Misc data and adventures of a Tayopa treasure hunter

[Crow]

heard an opening may be coming up at that old British club
Crow was not a free flyer?

Gidday Bill if ya saw how old Crow flaps his wings you will know he's no free flyer.
Crow

 

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[KANACKI]

Gidday Bill if ya saw how old Crow flaps his wings you will know he's no free flyer.
Crow

Hola old buddy the only time I ever saw you fly was when there was free grub and booze on offer.

Kanacki

 

[Crow]

Ah kanacki thay may be so but you was not far behind me I recall.:laughing7.

Anyway are ya going get on with a yarn or not? Or ya want me to tell It?

Struth slower than a old moll at christening.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Kanacki ya half and hour behind me I will going roost soon. Its late.

Crow

 

[KANACKI]

Ah kanacki thay may be so but you was not far behind me I recall.:laughing7.

Anyway are ya going get on with a yarn or not? Or ya want me to tell It?

Struth slower than a old moll at christening.

Crow

Alright I am just getting my second wind to continue.

Yes getting back to the yarn I will continue.

As I had said imagine the cultural shock the islander first met white men. They was seen as first as spirit people like if they was ghosts. But it did not take long to understand these interlopers was just men.

First contact totally tipped the islanders world upside down just as it did when the first explorers first landed in the Americas. It has been believed the Spanish first visited the island but had shown little interest in the island. Later mostly unwanted by Britain and France in the late colonial rush for territory Germany annexed the island. After WW1 came and it was seeded to Japan. During the war a Garrison was on the island of Japanese that was completely by passed by the war. After the war it came under the mandate of Britain and united state and they did not want it then became part of federation not mostly forgotten.

The era this following story is in the years after first contact.....

You could imagine the impact fire arms Iron tools men smoking. Cannons on ships. Diseases and strange customs made a devastating impact on the people of the island that was a pretty much a stone age culture.

Its late amigos.....

I will continue tomorrow.

Kanacki

 

[: Michael-Robert.]

 

[KANACKI]

The local populations values was much different. What they saw as precious was common everyday objects such Iron Nails metal knives and swords. This made the chiefs exposed to these white men exposed to such powerful tools eager to trade. On the island with little resources human flesh was the one a few resources the natives could offer. But not as food as white men were not cannibals but barter for iron tools through sex with women.

Thus the common saying sex for a rusty nail.

As you could imagine it must of seemed like heaven for a lusty sea dog cooped up for months in the holds of leaky sailing ship then suddenly land on island with eager women encouraged by the chief to barter their bodies for sex. You could imagine the exotic tales these sailors told of the south seas amigo of exotic women full of uninhibited sexuality without the strict christian morals of the day.

No wonder that for many sailor it was part of the lure to travel to the far side of the world.

But in exploration aside the islands never had an attraction for official white settlement. Interest in these remote places hinged on one thing. If they had a viable commodity for westerners to deal with. So around the early 19th century it began to change.

While the Spanish has their key ports in the pacific after 1815 the the official end of Manila Trade such ships no longer traveled across the Pacific. With the fall of the Americas in the war of Independence the Spanish lost interest in the Pacific. The Dutch concerned themselves with Indonesia, Portuguese with Timor and parts of Asia.

The French had expansionist policies but was hampered by the French revolution and later Napoleonic war. Only making claim later in 1850s to territories. In short islands in Britain had seen as not of economic value for the empire. Whaling only became profitable for British whaling ships when the transport of convicts to the newly colonized Australia became available. From about 1800 to 1812 ships used to take loads of convicts from England to colony at Sydney and Hobart they sail out into the Pacific whaling they had 12 years virtually to themselves. That subsidy to transporting convicts to Australia make the long distance whaling profitable. Until the war in 1812 when the American Captain Porter captured most British whale ships.

A new player emerged The east coast Whalers from Nantucket and New bedford and Boston moved in. As Whales became more scarce in the Atlantic shifted to the Pacific and a new era of exploration and discoveries in the pacific was made. Making the deadly voyage around the Cape Horn into the Pacific. These was incredible long voyages at first 2 years was the norm. But profits was huge. This really took of around the 1820 after the south America war of Independence.

But these whalers had no interest in trade on this island amigos. They only visited the islands for wood and water in general. The natives no addicted to such luxuries became frustrated in lack of trade from such sporadic visits. However venereal diseases and other diseases like small pox has decimated the population and had broken down almost all social structures on the island.

