In search of Captain Avery's treasure

[Yellow Fly]

With one of the greatest heists of all time under their belt, the pirates now had to divide the treasure and enjoy their spoils. It had been a long road since they started the Spanish Expedition and they had lost a great number of crew in the process of taking the Ganj-i-sawai. According to Charles Johnson in his A General History of Pyrates, he persuaded the other captains to leave the stolen Mughal loot aboard the Fancy and quietly sailed away in the night.

Every and the crew of the Fancy then sailed for Ile Bourbon and arrived in November of 1695. It was there that they decided to divide the loot with each pirate making about £1,000 (£93,300 to £128,000 today). This was more money than most sailors ever made in their lifetime and in addition to the pure gold, each received many gemstones.

This total haul was worth so much that Every and his men were the first known public enemies by the British Empire. The British East India Company was forced to pay a £600,000 insurance claim to the Mughals which rightly pissed off the crown. After the division of loot there were many differences in opinion of where to sail next. The French and the Danish that were recruited by Every decided to leave the crew and stay at Bourbon.

Every and the remaining crew along with the Fancy set sail for the pirate haven of Nassau on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas.

Every and his men decided to use some of their loot to purchase the universal currency of the time, slaves. The belief was that Every could use them to perform the grueling physical labor in order to augment the crew he lost raiding the Mughal convoy. They also could be traded for any supplies along the way and would not reveal any of the stolen currency that they truly had which was most likely in the form of Indian and Arabian coins. They all agreed on aliases and decided to retain a low profile.

To sail from the Indian Ocean to the Bahamas while most of the known civilized world was looking for you was a feat in and of itself. Every and the crew of the Fancy eventually stopped off in Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. While the island was uninhabited they managed to scrape together some food before heading off towards the Bahamas. It was here than seventeen of Every's crew decided to stay on the island instead of continue on to the Bahamas.

to be continued......

Crow

Question - like with most tales of sharing loot, they all seem to divide the gains while in pirate havens?
‘No honor among thieves’ Why? Why when the location is littered with pirates do they decided to distribute the share in sight of other pirates.
Surely a little discretion prior to arrival before the partying begins, I can’t see the logic in this.
admittedly the location was a little sparse given the makings of a pirate haven but even still such a prominent island stop off on the rounds.

 

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[BennyV]

Question - like with most tales of sharing loot, they all seem to divide the gains while in pirate havens?
‘No honor among thieves’ Why? Why when the location is littered with pirates do they decided to distribute the share in sight of other pirates.
Surely a little discretion prior to arrival before the partying begins, I can’t see the logic in this.
admittedly the location was a little sparse given the makings of a pirate haven but even still such a prominent island stop off on the rounds.

I mean these guys were at sea for a long time. The probably just wanted to whack up their loot and party. I’m sure their reputation preceded them. No need to hide anything. After all. Who is dumb enough to screw with a gang of successful pirates? Even one of the main authorities let them slide.

 

[Crow]

Go

I mean these guys were at sea for a long time. The probably just wanted to whack up their loot and party. I’m sure their reputation preceded them. No need to hide anything. After all. Who is dumb enough to screw with a gang of successful pirates? Even one of the main authorities let them slide.

Good point.

But unfortunately who have to take human nature into account. Academics some times have confirmation bias. The problem they stereo type all pirates as uneducated from the bottom of society that lived from the moment not knowing they was going to die from day to day. So many squandered their money gambling and wasting money of drink and prostitutes and loose women all too eager to relive some drunken sailor of his loot.

For the most part it is true yet not all people are the same. Some of these pirates had families that depended on them. So regardless of their crimes they still had family connections and desire to relieve some of the poverty their family members at home was going though.

Indeed several members of Avery's crew returned to England is a classic example. they had a reason to return. For for some would squandered their money others would saved it as best they could. Pirate stole from one another. so trust amigos was not always what it seemed. Some would cached treasure temporary as there was even little trust among crew members of each other.

