George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon-DIED DUE TO CURSE OFTutankhamun"Mummy's Curse

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The Earl of Carnarvon

Born 26 June 1866
Highclere Castle, Hampshire, England
Died 5 April 1923 (aged 56)
Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt
Nationality British
Fields Egyptology
Known for Tutankhamun's tomb
George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (26 June 1866 – 5 April 1923) was an English aristocrat best known as the financial backer of the search for and the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.



Lady and Lord Carnarvon at the races in June 1921
Born at the family home, Highclere Castle, in Hampshire on 26 June 1866, George Herbert was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge,[1] succeeding to the Carnarvon title in 1890. On 26 June 1895, at St. Margaret's Church, Carnarvon married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell, daughter of Marie Boyer, the wife of Captain Frederick Charles Wombwell, but her real father was believed to be Alfred de Rothschild, the unmarried member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England who made Lady Carnarvon his heiress.

Exceedingly wealthy, Lord Carnarvon was at first best known as an owner of racehorses and as a reckless driver of early automobiles, suffering - in 1901 - a serious motoring accident near Bad Schwalbach in Germany which left him significantly disabled.
In 1902, the 5th Earl established Highclere Stud to breed thoroughbred racehorses. In 1905, he was appointed one of the Stewards at the new Newbury Racecourse. His family has maintained the connection ever since. His grandson, Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon, was racing manager to Queen Elizabeth II from 1969, and one of Her Majesty's closest friends.


The 5th Earl was an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, undertaking in 1907 to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahari (Thebes). Howard Carter joined him as his assistant in the excavations. It is now established that it was Gaston Maspero, then Director of the Antiquities Department, who proposed Carter to Lord Carnarvon.
Lord Carnarvon received in 1914 the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, in replacement of Theodore Davis who had resigned. It was in 1922 that they together opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, exposing treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology.


On 5 April 1923, Carnarvon died in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo, in the Kingdom of Egypt.This led to the story of the "Curse of Tutankhamun", the "Mummy's Curse". His death is most probably explained by blood poisoning (progressing to pneumonia) after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with erysipelas. His colleague and employee, Howard Carter, the man most responsible for revealing the tomb of the young king, lived safely for another sixteen years.


Tut's MaskWhen Lord Carnarvon died on 5 April 1923, seven weeks after the official opening of pharaoh Tutankhamun's burial chamber, rumours were rife about a curse.  News of Tutankhamun's tomb and its discoverers had sent the world's media into a frenzy and the death of Lord Carnarvon added another twist for eager journalists.
All sorts of links were found
However, no inscribed curse was found.
Reporting of the curse was further fuelled by more deaths, many with very stretched associations to Tutankhamun. Five months after Carnarvon died, his younger brother died suddenly.
Lord Carnarvon:
Howard Carter:
Lady Evelyn Herbert:
Harry Burton:

Montezuma's curse:-

Montezuma II (also spelled Moctezuma II) was Emperor of Mexico from 1502 to 1520 and was in power when the Spanish began their conquest of the Aztec Empire.


Map showing the expansion of the Aztec empire through conquest. The conquests of Moctezuma II are marked by the colour green (based on the maps by Ross Hassig in Aztec Warfare)


Moctezuma II
Motecuhzoma Xocoyotl
Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan
Moctezuma Mendoza.jpg
Moctezuma II in the Codex Mendoza
Bornabout 1466
DiedJune 29, 1520 (aged around 54)
Place of deathTenochtitlan
Another daughter

Spanish colonization of the Americas
History of conquest

Inter caetera
Pacific Northwest
Aztec Empire
Inca Empire
Diego de Almagro
Pedro de Alvarado
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Sebastián de Belalcázar
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Hernán Cortés
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Juan Ponce de León
Francisco de Montejo
Pánfilo de Narváez
Juan de Oñate
Francisco de Orellana
Francisco Pizarro
Hernando de Soto
Pedro de Valdivia

Bernardino de Sahagún (1499–1590) mentions eight events, occurring prior to the arrival of the Spanish, which were interpreted as signs of a possible disaster, e.g. a comet, the burning of a temple, a crying ghostly woman, and others. Some speculate that the Aztecs were particularly susceptible to such ideas of doom and disaster because the particular year in which the Spanish arrived coincided with a "tying of years" ceremony at the end of a 52-year cycle in the Aztec calendar, which in Aztec belief was linked to changes, rebirth and dangerous events

First interactions with the Spanish

In 1517, Moctezuma received the first reports of Europeans landing on the east coast of his empire; this was the expedition of Juan de Grijalvawho had landed on San Juan de Ulúa, which although within Totonacterritory was under the auspices of the Aztec Empire. Moctezuma ordered that he be kept informed of any new sightings of foreigners at the coast and posted extra watch guards to accomplish this.
When Cortés arrived in 1519, Moctezuma was immediately informed and he sent emissaries to meet the newcomers, one of them known to be an Aztec noble named Tentlil in the Nahuatl language but referred to in the writings of Cortés and Bernal Díaz del Castillo as "Tendile". As the Spaniards approached Tenochtitlan they made an alliance with theTlaxcalteca, who were enemies of the Aztec Triple Alliance, and they helped instigate revolt in many towns under Aztec dominion. Moctezuma was aware of this and he sent gifts to the Spaniards, probably in order to show his superiority to the Spaniards and Tlaxcalteca.


 Host and prisoner of the Spaniards

At some time during that period Moctezuma became a prisoner in his own house. Exactly why this happened is not clear from the extant sources. The Aztec nobility reportedly became increasingly displeased with the large Spanish army staying in Tenochtitlan, and Moctezuma told Cortés that it would be best if they left. Shortly thereafter Cortés left to fight Pánfilo de Narváez and during his absence the massacre in the main temple turned the tense situation between the Spaniards and Aztecs into direct hostilities, and Moctezuma became a hostage used by the Spaniards to assure their security.


Moctezuma captured and imprisoned by Cortés
In the subsequent battles with the Spaniards after Cortés' return, Moctezuma was killed. The details of his death are unknown: different versions of his demise are given by different sources.
modern scholars  surmise that the Spanish killed Moctezuma once his inability to pacify the Aztec people had made him useless
 By the following year, the Aztec empire had entirely succumbed to the Spanis
spanish galleon carrying looted gold from south america to spain

 Cortés seems to ascribe to Moctezuma's retelling of the legend of Quetzalcoatl as a vengeful Messiah who would return to rule over the Mexico

post script:-

Though spanish and portuquese plundered the whole world in 1600's ;now see their plight .
Spain ,Portugal and Greece are suffering from financial turmoil and has to be supported with euro money by European union countries The curse of moctezuma

              The Lost Treasure of Ecuador
The province of Quito has a "river of emeralds" from quarries on whose banks the Incas acquired some of their gems but, generally speaking, the mines from which the ancient Peruvians wrested their most beautiful precious stones are unknown today The Incas had a source of emeralds in the Province of Esmeraldas north of Quito and many of today's emeralds are said to have come from this area.. Fabulous Inca treasures in the form of golden plates, cups, bowls and idols, chalices inlaid with precious emeralds, slabs of pure gold and leather casks filled with jewels lie cached in a gorge nearly a half-mile deep on the southern side of El Sangay, an active volcano on the outskirts of Quito at an altitude of 6,000 feet. The fabulous Inca hoard was then covered over with tons of volcanic rock and ashes, protected by their powerful and sacred "fire god" to be uncovered when the Spaniards were driven off their lands. The Inca ruler of the area of present-day Quito, hearing of the Spaniards stripping the treasures from the sacred temples, had all the treasures brought quickly to the shores of Lake Yaquarcocha.

