Produced by Mark C. Orton and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was
produced from images made available by the HathiTrust
Digital Library.)
THE CRUISE OF THE 'ALERTE'
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME._
THE GREAT BOER WAR. _Arthur Conan Doyle._
COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. _G. W. E. Russell._
FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO. _E. S. Grogan._
LIFE OF LORD DUFFERIN. _Sir A. Lyall._
SIR FRANK LOCKWOOD. _Augustine Birrell, K.C., M.P._
THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER. _Colonel Durand._
LIFE OF RICHARD COBDEN. _Lord Morley._
LIFE OF PARNELL. _R. Barry O'Brien._
MEMORIES GRAVE AND GAY. _Dr. John Kerr._
A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. _S. Reynolds Hole._
RANDOM REMINISCENCES. _Charles Brookfield._
AT THE WORKS. _Lady Bell._
MEXICO AS I SAW IT. _Mrs. Alec Tweedie._
PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND. _Harry de Windt._
LIFE OF LEWIS CARROLL. _Stuart Dodgson Collingwood._
NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS. _Eugene Andre._
THE MANTLE OF THE EAST. _Edmund Candler._
LETTERS OF DR. JOHN BROWN.
JUBILEE BOOK OF CRICKET. _Prince Ranjitsinhji._
BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD. _Louisa Jebb._
SOME OLD LOVE STORIES. _T. P. O'Connor._
FIELDS, FACTORIES, & WORKSHOPS. _Prince Kropotkin._
LIFE OF LORD LAWRENCE. _R. Bosworth Smith._
PROBLEMS OF POVERTY. _Dr. Chalmers._
THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. _M. E. Durham._
LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY.--
I. & II. _Sir George O. Trevelyan,
Bart._
WHAT I SAW IN RUSSIA. _Hon. Maurice Baring._
WILD ENGLAND OF TO-DAY. _C. J. Cornish._
THROUGH FINLAND IN CARTS. _Mrs. Alec Tweedie._
THE VOYAGE OF THE "DISCOVERY."--
I. & II. _Captain Scott._
FELICITY IN FRANCE. _Constance E. Maud._
MY CLIMBS IN THE ALPS AND CAUCASUS. _A. F. Mummery._
JOHN BRIGHT. _R. Barry O'Brien._
POVERTY. _B. Seebohm Rowntree._
SEA WOLVES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. _Commander E. Hamilton Currey,
R.N._
FAMOUS MODERN BATTLES. _A. Hilliard Atteridge._
THE CRUISE OF THE "FALCON." _E. F. Knight._
A. K. H. B. (A Volume of Selections).
THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS. _Jack London._
GRAIN OR CHAFF. _A. Chichele Plowden._
LIFE AT THE ZOO. _C. J. Cornish._
THE FOUR MEN. _Hilaire Belloc._
_Etc., etc.
Others to follow._
THE CRUISE OF THE 'ALERTE'
THE NARRATIVE OF A SEARCH FOR TREASURE
ON THE DESERT ISLAND OF TRINIDAD
BY
E. F. KNIGHT
THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN
AND NEW YORK
CONTENTS.
I. THE HISTORY OF THE TREASURE 7
II. THE 'ALERTE' IS FITTED OUT 32
III. THE SHIP'S COMPANY 49
IV. A ROMANCE OF THE SALVAGES 62
V. OUR FIRST VOYAGE 78
VI. ON THE SALVAGES 97
VII. RUNNING DOWN THE TRADES 121
VIII. BAHIA 141
IX. TREASURE ISLAND AT LAST 158
X. THE SUMMIT OF TRINIDAD 174
XI. ON THE ROAD TO TREASURE BAY 190
XII. WE EXPLORE THE RAVINE 208
XIII. A NARROW ESCAPE 226
XIV. WE LAND THE STORES IN THE BAY 237
XV. OUR CAMP 252
XVI. DISCOVERIES IN SOUTH-WEST BAY 269
XVII. PICK AND SHOVEL 282
XVIII. A VOYAGE TO MARKET 300
XIX. HOVE TO 314
XX. THE ADVENTURES OF THE SHORE-PARTY 329
XXI. WE ABANDON THE SEARCH 355
XXII. HOMEWARD BOUND 366
THE CRUISE OF THE 'ALERTE.'
