Cocos, the island of treasure

Cocos, the island of treasure

There could possibly be millions of dollars in treasure buried on Cocos Island in the Pacific. This small, uninhabited tropical island is located off the west coast of South America, about 400 miles from Costa Rica. A simple cone of rock, covered by a dense jungle that contains poisonous snakes and insects. Cocos, being so far away and remote, was used by pirates as a base to refit and hide loot that had been looted. This nine-square-mile island had been a magnet for treasure hunters. Many searched, only to die empty-handed. Part of the treasure is from the Portuguese buccaneer Benito Bonita of ‘The Bloody Sword’, which operated in the early 19th century. His treasure is estimated at $300 million at today’s prices. Another pirate, Captain Bennett Graham, hid there 350 tons of gold that he had stolen from Spanish ships.

The first pirate to use Cocos as a safe haven was a British, Captain Edward Davis, known as a ‘gentleman’ pirate. He built a profitable career with royal approval between 1683 and 1702 while harassing Spanish merchantmen in the South Seas, as the Pacific Ocean was then known. We have a full account of this in a book written on the ship Revenge by one of those on board, William Dampier.

Another pirate who used the island to bury treasure was Captain Bartholomew Sharp, who captured the Spanish ship, La Santísima Trinidad, and its large number of chests of gold and pieces of eight. Again we have the full story written by one of the pirates, Basil Ringrose. Dampier also sailed with Sharp, but he did not like the captain’s murderous attitude. This treasure is said to have never been recovered by pirates.

However, the greatest treasure hidden in Cocos is the fabulous wealth evacuated from Lima, Peru in 1821. A vast collection of gold, silver, gems, and church treasures: life-size gilded figures of the Virgin Mary, including a seven-foot-tall, gem-encrusted gold statue that weighs 780 pounds. Also hundreds of jewel-encrusted gold plates, gem boxes, and minted coins. A revolution in the early 19th century made the Treasury of Lima too dangerous to remain in Lima when the rebel army of José de San Martín approached. The rich inhabitants and the priests began to escape with their treasures by bribing the captains of the ships that were in the port to take them away.

The Viceroy of Lima, José de la Serna, entrusted the Treasury of Lima to William Thompson, Captain of a British merchant ship, the Mary Dear, which was in the Port of Callao, near Lima, during August 1821. It was said that into the hold of the Mary Dear he poured wealth such as had never before been carried on a single ship, estimated to be worth between £20 and £30 million.

Thompson’s orders were to remain at sea until he could safely return to Lima. As soon as the ship was out of sight of land, he and his English crew murdered the Spanish citizens and priests and threw their bodies overboard. Thompson’s treacherous gang then sailed to Cocos and buried the treasure, planning to return later when things calmed down. Thompson then joined Bonito from ‘Bloody Sword’. But none lived to enjoy the loot from him. A British frigate ran over them. Bonito, seeing that all was lost, blew his brains out. The other pirates were captured while scavenging for provisions, and all but Thompson and his first mate were hanged for piracy on the yards of the naval frigate.

Thompson and the officer promised to get the treasure back. When they returned to the island, they managed to escape into the jungle. For three days, the frigate’s crew searched for them, but had no choice but to set sail. Many months later, the escapees were picked up by a passing whaler. The first mate died on board and at the end of the voyage, Thompson was put ashore in America, the whaler’s crew knowing nothing about the treasure.

Thompson aged before passing on his secret to a Newfoundland boat owner, John Keating. Keating agreed to take Thompson to Cocos, but before they had to set sail, Thompson died after having drawn a map that gave Keating explicit instructions on where to find the treasure.

In 1841 Keating and a companion, William Bogue, went to Cocos and found the cave where the treasure was hidden. They decided not to tell their crew, but in their excited state, the crew became suspicious. They kept Keating and Bogue on board while they themselves went in search of the treasure. During the night, Keating and Bogue escaped, disembarked in a boat, returned to the cave, and stuffed their pockets with jewels. Leaving the island, his boat capsized in the waves. Bug was dragged to the bottom by the weight of his bulging pockets. Keating managed to hold on to the capsized ship and was finally rescued by a Spanish schooner a few days later. Another story says that after a fierce fight, after being abandoned by his mutinous crew, Keating locked his friend in the treasure cave in a fit of rage, leaving him to die there.

Keating returned to Newfoundland, living off the proceeds from the jewels he had with him, but he never returned to the sinister island. He trusted another captain, named Fitzgerald before he died. His treasure map then passed through a chain of men to Sir Malcolm Campbell, who searched in vain for the treasure in 1926. Another who obtained the map, a German, lived in Cocos for eighteen years but never found anything.

Only one man actually received any “treasure” from Cocos. He was an author who heard about the island in a San Francisco cantina. His name was Robert Louis Stevenson. On what he heard, he based his famous story ‘Treasure Island’. The book made many thousands of dollars.

Since the 1970s, treasure hunting has been strictly prohibited on Cocos Island, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to the unique exotic marine and terrestrial ecosystem, although some adventurers have tried to find access under the guise of scientific research.