According to a number of Indians who broke under torture at the hands of the Conquistadors, enough gold and silver to fill a building 60 feet by 65 feet by 12 feet high was flung into the middle of this lake. None of this treasure has ever been recovered. The citizens of Ecuador as well as the European residents of the official classes in Quito (around 1936) firmly believed that the great treasures belonging to the Inca Emperor Huayca Copac was sunk in a lake on the slopes of Pichincha, a great volcano which looms high over Quito.. Three days travel east of Oyacachi are ancient Indian burial mounds or tolas, and nearby a river that is rich in gold. Six hours of laborious panning here produced 2 ounces of gold to an adventurous prospector in 1964. The location is east of Quito to Cayambe,
then farther east to the site. One of the lost emerald mines of the Incas was discovered then lost by Stewart Connelly several years ago. He mysteriously disappeared in 1924 taking the secret of the lost emerald mine with him.The supposed location is approximately 290 miles from Quito in the jungles of the Amazon and near what is now the Colombian-Ecuador border.Ancient Inca 

burial sites containing gold artifacts and pottery can be found in abundance in the area of the ancient village of Coaque on the north side of the Coaque River. In 1930 reports filtered out that an old Inca treasure cache had been tracked down to the Indian village of Nisac, near Alausi, on the slopes of the Andes Cordillera. The cache was supposedly the hiding place of the treasure of the last Inca Atahualpa. The cable added that a tribe of 700 Indians guarded this cache and that in 1929 the treasure hunters had found an Inca idol and skeletons. The expedition set out from the town of Rio Bamba.There were no further reports. On the outskirts of the little mountain village of Pillaro about 50 miles from Quito via Ambato lies a great plain reaching as far as the eye can see to the foothills of the rain-swept Llanganatis Mountains in the far distance. This vast area has been for thousands of years the burial ground of both Inca and pre-lnca civilizations and contains untold thousands of graves only a fraction of which have been opened. Deep in the Llanganati Mountains in central Ecuador lies a fabulous hoard of Inca 
treasure hidden by the Indians to keep it from the plundering Spaniards. The huge cache is believed secreted somewhere in the immediate vicinity of Cerro Hermosa. Somewhere on the wooded slopes of a volcanic crater close by an old Inca road in the Andes is a huge pre-Inca hoard of gold and silver images and ceremonial objects. The location of this ancient cache was known to a certain Juan Valverde a Spaniard who had married an Inca Indian's daughter from whom he had learned the secret. For many years Valverde disappeared for rather lengthy periods and after each return displayed ever-increasing signs of wealth. Juan Valverde eventually returned to Spain where he died during the 16th century. As a legacy to the King of Spain, he left a "derrotero", or treasure map showing the route to this great treasure but neither the two agents whom the king sent nor anyone since has ever been able to find the hoard
Inca emperors
Inca emperors were treated as earthly gods.
Throughout the past centuries, rivers have changed their course and earthquakes have drastically altered the terrain making Valverde's treasure map almost useless. Still, somewhere in this vast mountain range, the Inca treasure hoard remains hidden and invites seekers of fortune to accept the mighty challenge it offers.. Raw gold can be found in the Llanganati region in great quantities. Floods bring down masses of cliffs, and when the river subsides in a few hours in the Canelos region, one may find much gold deposited in the bed of the streams.In the land of the headhunters, the Jivaro tribe, in the virtually unknown region between the Napo and Pastaza Rivers, much virgin gold and many diamonds can be found. There is an immense amount of gold lying lost in the jungles and plains of Eastern Ecuador. When word that their emporer, Atahualpa, was murdered - by the Spaniards in 1534 - reached the 200 men carrying an enormous gold chain weighing over two tons, this and other priceless Inca treasure was carried along secret jungle trails, eventually being deposited in a deep gorge on the slopes of the volcano Sangay..

The Tayos Caves, a vast chain of caverns in southern Ecuador in Morona-Santiago Province, extend several miles into the earth. Legends say the caves form part of a vast underground network of fissures that might run as far south as Peru and are stacked with gold, silver and other hidden treasures..In the region of Loja lies an ancient abandoned Inca mine lost, perhaps, for centuries.
A Quito geologist discovered the site only to die of a heart attack shortly afterward. Upon his examination of the old shaft, he told that his black light revealed an enormous deposit of tungsten as well as smaller quantities of gold, silver and copper in the mine. Since his death, searchers have failed to rediscover the lost lode. While circumnavigating the earth on a voyage of exploration, Sir Francis Drake, the Great British navigator who sometimes turned pirate, found time to amass more treasure than his ship, the Golden Hinde could safely transport. In 1573, after looting several Spanish towns on the western coast of South America, and securing the gold and silver cargoes of a large number of Spanish galleons, he put in at Plate Island (then Cano Island) in the Pacific Ocean on the north side of the island near a small spring of fresh water to careen, clean and overhaul his battle-scarred vessel before returning to England.When the work was complete it was obvious that the ship with its great cargo of looted gold and silver, was extremely overloaded and could never make the long voyage. So, to ensure a safe return to England, he ordered that the heavier cargo of the Golden Hinde be removed to lighten the load. In almost a festive atmosphere, the crew threw 45 tons of silver overboard in the shallow water near the shore of the island. The buccaneer Davis came to the island at a later date to put on a fresh supply of water, and his crew fished up 1500 pieces-of-eight using tallowed leads. Several years ago, in the 1930s, a man dredged up 18 tons of the silver which Drake had thrown overboard. The balance, 30 tons, remains on the bottom in 45 feet of water. A fabulous treasure is hidden on the island of La Plata off Ecuador's coast. It is connected with Alexander Selkirk, the freebooter who inspired Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe. Treasure consisting of gold, silver, diamonds and pearls, looted from a Spanish galleon and valued at several million dollars, was stacked in a cliff-cave near a creek and then covered over by large stones to conceal the entrance by the pirate Thomas Stradling around 1710. The location is on the Island de la Plata off the coasts of Peru and a little below Ecuador. The Capitana was a registry ship that was carrying the 1654 accumulation of South American treasure northward.She had taken on barrels and cases of registry gold and silver at 
Concepcion, Valparaiso, Arica, Callao and Guayaquil, and was on the last leg of her voyage to deliver this immense treasure to Panama when her hull was ripped open on the sharp edges of the Chanduy Reef, off Punta Santa Elena. The huge ship sank within minutes with nearly everyone aboard killed. The vessel carried an authenticated cargo of gold and silver worth between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000 and lies near the base of the reef.. The frigate Santa Leocadia sailed from Paita, Peru for Panama on November 7, 1800 carrying 2,100,000 pesos in registry gold and silver securely packed in chests. On November 16, she smashed onto a shoal 100 yards from the beach at Punta Santa Elena and slowly broke to pieces from the waves. Early-day salvagers recovered ninety percent of the treasure aboard and several cannon, but left behind six bronze cannon and more than 200,000 pesos in gold and silver - worth at least $250,000 today - under the south face of a reef 100 yards off the beach at Punta Santa Elena in 15 feet of water. An unidentified Spanish treasure galleon sank in 1648 miles off Santa Elena with a huge store of gold and silver bullion worth $13,000,000. On December 16, 1680, the Spanish galleon Santa Cruz sank off the rocks known as Los Ahorcados, Punta Santa Elena carrying $13,000,000 in treasure including silver plate and $30,000,000 in pieces-of-eight.. The San Jose sank in 1763 two miles offshore from the western point of Punta Santa Elena with $1,800,000 in gold and silver..To aid King Charles I of England in his struggle with Parliament during the time of the Cromwell Wars and perhaps thereby stop the growth of the Commonwealth and the spread of Protestantism over Europe, the Spanish government ordered the Viceroy of Peru to collect some $13,000,000 in gold and silver and send it to Charles. This treasure was loaded aboard a great galleon and sent on its way in 1648. But the ship sailed no farther than Punta Santa Elena, a short distance from the Guayaquil harbor, where it struck the dangerous Los Ahorcados reefs and promptly sank carrying its great cargo of gold and silver to the bottom. In the 1700's an attempt was made to recover the millions but after a few thousand dollars had been taken up, the native divers refused to go on with the work because of the large number of sharks. No recent attempts have been made to salvage this vast underwater treasure.Gold and silver coins from offshore wrecks are washed ashore on the beaches near Santa Elena after severe storms. An early chronicler describing the riches of the Incas said that there was a wonderful royal flower garden on an island near Puna to which the Incas retired when they wished to be near the sea. Its bushes, trees, plants and flowers were all made of pure gold and silver "of a magnificence never before conceived." After the fall of the Inca Empire this treasure storehouse suddenly disappeared. Similar gardens existed in other royal palaces but the Spaniard were privileged to see only this one.. $30,000,000 in treasure went down with a Spanish galleon in a storm in Manta Bay.The Spanish archives in Lima made this mention, "About three leagues from Solong are two rocks called Los Ahorcados appearing high and black beside these, north-northeast from Punta Santa Elena is a high rock of which to windward runs shoals for 1/2 mile underwater. It is about eight leagues from Punta Santa Elena and at this place and this rock this ship was lost. This rock is about two leagues from the mainland.. In 1684, an unidentified Spanish galleon sank off Punta Santa Elena carrying to the bottom $500,000 in treasure.The San Juan de Salvamento sank in 1655 about 1/2 mile off Sean Island in Mandregan Bay carrying $1,000,000 in gold and silver bullion. In 1932, in certain Inca tombs on the Alamos Ranche of Lorenzo Tous, about 140 gold nuggets as large as lemons were found, as well as a hoard of gold armour and jewels. Raw gold in unbelievable deposits lie in the many rivers that flow into the Amazon in the deep rain forest east of the Andes Mountains. The land is carefully guarded by the unpredictable and savage Auca Indians who kill intruders that enter their domain. The flakes and nuggets are said to line the river banks in enormous quantities.Valverde's Derrotero and Guzmans map are the keys to unlocking the location of Atahualpa Gold.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