CHAPTER I.
THE HISTORY OF THE TREASURE.
In the course of a long cruise in the South Atlantic and up the South
American rivers, in the years 1880 and 1881, with my little yacht the
'Falcon,' I found myself, more by accident than intention, in the
neighbourhood of the small desert island of Trinidad. We were bound
from Montevideo to Bahia, and, after running before a heavy pampero
off the River Plate, we fell in with strong head winds, and had to
thrash our way to windward for upwards of a thousand miles of choppy
seas and boisterous weather, while the rain poured down upon us almost
without cessation, as it not unfrequently does during the season of
the northerly Brazilian monsoon.
We steered a course away from the land to the eastward, hoping to meet
with more favourable winds when we had obtained an offing of some four
or five hundred miles. Vessels bound north from the Plate during the
season of the northerly monsoon invariably pursue this plan, sailing
as much as seven hundred miles close hauled on the port tack before
they go about and make their northering. Thus it was that our course
brought us in the vicinity of Trinidad, which lies in latitude 20 deg. 30'
south and longitude 29 deg. 22' west, distant about seven hundred miles
from the coast of Brazil, and my curiosity being aroused by the
description of the islet in the 'South Atlantic Directory' I decided
to land and explore it.
We came to an anchor off this desolate spot on December 8, 1881, and
we remained there for nine days. Our adventures of various sorts, the
perils of landing, the attacks made on us by the multitudes of hideous
land-crabs and ferocious sea-birds, our difficult climb over the
volcanic mountains, and finally our anything but regretful departure
from one of the most uncanny and dispiriting spots on earth, are fully
set out in my book, 'The Cruise of the "Falcon."' On turning to that
book I find that I state there that I had had more than enough of
Trinidad, and would on no account set foot on its barren shores
again--a rash resolution which I was destined to break nearly ten
years after my first visit to the island.
The descriptions of Trinidad in the 'South Atlantic Directory' are all
of an old date, and were supplied at different times by captains of
vessels in want of water or with crews stricken with scurvy, who
effected a landing in order to procure water or the purslain and other
greens which abound on some portions of the shore. Halley in 1700,
Amaso Delano in 1803, and Commodore Owen in 1822 visited the island,
and it is from their accounts that most of the information concerning
it has been gathered. All describe the landing as extremely difficult,
and often quite impracticable, on account of the almost perpetual surf
which breaks on the iron-bound coast. Consequently mariners avoided
the coral reefs and sea-worn crags, and, though the masters of
homeward-bound vessels from around Cape Horn often sighted the island
from a safe distance in order to correct the rate of their
chronometers, it was rare indeed that the foot of a human being trod
its shores.
But now the land-crabs and sea-birds of Trinidad must be becoming
almost familiarised with the sight of man, for the report of a vast
treasure that is supposed to have been buried here some seventy years
ago, has induced no less than five different bands of adventurers in
the course of the last twelve years to fit out vessels for the purpose
of seeking their fortunes among the volcanic ash.
This is an account of the most recent of these ventures, and I think
it will be the last of them; for whereas all the previous
explorers--in consequence of mutiny, the difficulty of landing, and
other causes--failed to make any real attempt at digging into the
landslip which now covers the spot where the treasure is supposed to
lie, and, losing heart in the presence of the preliminary perils and
discomforts, abandoned the island after a few days' stay, we succeeded
in landing by degrees our tents, tools, and stores, and established
quite a comfortable little settlement, while the digging was steadily
carried on for three months, and many thousands of tons of earth and
rock were removed.
