BURIED TREASURE.

FABULOUS WEALTH WHICH HAS BEEN LOST.

Even more alluring than the quest foi native state is the search for the hidden hoards of manufactured wealth which the roll of the centuries invests with much of the glamour of the fable. Seized with the spirit of daring everything which the craze for enrichment by means of such wealth begets, searchers in all ages have been driven to almost the verge of insanity. For instance, Ducasse, the greatest of all treasure-hunters, who died in 1897, after making, finding, losing, and recovering several fortunes, certainly shortened his life 'in his mad hunt for gold.

No more alluring or baffling quest can be imagined than, the great King John Treasure buried near Lynn in Norfolk shire. When the profligate monarch wae finally driven to exile and death in Scotland, he took with him the entire Royal treasure, collected after his last burial of treasure, and all the Royal regalia of J the Norman Kings, including tho crown of King Alfred. A British Museum ex- ! pert "has estimated the total value at £4,500,000. It cumbered his flight, and he was compelled to bury it, according to his own account, before his doath, 'wherp the road from Lynn to Swinehead crosses Wellestreme.' To a certainty it has never been recovered. Quite as tantalising is the history of the Treasure of Guerdon, as it is called. It takes its name from the famous old

oonvent of that town, and here in the sixth century great stories of wealth were collected from smaller ecclesiastical establishments to prevent their falling into the hands of Norman pirates. This was jus+ before the death of Clovis. When the invaders sacked the place they failed to find anything but minor works of art and the commoner things of value. Following their custom, their captives were put to death, and fire and weather effaced the marks which had been put on stones to guide the owners of the treasure to its recovery.

With the return of some who had escaped, the- search was begun, and has been nearly continuous for more than o thousand years, as it was known beyond all question that the treasure was in th" ruins. The estimates of it made on the inventories collected by the monk? averaged the great sum of £9,200,000. Tr the reign of Louis XIV. the Government contracted with adventurers, who spent £1,400,000, eventually losing all the fruits of their work in the Revolution. Finally, great sums having been spent, many noblemen rained, and many lives lost, the Government sent a scientific party to investigate. They reported that ever, possible spot had been explored to grea' depths, and that it was a physical impossibility that there could be any tres sure in the ruins. Thereupon a law wa.published forbidding anyone to mal« further search.

In the outworks of Stirling Castle or the purlieus thereof lies buried a trea- ' sure that for its historical association: alone would be worth a great sum in the open market. In, 1561, .when Mary Queer of Scots ■returned to Scotland she-brought many objects of virtue, andi a large func 1 said to have ben gathered by French cardinals, which was a trust fund to be used only in extreme need and for the cause of the Church. When after seven stormy years she fled across the border to plead with Elizabeth, trusty friends concealed her personal treasure somewhere near Stirling Castle. There is no proof that it was exhumed during her 18 years' imprisonment. Both Jedburgh Castle and Kirkstall Abbey have their romantic stories of treasure, but the clues to its wherabouts are fs. int> Tlie history of the treasure is that a party of Cavaliers-, fleeing from Marston Moor, hid at the abbey and temporarily interred a military treasure which they guarded for Charles I. They were pursued by three troops of horse, many were killed, many captured, and none was ever able to return for the recovery of the money. Quite as compelling is the story of the great Treasure of Orval. It was collected during a Jong period in many abbeys and finally removed to Orval, as the monks, were driven out elsewhere When they were forced from their greatest stronghold, ithey left t)h 6 wonderful collection ,of „g<*jd and silver images plate, coin, jewels, etc., most cunningly concealed, the single due to its whereabouts being ifche one word "Nemo."' This was hastily carved on the tomb of the. last abbot, and is without doubt the key to- certain cabalistic letters 1 cut with evident intention on all tombs.

More fascinating than a romance are the hare facts of the vast treasure now called the Kouviere Quest. When Saint Louis fouadied Saints Cliapalle he was the possessor of the whole treasury of France. In <his pious enthusiasm he had made to be placed in ithe nave 'heroic figures of the Twelve Apostles, formed formed from virgin gold and silver and set with precious, stones. Dark days drew on Franc©.

Those 'w!ho knew the 'worth 'of the statues became alarmed ; and on the night of the- sacking of St. Denis the statues were removed and hia^en in & secure place. When the mob broke into the Sainte. Chapelle the iinagies of the Twelve Apoistles *had gone. Those now in place axe replicas in Jess costly matuvial. The probable value of the treasure 'was set 'by the finders of the box at the amazing sum of £10,000,000. it ima .never been .located.

A Jittle over 60 years' ago £1,000,000 worth of treasure, now worth much more, was hidden by -Chilian pirates in a ravine of the little island of Trinidad, and it is there yet, awaiting a findei'. The treasure is part of the wealth of the Spanish Government.

Off the little village of Perce, on the shore of the Gaspe Peninsula, lifts, sheer out of the water tho Pierced Rock of Perce. It is 515 ft. in its greatest a.tti tude, and in many places its waiLls are not only sheer but lean outward at the ! top. In the days of tho First Empire ' the rock,was owned .under iroyal grant) by i Captain Duval, renowned as a privateer, who made his headquarters on the coast and anchored in shelter of the .rock. From his Indians Duval must ihave learned that there -was & way to !the top. One day when, 'he .retrained from a j cruise, his teh-ip loaded with English' • spoils, two of the Indians went override and disappeared. The night a boat was lowered and into it was placed a great brass-bound chest, so heavy with gold that ten men "were required to ,Ift it, and the boat was rowed to the side ,of the twU, Strange cries were heard from

! above, 'which Duval answered, amd out of the darkness a light rope was lowered, to which was attached a heavy line. Then Duval'.s ilieutemarat was (drawn .up, and superintended the raising of tho gold in gunny hags. Lastly Duval 'himself went up astride the chest, commanding the orew to remain rim th© precise spot until his return 1. Just at dawn (he came down the heavy line. The crew thought they heard shots in the stillness, but the ijreat height made this uncertain-. At last Duval returned with his pistols empty and, picking up a blunderbuss, he shot the 'rope and cut it high up out of reach. The '.lieutenant was never seen again, nor were the Indians.

( For many years, the weather-worn rope I hung swayingagainst the rocks, a "warning to timid fisherman. Some 20 years later a daring young half-breed discovered the path iby ■which one could climb up the face of the rocks, but he knew nothing of the treasure. Others followed hie footsteps, so that the pathway was well known 80 years ago. W'hem the 'facts about Duval became known after his sudden death, various attempts were made to Teach the top of the rock. As over half of the people who tried it lost their lives, and the disturbance of the birds 'Jiving on it caused great annoyance to the village, the provincial authorities passed a law forbidding anyone to attempt the ascent.

The latest enterprise in this direction is that of a new treasure-seeking company, with a capital, of £25,000, which- ds •sending ia salvage ship to try and bring up the £650,000 in gold which President Kruger was sending in the Dorothea to South America at the time of the Boer War, when the ship was wrecked on the coast of Zululand. Five other wrecks off the South African coast will he salved by the company, .which 'has obtained Ithe exclusive concessions from the Cape Goveminent for that purpose, thre© of them being old Dutch galleons wrecked in the 17th century.