Buried Treasure

Reported Discovery in French Oceania

ON April 12, a press message went out from Tahiti to the Associated Press of America, reporting that an expedition had discovered £10,000,000 worth of pirate gold, buried under 18 feet of sand on one of the islands of the Tuamotu Archipel ago (east of Tahiti); that the French Gov ernment had placed a guard at the spot; and that the finders are now organising an engineering expedition to lift to the surface 25 tons of wedge-shaped gold ingots.

The announcement created a great stir in newspapers throughout the world.

Later information discounted the story that the actual treasure had been found; but some ground was given to the belief that an expedition had located an island in the Tuamotus which may be the place where was buried, over 100 years ago, the treasure removed from Lima, Peru, by the Roman Catholic Church when Peru re volted against Spain. The story goes that the treasure was taken away on a ship; that the crew seized the ship and treasure; that the ship was wrecked on one of the Tuamotus; and that the crew buried the treasure there. A dying sailor is supposed to have given someone a map, showing its location. A dozen expeditions have sought for it, in vain.

In this journal, in March, we published our Tahiti correspondent’s account of the arrival there of the latest expedition.

That party sailed from Tahiti on Feb ruary 22, and returned 25 days later, in the circumstances described below.

On April 13, the “Sydney Sun” inter viewed in Sydney a Mr, Sampson, appar ently a member of the expedition, who had just returned from Tahiti, and who was very reticent. He said, however, that he thought the expedition had located the treasure island, and he had come to Syd ney to buy sand-shifting machinery.