Hola AARC
I think we cannot rely on what newspapers say entirely.... What price can you put on a historic treasure? Probably not as much as the newspaper Hype but treasure all the same.
But The fact remain Charles Edward Howe spent 7 year on Pinacki alone digging for treasure. That is what we know. Some thing motivated him to search Pinacki?
He had had allegedly gained information off an alleged dying pirate in Sydney who gave him a crumpled old chart made from hide or sail cloth that had key landmarks but more importantly key land marks to find this buried treasure. The map however had no name of the island on it?
One clue was Coral Pinnacle an pear shaped pool in the reef. The Pinnacle was north of the pass into the lagoon. Pinacki sort of fitted the description on the map he had. But the question remains was he on the right Island. Some have speculated that it was Tepoto or another island nearby? The key for him was the fact Pinacki had a pinnacle.
Below is rare map of Pinacki with description showing land marks....No pinnacle shown as a land mark on it?
Around 1900 14 years before Howe ever arrived.... An American expedition arrived searched the island they may have good reason because it has been alleged the very treasure mentioned below from the Lima cathedral was lost during the war of independence.
Is it still there or on an island somewhere? Or perhaps on the island traditionally believed to be on Cocos Island?
Of course the whole Pinacki story MAY just another manifestation of the Cocos island treasure story?
I leave that to more qualified people here to decide that....
But as I sail pass it on regular basis in my ship I always Scan the island with binoculars if passing it in daylight, from a far and wonder what if?
Mal
Actually, it's all known. Hamilton was attempting to follow the details on a treasure map left by Charles Howe. Howe obtained a copy of a 'treasure map' from an earlier attempt involving the man named 'Captain James Brown' who was in Sydney for a series of failed expeditions from the 1900s. The map was so vague and distorted the only thing that could be determined is that the place to look were three islands in a triangular formation which is the three different island groups searched by different expeditions who were all following the same information. The 'treasure map' (of which I have multiple versions including the original) drove searches to a number of different locations as each were searched and came up dud. The man, James Brown, is actually mentioned in George Hamilton's book (diver on an expedition), 'The Treasure of the Tuamotus' which recounts a lot of details (in between Hamilton's fabrications). If anyone wants to check further, I recommend "The Voyage of the Herman" in which there are photos of Brown and his ship in Sydney Harbour. The 'P and T' mixup was a fabrication by Hamilton who tried to cover over the reason why Howe left one island to search another, both islands are in a group of three islands that seems to conform to the map. What Hamilton and his syndicate didn't know was that Howe was saying the treasure was on one island (there is a French archival record) but telling others it was on another island. George Farwell wrote an article about his experience. His article is easy to find. Despite what he wrote, people keep quoting him as how the treasure and right island was found. I have a copy of his article, his words are "...we found nothing". The image here is one just one of the numerous reports about Brown.