We worked on until we were satisfied that further search was useless.
We failed to find the treasure, but we did what our predecessors did
not--we had a very good try for it; and we have, I think, at any rate
proved that it is not worth the while of any other adventurers to go
in search of this too carefully concealed hoard.
When I visited Trinidad in 1881 I was not aware that a treasure was
supposed to be buried there, else I should most probably have
prosecuted some preliminary search with the small crew--we were five
all told--and the inadequate tools I had on board, so as to ascertain
whether it would be worth while to organise a properly equipped
expedition on my return home. It was not until the year 1885 that my
attention was directed to paragraphs in the newspapers which spoke of
the departure from the Tyne of the barque 'Aurea' with a considerable
company, including navvies, and well provided with the tools that were
considered necessary for the recovery of the treasure.
These adventurers started full of hope, but were doomed to
disappointment, as is shown in the following extract which I cut from
a daily paper some months later:--
'Further information has been received regarding the unfortunate
expedition of the "Aurea," the vessel chartered by a number of
Tynesiders for a voyage to the small island of Trinidad, off the coast
of Brazil, where it was reported a large amount of treasure was
concealed. The last letter is from one of the seamen, a young man
named Russell, to his parents in North Shields. Russell states that it
is with _"the greatest pleasure" that he has an opportunity of
writing, and continues to say that the "Aurea" left the island on
April 29, and, he was sure, the crew were not sorry at leaving. He
states that eight seamen were ashore fourteen days, and at the end of
that time they were so exhausted with the want of water and
provisions, and with the scorching heat, that they had all to be
carried on board. As a consequence eight of them were laid down with
fever, and out of the eight two seamen died. The expedition was thus
unfortunate in more than one respect. The "Aurea," according to the
writer of the letter, was at Trinidad in the West Indies, and was
expected to leave for England. Russell says nothing about treasure;
the burden of his letter is that the crew left the island with the
greatest satisfaction.'_
This ill-fated expedition of the 'Aurea' was, so far as my information
goes, the last before that of the 'Alerte.'
In the autumn of 1888, I happened to meet some South Shields people
who knew the history of the treasure and of the previous expeditions.
They told me that there had been some talk lately of fitting out
another vessel to renew the quest, and that many undeniably shrewd
Tynesiders had a complete faith in the existence of the treasure, and
were willing, despite former failures, to risk their money and lives
in order to discover it. My informant gave me an outline of the
evidence on which this faith was based, and I heard enough to so
interest me that I forthwith took train to South Shields and put
myself into communication with the heads of the 'Aurea' expedition,
with the view, in case I should consider the prospects of securing the
treasure to be not too remote, of fitting out a small yacht and
sailing away once more to Trinidad.
The following is the substance of the story as I heard it from Mr.
A----, who was the prime mover of the last venture, and who himself
sailed in the 'Aurea,' and passed fourteen days on the island.
'There is now living, not far from Newcastle, a retired sea captain,
Captain P----, who was in command of an East Indiaman engaged in the
opium trade in the years 1848 to 1850. At that time the China seas
were infested by pirates, so that his vessel carried a few guns, and a
larger crew than is usual in these days. He had four quartermasters,
one of whom was a foreigner. Captain P---- is not sure of his
nationality, but thinks he was a Russian Finn. On board the vessel the
man went under the name of the pirate, on account of a deep scar
across his cheek, which gave him a somewhat sinister appearance. He
was a reserved man, better educated than the ordinary sailor, and
possessing a good knowledge of navigation.
