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islomaniac
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The Treasure of the Port au Prince, Ha'apai Tonga 1806
Hello, I am seeking information about the treasure of the Port au Prince, Ha'pai Islands, Kingdom of Tonga South Pacific, you can see a good video below...
A hunt for Tongan treasure
TV New Zealand, Aug 21, 2005
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/605799
Video (14:30 minutes): http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/video_popup_windows_skin/605798?bandwidth=128k
In addition to what is in the story I have a New York Times report of August 3, 1969, Sunday, Page 28, in which 3 men from New Zealand led my a Mr. Colin Prast stated they had found the gold and salvaged a large box, but two more remained. I am in contact with Mr. Prast but he is proving hard to get information from.
The story goes that the Port-au-Prince which was a privateer had captured the Santa Anna, a Spanish ship treasure ship of 220 tons, which they then brought to Sydney in 1806 before sailing of to trade for Sandlewood in Fiji and Tonga.
The Santa Anna was used in the sealing and whaling industry before being lost in the Straits of Timor, 1812. There was some speculation that the legendary Mahogany Ship, lost in the sand near Warrnambool, Victoria, was the Santa Anna.
William Mariner was a teenaged ship's clerk aboard the British privateer Port Au Prince. The ship anchored off the Tongan island of Lifuka, in the Ha'apai island group, and was seized by the Ha'apai chief and future king of Tonga Fīnau Ulukālala on 1 December 1806. Most of the crew were killed in the takeover of the ship, but Mariner and several colleagues were spared by Fīnau. Their graves are in the village of Koulo (gold?) near the airport.
Mariner was a clerk on the privateer Port au Prince, which was captured and destroyed by the forces of the Chief Finau ’Ulukalala at Koulo in the Ha’apai region in 1806. Mariner, one of several members of the crew to survive the burning of the Port au Prince, was eventually adopted by ’Ulukalala, and lived some four years in Tonga. The account of his stay was elicited and compiled by the physician John Martin, and stands as the primary Western authored source of information on early historical Tonga. George Vason (1840) provides an account of his experiences from 1796 to 1801. A member of the first missionary landing in Tonga, he later abandoned the mission and integrated into Tongan life. His narrative is a valuable but less structured and detailed source than Mariner’s.
Fīnau assumed responsibility for Mariner, taking him into his tribe. Mariner lived in Tonga for four years, predominantly in the northern island group of Vava’u. He was eventually rescued, returned to England and wrote an account of his experiences which is a classic of the South Pacific, and still in print to this day.
Click this link for an excerpt of his experiences: www.janesoceania.com/tonga_recollections
On his return to England he wrote a full account of his time in the Tonga Islands as well as a description of Tongan life and a Tongan dictionary and thesaurus.
Where is the wreck?
Muikuku Point. This sandy point projects west from Lifuka Island a mile or so north of Pangai. A large reef continues seaward from the beach making for that first tricky navigation we’d encountered upon our arrival here three weeks before. Captain Cook anchored here on his three visits to the Ha’apai, and this was also the anchorage at which the privateer Port au Prince was attacked and burned in 1806.
It also is reported to have anchored for the last time half a mile off the beach at Faka'amumei on Ha'apai.
Ulukalala's people had to destroy the ship, so it would not be noticed by passing whalers and sandlewooders. They supposedly sunk the rest of the ship somewhere off the coast of Ha'ano island.
Faka'amumei Anchorage
www.glosk.com/TN/Fakaamumei_Anchorage/-3857010/index_en.htm
Lat: -19.7666667
Long: -174.3666667
19 46 02.05 S, 174 22 01.53 W
Google Earth: www.placemarks.de/kmz/2665979/fakaamumei-anchorage.kmz
References:
Kenneth W. Byron
Treasure Ships and Tropic Isles
ISBN/ISSN: 0909223181
Tonga Islands: William Mariner's account: an account of the natives of the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, with an original grammar and vocabulary of their language.