The most adventurous treasure in the world must lie on Cocos Island. There are many versions of this treasure cache, and about as many suppositions as to where it is buried on the island. All of the details gleaned from a number of documents and sources are listed in the following account:
In 1820 when the revolt of Peru against Spain seemed imminent, the Governor and clergy in Lima entrusted their treasures to a Captain Thompson of the British brig, Mary Dear, for shipment to Mexico. The Loot of Lima consisted of a fabulous treasure from the cathedral and as worth some $60,000,000. Among the items were two life-sized statues of the Blessed Virgin holding the Divine Child, each cast in pure gold; 273 jeweled swords and candlesticks, and an enormous hoard too extensive to contemplate.
The lure of this immense treasure, however, proved too great for him; Thompson had his passengers killed, sailed to Cocos Island, some 400 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, and there buried the loot in a cave. Later, he joined forces with the pirate, Benito Bonito, and eventually was the only one on his ship to escape capture when it was attacked by a British warship. In 1844 he met and imparted his secret to a stranger named Keating, with whom he arranged an expedition to the island, but Thompson died before the departure, and Keating set sail with a Captain Bogue, master of the vessel. Keating and Bogue landed at Cocos Island and found the treasure, but their crew mutinied and the two men capsized while endeavoring to depart with as much of the treasure as they could carry. Bogue was drowned, Keating picked up by a passing vessel and taken to Newfoundland, where he later died.
One version of the waybill left by Captain Thompson to the Loot of Lima is given here. The 'bay' mentioned, located on the northeast, MAY be Chatham Bay: "Once there follow the coast line of the bay till you find a creek, where, at high water mark, you go up the bed of a stream which flows inland. Now you step out 70 paces, west by south, and against the skyline you will see a gap in the hills. From any other point, the gap is invisible. Turn north, and walk to a stream. You will now see a rock with a smooth face, rising sheer like a cliff. At the height of a man's shoulder, above the ground, you will see a hole large enough for you to insert your thumb. Thrust in an iron bar, twist it round in the cavity, and behind you will find a door which opens on the treasure."
This cache, as given by Captain Thompson on his death bed, according to a second version is: "Disembark in the Bay of Hope between two islets, in water 5 fathoms deep. Walk 350 paces along the course of the stream then turn north-northeast for 850 yards, stake, setting sun stake draws the silhouette of an eagle with wings spread. At the extremity of sun and shadow, cave marked with a cross. There lies the treasure."
Keating is said to have bequeathed his secret to a quartermaster, Nicholas Fitzgerald by name, who was so poor that he was never able to organize an expedition to Cocos. Fitzgerald's letter, reiterating the notes left by Keating, is preserved at the Nautical and Travelers' Club in Sydney, registered under No. 18, 755. In it, the following in instructions are given: "At two cable's lengths, south of the last watering-place, on three points. The cave is the one which is to be found under the second point. Christie, Ned and Anton have tried but none of the three has returned. Ned on his fourth dive found the entrance at 12 fathoms but did not emerge from his fifth dive. There are no octopuses but there are sharks. A path must be opened up to the cave from the west. I believe there has been a fall of rock at the entrance..
Another original document, found in the museum of Caracas, is the inventory left by Fitzgerald at Coiba: "We have buried at a depth of four feet in the red earth: 1 chest; altar trimmings of cloth of gold, with baldachins, monstrances, chalices, comprising 1,244 stones. 1 chest; 2 gold reliquaries weighing 120 pounds, with 624 topazes, cornelians and emeralds, 12 diamonds. 1 chest; 3 reliquaries of cast metal weighing 160 pounds, with 860 rubies and various stones, 19 diamonds. 1 chest; 4,000 doubloons of Spain marked 8. 5,000 crowns of Mexico. 124 swords, 64 dirks, 120 shoulder belts. 28 rondaches. 1 chest; 8 caskets of cedar-wood and silver, with 3,840 cut stones, rings, patents and 4,265 uncut stones. 28 feet to the northeast, at a depth of 8 feet in the yellow sand; 7 chests: with 22 candelabra in gold and silver weighing 250 pounds, and 164 rubies a foot. 12 armspans west, at a depth of 10 feet in the red earth; the seven-foot Virgin of gold, with the Child Jesus and her crown and pectoral of 780 pounds, rolled in her gold chasuble on which are 1,684 jewels. Three of these are 4-inch emeralds on the pectoral and 6 are 6-inch topazes on the crown. The seven crosses are of diamonds
124 swords, 64 dirks, 120 shoulder belts. 28 rondaches. 1 chest; 8 caskets of cedar-wood and silver, with 3,840 cut stones, RINGS, patents and 4,265 uncut ...
.The hiding place has been calculated to be within 100 yards of 5 degrees, 30 minutes, 17 seconds latitude north and 87 degrees, 0 minutes, 40 seconds longitude west, south of the Bay of Hope, north-northeast of Meule Island, possibly in a cave that is accessible at low tide.
One version states that the Loot of Lima is buried in 4 different caches all within 100 yards of each other in an area an eighth of a mile inland near Chatham Bay.
According to Keating's wife, the Loot of Lima was cached in a bay with a little beach shaped like a crescent, with black roots on either side and hidden from the open sea.
A German hermit, Heinz Hemmeter, who lived on the island for many years believed the hoard of treasure was lying at the bottom of a waterfall in a pool about 100 feet in circumference.
The treasure of the great Lima cathedral has been estimated to be worth some $60,000,000. The value of the State Treasury, which was also part of the cargo of the Mary Dear, cannot safely be estimated. Numerous expeditions have attempted to recover this great hoard of plunder, but all have failed, possibly due to the fact that landslides have occurred since Keating and Bogue departed, and have buried the treasure under tons of earth and rocks. Benito Bonito, or Benito of the Bloody Sword, supposedly buried a sizable collection of plunder on the island. In 1819 he landed at Acapulco port and captured a rich mule train loaded with treasure being sent from Mexico City. Disguised as a muleteer, he headed the treasure convoy to the coast where he loaded it into his boat, the Relampago.
He then sailed to Cocos where the vast hoard was buried some estimates evaluate his hoard in excess of $25,000,000. 300,000 pounds weight of silver bars, plate and coin was cached in a sandstone cave in the side of the mountain. He then placed kegs of powder on top of the cave and blew away the face of the cliff. The silver is reported to be buried on the north side of Wafer Bay.
In another excavation he placed 733 gold bars, 4 by 3 inches in size and 2 inches thick, 273 gold-hilted swords inlaid with jewels, and numerous articles of jeweled church ornaments and vessels.
In a third location, he buried several iron kettles filled with gold coin, this on a bit of land in the little river. On Cocos Island are several caches of treasure credited to various buccaneers and pirates, among whom was a certain Captain Edward Davis. Davis, a successful pirate who operated his ship, the Bachelor's Delight, along the western coast of South America, made at least two trips to the island, in 1684 and 1702, laden with plunder which he buried. Edward Davis landed John Cook's ship, the Bachelor's Delight at Chatham Bay in the late 1600's and left behind several chests of pirate loot.
Many ingots and pieces-of-eight obtained from Spanish towns in Peru and Chile by the pirate Edward Davis was cached on Cocos Island.In one cache he buried over 300,000 pounds of silver bar and plate. In another he "'put away 733 bars of gold, 7 kegs of gold coin and a quantity of church jewels and ornaments.A cache of treasure hidden by the pirate Benito Bonito was stashed in the caves under a projecting tongue of land on the north side of Wafer Bay. . The officers and crew of Benito's pirate rig, the Relampago, hid their share of the loot in neighboring parts of the island.
In 1845, a British explorer found an iron-bound chest high in a cave overlooking Wafer Bay which, when opened, spilled out a golden hoard of Spanish coins. Captain John Cook landed a ship loaded with loot at the island. It is believed that some, or all of this treasure, was left there.Sir Frances Drake frequently landed on the island and rumors persist that he cached treasure on Cocos.In the official Costa Rican survey of Cocos island in 1895, it was reported that, "There are signs of mineral wealth, and gold has been found. In 1793, there was a mysterious cryptic carving found on the island on one of the big boulders in Chatham Bay that various seamen observed upon landing there. It read:
Look Y. as you goe for ye S. Coco" with four branched crosses. The carving had originally been badly executed and had letters much defaced. Also found was the mark of a sombrero on a stone called by generations of treasure hunters, "Bonito's Hat". This could be a pirate's guide to his buried treasure cache. Freebooters frequently put in at Cocos Island for fresh water and for a supply of coconuts. Several buccaneers stopped here to give their crews an occasional holiday, and some of them are said to have buried treasure here.It has been reported that in l931, a Belgian treasure hunter found a 2 foot gold Madonna which he sold in New York for $11,000.
In 1939, an unconfirmed report said that one bar of gold, which sold for $35,000, was found in a small mountain stream near a waterfall on Cocos Island. More than 100 pounds of gold lie in Chatham Bay, treasure dug up in 1844 and lost in the water by two of the finders of the hoard on the island. Of questionable sources came the report that in the 1880s, soldiers found 80,000 dollars worth of money of all nations in silver and 30.000 dollars worth of English and French gold coins, "in a small excavation made in the face of a cliff (in Wafer Bay) about 12 feet square. The coin rotted away owing to the percolation of water through the roof of the cave." Then, lying apart was a pile of 300 silver ingots, and on top rotten clothing, a binnacle compass and a small brass cannon with the muzzle blown off. On another day the soldiers were ordered to blast the tap-root of a cedar tree near the shores of Wafer Bay.
Dislodged in the concussion, a ledge of rock in a tendril-covered cave, which brought down a small, heavy chest containing a number of gold ornaments, obviously looted by Bonito the pirate from south American churches. The cache seemed to have been privately made by one of his officers, for in the box were letters of Evan Jones, one of his gang and best friend. The hoard was valued at $10,000. How far in this story fact is mingled with fiction is hard to say.Legends say that Captain Kidd used Cocos Island as a burial place for treasure.Gold-bearing quartz was found in test drillings on Cocos Island by two mining engineers in 1933. The island of Cocos is honeycombed with caves and was frequently infested with pirates and buccaneers for several centuries. Many of these caverns are still unexplored. A persistent legend associated with Cocos Island concerns an Inca treasure which is still guarded by descendants of Inca leaders on Mount Iglesias, the highest point on the island. Finding a vast network of caves here, the Incas retreated to this sanctuary and remained hidden whenever a vessel approaches Coco's. The inca treasure has never been found.



