An essay on pirate treasure in Madagascar

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

The following are negative views regarding pirate treasure.

Charles Grey



Rebecca Simon



Patrick Pringle



Benerson Little



The summary of their view is that pirates did not often plunder inorganic treasures like gold and gems. Because they divided the loot equally, pirate captains did not amass enormous wealth, and such treasures were spent immediately after distribution. Even if they were not spent, there would be no reason to bury them.

Here is my counterargument: The pirates in Madagascar plundered large quantities of gold and gems. There were no places in Madagascar to spend all this wealth, so the treasure was stored there until it could be used for trade with European ships. Furthermore, the pirates faced numerous dangers and threats in Madagascar. By citing examples from around the world, I have shown that burying one's assets to protect them was a common practice for people in such precarious situations. I agree that pirate captains didn't get their hands on vast fortunes. What I'm picturing is treasure buried by ordinary pirates.

​

Tim Travers

Buried Treasure

The question of buried pirate treasure is an exciting one, but unfortunately very few pirates buried any treasure for a number of reasons. First, and most important, very few pirates managed to keep any of their treasure, because it was all spent in gambling, drinking, womanising, and other pleasures, so that there was nothing left to bury. Secondly, many ships that were seized contained items that could not easily be buried, such as bales of cotton, calico, muslin, and silk, provisions, bulky goods, wine, brandy, spices, and of course, slaves. Thirdly, when pirates did capture treasure such as jewelry, gold dust, bars of silver, and so on, it was shared out very carefully among the pirate crew, so that no large amount was left to bury. Fourthly, when pirates returned to their ports or sought protection for their treasure in different safe locations, they had to pay off greedy and corrupt colonial Governors, such as Nicholas Trott of the Bahamas, and with what was left usually tried to turn their treasure into land or property or ships, so again there was nothing left to bury. Fifthly, even if there was some treasure buried, it would be recovered quite quickly by the pirates who buried it. Sixthly, although some pirates such as Henry Avery's men in the Red Sea, collected between £700 and £1,000 pounds each, others often made very little. So of course, there was nothing for them to bury. In one case, there was not enough treasure to go around a group of pirates on St Mary's Island, Madagascar. The loot was supposed to be distributed to 14 pirates by Captains Tew, Rayner, Mason and Coats, but there simply wasn't enough to distribute, so these 14 pirates formed themselves into two groups of seven men each, and fought it out. The result was that 'one of the said Sevens were all killed, and five of the others, so that the two which survived Enjoyed the whole Booty. 61 Finally, the buried treasure that does exist is usually to be found in children's stories (Treasure Island), or in film versions of what pirates were supposed to do with their plunder (Blackbeard the Pirate, 1952).

I've looked into the treasure looted by Madagascar pirates before; they often got a share of several hundred pounds each. (And they also frequently looted gold, silver, and jewelry.)

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

The 1724 record that I frequently quote was originally translated into English from the French text. However, since the quality of that translation has been criticized, I have included a Spanish translation by a professional translator below.

En septiembre de 1724, la situación de los últimos piratas abandonados en Madagascar es catastrófica. El gobernador de Bourbon, Desforges Boucher, ya ha tomado las medidas que se imponían cuando informa a Versalles: «En la isla de Madagascar ya no quedan más que unos cuarenta de esos desgraciados degradados sin buque que imploran su amnistía al no poder subsistir, y mueren de miseria a pesar de poseer gran cantidad de diamantes que no les sirven de nada para procurarse lo necesario para sobrevivir, pues de hecho no tienen ni un óbolo en dinero líquido. Aún eran unos sesenta a principios de este año, pero dieciocho o veinte se separaron en una barca de alrededor de veinticinco toneladas y vinieron aquí a solicitar su amnistía y la de los otros que se habían quedado en Madagascar.

Mientras la mayor parte de sus compadres se hallaban aquí en tierra, los que permanecieron a bordo asesinaron a tiros a las diez de la noche a su capitán, llamado John Cleyton, inglés, con una pistola cargada con tres balas disparadas por la espalda y tan a quemarropa que el taco prendió fuego a su camisa. Inmediatamente se llevaron la barca, pero después de haber arrojado al agua en su pequeña piragua a cinco de ellos, cosidos de heridas que habían recibido queriendo vengar a su capitán.