However chiefs began adopting white deserters from these visiting ships for metal working and carpentry skills and skills with fire arms. Some of these ex privateers found a home on the island as mercenaries fighting on behalf of a tribal chief in the inter island tribal wars. At the same time the islands started experiencing wave and waves of reckless dregs of humanity fleeing the civilized world to the islands. Some shipwrecked crew men, deserters for whalers, others escaped convicts others ex privateers turned pirates fleeing the the laws of the civilized world.

Collectively they was known as beach combers.

This added to the gene pool of the islanders amigos a mix of wrecked unsavory characters living with tribes on the island conducting inter tribal warfare. And even in disputes amongst themselves murder misery and death was common.

But as the whale ships made their brief visits, a trade able commodity was discovered at last that brought even more interactions with the outside world.

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

Hola Amigos I will continue but alas I am on island time amigos... I cannot type no further for now as I have doey eyes looking at me expectantly.

A beautiful day to take some of grandchildren for a canoes swim and fish in the sunken mangrove forest.

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

Holla amigos

Just to clarify more about these beachcombers they would shift for themselves or be owned by a local chieftain as status symbol or for war or by the skills they had. Their times on the islands varied not just not on my island both other islands all over the pacific rather a transient mob of people.

Most were never do wells that wore out their welcome on one island they would hitch a ride working for passage to the next island or desert after finding life at sea too tough and grueling. Some stayed for many years and others stayed until the next ship arrive. Some were murdered by the beachcombers themselves and some was murdered by natives. In some islands the natives got so sick of the lay abouts so they murdered all the white men on some island. Then many hung out in clusters for protection on some islands making pain in the ass of themselves.,

But some amigo made them after learning the local language very useful as go between men between the whites and the natives.

An era of industry came about from the Chinese high demand for sandalwood. So ships coming to Australia would drop off convicts get paid for that sail to the western pacific island trade with natives to collect sandalwood which was on sold in china paid for in gold or Spanish silver dollars in return. Some would do the circuit and sail back to England with trade goods via China and India. Other merchants found the industry so lucrative they would sail between the sandalwood islands and china and back again reaping huge profits. Completion grew and sandalwood became scarce as demand in china grew. This ships came into contact with more and more remote islands with natives already hostile to the ways of the white man.

Its was such vessels like sandalwood traders and later beach der mer traders whalers and copra traders that pushed into these remote central western islands of the Pacific. That later became a target of massacre of ships crews plundered and burnt. The natives on such islands worked with White men no better than pirates and wreckers themselves plundered numerous vessels.

While the pickings was no where near like the great Spanish treasure ships of old or East Indiamen of the indies. The ships captain was usually the owner who carried most of his profits from several voyages was not uncommon for them to have 15- 20000 dollars in silver of multi currency and some times gold and silver on board.

And so it was on my island amigo such desperadoes once lived and took over the old stone ruins and mares of the island and engaged with natives in the plunder of vessels between the years roughly 1825 and 1850. For at least 25 years they had virtual control over the island. How many vessels and crews they massacred well it hard to determine. But as some beachcombers came and went, its from some of their journals we have a better picture of what was going on.

Murder misery and death sang a gory tune back then amigos. And so even while most of this is largely forgotten by today's resident population, there are still traces in stories that survived in the retelling of that era. By the time the missionaries arrived in the 1860s and 1870's the beachcombers was long gone and a sick and sorry society that was under 300 hundred left.

Once such stone in ruins there was an old crypt which archeologist once speculated it was burial chamber of a chieftain, king or clan family there was 2 chambers in all. Local Stories claimed it was once used as a storage chamber of silver and gold? While the natives had no use for money silver and gold? They wanted iron tools, fish hooks, tobacco and rum. Some of the beachcombers having no way to spend their dubious treasure began to hoard. However amigos the lure of treasure amigo planted the seed of distrust among the beachcombers amigo.Infighting broke out into open hostility of greed and mistrust, resulting in many of white men murdering each other.

Today the site is virtually an overgrown pit.

Continued...

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

The following picture below is some of the walls redoubt was built upon the old ruins in the jungle.







Its was from these now ruins beachcombers built a fort to control the island. Some walls that remain are 3 to 4 metres high. Inside these walled enclosures had houses , temples and small coral pyramid like tombs. Here is an illustration of houses in the settlement in 1835



Another journal mentions skulls of those captured and eaten was placed on houses as trophies as well as spiritual protection. The captive was usually burnt alive in roasting pits after the hair and outer flesh burnt of the body would be hacked into pieces and divided among the villagers according to rank. Prime meat was the arms apparently.

Life amigos back then was brutal.

But here was the back ground behind a curious story of treasure? In fact there are two treasure stories published in the late 19th century relating to the piracy that went on here by natives and beach combing pirates.