'Captain P---- took a liking to him, and showed him kindness on
various occasions. This man was attacked by dysentery on the voyage
from China to Bombay, and by the time the vessel reached Bombay he was
so ill, in spite of the captain's nursing, that he had to be taken to
the hospital. He gradually sank, and when he found that he was dying,
he told Captain P----, who frequently visited him at the hospital,
that he felt very grateful for the kind treatment he had received at
his captain's hands, and that he would prove his gratitude by
revealing a secret to him that might make him one of the richest men
in England. Captain P---- says that he appeared very uneasy about this
secret, and insisted on the door of the ward being closed, so that
there might be no listeners. He then asked Captain P---- to go to his
chest and take out from it a parcel. The parcel contained a piece of
old tarpaulin with a plan of the island of Trinidad on it.
'The man gave him this plan, and told him that at the place indicated
on it--that is, under the mountain known as the Sugarloaf--there was
an immense treasure buried, consisting principally of gold and silver
plate and ornaments, the plunder of Peruvian churches which certain
pirates had concealed there in the year 1821. Much of this plate, he
said, came from the cathedral of Lima, having been carried away from
there during the war of independence when the Spaniards were escaping
the country, and that among other riches there were several massive
golden candlesticks.
'He further stated that he was the only survivor of the pirates, as
all the others had been captured by the Spaniards and executed in Cuba
some years before, and consequently it was probable that no one but
himself knew of this secret. He then gave Captain P---- instructions
as to the exact position of the treasure in the bay under the
Sugarloaf, and enjoined him to go there and search for it, as it was
almost certain that it had not been removed. The quartermaster died
shortly afterwards.'
Now this story, so far, bears a strong family resemblance to many
other stories of pirate treasure, mythical or otherwise, and, though
there can be no doubt that great stores of valuable plunder are still
lying hidden away in this fashion on many a West Indian cay and desert
ocean island, the dying quartermaster's deposition was hardly enough
by itself to warrant the expense of fitting out an expedition for
Trinidad. But on making researches it was found that his story was
corroborated in many remarkable ways.
In the first place the archives of Cuba were inspected, and a record
was discovered which showed that a gang of pirates who had plundered
Spanish vessels sailing from Lima had been hanged at Havannah at the
time mentioned.
The probability of the story is further strengthened by the actual
history of Peru during the war of independence. It appears that the
Spanish population of Lima entertained a wholesome dread of the
liberators of their country, and deposited large sums of money and a
vast amount of plate in the forts for security. Lima was then a city
extremely rich in gold and silver plate, and the value of the property
lying in the fortress alone was estimated by Lord Dundonald as at
least six millions sterling.
Lord Dundonald, who was at the time in command of the Chilian fleet
which had been sent to the assistance of the liberators of Peru,
endeavoured to obtain possession of this fortress by negotiations, and
offered the Spanish governor to permit his free departure with
two-thirds of this treasure on condition of the remainder, together
with the fortress, being given up to the Chilian squadron. The admiral
hoped by means of this one-third to abate the mutinous spirit of his
men, who had received no pay for a long period, and who were,
moreover, in a state of actual destitution. But, to Lord Dundonald's
disgust, the Peruvian Protector, San Martin, for purposes of his own,
allowed the garrison to evacuate the fortress, carrying away with them
the whole of these riches. Later on, however, Lord Dundonald took the
responsibility on himself of seizing the Protector's yacht at Ancon,
and discovered that it was entirely ballasted with silver coin and
uncoined gold. With this he paid his sailors some of their arrears of
pay and prize-money.
During the first few years of their liberty the unhappy Limenos must
have occasionally regretted the old Spanish misrule, bad as it was;
for their liberators plundered them in the most shameless fashion, and
most of the wealthy citizens of Lima were reduced to a state of abject
poverty. The tyrannical Protector inflicted great hardships on the
Spanish inhabitants, and among other of his decrees one was passed
confiscating to the public treasury one-half of all their property.
When some of these unhappy people, driven to desperation, took to sea
and endeavoured to escape with the remaining half of their
possessions, the Republican officers boarded their vessels and, wholly
regardless of the decree, appropriated this half also.