Many researchers and historians claim that Florida contains more buried and sunken treasures than any other state. They have also put a price tag on these treasures, which amounts to a cool $165 million (1964). Florida, like all other states, has a fascinating and romantic history. Seven different flags have flown over her, not to mention the black flag of the pirates. Florida became the haven of many notorious pirates, including Blackbeard, Lafitte, Gasparilla, Kidd, Rackham, Bowlegs, Bonnett, and possibly even Morgan himself. They roamed the waters of the Caribbean Sea, and captured every ship in sight. Often, they brought their loot back to Florida, and buried it on some lonely shore. When they finally died, the location of their hidden wealth died with them. The majority of all buried treasure in Florida is the work of pirates.
Numerous wars have been fought in Florida and upon the waters around her. Men hastily buried their wealth when being pursued by the enemy. Valuables were lost or misplaced when the fighting started and were never found again. Naval battles accounted for the sinking of many ships with valuable cargoes, their resting-place to be forgotten in time. Some very valuable treasures were lost during the many wars in Florida.
Florida has survived through hundreds of hurricanes in the past four centuries, but many ships around her have not. From the year 1500 to 1960, hurricanes have sunk their quota of treasure-laden ships. These wrecked ships represent all nations, but the majority of them are Spanish galleons. They carried gold and silver from the New World to the Old, only to have their contents deposited on some jagged reef off Florida. Many gold doubloons and pieces-of-eight are awaiting a lucky finder on the Florida reefs.
Actually, there are two types of treasure hunting; buried treasure merely requires a shovel, but it is advisable to use a metal detector if success is to be achieved. Hunting sunken treasure becomes more expensive and complicated. Diving gear is needed and of course a boat is required. Only an experienced diver should go after sunken treasure. Luckily, Florida contains both types of treasures, thus enabling the prospective hunter to choose from a larger variety.
Florida has already yielded hundreds of lost treasures to many happy people. Among these are: A chest containing $25,000 in Mexican gold was found on Grassy Key. Miami has yielded some buried treasure. A road crew while building a new road near Cocoa found thirteen chests of treasure. $70,000 in silver coins were discovered on Lower Matecumbe Key, plus another 61 gold pieces were found by fishermen there. Dozens of pirate caches have been found on the West Coast of Florida. Millions of dollars have already been salvaged from the Spanish galleons off Florida. This is only a small sample of what has been unearthed and salvaged in Florida.

