Eng
land. Out at sea, the pirates mur
dcred all of the other members o
the ships company and sailed hel
back to the island where we were
waiting for them. We brought th'
bullion ashore and piled it up. W.
planned To dig up our COcUS iSlan'
treasure next day and divide all ou
plumber share and share alike. Tina
night after supper all hands cXccp
the captain. the steward and myS"l
were taken suddenly and mysterious
lv sick. Before morning all the mel
must have been given poison, but
was in on the plot and kept my moutl
shut.
II guess the shipper ovcrplay"d hi
hand. He surely did not intend L
kill all but three of us, for "" w"r
not enough to man the ship To TAX
our treasure away. But tn" men w"r
dead and we had to do the best w
could. Possibly the old pirat" intend
,d to do lust what ne did and Cnm