SUWARROW GOLD

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 270, 11 August 1938, Page 10

SUWARROW GOLD

Account Of Burying Of Treasure Chest EXTRACT FROM BOOK Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, August. 10. .Some confirmation of the story that has inspired Mr. J. W. Wray, Remuera, and his fellow yachtsmen to try their luck at treasure hunting in a lonely uninhabited island to .the north-west of Tahiti, which will (be visited by MrWray’s yacht Ngataki during a cruise of the Pacific which was 'begun on Monday, is supplied in a passage in a book entitled “Annals of a New Zealand Family.”

Published in Dunediin in 1935 and written by Mrs. Howard Jackson (nee Miss Laura Mair), this publication deals with the careers of various members of the Mair family, many of whom led adventurous lives. One passage recounts the discovery of a treasure by Henry Abbot Mair on a lonely island, his burying of coins and return to the island and secure possession of the valuables. “In 1876, Henry Abbott Mair became agent for the island traders Henderson and Macfarlane, of Auckland, in the brigantine Ryno,” Mrs. Jackson writes. “On one occasion, on calling at a small island, he swam ashore at night. Resting after his long swim, he espied a turtle making a hole in the sand, which it was sweeping away with its flappers as is its wont when preparing to lay its eggs. Coins and Jewellery. “Hearing a metallic sound, he drew nearer to the spot, when he found an iron box deeply-embedded in the sand. With great difficulty he prised off the lid and then saw that the box contained a large number of silver, coins, rings and jewellery. He was wearing only a singlet and leather belt. He filled his singlet several times with the treasure, and, taking it up on to dry sand, buried it at the foot of a tree, slipping some rings on his fingers and placing some of the coins in his belt, he swam back to the ship and joined his friend, Trader Sterndale, at Suwarrow. He then made a rough sketch of the island where he had buried his treasure, hoping at some future time to return and retrieve it.

“Reaching Auckland some time after his adventure, he gave a ring and some of the coins to a niece. He made repeated attempts to induce some shipping company to visit the island where he had hidden the treasure. However, negotiations fell through.” In a message from Auckland published on Monday morning it was stated that Mr. Wray intends to search a certain beach on the island for the treasure, whereas, from the foregoing excerpt, it would appear that the contents of the chest found by Mr. Mair were removed and hidden again in another spot on the island. The story on which Mr. Wray pins his hopes, however, refers to several chests being found on the beach and only one being removed, so that the Auckland yachtsman might yet be successful in unearthing a cache or coins and. other valuables which has lain there since the days when the “Jolly Roger” flew at the masthead.