Florida Treasure Lore

• The most notorious and successful pirate was Jose Gaspar, better known as Gasparilla. His methods were black and bloody, and he stands out among all the pirates who used Florida to bury their wealth. Leaving Spain at an early age, he sailed to the West Coast of Florida. He soon picked a good spot in Charlotte Harbor, and began to build his pirate kingdom. His headquarters were at Boca Grande, on what is today known as Gasparilla Island. In the following years, he accumulated a board estimated at $30,000,000. It is said that he and his brother buried all of his money on the islands in and around Charlotte Harbor. In all, he buried 13 casks and chests of treasure in the vicinity of his headquarters. His men, who numbered in the hundreds, also buried their smaller caches on these islands.
All had been going along fine for Gasparilla until the year 1822. The American Government then decided to get into the act and sent a Navy squadron to end his career. One day Gasparilla prepared to attack a merchantman, but to his surprise, it turned out to be a United States man-of-war. When he finally realized that it was a warship, it was too late. The notorious pirate then committed suicide by wrapping a heavy chain around him and jumping over the side. His ship soon followed him to the watery depths. The ship contained $1,000,000 in assorted treasure, and should be there today. Charlotte Harbor is an ideal spot to go treasure hunting. Just pick any island and start digging, because Gasparilla’s loot is buried on many of them, including Cayo Pelau. (See Topo page.)
• For many years, there lived in a cabin on Shell Creek an old Spaniard named Juan Gonzalez (not to be confused with Juan Gomez). He claimed that he had pirated with Gasparilla and knew where the famous pirate had buried one of his treasure casks. He said, “that it was buried near the shore of Lettuce Lake,” (this is near Ft. Ogden, Florida) and “that it is worth several million dollars.” Shortly after the Civil War Gonzalez made a deal with two cattlemen to dig up the cask. When the two men went to Gonzalez’ cabin with a skiff on an oxcart as per agreement, he was too sick to go. When they returned a few days later, they found him lying on the floor, dead. After he was buried, they searched his cabin. All they found was a jar full of gold coins and an engraved copper chart. This engraving may be the key to the buried treasure, but nobody has ever been able to decipher it. (I have seen a picture of the copper chart myself, and it seems to be authentic.) Whoever deciphers the engraving correctly (text only) will be a few million dollars richer. This is one of the most interesting pirate treasures in Florida. (See Topo page.)
• There are many legends of pirate treasure associated with the Tampa Bay area. During the 1700's, a pirate named Caster used Egmont Key off Tampa Bay as a base of operations. Before being captured and beheaded by the Spanish, he buried a sizeable treasure near Egmont Key. Another legend tells of two long boats carrying loot which was supposedly buried on the banks of Sweetwater Creek, near Rocky Point on the east side of Tampa Bay.
• During the period between 1519 and 1617, when the Calusa Indians were at the height of their power, the King of Spain's “plate fleets” transported millions in New World gold, silver and precious stones. The leader of the Calusas was named Carlos, and he also ruled over a vast Indian federation that controlled the entire southern Florida coastal region. As tribute, the other Indians of the federation would give him most of the booty they collected whenever a ship sank along the eastern coast of Florida and they were able to salvage any of the cargo.
Accounts of Carlos’ wealth and power were recorded in the memoirs of a ship wrecked Spaniard. Hernando Fontaneda was only a boy of 13 en route to Spain when he found himself stranded on one of the Keys. He was soon taken captive by the Calusas and brought to the village of the chief, where he managed to amuse Carlos by performing songs and dances.
The young castaway’s life was spared and he spent the next 17 years as a member of the tribe. He learned several Indian dialects and served as a translator for Carlos in dealings with other tribes. Finally, when he was about 30, he managed to escape.
In the book entitled Narrative of Le Moyne, an artist who accompanied Laudonniere, mention is made of the proposed expedition that Fontaneda wanted to make back to try and recover some of the treasure Carlos had accumulated. “They (Fontaneda and his companion) also reported that he (Carlos) possessed a great store of gold and silver and that he kept it in a certain village in a pit not less than a man's height in depth and as large as a cask; and that, if I could make my way to the place with a hundred arquebusiers, they could put all the wealth into my hands besides what I might obtain from the richer of the natives.”
When Fontaneda eventually found passage to Spain, he wrote an account of his experiences in Florida and delivered it to the King of Spain. By doing this, he hoped to win favor and enter the King's service. In one section of Fontaneda's memoirs, dated 1575, there are several references to Calusa wrecking activity and the tribe's enormous wealth. The following is but one example: “I desire to speak of the riches found by the Indians of Ais, which perhaps were as much as a million dollars or over, in bars of silver, gold, and in articles of jewelry made by the hands of the Mexican Indians, which the passengers were bringing with them. These things Carlos divided with the caicques of Ais, Jeaga, Guacata, Mayajuaco and Mayaca, and he took what pleased him, or the best part.”
To this day, Florida historians, archaeologists and treasure hunters are still looking for leads to the tribe’s lost gold. It is known that Carlos’ village was near what is now called Charlotte Harbor, on the West Coast of Florida, near Fort Myers.
• Another pirate who made his headquarters near Charlotte Harbor was Black Caesar. He was a former slave who escaped to the West Coast of Florida. Soon afterwards he became leader of the pirates and built his base on Sanibel Island. It is said that he captured a Spanish galleon off Cuba, and brought it back to his stronghold. Among other things on the galleon was 26 tons of silver, which he quickly buried. This enormous hoard is supposedly on or near Sanibel Island.
• In 1798, Black Caesar buried a ship load of silver bars on the north end of Key Largo. This treasure had been captured from a Spanish Galleon en-route to Spain from Vera Cruz, Mexico. Black Caesar made the Spaniards dig a massive hole for the silver, then killed them all and buried them in the hole with the treasure.
• Calico Jack Rackham was another buccaneer who sailed the waters off Florida. Headquartering first in Cuba, he moved to the West Coast of Florida. Here, he buried his $2,000,000 treasure on an island some ten miles up either the Shark or Lostman’s River. (This treasure cache lie buried within the boundaries of the Everglades National Park and it is illegal to do any digging here.)
• In 1864, a U.S. gunboat chased a Confederate ship up the Suwannee River. As the Confederate vessel rounded the second bend of the river, the crew rolled off kegs of gold coins to prevent their capture by the Union gunboat.
• Apalachicola Bay... A Confederate blockade runner went down in the bay north of St. George Island, carrying $500,000 in silver bars and many Spanish coins.
• Steinhatchee River... Three Civil War treasures are buried along the Steinhatchee River, which empties into Dead Man Bay in Taylor County. A Confederate blockade-runner chased by a Union ship was scuttled at the mouth of the river. The crew buried $500,000 in silver close by. Another blockade-runner hiding near the mouth of the river buried $140,000 in gold coins when a Federal gunboat appeared. After the war, members of the crew returned to claim the money, but were unable to find the location because a flood had taken away the markers along the bank of the river. Union Soldiers buried a cache of gold coins five miles from the mouth of the river.
• On the northwestern coast of Florida is the site of Billy Bowlegs’ hoard. He was believed to be one of Lafitte’s top men and for some time lived near New Orleans. After the Battle of New Orleans, he cut his ties with Lafitte and set out on his own. Moving to Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, he started his own pirate kingdom. After accumulating much treasure, he decided to bury it. Thus, on a small island in Santa Rosa Sound, he buried most of his gold and silver bars. Nearby on the mainland, he deposited the bulk of his coins. In the hold of his ship was another million dollars in miscellaneous loot. This ship was later sunk, and has never been recovered. Billy Bowlegs’ treasure awaits discovery by some very lucky finder.
• The pirate Louis Aury is said to have buried several chests near a freshwater spring located on a small bluff in Clearwater Bay. While operating out of the northern end of Anclote Key, Aury was alleged to have buried loot on the Anclote River as well as on Honeymoon Island and Seahorse Key. In 1817, after taking over Amelia Island, he was known to have secreted a chest containing an estimated $60,000 in treasure. After surrendering to U.S. forces, he was given only 24 hours to leave the island, and was unable to retrieve this hoard.
• Amelia Island lies on the northeastern coast of Florida and pirate treasure almost grows on trees there. Blackbeard, Kidd, Lafitte and Aury have at one time or another used this island as their center of operations. Approximately $170,000 in treasures has already been found, but this is only a small portion compared to what is still buried. This is a very attractive island for the treasure hunter.
• Ex-pirate Juan Gomez lived on Panther Key, until the ripe old age of 120. On numerous occasions he claimed that lumps of melted gold were hidden under the roots of a tree on the island. (This island is also in the Everglades National Park.)
• Another of Gasparilla’s undiscovered treasures, amounting to several thousand dollars, was buried on Anastasia Island, south of Matanzas Inlet. The site was recorded as being a three-hour walk south of St. Augustine. It has been stated that he never returned for the chest.
• A map in the Spanish Archives shows a large chest from a wrecked ship was buried in the mid-1600’s somewhere in the Murdock Point area on Cayo Costa Island. Located some 100' from the Gulf of Mexico, the Spanish were unable to locate the chest. Also, in Boca Grande Pass on the north end of Cayo Costa an American frigate with $3,000,000 in minted U.S. gold coins sank in 1823.
• The members of the Ashley gang were notorious bank robbers who terrorized the citizens of Florida, during the early part of the 20th century. They succeeded in stealing over $100,000 in cash and it is believed buried near their headquarters. This was near Canal Point at the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee. All the members of the gang were shot to death, but their loot has never been found.
• DeLeon Springs is the location of a treasure chest lost by unknown persons. In the 1890’s, a chest was seen on the bottom of Ponce deLeon Springs. It soon fell into one of the submerged caves and could not be recovered. The chest has eluded divers ever since.
• Three silver church bells were buried by Spanish padres in 1586, somewhere in the present city park area of St. Augustine, to keep them from Sir Francis Drake. The padres were killed, and the location of the silver bells lost.
St. Augustine
• In 1702-1704, the British, under Governor James Moore of Carolina, raid Spanish settlements including a 52-day siege of St. Augustine. The town is captured, but the fort is not. Many of the people buried their valuables, and were later killed.
• In 1894, a merchant named Richard Crowe died in St. Augustine, leaving a will stating he buried $60,000 in gold coins on his property. Searchers were unable to locate the treasure.
• A Spaniard named Don Felipe, is known to have buried the family silver, along with a large amount of gold coins, on his plantation during the Seminole war before he was killed by Indians. Located 2 miles NW of Ocala.
• Eight barrels of English coins amounting to $100,000 were buried near present-day Cross City and State Road 19/98, by two Bahamian traders before they were hung by General Andrew Jackson for selling arms to the Seminole Indians in the 1830's. Reportedly this treasure was buried near the junction of two streams on the northern edge of the town.
• During the dry season in the year 1907, a treasure chest was first spotted lying in a swampy area surrounded by quicksand between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian River. Many treasure hunters since have tried unsuccessfully to retrieve it. Survivors of one of several old shipwrecks lying nearby may have buried the chest. Located on the outer banks close to state A1A, 8 miles south of Vero Beach.
• In 1865, Captain John Riley and a detachment of Confederate troops were sent from Kentucky with a half ton of gold bullion to be transported to Fort Mead, Florida, and then on to Havana, Cuba. As Union troops advanced through Florida, the Confederate band fled into the Everglades, buried the gold at the last camping place, and continued their flight.
In September, 1944, it was reported that State Game Officer L. P. Harvey led a small party into the Everglades and located what they believed to have been the last camping place of the Confederates, almost hidden by undergrowth but identified by Confederate relics found there. The site was described as being located at the point of an angle formed by a line 40 miles due west of Ft. Lauderdale, and another line due northwest of the Miami City Hall until it met the first line. This would place the treasure on a Seminole Indian Reservation in west central Broward County.
• Down in Key West, there lived in the 1870’s a middle-aged man of German extraction. His name was Homer Ludwig, and while most of his younger years had been spent at sea, it is said that he “jumped ship” at Key West, and became one of the town's handymen. For the next 20 years he eked out a bare living, by doing odd jobs, and spent his spare time studying the history of the Island City. One day in early 1890’s Homer bought a small and decrepit sailboat and began to spend his spare time patching it up. To those who took the trouble to ask why he wanted a boat, he would explain that he intended to go treasure hunting. He claimed to have learned the location of a money chest removed from a vessel wrecked on a reef. He would talk at length about how the captain of the doomed ship had carried the money ashore, and buried it in the sand for safe keeping, intending to return with another vessel and reclaim the treasure. The captain never returned.
Several weeks later, Homer set sail in his little catboat and was never seen at Key West again. A fisherman had seen the old fellow on the beach of Big Pine Key, and a little later a yacht had sighted a man of Homer’s description at Matecumbe Key. A year later a couple of Key Westers met Homer on the beach at Key Largo. The old man had build himself a shack of driftwood and palm fronds, and he seemed fit and hard as nails. The old man was living on Key Largo about five years when it was discovered how he was getting money. A fellow who ran a general store in Miami said that Homer was selling old gold and silver coins, a few at a time, to a coin dealer on Flagler Street. He’d get maybe 50 or 100 dollars for the coins and then go buy what he needed. Then he would sail back to Key Largo. One day in September 1909, old Homer got into his boat and started hoisting the sail. A couple of fishermen told him he’d better stay ashore, because a bad storm was building up. The old fellow wouldn’t listen, and he shoved off and headed north. He was probably making another trip to Miami, but he never got there. That night the storm came howling up the Keys, and Homer was never heard of again. The secret of where the treasure was hidden went with him. Somewhere on Key Largo the rest of that old Spanish treasure is waiting for a second finder.
• A man lived on Elliot Key and boated to Miami for supplies. One time a storm came up and he beached on a very shallow reef to pick up ballast rocks to help his catboat. He docked at Biscayne and 79 St., which was known as Sea Ray boat docks. He piled the ballast on the dock, and it sat there 6 months. One day he scraped one to discover they were encrusted silver bars. He died without finding where he found them, but the area suspected was the Dry Rocks off Upper Elliot Key.
• Florida in the 1830's was a battleground with the U. S. army engaged in a war against the Seminole Indians. It was not a place you would have expected to find a young inventor from Paterson, New Jersey, promoting his products. His name was Samuel Colt and he was selling guns.
Colt felt that his 8-shot revolving-cylinder carbines would find instant favor among men armed with single-shot rifles. But his success was limited. He sold a few handguns to officers, but his only quantity order was from Gen. Thomas S. Jessup for 50 carbines and more than half of them may be in a Florida swamp today, awaiting some lucky treasure hunter with a metal detector.
In a letter dated November 8, 1850, Col. Harney of the 2nd U. S. Dragoons reported; “Gen. Jessup ordered the purchase of 50 and they were placed in my hands . . . they were the first ever used or manufactured. Thirty of them were lost at Caloosahatchee . . .”
Stories vary as to just how the carbines were lost. One persistent version has it that the arms, still in their oak, zinc-lined, grease-filled cases, were lost when the canoes in which they were being transported were capsized during an Indian attack. If this is so, it's likely the guns may be in good condition today. Harney Point is part of present day Cape Coral.