But alas it is late....

I will continue the yarn amigos.

Kanacki

 

[BillA]

and the addicts cry out for another hit
very nice Kanacki

 

[Crow]

and the addicts cry out for another hit
very nice Kanacki

Don't worry Bill, Kanacki will deliver the candy when he awakes. He has never failed yet.

Crow

 

[KANACKI]

Hola amigos

Stormy weather is upon me today amigos. So I will continue dishing out the candy.

So many years ago when I first had young family we would visit ruins the kids run around the trails like their own private wonderland. There always mystery in the ruins. As stated earlier stories or incomplete parts of stories and legend. It was and still is hard to know what is true and what is legend?

Now my kids take there kids to the site and a whole new generation imagine and what happened there. The simple fact we will never know for sure as we only have fragmentary accounts of what happened there. And some of them are questionable. We know some visiting vessels was looted burned and plundered and crews murdered.

One account in a journal from the 1840's told of visit to the head chief and his Palace was covered with furnishings from vessels and numerous utensils and ship fittings that would of no way been traded. But how many of these vessels was plundered? Perhaps anything from one per year over 25 year period? Clearly every village on the island had some spoils from the looted ships.

Other accounts of visits made no mention of trouble at all. Although some crews was more cautious than others and if two vessels appeared at once the natives and beach combers would be cordial as they new they did not have the upper hand so they just engaged in trading for sandalwood.

Some times a crew not experienced in the ways of the islands would get lured to come ashore party with the islanders ply them with grog and women then when the crew drunk and relaxed they would pounce and murder the crew over whelmed by numbers of those on board. Usually hacking to death the remaining crew on board without mercy. The decks would be awash with blood. The victims either distributed as food among the natives or thrown to the sharks. Everything of value on the vessel would be stripped and the vessel set alight to sink off the coast. As if the ship never visited.

Its is hard to know for sure how many vessel as many vessel just sailed from port and was never heard of again? But many also fell victim of sea itself than being plundered by natives. These losses was considered lost due an act of god. And there was a few vessels that had a close call on the islands amigo. And reports did leak out that massacres was happening. Once such failed attempt the British admiralty sent a war ship for punitive expedition shelling the village but the villagers and beach comber would flee into the hills until the navy ship left.

In 1824 the British made proclamation about piracy in the Pacific but in truth it was very hard police these remote locations and to make matters worse some of the scruples of these traders themselves was a little more than pirates themselves. Many got as much as they deserved. On both sides of equation massacres and punitive reprisals was not uncommon. By the time these events had taken place a warship would take months to getting around to investigate.





But stories of massacres on both islanders sailors beachcomber and Traders was common as shifted from island to island for over a 50 year period.

Even so my island had a few events of these massacres the white beach combers would come and go casually engage in piracy when it suited them either getting killed or getting themselves murdered by other beachcombers over native women or native men killing them. It was proverbial game of thrones island style. There was no supreme native king or white desperado pirate that ruled any length of time. Because each in turn would get assassinated in the power play on control on the island. itself.

One thing for sure amigos money gold and silver had very little value on the island. Gun powder, guns, rum, weapons and tobacco was the currency of choice. However such monies silver and gold was hoarded knowing if the opportunity arose to remove one selves back to civilized society. But the harsh reality very few of these beach comber ever got the chance to return to normal society.

Thus amigo two strange some times conflicting and confirming stories came out in the later half of the 19th century.

Thus shall be continued amigos candy needs to be tasted and savored not swallowed.

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

Around the end of 19th there was a series of articles written by an alleged ancient mariner. Such was writing of this ancient mariner it was hard to know if it was reminiscences of his life in the south seas or just the ramblings of a Penny Dreadful author?

One of his accounts tells the story of his time on My island amigo perhaps 1860's nearly 20 years after the piratical events of the past. He had found under stone coral slab marked with a letter a small chest. On it was instructions to find treasure was was removed to another island by a group of disaffected beachcomber pirates. While its all too easy to put the whole melodramatic story as just a Penny dreadful novel.

Some things matched another story by a Prussian officer who in around 1850's, was engaged in fighting in Peru And Ecuador as a solider of fortune. The course of battle saved an opposing solider who was an islander from my island. Over time they became friends. This islander told the story to Prussian officer on how he came a soldier in Peru?

He told the story that on my island was once raided by Peruvian slavers who captured him as his young family fled into the jungle hills. He was taken to Peru as slave to work cutting the sugar cane. When the war broke out in dispute between Peru and Ecuador he was drafted into the ranks of the Peruvian Army. The Prussian officer fighting for the Ecuadorians captured him and made him prisoner saved him from execution and made him his aide de camp.

