PIRATES' BURIED BOOTY

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8797, 7 December 1906, Page 2

PIRATES' BURIED BOOTY

TREASURE ISLAND IN THE

CARIBBEAN.

The coming voyage of the Liverpool yacht Catherine in search of pirates' buried gold has excited considerable interest. It is claimed by Captain Small, who is in command, that the Catherine, which is 514 ft long by 15ft beam, is the smallest sailing vessel to attempt the Transatlantic passage from England. But he has every confidence in her seaworthiness.

Tiie Catherine's destination, is an island in the Caribbean Sea in search of gold and jewels to the value of £1,200,000,. which, it is said, were buried by the notorious pirate Latrobe early in the last century. The commander of the expedition purposes starting from the Mersey early in 1907. He will follow the North Atlantic steamer track, first calling at Queenstown and afterwards making direct for New York, which he calculates he will reach in from six to eight weeks. From New York to the Caribbean Sea will be a sail, he expects, of about a month.

Twenty-eight years ago a, doctor named Davidson, while attending an old 6alt during a voyage from x^awaii to San Francisco, was made the confidant of his patient, who told him a remarkable story. This seaman's narrative was to the effect that in 1808, while he was a lad, he and others were captured by the notorious pirate Latrobe, whose vessel contained valuable treasure.

Pursued by a Spanish man-of-war and a Yankee corvette, Latrobe disembarked his ill-gotten gams on one of the islands in the Caribbean Sea. On landing, he hid the gold and jewels, said to be worth £1,200,000, in the rocks. Before he could recover them the .pirate was captured and he and his crew were executed in Jamaica.

Before the sentence was carried out, however, Latrobe gave to the sailor lad, who had been found innocent and released, papers describing the spot where the treasure was buried, and requested him to convey the documents to Lafitte ; who was the chief of the fleet of pirates. The boy, however, kept the papers, but was precluded by want of means from ever securing the concealed booty. On his deathbed, when as an old man he was Dr Davidson's patient, he handed the papers to his medical attendant.

In J-oti7 a New York party, to whom the position of the treasure had been communicated, went to search for it, but, so the story runs, were baulked by the fact that the boxes containing the property had sunk in a quicksand.