Out in the Atlantic, was the Buenos Airean corsair Heroina which,
on July 27th, 1820, chased down a Portuguese merchantman, Carlota. An act of piracy outside the scope of the licence
Jewett carried. With a prize crew on board Carlota, both ships turned for the Cape Verde islands. From there towards Brazil, off whose coast Jewett discovered a conspiracy to
mutiny. The grievances are not known, but the Colonel was vicious in putting the insurrection down. Four or six men shot.
Accounts vary, but in doing so he created genuine
grievances. Particularly among the officers. Seven months and one prize was not a great return. So, Jewett headed both ships towards the Falklands.
Off the archipelago, on October 23rd, 1820, they ran into a storm. Only Heroina emerged; sailing into Berkeley
Sound on the 27th.
here is a late map dated 1829 with key locations of where these events took place below.
View attachment 2185950
It was were he discovered the wreck of the Uranie. With
little to show for his voyage, Jewett was not slow to recognise an opportunity for profit. the Colonel raised the colours of Buenos Aires, read a declaration and fired 21 guns in salute. Immediately followed by the Colonel laying an 'official' claim to the French wreck.
After seven months lying on a beach unattended, it is
surprising that there was anything left worth salvaging.
Another act of piracy took place in December 1820, when Jewett seized a US ship,
Rampart. Bound for Europe with a Spanish cargo. Quite sufficient, in the Colonel's view, to
qualify the vessel for confiscation.
As we can see David Jewett had capture a Portuguese ship and American Ship other than Spanish ships that he was licensed for. With possibility of a looted french shipwreck.
Was this alleged treasure an accumulation of loot from these ships? That John Johnson could have of alluded to.
But we have to remember he would of been nine years old when these events happened? Was he cabin boy on one of these ships or privateer the Heroina?
The archives in Argentina will answer that question because there could be surviving names of the crew list of Heroina?
And the question remained what happened David Jewett?
Sources:
1: Account of Louis de Freycinet quoted in The Uranie site(s): Report of an inspection and the context of
the survivor's camp, wreck and wreckage emanating from the loss of La Corvette du Roi L'Uranie at the
Falkland Islands in 1820 Dr. M. McCarthy 2002
2: na Tierra Argentinas: Las Islas Malvinas R. R. Cailet-Bois 1982 (6th ed.)
3: Protest of Schofield’s widow – December, 1832 in FO 6/499
4: Jewett to Supreme Director of the United Provinces of South America February 1st, 1821 AGN Sala X5 1-2
Crow