The wealth of Lima, the richest city of Spanish America, was soon
scattered far and wide, and disappeared for ever; but it is probable
that only a small proportion of it fell into the hands of the
liberators; for the executive was not sufficiently well organised to
carry out fully the decrees of confiscation. I do not think that the
property to the value of six millions sterling which was carried away
by the Spanish garrison has been all traced, but the records of the
day show that the Spaniards took every opportunity of escaping to sea
in any sort of vessel they could procure, carrying with them all the
property they could collect, in the hope of reaching the mother
country or some neutral port.
It must have been a glorious time for adventurous persons not
overburdened with scruples; for it seems that all the gold and
precious stones of Peru were travelling about recklessly by sea and
land without any proper protection. The pirates who then swarmed in
those seas were not slow to avail themselves of this rare opportunity,
and carried on a flourishing business until such time as they were
caught and hanged by that terrible English admiral.
Numbers of piratical craft hovered around the Peruvian ports, and the
badly equipped vessels of the Spanish fugitives fell an easy prey to
them. But Lord Dundonald, on the other hand, was ever pursuing the
pirates with great energy. He captured many of them, and, later on, he
was able to boast that he had swept the West Coast clean of these
scourges of the sea.
It is known, however, that several of these vessels escaped his
vigilance, and that enormous quantities of cathedral plate and specie
were never recovered from their hands.
The pirate vessel that succeeded in reaching the islet of Trinidad is
supposed to have been one of these.
Captain P----, on leaving Bombay after the death of his quartermaster,
had intended to land on Trinidad and examine the spot indicated on the
pirate's plan; but as he had a rather unruly crew, and was himself
crippled with a broken arm, he thought it prudent not to make the
attempt then, and so passed the islet and sailed home.
On his return to England he told the pirate's story to many people,
but of course preserved the secret of the exact position of the
hiding-place. Nothing, however, seems to have been done towards
recovering the treasure until 1880, when Captain P---- persuaded a
shipping firm at Newcastle to allow one of their vessels trading to
the Brazils to visit the island. It was arranged that the barquentine
'John' should call at Trinidad on her way from Santos to Bull River,
and that Captain P----'s son should go with the vessel so as to
identify the spot and act on his father's behalf.
The 'John' reached the islet, but, after beating about off it for a
week, no landing-place could be found, and the captain decided to give
up the attempt. But young P---- was very disinclined to return without
having effected a landing, and persuaded the captain to allow him to
swim ashore from a boat. The ship's longboat was therefore put out,
and was pulled as close to the long roll of furious breakers as was
considered safe. Then young P---- plunged into the sea, and contrived,
after a narrow escape from drowning, to reach the land. The surf
became more furious while he was on shore, so that it was impossible
for him to swim off again that day. He had, consequently, to pass the
night on the sands without either clothes or provisions, and was,
moreover, in danger of being eaten alive by the land-crabs.
On the following morning the captain succeeded in casting the end of a
line on shore, and the young man was dragged through the surf to the
longboat, and carried on board the vessel. He reported to the captain
that he had discovered the spot described by the pirate; but that a
great landslip of red debris had fallen on the treasure, which could
not be removed without great labour. He said the place tallied exactly
with the description furnished by his father, and that he firmly
believed the story to be true and that the treasure was still there;
but that he would not spend such another night on the island even if
he could get the whole treasure for himself by doing so.
The captain of the 'John,' on hearing the young man's story,
considered that any further attempt to land would involve great
danger, which he would not be justified in risking, and, declining to
lend further assistance in the matter, set sail at once for his
destination.
The next expedition was organised by my informant, Mr. A---- of South
Shields. The 'Aurea,' a barque of 600 tons burthen, was chartered. She
was provided with lifeboats suitable for surf work, and an ample
supply of picks, shovels, timber, blasting powder, and other stores.
She was partly ballasted with a cargo of steam coal, which it was
intended to sell in some foreign port, so as to pay part of the
expenses of the expedition. The necessary funds were subscribed by
several gentlemen, most of whom, I believe, accompanied the
expedition. Proper agreements were drawn up, and were signed by the
officers and members of the expedition, setting forth the proportion
of the treasure each was to receive, should the search be successful.
