Searching for Pirate treasure in Madagascar

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

I am not so sure with that.

The French archeologist in charge the head of France’s underwater archaeology department, Michel L’Hour who has take charge of archeological site of the behalf of UNESCO and the Government of Madagascar. He is zealot anyone from English speaking background are seen as treasure hunters. Even In May 2015, explorer Barry Clifford claimed to have discovered a silver bar believed to be part of the treasure of the infamous pirate Captain William Kidd, off the coast of Sainte Marie island, Madagascar. However, UNESCO dismissed Clifford's claims, stating the "silver" was actually lead and the shipwreck was likely rubble from port construction.

The UN cultural body investigated and concluded the "silver" was lead and the shipwreck was not Kidd's ship.
UNESCO criticized Clifford for not having a professional archaeologist supervise the dive and for a media-driven approach that disregarded proper archaeological procedures. Clifford defended his work, arguing that UNESCO's investigation was biased and that he adheres to high archaeological standards. Michel L’Hour has now control over the site of behalf of UNESCO who funds protection and venture and management on behalf of the Government of Madagascar. It is he that overseas any potential archeological excavations on behalf of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Crow

I found an interesting article, which I'll quote below:

Whatever resentments and jealousies academics might harbor at the successes of enthusiasts like Nunneley and Needham is tempered by the fact that the vast majority of their finds would never figure in an archaeological excavation. “Most of these finds are made on cultivated land,” says Lewis. “If metal detectorists didn’t find them, they’d just be lost to plowing.” 1

Judging from this article, the conflict between archaeologists and treasure hunters seems to arise because the exploration sites are often archaeological ruins. The situation is likely the same in Madagascar, so if one searches for treasure buried away from archaeological sites, there may be no conflict with archaeologists.

On the other hand, in the case of sunken treasure, it is often found near the shipwreck (sites) itself (which may be exactly why such intense conflict occurs between underwater archaeologists and treasure hunters).
In the first place, the circumstances on land and underwater seem to be fundamentally different.

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

I forgot. Below is the information that inspired me to go to Madagascar in search of pirate treasure.

 

[AstralDruid]

In my opinion the text above posted by 'The True Seeker' seems very close to the reality.. The popular 'lovable rogue' pirates created by modern day cinema always seemed unlikely to me.. The texts above describe a relatively simple situation, hidden treasure was treasure that couldn't be easily spent or used somehow. Seems logical to me.
I haven't been to Madagascar but i have visited Reunion Island and Ile Mauritius which are relatively close by,, they have some great stories over there. I reckon Madagascar is a very good shout for buried stuff.

 

[Blak bart]

Madagascar International Travel Information https://share.google/eKJw7xtxahZxm34JV

At the moment Madagascar is a level 3 dumpster fire of political unrest and riots. Robbery and violent crime at all time highs right now. Also Madagascar is loaded with natural treasures in the form of gemstones. Be careful out there.

 

[Blak bart]

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

I forgot. Below is the information that inspired me to go to Madagascar in search of pirate treasure.

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The pirates could not spend the immense treasure they had plundered. Furthermore, they could not even purchase daily necessities.

A letter written by the Governor of Réunion Island in 1724.1

"although they possess a large quantity of raw diamonds, which are of no use to them in obtaining the necessities of life, and they do not have a single coin in cash."

Mr. Robert's 1730 account confirms this.2

It is certain that all those who have retired and established themselves in different places of Madagascar would be delighted to find this occasion to deliver themselves from the anxieties in which they currently live and to have the supplies that are necessary to them in leading a quieter life; for, with their opulence, they lack the greater part of their needs and are always in fear of being surprised by some hidden enemy.

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

I was able to find a website where legal provisions were written. However, it seems that these laws are not the latest version.

Does anyone have the latest information?

WWW VL African Archaeology : Madagascar, Ordonnance n°82-029 relative à la protection, la sauvegarde et la conservation du patrimoine national

 

[ISmellGold]

I wouldn't be surprised if something is there. The Question is where?
Looks like some redactions on the West Side ? The Islands off the West Coast look interesting.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

Looks like some redactions on the West Side ? The Islands off the West Coast look interesting.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Did something happen on the west side of the island? I checked the Google Map via the link, but it's not clear.