Florida Shipwrecks
Florida Treasure
Each year, large fleets of Spanish galleons were seen voyaging back and forth between Spain and America. These treasure ships carried millions of dollars in gold, silver, platinum and precious stones. Often, hurricanes cut the voyages short and left the galleons on the ocean bottom. In many cases, everything was lost including men, galleons, and treasure. Although the men and galleons have long since disappeared, the treasure may still remain.
Two fleets sailed every year from Mexico and South America, and were accompanied by two warships. The two war galleons were called the Capitana and Almiranta, and each carried about $2,000,000 in treasure. The fleet that sailed from Mexico was called the New Spain Armada, and the other one that sailed from South America was known as the Tierra Firme Armada. Each Armada would first sail to Havana, and then on to Spain. Sometimes, both armadas would combine at Havana before leaving for Spain.
After leaving Havana, the treasure fleets would sail along the coast of Florida before turning eastward. At this point in the journey, many of the galleons were sunk by hurricanes. Today, the remains of these galleons are being found regularly, and their treasures are gradually coming up to the surface. Although many of these galleons have already been discovered, there are dozens that have not.
Below are listed both discovered and undiscovered shipwrecks* off the Florida coast.
• In 1555, only one ship, the “Santa Maria Del Camino,“ 200 tons, commanded by Captain Alonzo Martin Morejon, was dispatched to Nombre de Dios in Panama to pick up all of that year's treasures from South America. She took on 1.8 million pesos in gold and silver in Panama and then an unspecified amount of gold, emeralds and pearls in Cartagena, Colombia. A hurricane drove the ship ashore and it was dashed to pieces near St. Lucie Inlet on the east coast of Florida. Indians massacred most of the survivors, but kept some of them prisoners until they were rescued several years later by Spaniards from Havana, who were searching for ambergris.

Gold emerald cross found by Teddy Tucker off Bermuda.
• In 1563, the 250 ton galleon, “La Madalena,” commanded by Capt. Cristobel Rodriquez, was returning to Spain from Veracruz, Mexico and Havana. She was cast up on a shoal during a bad storm and of the 300 odd souls aboard her, only 16 survived in the small-boat. At the time she carried over 50 tons of silver in bullion and specie (coins), 170 boxes of worked silver (like candle sticks, plates, etc.), 1,110 pounds of gold in small ingots and jewelry, plus other valuables belonging to passengers. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, all of her cannon were bronze. This makes finding her more difficult as a magnetometer can only detect ferrous metals. Hopefully she went down with some of her iron anchors still aboard. The good side is that bronze cannon from this period, depending on the amount of ornamentation and markings on them, can bring as much as $30,000 each and she carried 28 of them. Six months after being lost a salvage vessel was sent up from Havana but failed to find any traces of her or her cargo. A shrimp boat snagged into a bronze cannon in the general area she was lost and the gun just happens to date from this period. The gun was sold to a private collector for $15,000 but could have netted twice this amount if sold to a museum or in an auction. Another bronze cannon was also accidentally brought up in a shrimper's net within two miles of the other, but it dated from the mid-1770's and was from another wreck. Within five miles from where both guns were found, a chest of some 3,000 Spanish four and eight real coins, dating between 1748 and 1751 were also accidentally brought up in a shrimper's net.

• In 1571, two galleons, the “San Ignacio,” 300 tons, Capt. Juan de Canovas, with 22 iron cannon; and the “Santa Maria de la Limpia Concepcion,” 340 tons, captain's name unknown, were wrecked during a storm with almost a total loss of lives on both ships. Between them they carried over 2,500,000 pesos in treasure but the documents didn't specify how much gold and silver made up this total. A “peso” was not a coin in those days but a unit of monetary value, equaled to 1 1/8 ounce troy of silver. The gold to silver ratio was 16:1. Both were very rich ships when lost. All salvors found were wooden fragments of one or both wrecks up on the shore when they reached the area several months after the disaster. The survivors reached St. Augustine in two longboats.