This party also found the island to be almost inaccessible, on account
of the surrounding circle of savage breakers, and experienced great
difficulty in landing.
The following extract from the letter of one of the expedition
describes only the commencement of their perils and adventures:--
'We sighted the island on March 23, 1885, but, as it was very squally
weather, we could do nothing until the next morning, when we got out
the lifeboat, fitted her with mast and sail, and loaded her with
provisions and baggage. The ship towed us as near to the shore as was
deemed prudent, and then left us to make the best of our way there,
while she stood on her course. The weather was very wet and squally,
and, with our deeply-laden boat, we found we made no progress, either
with the sails or oars, and, after toiling until after sunset, we
found ourselves in a most deplorable position. We were all wet to the
skin, and exhausted with pulling, and the seas were continually on the
point of swamping our boat. Darkness then set in; our vessel was out
of sight, and we scarcely knew what to do. However, I took a lantern
from among the stores, and got one of the men to light it and hoist it
at our boat's masthead as a signal to our vessel. It blew out almost
as soon as it was up, but we succeeded at last in sighting the
vessel's port light, and got safely on board. The next day we
determined to take the ship's boat and small dinghy with us, and tow
the lifeboat ashore. We started early in the morning, the ship towing
the three boats as close as possible to the Sugarloaf, and as the
weather was now fine we soon got into South-west Bay, but found that
the surf was much worse than we anticipated. We anchored the lifeboat
with her cargo of stores close to the edge of the surf, and then Mr.
D----, the mate, myself, and two hands, pulled along the weather side
of the island, seeking a landing-place; but found a heavy surf at all
points, and the bottom sown with sunken rocks. We then pulled back to
South-west Bay, to consult with the others as to the best course to
pursue. At last the mate volunteered to scull the dinghy ashore
through the surf, if one man would go with him. One of the crew agreed
to go, so they partly undressed, and took their places in the dinghy.
A line was made fast to the stern, and as they pulled towards the
shore we paid out, intending to haul the dinghy back again when they
had reached the shore. All went well for a time, but when near the
beach a tremendous roller caught the stern of the dinghy, drove the
bow under, and turned her right over. The two men managed to get clear
of the boat, and with some difficulty swam ashore.'
Eventually Mr. A---- and seven other men succeeded in landing,
carrying with them a limited quantity of provisions and some of the
tools. They remained on the island from March 25 to April 17, during
which time the vessel had been blown out of sight. Insufficient food
and exposure to rain dispirited the men, and their imaginations were
dismayed by the dismal aspect of these barren volcanic crags, and by
the loathsome appearance of the land-crabs, which swarmed everywhere
and continually attacked them.
They found what they considered to be the spot described by the
pirate, but do not appear to have been quite so certain on this point
as was young P----. Very little digging was actually done, 'for,' says
Mr. A----, 'we had few hands on shore capable of standing the heavy
work under such a burning sun.' They had only dug a small trench four
feet deep into the landslip when the 'Aurea' was sighted; then the
sick and disheartened band refused to stay any longer on this accursed
island, and insisted on being taken on board. So, leaving all their
tools behind them--for in their anxiety to get away safely they would
not be burdened with these--they were carried off to the vessel, so
emaciated, weak, and ill that the captain came to the conclusion that
he would lose most of his men if he landed them on so uninhabitable a
spot, and, abandoning the search, he set sail for the West Indies.
This expedition, therefore, practically accomplished nothing. The
problem as to whether the treasure was or was not lying under the
landslips in South-west Bay was as far from solution as ever.