Lograron llegar a tierra con todas las heridas que tenían, y desde entonces no hemos sabido qué ha sido de ellos. Los que permanecieron en tierra así como los que escaparon han quedado completamente a cargo de la colonia, donde sus diamantes no son mercancía corriente aunque tengan cantidades de gran consideración. Envío a Francia en el buque de la Compañía, el Royal-Philippe, a casi todos esos miserables con su inicuo botín, deslastrando gustosamente de esa chusma a esta colonia que posee otras cosas más útiles para el Estado»lxxx.

En realidad, el capitán del Royal-Philippe no embarcó más que a seis piratas a bordo, por prudencia. Los demás seguían en Madagascar al cabo de un año, pero su número había disminuido a veintiocho, entre los que se hallaba el legendario La Buse: «La mayor parte de ellos ha sido masacrada y envenenada por los negros o por ellos mismos. Los que permanecen en la isla son los más miserables de ellos, entre los que se cuenta La Buse, que ha sido uno de sus capitanes y que, después de haber disipado o extraviado el indigno fruto de sus piraterías, ha acusado a los que le escoltaban de aprovecharse de la impunidad que se le ofrecía [...]. Mas el resto de la población, por las exacciones que cometieron para procurarse esclavos y mujeres, a duras penas los podían soportar, aprovechando el menor incidente para eliminarlos físicamente o para, más sutilmente, envenenarlos poco a poco. [...] Viven alejados los unos de los otros sin vínculo alguno. Están en esta costa de Ambanivoulle desde el grado 13, 40 minutos, donde está la gran punta que, con sus arrecifes, forma una especie de fuerte llamado Anglebay, hasta el río de Manangharre, que dista poco de la bahía de Antongil. A lo largo de esta costa es donde se halla la isla de Sainte-Marie, que tiene en una pequeña bahía un puerto bueno aunque un poco estropeado por los restos de navíos hundidos con toda su carga. No fue a esta isla donde se retiraron los piratas, como se creyó, sino que sólo están en uno de los islotes cercanos. Allí vive un mulato atrincherado tras unas empalizadas en las que ha montado algunas piezas de artillería, como hacen en su sitio cada uno de esos bribones convertidos en habitantes de estas islas, al verse obligados a permanecer en guardia los unos contra los otros. Animan a venir a vivir con ellos y tomar su defensa a los negros de los alrededores del lugar donde se establecen. Éstos les son devotos en tanto que pueden esperar recibir de ellos algún beneficio, y cuando ya no pueden sacarles nada, los asesinan o envenenan. Sin embargo, se quedan con sus hijos mulatos, nacidos de la alianza de esos piratas y las mujeres del país, a los que aprecian mucho. Muchos de ellos se hacen jefes de los asentamientos y gozan de una gran autoridad entre los negros, que gustosamente les ponen a la cabeza cuando van a la guerra. Casi todos esos mulatos, cuando han hallado la ocasión, han seguido las huellas de sus padres y han practicado el corso».

Queda muy claro que Daniel Defoe, el padre de Robinson, erró el camino al proyectar su utopía por el lado de los piratas de Madagascar. Con este último y abrumador testimonio resulta evidente que nos hallamos muy lejos de esa «Libertalia» soñada por el novelista.

(Jean-Pierre Moreau Piratas: Filibusterismo y piratería en el Caribe y en los Mares del Sur (1522-1725))

 

[releventchair]

We speak of maybe around 1 kilo of gold and precious stones each pirate would own. This one can easily carry around or hide in some small spot in the house. If you are attacked you have no time to dig something out of the ground. To bury a treasure only makes sense if it is to heavy to be carried easily. The only reason I can see if like in Avery's case a part of the treasure would have set aside as bribe to secure pardons etc. Temporarily hidden and guarded by small group of pirates. I could have happened that some threat made them burying the treasure as they had no time to carry it away.

AI disagrees with your fixation on diamonds.
Gold can be discussed later but pirates could relieve themselves of fine fabric easier ; depending on the port and relationships/networks with political figures in charge.
An unwelcoming port meant no exchange of gold if it even existed for the more common and utilitarian specie of pearls. A pirate with pearls in the seams of their waistcoat and or great coat were hard to accuse of hoarding stolon gold or diamonds as you say. A politician in charge of an island could hold stolen gold. And yes secure it even if so desperate as to bury a quantity before too exchanging it as with diamonds should some be encountered somehow for something else.