A lot of pirates lived on the west side of the island. Jane Hooper states/mentions the following:

During the late seventeenth century, an unknown number of pirates lived and operated on the west coast of Madagascar. . . .Some pirates sheltered under the protection of the Sakalava rulers on the west coast after the arrival of the English fleet. The Sakalava reportedly welcomed them as traders and translators. 45 When Drury visited western Madagascar, white men were a fixture in Sakalava courts and resident along the coastline. 46 Other observers noted during this period that there were "nine or ten white men who were under the king of Boarare [Baba?]."47 Some of the former pirates also reportedly stayed in the northwestern port of Boina in "a very handsome manner" and owned houses with pewter dishes as well as "many cattle and slaves."48...For European sailors, the pirate lifestyle was so appealing that many passing European captains complained of "fractious fellows" trying to flee inland at St. Augustin Bay and other ports, in hopes of a better life under the protection of Sakalava leaders.

(Jane Hooper Feeding Globalization: Madagascar and the Provisioning Trade, 1600–1800)

In 1722, a massacre against pirates occurred on the small island of Nosy Mamoko, on the west side of the main island.They were in possession of a large quantity of diamonds plundered from the Portuguese treasure ship, the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, but these fell into the hands of the indigenous people.

A certain Frenchman spoke of the incident as follows:

but later, these pirates accustomed to libertinage, without consideration for the kindnesses that the islanders had for them, had the effrontery to want to take their wives by force and to mistreat those who did not want to consent to their infamous inclination; the king of this province, piqued by such bad conduct, on the complaints that were made to him by his subjects, had forty of them slaughtered in punishment, all English, without doing any harm to the French because the latter were in another separate district, where they perhaps lived more wisely than the English⁵.

All the effects of those who were included in this punishment remained in the hands of the islanders; it is believed that, for little, they could be recovered, this not being to their use, being unable to string raw diamonds as they do with rassade beads, of which the author [Robert] is well informed by people who were on the scene at the time of this massacre, as well as approximately the quantity of diamonds that can be found there, among the number of which there are some of very considerable value: first, there is one said to weigh 64 carats, many between 30 and 40, between 20 and 30, between 10 and 20, and from 3 up to 10.

 

[ISmellGold]

Did something happen on the west side of the island? I checked the Google Map via the link, but it's not clear.

A lot of pirates lived on the west side of the island. Jane Hooper states/mentions the following:


In 1722, a massacre against pirates occurred on the small island of Nosy Mamoko, on the west side of the main island.They were in possession of a large quantity of diamonds plundered from the Portuguese treasure ship, the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, but these fell into the hands of the indigenous people.

A certain Frenchman spoke of the incident as follows:

Sea Turles a good sign, Turtle Soup was a big favorite amongs many ship captains.

Madagascar Destinations Guide - Nosy Mamoko

There are some lovely corners in Madagascar to explore: One of them is the small island of Nosy Mamoko

primemadaguide.com

Looks like a lot of deals were done in Diamonds back in the day.
Might be a few floating around in the sand or dirt

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I SMELL DIAMONDS

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

A letter written by the Governor of Réunion Island in 1724.1

Here is the full text of the letter.

"On the island of Madagascar there remain no more than about forty of those wretched, degraded men without a ship, who beg for their amnesty because they can no longer subsist, and who are dying in misery despite possessing large quantities of diamonds that are of no use to them in obtaining the necessities of life, for in fact they do not have a single penny in ready money. There were still about sixty of them at the beginning of this year, but eighteen or twenty separated in a boat of about twenty-five tons and came here to request their amnesty, and that of the others who had remained in Madagascar.

While most of their comrades were ashore here, those who had stayed on board shot their captain, named John Cleyton, an Englishman, at ten o’clock at night, with a pistol loaded with three bullets fired into his back, and at such close range that the wad set his shirt on fire. They immediately made off with the boat, but not before throwing into the water, in their small pirogue, five of the men—riddled with wounds they had received while trying to avenge their captain.

They managed to reach land with all the injuries they had, and since then we have heard nothing of them. Those who remained ashore as well as those who escaped have become entirely dependent on the colony, where their diamonds are not common merchandise, even though they have them in considerable quantities. I am sending to France, on the Company’s ship Royal-Philippe, almost all of those wretches with their wicked loot, gladly lightening this colony of that rabble, which possesses things far more useful to the State."