Before the departure of the 'Aurea' expedition from South Shields, a
good deal had been written concerning it in the English papers, with
the result that some other adventurous spirits, having had their
attention drawn to this possible El Dorado, hurried away to Trinidad
in order to anticipate the Tynesiders. The following letter appeared
in an English paper on May 14, 1885. The 'Aurea' people, of course,
knew nothing of this rival expedition, until they returned to
England:--
TRINIDAD IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC.
_The Hidden Treasure Expedition._
[FROM A CORRESPONDENT.]
Kiel, May 11, 1885.
'Under this heading I have just now noticed a paragraph sent to
the editor of a Danish daily paper, which, in its bearing on the
well-known search-for-treasure expedition, may prove of interest
to your readers, being in the shape of a letter sent from New
York:--
'New York, April 17, 1885.
'On my arrival in New York from Aracaju, I read in your
paper of January 14, 1885, about an expedition to be
started from Newcastle, to proceed to the island of
Trinidad in the South Atlantic, with the object in view of
finding a treasure buried there some time ago by pirates:
and I am in a position to furnish some particulars which,
in all probability, are connected with this affair. On
January 13, 1885, I was chartered with my vessel in Rio de
Janeiro to take over to the above mentioned island an
American captain and four Portuguese sailors, together with
a number of pickaxes, spades, &c., and a whale-boat. I was
told that these people intended to go to this island to
investigate if any "guano" was to be found. A voyage of
eleven days brought us there, but we had to keep off the
shore on account of breakers for over three days. The men
were then put ashore, and remained on the island for four
days, during which time they were occupied with boring and
digging, whereupon we sailed back to Bahia, and landed them
there. I believe that these men, either by telegram from
England or by other means, had heard of the existence of a
treasure on this island, and that they meant to anticipate
the English expedition. However, they found nothing. I
noticed very well that the American captain, as well as his
men, were highly disappointed. Let me take this opportunity
to dissuade all masters of vessels to search in this
uninhabited island for fresh water. It is a matter of great
difficulty and danger to put boats on shore, through coral
reefs. The indications on the charts for casting the lead
should be a good deal further from the shore. During the
time we were there the wind was N.N.E. and the current to
S.W., upon a speed of from 12 to 15 quarter-miles in 24
hours. In South-west Bay, two cable-lengths from the shore,
there is a reef not mentioned on the charts.
'H. N. ANKERSEN,
'Master of sailing vessel from Fanoe.'
I found that the correspondent who sent this letter was correct
in his information. When I called at Bahia with the 'Alerte,' my
ship-chandler, Mr. Wilson, told me the whole of this story as it was
related to him by the American adventurer on his arrival at Bahia from
Trinidad. It is somewhat strange that the excavations made by this
party were not seen by the 'Aurea' people, who landed on the island
within two months of the departure of the Americans; but this islet
has been so shaken to its foundations by earthquake shock and volcanic
action, that it is brittle from its mountain-tops to the beach, and is
in a state of perpetual change. Gigantic landslips are frequent, and I
should not be surprised to find that all traces of our three months'
hard digging have by now been entirely obliterated.
There might have been some fun, by the way, had the 'Aurea' and the
American arrived off the island at the same time.
Since my return, I have heard of two other expeditions which started
from the other side of the Atlantic in search of the hidden treasure
of Trinidad, but, as with the former expeditions, nothing was
accomplished. The loss of men and boats in the surf, sickness, and the
numerous difficulties and dangers encountered, disheartened the men,
and the attempt was abandoned before any serious work was done. It
would seem as if this was one of those forlorn islands of which one
reads in the old romances of the sea, on which the bloody deeds of the
pirates have left a curse behind, so that the treasure is protected by
evil spirits; and the great roaring seas which roll up seemingly
without any natural cause, even after days of windless weather, and
the ever-tottering crags, and all the forces and terrors of nature are
made to keep man off from the inviolate hoard; while the loathsome
land-crabs might well be the restless spirits of the pirates
themselves, for they are indeed more ugly and evil, and generally more
diabolical-looking, than the bloodiest pirate who ever lived.