Be nice to Crow.
He's left port time and again and suffered privations in his searches.
Armed assailants visiting ones abode not presenting a welcoming beverage or cake is not a good sign you'll leave on your feet. What someone else has written about what pirates may or may not have done in a given era suddenly means nothing. And what of buried treasure when a peep out of the hatch would get you shot?
And has pocketed a trinket or two once upon a time.
A shiny beer bottle in such a remote place as to be about as out of place as the expats surrounding it.
Sand from multiple ports and interiors smuggled on his sandals.

His craft is a craft that floats. And isn't a craft that floats.
The odds of your surpassing his achievements are slim at best.
If he colors outside the lines you should begin furiously scribbling outside the lines. At least until you grasp the why of it ; compared to a conglomerate of writers therry of what could have been.
What Crow has done is research correctly enough and researched further until effective streaks have derived actual facts. Solid leads ferreted out. Not by declarations. But by leaving sandle marks fasr from home wherever home was when not aboard ship.
That is much to be up against until you too leave home port and slip in the sand of distant ports of distant seas. No matter what Bennerson Little speculates about.

When Diamonds Surpassed Pearl Values in the Caribbean​

There is no historical record of diamonds ever surpassing pearls in value in the Caribbean — pearls dominated the region’s gem trade from the late 15th century into the 17th century, while diamonds were not a significant local commodity until much later and in much smaller scale.

Caribbean pearl dominance​

The Caribbean pearl trade began almost immediately after European contact. In 1498, Christopher Columbus encountered Indigenous communities along the Gulf of Paria (present‑day Venezuela) wearing abundant pearls, and within a year the Spanish were extracting pearls from Cubagua and nearby islands thecolumbuspearls.com+1. By the early 1500s, pearls were the main source of wealth in the region, with seasonal rancherías, enslaved and Indigenous divers, and a colonial network centered in Hispaniola thecolumbuspearls.com. Pearls were highly valued in Europe and the Atlantic world, and the Caribbean pearl fisheries were among the richest natural resource industries of the early modern period thecolumbuspearls.com.

Diamonds in the Caribbean​

Diamonds were not a major Caribbean resource in the early modern period. The first major non‑Indian diamond sources were Brazil (1725) and later South Africa (1867) A Fashion Blog. In the Caribbean, diamonds were not exploited on a commercial scale until the 19th and 20th centuries, and even then, they were far less abundant and valuable than pearls in the local market. Historical accounts of the Caribbean economy from 1492–1622 show no mention of diamonds as a competitive gemstone thecolumbuspearls.com+1.

Why pearls stayed ahead​

• Abundance: Pearl beds in the Southern Caribbean were rich and accessible to European traders thecolumbuspearls.com.
• Cultural demand: Pearls were prized in Europe for jewelry and status, and the Caribbean was a key supplier thecolumbuspearls.com.
• Local extraction: Indigenous divers and colonial labor systems were organized around pearl fishing thecolumbuspearls.com.
• Diamond scarcity: Diamonds were not found in significant quantities in the Caribbean until much later, and even then, they were not a major trade commodity A Fashion Blog.

Conclusion: In the Caribbean, pearls maintained their economic and cultural dominance for centuries after European contact, and diamonds did not surpass them in value until the modern era — and even then, only in limited contexts. There is no documented point in Caribbean history when diamonds overtook pearls in value.

 

[releventchair]

Clement Downing's 1737 book describes the situation in which pirates found themselves as follows. (source)

View attachment 2260495

This confirms the following record from 1730.





(source)

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Clement Downing’s 1737 Work: Fact or Fiction?​

Clement Downing’s 1737 book A Compendious History of the Indian Wars is a mix of factual naval and colonial records and fictionalized or embellished narratives, and Downing himself acknowledged this blend Archive.

What is factual
The work is based on Downing’s own service as a midshipman and later officer in the East India Company’s squadron sent to suppress the pirate “Angria” Archive. It contains verified accounts of naval operations, the rise and forces of Angria, and the activities of Commodore Matthews’ squadron. These sections draw on contemporary reports, official correspondence, and the author’s eyewitness observations, making them historically grounded in the context of 18th‑century Indian Ocean piracy Archive+1.