Over time their friendship grew and the native now more understanding of the white mans world told him the story of piracy and crisis after crisis that went on the island.

The strange thing is the story is almost identical to story told by the alleged document found by the ancient mariner?

It tells of a ruined stone city inhabited by natives and pirates working together plundering vessels. And directions to another island exactly the same. But most of all in the second version the native claimed he was one of the natives. That helped the white men as a very young man move this plunder from my island to this other mysterious island. However such was mistrust between the White men over the plunder they progressively murdered each other.

However afterwards the native became a victim of Peruvian Slavers. And now years later told the story to his friend the Prussian officer. So convinced the retired officer make a deal to recover the treasure by going back to my island and sailing to this mysterious island.

Alas amigos the sugar fix will to be continued....

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

Well Amigos the story goes this Prussian Officer and his Islander friend tramped across the pacific working on schooners until they got back to his island. He the islander discovered in all the years of his absence his wife had died but his two Sons were now grown up men finally reunited with his father. The Prussian officer told how touching it was to see them reunited. But even so the islander was determined to search for this island and the opportunity to better themselves and newly reunited family.

The Prussian officer told it was some time before they was able get two brothers who owned a inter island copra schooner to search for this island. They followed the directions and actually found the island in question with all the landmarks 3 islets a small cove with a waterfall falling over a cliff into the sea.

However as the shore party landed they discovered a village and inhabitants had been butchered by a wandering tribe of cannibals raiding the island. They was attacked by masses of natives intent on butchering them and they barely escaped with their life's. Unfortunately the only fatality was the Prussians Native friend who was speared and hacked to death as they escaped. He had heroically fought off natives as they launched the longboat into the surf.

And that is where the old Prussians officers story ends. He could not give the name of the island in his account as he never knew it and he was never a sailor. All he knew was directions and amount of days sail from my island in certain direction will take you to this mysterious island. The others did not have enough information to complete the search and at the time was as it showed too dangerous to land on that island.

Such a disappointing ending to such a tale is it not?

But fear not Kanacki found out more.

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

Some time around the 1870's missionaries began to take hold on the island the population was down to about two hundred souls. They erased the memories of the old days and ways in their evangelism. So not all the memory for past is only in vague rumors lost in the mists of time.

I have in my travels and time on the island slow learned some of the native tongue and my 30 years on the island as a resident and my kids have grown up there with family and business connections I am considered a local. Always took the time to chats with the locals and trust me amigos. Not matter the language they speak they like to gossip on such a smalls island everyone knows each other business. Having had 8 kids grow up there and shared many things the locals even with the local chiefs today always ask my opinion and consul.

Over the years I took the time to learn all the stories.

One such stories was from a family way back in their family one of their ancestors went with his brother in search of treasure. The details over a 170 years had been lost. But interesting note one strange details was that treasure was hidden in cave near a waterfall. They knew nothing else.....

There is no way they could of ever known this Old Prussians story that was printed in the 1890's ?

So amigos as Hardluck had drilled with the old saying go where the facts take us. But sadly there are too many assumptions at present. But it did not stop us digging in old records journal newspaper extra to see if we find out more or at least try to confirm some of the claims from the two stories.

Kanacki

 

[KANACKI]

Well its late amigo so I bid you good night in islander tongue

"fo fong"

Kanacki

 

[tintin_treasure]

that is quite a yarn Kanacki...thanks...it reminded of the "Danger Island" TV series of a treasure hunt that I loved to watch as a kid..

TT

 

[BillA]

Hola Kanacki, a waterfall into the ocean is distinctive
probably many islands

wonderful tale, do continue

 

[Crow]

Gidday TT I remember that show as kid. Yes the story does have all the elements of a show. Or the numerous adventure books like coral island or even treasure island.

Yet as Kanacki stated we was never 100 percent convinced simply because we never had enough evidence. However we did find out some things. The Prussian officer. There was Germans that emigrated to Ecuador in the early 1850s that were left destitute and was caught up in an Peruvian backed insurrection. There was active Peruvian slavers operating at the time across the Pacific raiding many islands for slaves to work in the sugar cane industry and digging for guano. As for the native their was no records on the Island so we could never establish for sure the existence of such a person. Except a claim of the existence of the sons of this person.

As for the other account we could never fully identify the identity of this alleged ancient mariner? So in that respect it was never a strong case only circumstantial one at best.

Yet out of interest Kanacki and I followed the direction and we did find an island with all the clues as described by both accounts.

Crow