HIDDEN TREASURE

Hokitika Guardian, 8 December 1934, Page 6

HIDDEN TREASURE

COCOS ISLAND SEARCH • ; THRILLS OF EXPEDITION The thrills and toil associated with a hunt for' treasure on Cocos Island, reputed to be the burial place of hoards of pirate gold, were described yesterday by Captain A. M. Stanton, who recently led an expedition from England in search of the treasure. Captain Stanton ,who is known to Aucklanders as master of the former Melanesian Mission motor-vessel Southern Cross, arrived by the Port Campbell on Saturday, and will leave for Sydney by the Wanganella on Friday. Cocos Island, which lies in the North Pacific, 500 miles from Panama, is 14 | square miles in area, covered with dense tropical growth and contains three peaks, the highest of which is 3000 ft. Between the bases of the peaks it is rough and undulating. In addition to pirate gold, it is supposed to be the hiding place of Inca treasure, and in the past ancient gold plate has been found there. Many expeditions have searched the island, and the treasure is variously estimated at from £10,000,000 to £30,000,000. Captain Stanton’s expedition found no trace of gold. THE EXPEDITION’S CLUE Captain Stanton said he bought the auxiliary ketch Av.ance and had her fitted at Pembroke dock, in Wales. Two years’ provisions were placed on board. The crew, which numbered 14, comprised mainly public school boys. Two had demonstrated their prowess as metal diviners. They sailed on October 17, 1933, and, in spite of the vessel losing its mizzen mast in the Bay of Biscay, reached Panama in 33 sailing days. Four months were spent on Cocos Island. The clue they followed was provided by an old mariner Captain Lucy, who was wrecked on the island about 4? years ago in an American schooner, 1 Lake Eyrie, on which he was mate. The captain was an American named Morgan, and the crew were Chinese. Captain Morgan, who was 75 years old at the time was seriously injured in the wreck. For a number of years, so the story went, he had made periodical visits to the island to supply himself with treasure from a hoard he had located. After six months the castaways were rescued, and two of the Chinese crew reached Sydney with g .gold .cross and J gold urn studded with emeralds. These i they sold to an Australian squatter for £IO,OOO. They quarrelled over the division of the- money and one murdered the other. Before the victim died he told Captain Lucy the whereabouts of . the cache on the island. Then ,Captain Morgan died of his injuries and before his death ho also told Captain Lucy % the secret. ' ' ' " r

THREE UNLUCKY ATTEMPTS Captain Lucy made three attempts to get to Cocos Island. In the first in. stance his vessel was seized for debt before sailing. The second time he was wrecked in the Tongan Islands, and on the third occasion lie was just about to leave when the Great War broke out. and he was called up for service in the Royal Naval Reserve. War injuries prevented him from continuing with the project. l’he treasure was supposed to be in a cave, of which there are many hundreds on the island, said Captain Stan, ton.. He had satisfied himself from bearings and other data which he checked, that Captain Lucy had been to the island. It was impossible to move any distance from the beach without cutting a path through the undergrowth. and it took them four and a half days to cut their way across the island, a distance of four miles. Loose soil and falling boulders added to the toil of their progress. Sometimes they had to follow watercourses. There were /hundreds of waterfalls (on the island. It rained every night, to the accompaniment of thunder. It was said that four Filipinos, one of them a woman, lived on the island, but they did not see them, although they made what was probably the most thorough exploration of the island in recent times. Once they heard the barking of dogs.

NAMES’ CARVED IN ROCKS They made landings where no landings had been made before, swimming through the surf and taking ropes, picks and dynamite for blasting. There were only two anchorages, at Chatham Ray and Wafer Ray, and they had *» worrying time about the safety of the ship. Within reasonable limits the position of the cache indicated by Captain Lucy was located, but sickness and a serious accident to one of the men, who had to be taken to Panama, prevented them from further exploiting .the information they had. Carved on the rocks of the island they found the names of scores of ships and sailors who visited Cocos in days gone bv. One inscription, dated 1730, referred to the American whaler Alexander Coffin. The diviners located sdveral buried meteorites containing nickel. Visiting the island at the same time as the expedition, said Captain Stanton, was an American archaeologist named Valentine, who had a schooner and three men with him. He had served in the British Air Force during the Aar and lost a leg. STRANGE PHENOMENON OCCURS After going to the island Mr Valentine discovered what he regarded as a latent psychic power. Sitting with a pencil held over piece of paper he