Vava'u Press; 4th ed., 1981
ASIN B0006EB4WI
Hello, I am seeking information about the treasure of the Port au Prince, Ha'pai Islands, Kingdom of Tonga South Pacific, you can see a good video below...
A hunt for Tongan treasure
TV New Zealand, Aug 21, 2005
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/605799
Video (14:30 minutes): http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/video_popup_windows_skin/605798?bandwidth=128k
In addition to what is in the story I have a New York Times report of August 3, 1969, Sunday, Page 28, in which 3 men from New Zealand led my a Mr. Colin Prast stated they had found the gold and salvaged a large box, but two more remained. I am in contact with Mr. Prast but he is proving hard to get information from.
The story goes that the Port-au-Prince which was a privateer had captured the Santa Anna, a Spanish ship treasure ship of 220 tons, which they then brought to Sydney in 1806 before sailing of to trade for Sandlewood in Fiji and Tonga.
The Santa Anna was used in the sealing and whaling industry before being lost in the Straits of Timor, 1812. There was some speculation that the legendary Mahogany Ship, lost in the sand near Warrnambool, Victoria, was the Santa Anna.
William Mariner was a teenaged ship's clerk aboard the British privateer Port Au Prince. The ship anchored off the Tongan island of Lifuka, in the Ha'apai island group, and was seized by the Ha'apai chief and future king of Tonga Fīnau Ulukālala on 1 December 1806. Most of the crew were killed in the takeover of the ship, but Mariner and several colleagues were spared by Fīnau. Their graves are in the village of Koulo (gold?) near the airport.
Mariner was a clerk on the privateer Port au Prince, which was captured and destroyed by the forces of the Chief Finau ’Ulukalala at Koulo in the Ha’apai region in 1806. Mariner, one of several members of the crew to survive the burning of the Port au Prince, was eventually adopted by ’Ulukalala, and lived some four years in Tonga. The account of his stay was elicited and compiled by the physician John Martin, and stands as the primary Western authored source of information on early historical Tonga. George Vason (1840) provides an account of his experiences from 1796 to 1801. A member of the first missionary landing in Tonga, he later abandoned the mission and integrated into Tongan life. His narrative is a valuable but less structured and detailed source than Mariner’s.
Fīnau assumed responsibility for Mariner, taking him into his tribe. Mariner lived in Tonga for four years, predominantly in the northern island group of Vava’u. He was eventually rescued, returned to England and wrote an account of his experiences which is a classic of the South Pacific, and still in print to this day.
Click this link for an excerpt of his experiences: www.janesoceania.com/tonga_recollections
On his return to England he wrote a full account of his time in the Tonga Islands as well as a description of Tongan life and a Tongan dictionary and thesaurus.
Where is the wreck?
Muikuku Point. This sandy point projects west from Lifuka Island a mile or so north of Pangai. A large reef continues seaward from the beach making for that first tricky navigation we’d encountered upon our arrival here three weeks before. Captain Cook anchored here on his three visits to the Ha’apai, and this was also the anchorage at which the privateer Port au Prince was attacked and burned in 1806.
It also is reported to have anchored for the last time half a mile off the beach at Faka'amumei on Ha'apai.
Ulukalala's people had to destroy the ship, so it would not be noticed by passing whalers and sandlewooders. They supposedly sunk the rest of the ship somewhere off the coast of Ha'ano island.
Faka'amumei Anchorage
www.glosk.com/TN/Fakaamumei_Anchorage/-3857010/index_en.htm
Lat: -19.7666667
Long: -174.3666667
19 46 02.05 S, 174 22 01.53 W
Google Earth: www.placemarks.de/kmz/2665979/fakaamumei-anchorage.kmz
References:
Kenneth W. Byron
Treasure Ships and Tropic Isles
ISBN/ISSN: 0909223181
Tonga Islands: William Mariner's account: an account of the natives of the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, with an original grammar and vocabulary of their language.
Vava'u Press; 4th ed., 1981
ASIN B0006EB4WI
