THE STORY OF A TREASURE HUNT.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5893, 26 July 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE STORY OF A TREASURE HUNT.

The St. James's Gazette of.loth June. ISSO, contained an account of Mr. 15. F. Knight's then projected expedition to the South Atlantic- in scorch of buried treasure. Mr. Knight and his follow adventurers sailed from Southampton in thcyawlyacht Alerte, 50 tons Thomas measurement, on the "27th August lost. On the 14.-th May, after an absence from England of nearly nine months, the loader of the quest returned. He has not brought back with him the pirate hoard for which ho wont, and the treasure, if it was buried at all, either remains hidden in Trinidad or has been removed by other hands ; but lie has met with strange experiences. The Alerte left Southampton with a crow of 1:-) hands all told. Nine, ineludMr. Knight himself, wore gentlemen volunteers. The remaining four wore paid men : and among these last wore three—lohn Wright, Ted Milner and a boy named Arthur—who figure in the records of <>nc or more of Mr. Knight's previous expeditions. A treasure hunt ing voyage was made years ago by Captain Hercules Robinson, R.N.. to the Salvages, a cluster of smnllislonds f>o leagues to the southward of Madeira. Having to pass near these islands, Mr. Knight decided to explore and assure himself that Captain Robinson had inissod nothing worth discovering. The j Alerte, therefore, was headed for the [ Salvages. A party of Portuguesefishermen and plenty of rabbits wore found there ; but although the three islands wore probbed and dug in all likely spots, no treasure was unearthed. The/next place of call was Santa Cruz, Teneriffe : and here the troubles of the cruise began. A paid sailor and one of tho volunteers deserted ; and it was discovered that tho moot on board, owing no doubt to the great heat below in so small a craft, was getting unfit for consumption. St. Vincent in the Cape de Vord Islands, is a capital port at which to procure supplies, and St. Vincent was steered for; but although meat was to lie had in plenty, the visitcost the Alerte another member of her crew. A second volunteer left the ship ; i and to fill in some measure the vacancies thus caused two West Indian negro seamen, one of whom rejoices in the euphonious name of Thoodosius Sparror, were engaged, and thenceforward took iup their quarters in the forecastle. i From St. "Vincent, the course was to ■ Bahia. in Brazil ; and at Bahia there was additional trouble. Two more of the volunteers abandoned the expedition at this place, thus reducing tho little crew to five volunteers and five paid hands ; but with this short complement, which by tho way, proved to lie upon the whole for more efficient than the original one, the, Alerte. sailed hopefully to Trinidad. This island, which lies about 2_o leagues eastward of Rio, was the scone of the projected ! operations, and had been visited by Mr. | Knight in ISNI. It is uninhabited, volcanic, mountainous, partly covered j with trees that have been killed by the gaseous emanations from the soil, and swarming with birds, turtles, and land crabs. Landing is always difficult, and the yacht had to lie on and oil' for lo days before a working party could set foot ashore : but Mr Knight and Dr. Clooto Smith, the surgeon, managed, at the risk of their lives and ot the cost of a thorough wetting, to land on the second day iv order io make a preliminary exploration. Tho volcanic action which has desolated the place hasevidently continued ! since IKSl.and has a good deal altered the face, of tho island. Nevertheless, the two pioneers, who remained ashore for two days, succeeded, by dint of hard climbing, in reaching the bay in which Mr Knight had reason to believe that treasure had been concealed. Tho lot of the explorers was not an enviable one. So numerous and so bloodthirsty were the land crabs that, while one man slept, the other had to keep guard over him to prevent the sleeper from being eaten alive by these obscene beasts. At last, with much trouble, a genera! landing was effected, and tents, (ton's, machinery, and tools were brought ashore. Throe hands remained always on board, but were changed once a fortnight. The. rest labored with spades, picks, and hydraulic jack among the red earth, detritus, and huge boulders that were believed to hide the treasure. All day long, in spite of the tropical heat, the work went steadily on for a period of between three and four months. At night the weary men, too tired to core for amusement, lay down to rest. ; but each evening ore they could do so in peace the loathsome crabs had to be reckoned with, otherwise in their myriads thoy would havo swept the camp. Ii was found that these creatures are cannibals, and taking advantage of this fact the men would go out in all directions before sunset and kill os many crabs as possible, thus surrounding the camp with a broad zone of deal. In the night the crabs journeying from afar towards the sleepers stayed ever and anon and devoured their kin, and ere they could eat their way through the zone morning came, again, and the camp awoke to another day of toil iv the glare, of the sun.

About a month after the general landing stores ran out: and Mr Knight, with one volunteer and the men Wright, Tod and Arthur, sailed to Bahia for more. On the return voyage one of the men got at. the rum aft, effectually intoxicated himself aud waxed muiinous in his cups. There being no irons on board it was found necessary to lash the man to the bulwarks : and, in order to bo rid of him, Mr Knight, on the third day out, put about once more for Bahia. When tho Alerte again reached the port » tho Brazilian revolution had just taken place, the British consul had no loats .standi, and nothing could be done. The, mutineer was, however, put ashore, and, with a «rcw reduced by his loss and also by the. inability of Wright, who had accidentally injured himself, to work, the Alerte headed for the last time for Trinidado. Tho voyage was mode iv seven day? ; but two weeks elapsed ore if became possible t :> land with the welcome supplies. The people ashoro repeatedly attempted to communicate with the yacht by means of

the whaleboat which they had retained ; but ou every occasion the craft was capsized in the heavy surf, and if is astonishing that the crews escaped unhurt from those numerous disasters. During the yacht's absence H.M.S. Brimble had visited Trinidado. A letter from one of her officers has since been published, and contains a good description of. the feverish activity with which the adventurers, still hopeful, wore working. But after the return of the Alerte, hope of success began to die out : and soon it was decided thatenough had boon done, and that further search was useless. Stores and tools, therefore, wore carried on board again, and the disappointed seekers made for Port of Spain, in the island of Trinidad, where the expedition dissolved, some of the volunteers coming home at once by mail steamer, the negroes taking passage in a trading schooner for St. Kitts, and Mr Knight and throe others remaining for a short time for a little yachting, and then following home in the Deo. The Alerte lies still at Port of Spain, ready for another expedition which Mr Knight has in contemplation. We trust it will bo. less adventurous, and more successful, than this abortive hunt for buried treasure.