POND ISLAND
In the vicinity of Harpswell you will find a small island that became
one of the most treasure explored islands in Casco Bay. Here we find, if
we check our legends of the islands, the spot of land in our island
studded bay that is said to be the location of the Boston Pirate Low's
hidden treasure chest. To tell you a little about this I will go back to
the year 1726. At this time Pirate Low was sailing in and around Casco
Bay as he was preying on the northern shipping lanes.
A Spanish galleon named "Don Pedro Del Montclova" left South America
with a treasure of gold and jewels bound for Spain. She sailed up from
South America and reached the Florida Keys, then just as she started to
cross the Atlantic, a British gunboat gave chase.
The galleon swung off her course and headed north along the Atlantic
Coast until she finally outran the gunboat. She was now at the entrance
of Casco Bay and her Captain thought that this would be a good location
in which to hide among the many islands. What he did not know, however,
was that Pirate Low was anchored in Casco Bay and saw the Spanish
galleon coming around the point.
Low boarded the galleon, killing the crew and sinking the ship. He then
knew from talking to the Spanish crew previous to their killing, that
the British gunboat was on its way to the bay. Low decided to hide the
treasure as fast as he could. He landed on Pond Island and threw the
chest of gold and jewels into the fresh water pond that is there. He
knew the location of the pond because he had been there before to fill
his water casks.
After hiding the treasure he immediately left the vicinity ahead of the
gunboat. He was later captured and hung, so he never came back to claim
his hidden booty.
Many treasure hunters have gone over this island and land surrounding
the old pond, but to my knowledge nobody has located this cache of gold
and jewels. The pond itself is now dry, I understand. Maybe the treasure
is deeper than average; instead of four or five feet deep, this one
could be fifteen or twenty feet deep. It is a problem in geology, just
how the wind and rain change the terrain in so long a time.
I would say that a pretty sensitive detector should be used in this area
in order to reach real depth.
This preceding tale is mostly legend passed down through the years, but
who knows whether or not it is all legend?
I would give this island a very careful examination with my instrument
if I were you. There's just no telling what is there.