Some of these temporary caches most likely never retrieved because due various reasons the pirate never returned or was murdered by a fellow pirate, died of scurvy or disease or swung from a hangman's noose.

Crow

 

[Yellow Fly]

Go

Good point.

But unfortunately who have to take human nature into account. Academics some times have confirmation bias. The problem they stereo type all pirates as uneducated from the bottom of society that lived from the moment not knowing they was going to die from day to day. So many squandered their money gambling and wasting money of drink and prostitutes and loose women all too eager to relive some drunken sailor of his loot.

For the most part it is true yet not all people are the same. Some of these pirates had families that depended on them. So regardless of their crimes they still had family connections and desire to relieve some of the poverty their family members at home was going though.

Indeed several members of Avery's crew returned to England is a classic example. they had a reason to return. For for some would squandered their money others would saved it as best they could. Pirate stole from one another. so trust amigos was not always what it seemed. Some would cached treasure temporary as there was even little trust among crew members of each other.

Some of these temporary caches most likely never retrieved because due various reasons the pirate never returned or was murdered by a fellow pirate, died of scurvy or disease or swung from a hangman's noose.

Crow

Hello,
I agree with the want / need to let loose & the various reasons some blow it all or stash.
The reasoning am asking is throughout, if a find pops up of pirate treasure in particular.
Is there a kind of theme to how & where finds have been found.
- pirate havens sure
Where else?
There is a need, if sober enough to bury whatever somewhere & dependant on weight, I’d assume it would more likely be caches which are closer to fresh water streams, rivers etc - hard work digging holes.
Or even the high points of whatever area, given look outs were needed. Or most probably routes up to view point.
Beaches or just off beaches etc.
Many perhaps no marking and simply just prominent landmarks, boulders etc.

 

[Crow]

Good question?

In my experience roaming the world searching for treasure. there is no theme, rhyme or reason. If there was? Much more would be found. Forget about treasure signs at the and of day they can mean anything?

Most probably burials of treasure was an hasty affair and person burying treasure used a land mark, a stone or tree as reference to find and recover.

But how each person buries treasure is totally different from each other. If you look at treasure burials from the collapse of roman empire in Britain. As society in a time of crisis collapsed and burial of treasure was common. Most buried treasure was buried close to habitation to where they lived. When War destroyed those habitations and those buried treasure perished.These treasure hoards was forgotten. Centuries later there farmers fields with many treasure burials just barely below plow depth. There no treasure signs or prominent land marks. No theme amigo.

In most countries treasure was buried during time of uncertainty and turmoil or conflict or fear of robbery or the proceeds of crime. There is no hard and fast rules of burying treasure. no secret signs or codes only in minds of 20th century treasure authors.

Treasure is only is and always is where you find it.

Crow

 

[Crow]

In the case of The Fancy. Some crew probably lost everything they had gambling drinking and womanizing.

Other's stayed in the Bahamas. others went to America. Others went to Ireland and others went to England. Some was Hung. But not all. Some of the crew broke apart going their separate ways. Some I am sure even enjoyed their share and prospered. Others died in poverty. Others died through disease or murder after hiding their share from other pirates.

With any of these locations. They are JUST possible sites where hidden caches may or may not be buried?

All you are achieving in researching these sites is lowing the odds against you a little.

Crow

 

[Blak bart]

Go

Good point.

But unfortunately who have to take human nature into account. Academics some times have confirmation bias. The problem they stereo type all pirates as uneducated from the bottom of society that lived from the moment not knowing they was going to die from day to day. So many squandered their money gambling and wasting money of drink and prostitutes and loose women all too eager to relive some drunken sailor of his loot.

For the most part it is true yet not all people are the same. Some of these pirates had families that depended on them. So regardless of their crimes they still had family connections and desire to relieve some of the poverty their family members at home was going though.

