TRANSVAAL TREASUREHUNTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13325, 3 November 1906, Page 5 (Supplement)

TRANSVAAL TREASUREHUNTS.

STORIES and vague legends of the existence of hidden treasure (says a writer in. Chambers' Journal) have never failed to exercise a potent fascination upon some natures, and tb.> well-established fact that there is no record of an organised treasure hunt proving successful has little or no deterrent effect upon those infected with the mania. South Africa, or at least the Transvaal, has within the past decade been the scene of many of these fruitless quests; though it must be admitted that the clues and evidence that have supplied the original incentive are a little more tangible and credible than many that have lured men to disaster. Since the early days of the Barberton goldfields, there have been about twenty known and probably as many more secret expeditions undertaken for the purpose of verifying the six treasure stories which are believed by some to await, confirmation. The first and the oldest is the legend that amid the fastnesses of the rugged, feverhaunted borders - of the Limpopo River, which forms the northern boundary of"the Transvaal, are many hoards of pure \mwrought gold which are supposed to. represent the illicit gains of the slaves, or otherwise of those mysterious and elusive "ancients" who unquestionably worked the gold in that region at some remote period which the archaeologists cannot agree to lix. In the early 'eighties several discoveries of Mich treasure were made, by prospectors from the Barberton district, "and the official records of the first Mining .Commissioner contain entries of such rinds, duly registered according to the Transvaal Gold Law. In every case the gold was found under circumstances which made it highly probable that it had been secreted by hu-. man agency, for in most cases- it was covered by stones bearing marks and even inscriptions. One of these stones is said to have been covered with characters which the only educated man then in the camp declared to he Phoenician; but. unfortunately, before this interesting and suggestive theory could be verified, the tablet was utilised by a local mason, who built it horizontally into the wall of the Government office he was erecting, so that what might, have proved a valuable source of enlightenment as to the original gold-seekers of the supposed Land of Ophir has been reserved for future antiquaries to rediscover and interpret. A famous Barberton character in those days was a reckless adventurer known as Charlie the Reefer," who at frequent intervals astonished Hie camp by returning from one of his long ami solitary prospecting trips with a. hatful of gold'nuggets of a size and richness never since equalled in that region. He steadfastly refused to register or reveal the source "of his discovery, and successfully defeated the many attempt to follow and track him to his treasure-house. He brought in several thousand pounds' worth of gold before finally disappearing. When loquacious with liquor Charlie would hint mysteriously at having come upon treasures'" laid up' for him by others"—which was interpreted to mean that he had discovered th workings of the "ancients." But whether he had, or whether it was merely a. cumbersome joke intended to imply that he had robbed someone, the hint was sufficient, to give life to the old legends of Phoenician treasure, and a number of men have since bisday wandered in quest of Charlie's secret hoard, and several have never been heard of since. ... Another treasure-legend has its home in the north-east of the Transvaal—the story of the Magato diamonds. Magato was "a. potent chief of a tribe which in the early days of Kimberley supplied many natives to work in the mines there. 'This was long before the compound system and the strict law against illicit diamond-buying came into force. /Kaffir probably returned to his kraal with one or more valuable stones as a present for his chief. There are credible stories told by white men. who declare that they have seen a "bucket, of diamonds" in the possession ,of Magato, and certainly there seems no • just reason for disbelieving the oft-'fold tale of how the chief promised a certain white man a quart of diamonds if he could succeed in "running" through for him a Gatling gun. The attempt was made, and but for the alertness of the Portuguese officials on the east coast might have succeeded. Be that as itmay, there were many who believed in the existence of those diamonds, and among them the then executive of the late Traiis"vaal Government; for on the death of Magato in 1897 a commando was sent against the tribe. Magato's son and successor, 'Mpfeu, fled with his followers over the Zambesi, while the victorious Boers spent some weeks searching for the treasure. Now and then a. native turns up at a camp or dorp and offers to supply the missing clue; but so far the fat of* these diamonds is as uncertain as that of '.Mpfeu himself, and supplies material for many theories and conjectures which now and" then result in the formation of a small search-party. The recent disquiet in Swaziland lias revived locally the stories that have long and often been told of a wondrous diamondiferous piece of ground in that country, which the late chief Unibandine made it death for his people to trespass upon. He was fearful that he would lose his country if the secret of such vast treasure leaked out. Many efforts liava been made to find the spot., but Swaziland being a strictly reserved native location, prospecting has so far been rigotously prevented. It is openly stated in the Transvaal that this diamond mine is the objective of the present efforts on the part of certain agitators to get the country thrown open. A few years ago a Transvaal official received severe injuries whilst on a mission to Swaziland. It was suggested that he had abused his position by organising a private prospecting tour, but was detected by the natives. Although he was crippled for life, the Transvaal Government took no steps- to avenge the outrage on its duly accredited representative. About twelve years ago a very ancient, kaffir appeared at Pretoria and made energetic efforts to obtain a private audience of Paul Kruger. He was refused, but prosecuted his mission so persistently that he was imprisoned for making a disturbance. To a sympathetic official, who was curious to know the motive lor such insistence, the native told his story. He was. he said, the last survivor of a small tribe that had been absorbed into others. He was the son of the chief Induna or head-man of tin. last chief of the tribe, and, as such, was the sole custodian of a king's secret which now by right belonged to Paul Kruger. Feeling that he hao not long to live, he wished to hand it over to the President, but he would not reveal it to anyone hut him. The secret was the whereabouts of a, cave whence the dead chief procured the supplies of gold that formed his treasury. The old man's story was conveyed to Kruger. who authorised the late General Joubert to verify it; hut the old kaffir refused to impart hisknowledge to any but the President, and neither threats nor blandishments moved him.. He disappeared from Pretoria, carrying his secret away intact. The official mentioned followed up the matter a few years later, and, acting on what he believed to 1)© clues, explored a cave in the Krugersdorp district, but with no result beyond a narrow escape of losing his life. Since the late Boer war a new phase of treasure-hunting has been in vogue. Someone started a rumour that ere his departure from the Transvaal the late President had a quantity of bar-gold, variously estimated at a value ranging from one to several millions, conveyed up-country and buried. The story received so much credence that the British Government at Pretoria has provided special permits and police assistance to various persons who professed to be able to guide a search-party to the hiding-place. The tragic story of the murder of one of the searchers by his partner—who was duly banged for the crime will be remembered. So late as December last a well-equipped party left for the supposed scene of the ■ hide", which., oddly enough, is in the same district as that explored by the hunters after the Magato diamonds and the old ka.ftir's cave. Faith in the existence of the Kruger millions is dying before the searchlight of history and official inquiries; but up till a year ago it was easy to form a syndicate to exp.ore the district on no stronger testimony than the unsupported assertion »f some wily Boer that he had been told all the details by a friend who had assisted in burying the treasure, but .'who had been killed during the war.