• In 1589, for protection against an English squadron, which was known to be waiting for the returning Spanish ships from the West Indies, at the King's orders, the Armada and Flota de Tierra Firme and the Flota de Nueva Espana joined together in Havana, forming a very large convoy of about 100 ships which sailed from Havana on the 9th of September. Soon after entering the Bahama Channel, the convoy was struck by a hurricane. Shortly after the hurricane began, the Almiranta of the Flota de Tierra Firme, “La Magdalena,“ 650 tons, commanded by Captain Antonio Jorge Laden with over 1.25 million pesos in treasure, developed a bad leak and fired cannon for assistance. The galleon went down north of Miami in very deep water, and all but three of the 700 people aboard drowned before any aid could reach them. While running before the hurricane up the Bahama Channel, three merchant naos also sank in thirty fathoms of water in about thirty degrees of latitude. Only the names of two of them were given in the documents: “Santa Catalina,“ 350 tons, Captain Domingo Ianez Ome, owned by Fernando Ome, coming from Mexico; and the “Jesus Maria,“ 400 tons, Captain Francisco Salvago, owned by Domingo Sauli, also coming from Mexico. There is no mention of what their cargoes consisted, but it is certain that the Almiranta, at least, was carrying treasure.

• In 1600, an unnamed 200 ton ship commanded by a Captain Diego Rodriquez Garrucho, coming from Mexico and Havana, was wrecked due to faulty navigation and only seven men and a boy made it ashore on pieces of wreckage. She was carrying over 700,000 pesos in treasure, including 245 chests of valuable goods from the Orient. These goods would have been brought over on the Manila Galleons and consisted of Chinese porcelain, beautiful worked pieces of gold and jewelry, precious stones, etc. Salvors located the site in 1602, and raised three bronze cannons off her, but nothing more as her cargo had already been buried. Another attempt was made in 1603, but no trace of her was found.

• In 1611, on the 2nd of June the Santa Ana Maria del Juncal, owned by Bernardo de Torres sank off Cabo de Apalachi. It was carrying several million pesos in silver bullion and specie. The ship was one in the convoy of the New Spain Flota commanded by Captain General the Marguis de Cadereyta. Some salvage was undertaken, but very little was salvaged as the ship broke up quickly.

• In 1624, the Spanish galleon “El Espiritu Santo El Mayor,“ 480 tons, commanded by Captain Antonio de Soto, owned by Juan de Olozabal, was lost in the Bahama Channel. She was one of more than forty ships of the Tierra Firme treasure fleet under the command of Don Antonio de Oquendo. The fleet sailed from Havana, and as it entered the Bahama Channel, a sudden squall struck. When the fierce storm was over, the “El Espiritu Santo El Mayor“ and her cargo of 2.2 million pesos had disappeared without a trace in deep water. Also lost, the “Santissima Trinidad,“ Almiranta of the Tierra Firme fleet, Captain Ysidro de Cepeda, 600 tons.

Gold Chalice
• In 1622, the Tierra Firme flota of twenty-eight ships left Havana bound for Spain. With it was carried the wealth of an empire; Silver from Peru and Mexico, gold and emeralds from Colombia, pearls from Venezuela. Each ship carried its crew, soldiers, passengers, and all the necessary materials and provisions for a successful voyage. The following day, the fleet found itself being overtaken by a hurricane as it entered the Florida straits. By the morning of September 6th, eight of these vessels lay broken on the ocean floor, scattered from the Marquesas Keys to the Dry Tortugas. On October 5th, a second hurricane came through, and further destroyed the wreck of the “Atocha.“ For the next 60 years, Spanish salvagers searched for the galleon, but they never found a trace. The “Atocha“ was loaded with a cargo of 24 tons of silver bullion in 1038 ingots, 180,00 pesos of silver coins, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and discs, 350 chests of indigo, 525 bales of tobacco, 20 bronze cannon and 1,200 pounds of worked silverware. To this can be added items being smuggled to avoid taxation, and unregistered jewelry and personal goods. The “Santa Margarita,” sank off the Dry Tortugas with $1,000,000 aboard. The “Rosario,” sank off the Dry Tortugas. The wrecks are located west of the Florida Keys, and some have been found and salvaged by Mel Fisher.

Spanish Galleon
• In 1683, the 700 ton galleon, “Santissima Concepcion,” alias “El Grande,” commanded by Admiral Manual Ortiz Arosemena, heading for Spain after taking on treasures at Porto Bello, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; Veracruz, Mexico; and making a stop at Havana, was totally destroyed after striking a shallow during a hurricane somewhere below the “Cape.” Of the 500 or more souls aboard her only four reached the coast on debris and made it to St. Augustine with great hardships. She was carrying over 1,800,000 pesos in treasure, the majority of which was silver bullion and specie. Her total gold consisting of bullion, specie and worked gold only weighed at around 1,500 pounds. However, gold was the most common object being smuggled and she probably carried ten times this amount as contraband. She also carried 77 chests of pearls, 49 chests of emeralds, 217 chests of “goods from the Orient,” and other valuables belonging to private persons (passengers). Repeated attempts to locate her were made almost yearly up until 1701. The only treasure ever found was a chest of clothes that washed ashore right after the disaster in which “some 1,500 pesos in unregistered gold jewelry” was discovered by soldiers sent down from St. Augustine. All her cannon were bronze.

Spanish Galleons
• In 1715, a fleet of 12 ships sailed from the harbor of Havana, Cuba en route to Spain. Their plan was to follow the Gulf Stream north along the east coast of Florida continuing northward until they would eventually turn eastward to sail toward Spain. Five of the twelve ships were the New Spain Flota commanded by Captain General Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla and six ships were the Squadron of Tierra Firme commanded by Captain General Don Antonio de Echeverz y Subiza. The twelfth ship, the Grifon, was a French ship which just happened to be sailing when the others were leaving and it received permission to sail with them. During the night of July 30th the Fleet was struck by a hurricane on the east coast of Florida along the section which is now between Fort Pierce and the Sebastian Inlet. Eleven of the ships were wrecked and sank with only the Grifon escaping because it had sailed ahead of the others and somehow missed the worst of the storm. Over 1,000 people were killed but almost 1,500 survived although some of the initial survivors died due to thirst, hunger or exposure before help arrived from Cuba and St. Augustine. In the mid-1960's, Real Eight Company found some of the shallow water wrecks between Sebastian Inlet and Ft. Pierce. In later years, Mel Fisher also salvaged these wrecks, and they are still bringing up artifacts. Over the years, treasure hunters have been finding pieces-of-eight and gold doubloons along the beaches after storms. It is believed that some of the galleons sank in deep water and could not be salvaged by the Spanish. A large quantity of gold and silver may still lie in deep water off our rocket pads at Cape Kennedy.

1732 Pillar Dollar
• In 1733, a terrible disaster struck the Spanish Armada. In July of that year, the New Spanish Armada was hit by a hurricane of such force that 20 galleons were sunk in the Florida Keys. The Spaniards wasted no time in getting up salvage operations, and they succeeded in raising $12,000,000 in treasure. After three years of work, only $4,000,000 in gold and silver remained in the wrecks. Many of these galleons have recently been found by Scuba divers, but only a small portion of the treasure has come to light. The following are wrecked galleons of the 1733 Armada: 1. “El Aviso,” a dispatch boat and is located on the south end of Pacific Reef. 2. “El Infante,” was a 60-gun galleon and the position is on Little Conch Reef. 3. “San Jose,” is thought to be the Capitana and is on Crocker Reef. 4. Seven merchantmen were sunk between Upper Matecumbe and Long Key. 5. “Almiranta,” a 58-gun galleon and is off Long Key Point. 6. “San Fernando,” another merchantmen, and is somewhere off Grassy Key in 40 feet of water. These are most of the 1733 shipwrecks, and all are in comparatively shallow water (10 to 40 feet). Any one of them could hold a large amount of treasure.

Notre Dame de la Deliverance
• In 1755, a period when no Spanish ships were available to carry treasure to Spain, as Spain and England were at war, a French ship named “Notre Dame de la Deliverance” disappeared without a trace somewhere between Havana and Cadiz. Her cargo consisted of 1,170 pounds of gold bullion carried in seventeen chests, 15,399 gold doubloons, 153 gold snuff boxes weighing 6 ounces each, a gold-hilted sword, a gold watch, 1,072,000 pieces of eight, 764 ounces of virgin silver, 31 pounds of silver ore, a large number of items made of silver, six pairs of diamond earrings, a diamond ring, several chests of precious stones, plus general cargo consisting of Chinese fans, cocoa, drugs, and indigo. (Update: This ship may have been found off Key West in 2002.)