Indeed several members of Avery's crew returned to England is a classic example. they had a reason to return. For for some would squandered their money others would saved it as best they could. Pirate stole from one another. so trust amigos was not always what it seemed. Some would cached treasure temporary as there was even little trust among crew members of each other.

Some of these temporary caches most likely never retrieved because due various reasons the pirate never returned or was murdered by a fellow pirate, died of scurvy or disease or swung from a hangman's noose.

Crow

Explains why as an astute treasure hunter I must look where every paused before going into nassau....as I've said before...there is no tale or story about where I'm looking....there isn't a legend or papers claiming anything about treasure on royal island, but if your well read on the subject of pirates, and you are able to get into the mind set of the time....well you can't let the brief mention of every pausing at royal island be a missed opportunity!! This is a major event !! What do you think they did here for at least a few days....possibly a week or more ?? I have to absolutely 💯 check this by all means. The fact that he stopped here and what he might expect as a response from nassau, is reason enough for "ME" to absolutely have to check some obvious places of landing if he was anchored here....any one know how much the fancy drew as far as draft....this would help me figure where they may have anchored....if a miracle of heaven occurred I could find this Anchorage, and possibly bottles related to the fancy at that spot on the ocean floor !! We know at the very least they drank, while at anchor!! If I find the probable anchoring spots, then landing spots adjacent to Anchorage could be checked....at that point we are land hunting for small emergency caches hidden by individual pirates on the island in case of a hostile reception, hasty retreat/escape from nassau !! This is just common pirate sense....if you have 70 gold dabloons.....put 10 in a ceramic jar, and stash above the high water mark for retrieveal later in an emergency.

 

[Blak bart]

Just imagine you've committed piracy, murder, theft, etc etc !! Now you are sending a boat with a bribe to a place 50 miles away, and your sitting on your ship waiting for a response from a new governor that your not sure will be accepting of your bribe ? He might try and capture you some how ? It seems plausible that some money might be cached in case you had to flee ashore, and your ship were seized or sunk ? This pause at Royal island would have been one of the most vulnerable times for Every and he would have been on full alert I would imagine !! 🤔🤔🤔

 

[BennyV]

Just imagine you've committed piracy, murder, theft, etc etc !! Now you are sending a boat with a bribe to a place 50 miles away, and your sitting on your ship waiting for a response from a new governor that your not sure will be accepting of your bribe ? He might try and capture you some how ? It seems plausible that some money might be cached in case you had to flee ashore, and your ship were seized or sunk ? This pause at Royal island would have been one of the most vulnerable times for Every and he would have been on full alert I would imagine !! 🤔🤔🤔

An insurance policy. I think Kidd did the same somewhere close to NY as well.

 

[ARC]

Even though documentation of pirates and others burying treasures does not heavily exist ...
and it does exist mostly in "tall tales" and the great stories...
One can use the formula of ...
"even the tallest of tales stem from even the shortest truths" ...
And with the addition of logical and methodical common sense....
One can also assuredly decipher this eluded un-documented fact that they did.

In fact... and a fact that should be as true and real as if part of ones own face to even the slowest of people should be...
- You would have been an idiot or stupid if you did not bury your loot.

Burying items has been going on since before man made fire.
Its the natural instinctual human first response to protect something from someone else.
To cover or bury is the uttermost MOST simplistic natural response for a human.

And for good cause....
Its one of the ONLY tried and true methods of protection that usually works ... and we know it.
Inbred in our psyche.
So.... OF course Avery.... and every other like him ALWAYS, when possible, buried security.
And... Of course.... there were many exceptions...
Of the fools who's loot was kept close and vulnerable to ALSO being stolen. heh

Money was secreted for many reasons... but most importantly ...
logically... to if nothing else...
have bartering chips... if and when one should be captured.
It would be the last and only "chance" at buying one out of a "short drop on a long rope"
or The gallows poles.

Just thought i would share.