Today's yarn comes from the icy cold coast fishing communities of Newfoundland...
Well it actually starts in the in/famous island of Cocos off the coast of Costa Rica and its numerous reputed buried hoards of treasure. There is not much need to go over how, why and when these alleged caches managed to get deposited and secreted there, but there it begins...
There was a fisherman who when short of work signed-on to a low key trip - destination unknown - for a period of several months and the promise of good pay and a 'bonus' if things worked out. This chap wasn't that old and didn't have too much experience, or a family to take care of, so it was an exciting opportunity in many ways for him. Anyway, this discreet 'mission' got under way and was deliberately comprised of a small amount of crew, a few 'special passengers' and the captain and his immediate staff.
As the seas are treacherous anyway in those parts, it was a tough journey as the ship wasn't in too great a shape and there was constant speculation as to what the destination was. After much trials and tribulations related to conflict with various authorities and officials, sickness, mundanity, rigid discipline from the captain and vigilance and annoying secrecy from the 'passengers'. Finally after a tough, dangerous and delicate rounding of Cape Horn, the crew were finally taken into confidence by the 'passengers' and captain as to the true nature of the trip; it was a total, true and honest treasure hunt!
They were heading for a surreptitious dig on Cocos Island where the passengers had information on a secret location of buried gold. There was much excitement, speculation and chatter amongst all onboard. When things returned to some semblance of normality, it was decided who would get what if the endeavour was successful.
When the ship did eventually reach the island, true enough, a keg of specie was recovered from an inland location but this young fisherman never saw where. When all were back on the ship, it was an amazing spectacle to see the ancient Spanish gold coins piled on a table as if they'd been left there yesterday...
The fisherman was in total awe.
Just as they had made a low-key embarkation, so it was for the return leg of the journey. The passengers and the captain and his aides, impressed upon the crew members why it was necessary to always absolute silence and secrecy about the find or otherwise, it could result in confiscation of the treasure, possible prison time and not to mention a whole host of other problems which they could all do without.
This simple, young, unambitious fisherman could only dream about getting his own boat...
After many months, they returned home and again were reminded of their vows of silence and secrecy. The fisherman kept quiet and didn't go on a spending spree; he did eventually purchase a small vessel that was not extravagant in any way and as such, didn't raise any suspicion in the close-knit community he was part of. The 'passengers' disappeared never to be seen again, the captain and his team left for the States or were even from there possibly, and the few crew from Newfoundland went their separate ways...
This young fisherman returned to his trade and years went by. He had a family and not once mentioned his fortuitously good fortune in his early years. In his old age, his young grandson would always show an interest in his grandfather's life experiences. His grandfather always reminded him that life was sometimes full of surprises...
Just before passing away, the now old fisherman reminded his now grownup grandson to ensure he took good care of the fisherman's possessions including his old trunk of his papers and items from his travels...
The grandson had moved away but returned to his hometown on the death of the old sea dog and duly took possession and due date of his grandad's belongings. After taking them back to where he now lived with his own family, he after some time, decided to go through the trunk. In there, he found some old papers and a journal of sorts. It spoke of a 'special' trip and an 'amazing' find. Intrigued, he looked into more and found a still closed letter addressed to himself from his grandad. It instructed him to dig at a certain spot at the old man's home. The grandson, further mystified, continued investigating and returned to his grandfather's home.
Sure enough, at the indicated spot,the grandson found a metal pot of old Spanish specie. The simple fisherman had only used enough gold to purchase a ship for his needs and buried the rest and never, ever taken a single more coin. When the fisherman had used his share, this in part, was what led to some members of the business community in Newfoundland starting various expeditions to Cocos Island...
The grandson couldn't believe what he'd uncovered, and to his credit, he opened a small museum in memory of the old man which detailed the fishing history of the area and the community's beginnings in that tough, unforgivable region...Oh, and he showcased some gold coins for good measure...
True story.
IPUK
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