• Many years ago a fisherman was cruising over the outer reef off Boca Raton Inlet and saw what appeared to be an ancient ship partly covered with sand. After telling the story to his friends, a company was formed and a diver engaged. There, lying on the bottom of the sea in about 60 feet of water, they located the wreck of an old ship, undoubtedly uncovered by the hurricane of the previous fall. The diver went down and chopped a hole in the hull of the ship and brought up what appeared to be a bar of iron, reporting that the wreck was filled with those bars. A more careful examination proved that the bar was pure silver. Additional equipment was secured and plans made to remove the entire treasure, but severe weather prevented immediate return and they were forced to wait for a calm sea.
When the old ship was finally located once more, it had sunk deeper in the sand. Dynamite was used in an attempt to break up the wreck, but this blast only caused it to sink deeper and it was finally swallowed up and no more silver was obtained. All traces of the wreck have long since disappeared, and unless it may be uncovered by another storm, somewhere off Boca Raton, buried in the depths of the ocean, is a fortune that may never be recovered.

*Shipwreck Source - “Spanish Treasure in Florida Waters,” by Robert F. Marx.

by dchaitanya, July 10, 2011 23:26

Since few weeks India is in world news for its great Treasures in Indian especially in South India. After discovering world’s biggest treasue in Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple of Tiruvananthapuram in Kerala District, the attention is being drawn towrds other temples in the State of Andhra Pradesh in South India.
One such temple which has drawn immediate attention with confirmed Treasure under it is the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Ahobilam in Nallamala deep Forests in Kurnool district in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The stone scriptures and palm leaf scriptures reveals that underground den sealed with big stones just in front of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy’s main idol, is having a very big Golden and dimonds treasure hidden by South Indian King Sri Krishnadevaraya of 16th Century. It is confirmed by the Temple priests and also the age old people of the region.
Since three decades several attempts were made by several people to plunder this Treasuer, but who ever attempted so far died immediately. 
One Archeology Professor, who tried to dig the surface stone of the Treasure in the Temple, died on the spot when some poisionous fumes have erupted from the side hole of the earth twenty years ago
Yet in another incident an Engineer who attempted deliberatly to break the surface stone of the Treasure failed in his attempt, and when going back from the Temple in his car, just a few yards away he died in accident by hitting his car to a tree.
 In one more incident ten years ago two young adventurous people tried to dig the Treasure just a few yards away from the actual spot of the Treasure in the Temple, were suddenly swarmed and stung by thousands of Honey Bees and both of them died within few hours, even though the temple staff and villagers tried to save them. 

 Some people also say the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Mr.Marri Chenna Reddy also got some secret survey done in and around the temple premisis to findout the Treasure, but for some mysterious reasons he withdrew from that task. Subsequently no attempts were made by any one to dig the Treasure.
It is said that some mysterious power is protecting the Treasure, so the Temple staff constructed a round wire fencing around the surface stone, considering it as sacred place not to be tread by anyone with feet. 

It is said that when  the Ghajani Mohamad and other Arabs invaded on India to plunder the vast opulances of the then Indian Kingdoms, the Kings used to hide the Treasures below the Temples or in dens to protect them from being plundered by enemy countries, by invoking certain powers like “Naga Bandham” or “Yuksha Bandham” or “Bhetala Bhandam” or “Shakinee Bandham” etc. Those invisible powers used to protect the Treasures, and it is believed that still such powers or other divine powers are protecting the Treasures in India.

The scriptures around the Temple says that the Treasure can not be taken out now by any one, as still one more generation has to pass as per the dates of the Scripture. So it is better not to make attempts to discover the Tresure below the temple to avoid pre-mature death according to Temple Priests.
Similarly in Vundavalli rock caves in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, there is a 15 feet single stone Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swami Statue which resembles Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swami of Tiruvananthapuram, where it is said there is a large Treasure inside the caves and it has also got a secret tunnel towards Temple of Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swami which is located on a Passive Valcano in Mangaliri road
. Ten years agao, some adventurists who entered by not heeding the warnings of temple priests have never come back.

Last week, in Gopanpalli village in Zaheerabad mandal of Medak district, unidentified people entered an old Siddeswaraswamy temple located in the village and dismantled two Nandi statues in the pursuit of searching for treasure. Those who entered the temple for the treasure also offered prayers, lit lamps, and broke coconuts before digging.
Sri Andal Temple, Srivilliputhur.
1.Srivilliputhur.It is believed that a tunnel exists linking Sri Andal Temple Srivilliputhur, the Second Holy place for Vaishnavas,next to Sri Rangam, to Madurai,
Sri Krishna Devaraya is reported to have built it.
Thirumalai Naicker(of Thirumala naiker Mahal Fame) is also said to have built 48 structures,with bell Towers  so that he could have his meals in Madurai,after the Naivedyam or offering to God, by having the bells in the structure tolled the moment the offering is over.
Rani Mangamma of Madurai is said to have offered priceless gems to the Temple.
Some of these structures still remain.
The approximate distance between Madurai and Srivilliputhur is 48 miles.
The tunnel is rumored to contain vaults which contain treasure trove.
Sri Dabdayuthapani Temple,Palani.
Treasure is supposed to exist beneath the sanctum sanctorum of Bogar, a Siddha who has consecrated the Deity, Lord Dandayudhapani.
Might be worth the while to check on these places as well.

Now, another temple treasure, in Udupi?

UDUPI: With wealth worth over crores of rupees being unearthed from Sai Baba Ashram and Sri Ananthapadmanabha Temple, Thiruvananthapuram, wealth suspected to be stored or hidden in other temples are now the talk of the town. Sri Krishna Temple in Udupi with a history of over 800 years, is no exception to it.
In fact a legend, dating back to the period of Sri Vadiraja Theertha, who is considered to be the second highest saint in the Madhwa hierarchy, engraved on the walls of Sri Subrahmanya (Serpent God) Gudi situated inside the premises of Sri Krishna Temple, also talks of the same. According to it, wealth is stored underground in the Sri Krishna Temple, on which the shrine for the serpent god has been built. �
The legend goes that Sri Vadiraja Theertha was on a pilgrimage in North India, worshiping his pattada devaru (Bhoovaraha) in Delhi. However, soldiers of the Delhi Empire objected, saying that the Emperor’s son had been cremated at the same place. Sri Vadiraja replied saying that was impossible, as the body cremated there was not dead. Upon hearing that, the Emperor rushed to the spot and as Sri Vadiraja chanted mantras, the Emperor’s son got up. Pleased by his supernatural powers, the Emperor offered him wealth, which Vadiraja rejected. However, the Emperor pressurised him, and he accepted it only to immerse the same in the river Ganga. The Emperor then gave him more wealth, which he took to Sri Krishna Temple. He planned to use it to thatch the roof of the temple, but Lord Krishna, who appeared in his dream, opposed the idea. The treasure was buried at the temple, and a serpent god installed on it.
The Amber Room

The Amber Room

Dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the Amber Room was crafted almost entirely of six tons of glowing amber. It was estimated to be worth $150 million in 2008.
Built by Prussian King Frederic the First, it dazzled kings and queens for 300 years and was sent to Russia as a gift in 1716. During World War II, the Nazis moved the German-made room to the Konigsberg Castle where it was put on display.
After the tide of war turned, the Germans boxed it up and it hasn't seen since. The room was recreated in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Blackbeard's Treasure

Blackbeard's Treasure

Though artifacts from Blackbeard's flagship -- the Queen Anne's Revenge -- are on display at a North Carolina museum, one won't find any treasure left by man the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum calls "the most notorious pirate who ever sailed the high seas."
According to David Moore, a nautical archaeologist at the North Carolina Maritime Museum, Blackbeard ran his ship aground, giving him and his crew time to remove all valuables. According to lore, Blackbeard responded when asked about where he'd buried his treasure that nobody but he and the devil knew where it was.
Treasure of Lima

Treasure of Lima

In 1820 Spanish leadership and clergy in Lima, Peru, shipped their riches to Mexico under the command of a Capt. William Thompson. The valuables were worth nearly $60 million and included gold statues and jeweled swords.
Thompson killed everyone on the ship and sailed to Cocos Island near Costa Rica and buried the treasure in a cave. He did try to recover the loot but was unsuccessful as were many others.