TREASURE TROVE

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 June 1936, Page 12

TREASURE TROVE

GOLD AND DOUBLOONS Treasure trove —Spanish doubloons and golden goblets, ingots and ornaments. . . . The ocean floor is the biggest “bank” in the world since it contains twice as much gold as all the world’s guarded concrete vaults A much larger share than has been hitherto supposed lies to the .north-west of Australia —in the Torres Strait and its treacherous, myriad islets, and in, the wild New Guinea, known to the early Spaniards, trading in their peakdecked galleons from Manila to Mexieg and Peru, as the “Isla del Oro,” or “Island of Gold.” Interest in Australia has recently centred strongly on the possibility or treasure trove in New Guinea and au-| joining islands by reason of the dis-| covery of Spanish coins and other relics in various localities. Coins and a remarkable bowl with human figures as a border decoration impressed round the rim were found on a mining claim at Wan, New Guinea, a few months ago, and the event recalled many other instances of treasure, evidence of European contact. Coral seas of Torres Strait —used regularly by the Spanish trading galleons —and Northern Australia, are veritable graveyards of ships. Countless vessels of all nations have met their doom in these reef-studded waters since the earliest days of Australian exploration.

MURDER OF WRECK SURVIVORS Forty years ago, beneath the anchor of a coral-covered wreck, Frank Jardine, a well-known fisherman found a small fortune fn ancient Spanish dollars. Similar coins are said to have been found on many Torres Strait islands. A number were reported to hav,e been picked up on Murray Island, near the far northern end of the Great Barrier Reef, and this story coincided with a story handed down among the Murray Island natives for generations that a ship was, many, many years ago, wrecked on the reef surrounding the island. The natives say the survivors managed to bring ashore a number of treasure chests before the wreck slipped down into deep water. That night, however, the natives killed them ail and distributed the gold and coins amongst themselves. Some years ago ■a diver located the old wreck, but it was almost entirely covered by coral. Another rich wreck is believed to lie on the sea floor oft’ Prince Edward Island. A pearler, Captain Kane, 40 years ago came across a cave while ex-| ploring the island, hidden by dense undergrowth. Some distance inside he found a skeleton of a tall man, alongside which lay a huge rusted sword of ancient Spanish design. This is now in possession of a Thursday Island resident. The skeleton was obviously that of a Spaniard—survivor of a shipwreck nearby—who sought shelter in the cave to escape the natives, eventually dying of starvation. A few years later, a native sold a golden goblet of peculiar design to another pearler, Captain Brown, who was afterwards murdered in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The native said he had found the goblet on the beach at Prince Edward Island. Lonely Booby Island, a little known rocky speck 30 miles west of Cape York, is said to be another treasure island, but the treasure in this case is believed to be buried on the island. In the days before Captain Cook named the island Booby was the headquarters of the only pirates Australia has ever known. They were a band of Asiatic cutthroats who plundered Spanish vessels. Only a few years ago a number of ancient Spanish gold coins were picked up on the island. Is the pirates’ reputed treasure still there? New Guinea itself, while not so fruitful in actual treasure indications, has its hidden wealth. At Misima Island, Papua, Spanish gold coins were among the money presented by natives when paying their tax. It was a complete mystery how they came to be found on Misima, although it was suggested that they were remains of money given in exchange for commodities by Captain Dumopt D’Urville — pot unknown in-New Zealand history —who visited the Louisiades in the French corvettes L’Astrolabe and La oejee while passing through Torres Strait on his final voyage round the world.