The following is an English translation by Baylus C. Brooks.

The Degradation of La Buse - 30 September 1724

ANOM COL C3 4 1-22 - 30 Sep 1724 Desforges Boucher 30 September 1724 M. Desforge a Boucher to Louis XV Only forty of these unfortunate degr...

bcbrooks.blogspot.com

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

Here an article I came across this morning.

Two Explorers Spent 16 Years Hunting a Legendary $138 Million Treasure. They Say They Just Found It.

In 1721, a pirate ambush sent a massive fortune to the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Did these archaeologists finally uncover the wreckage?

www.popularmechanics.com

It seems that the report was incorrect.

A-t-on retrouvé La Vierge du cap, ce navire portugais dérobé par La Buse en 1721 à Saint-Denis de La Réunion ?

En mai 2025, une équipe d’archéologues mènent des fouilles sur l’île de Sainte-Marie, un ancien repaire de pirates à Madagascar où La Buse est passé. Une épave a été mise en évidence qui pourrait ressembler à La Vierge du Cap.

la1ere.franceinfo.fr

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

From memory - the victory - was sunk at st Marie, source via depositions, due to not being seaworthy after its voyage back from coast of India, also mentioned, by concerns of abandoning ship midway

According to one theory, the Cabo sank off the northwestern coast of Madagascar.

On semble donc fondé à conclure que le navire portugais ex Vierge du Cap, après avoir touché au Cap St Sébastien, a pu, sans doute en faisant beaucoup d'eau et en pompant, venir s'échouer dans la baie d'Anpasindava, derrière l'île Mamoko. Il est vraisemblable qu'on trouvera là son épave. 1

On doit noter que l'extrême nord de Madagascar (et donc le Diego Suarez actuel), est noté "Terra incognita" à l'époque

Les recherches de l'épave de la Vierge du Cap dans la baie du Diego Suarez actuel sont sans fondement. 2

 

[Bocaj]

I am planning an expedition called "The Third Pirate Round" to Madagascar with a square rigged schooner.

Do you like to join?

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

Hello Bocaj

What are the specific goals for this expedition? Also, I’d like to know the schedule.

 

[Bocaj]

Hello Bocaj

What are the specific goals for this expedition? Also, I’d like to know the schedule.

In general if you join pirates it's a funny thing to ask for a schedule - Well we will find the treasure on Wed 11.11.26 🦜 🦜!

PM me for more specific information.

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

I was able to find a website where legal provisions were written. However, it seems that these laws are not the latest version.

Does anyone have the latest information?

WWW VL African Archaeology : Madagascar, Ordonnance n°82-029 relative à la protection, la sauvegarde et la conservation du patrimoine national

I am still seeking information.

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

I posted a new thread.↓

An essay on pirate treasure in Madagascar

I have written an essay suggesting that there is a high possibility that pirate treasures still lie dormant in Madagascar, using an analogy based on the "threat/emergency model" from history and archaeology. If you are interested, please take a look. I also look forward to your feedback...

www.treasurenet.com

 

[THE TRUE SEEKER]

There are documents indicating that Madagascar's pirates hid treasure.

I observed, at the time that the Salisbury lay at St. Mary's Island, the first Morning we were there, some hundreds of Canoos go from thence to Ranter-Bay; but who they had on board, we could not be sure, tho' some supposed they were full of White Men: But the Account we had of all the White Men there, both Dutch and English, was not near the Number there seem'd to be. It was more likely that these Canoos con-veyed away the Treasure which Plantain, Adair, and the Dane had concealed there, for fear of its being discover'd.


A pirate known as King Kelly and a Danish pirate worked together to hide treasure in the woods of Fort Dauphin.

He now was resolved to march for Port Dolphin, as much to replenish his Stores, as to be revenged on King Kelly; who, conjointly with the Dane, had conceal'd a great Hoard of Jewels and Money at Port-Dolphin, in an unfrequented Wood, which he was inform'd of by an Intimate of theirs, who alone they had intrusted with this Secret, and who had deserted to Plantain.

(Clement Downing (1737) A Compendious History of the Indian Wars)

Of course, the credibility of these records is uncertain, and I will not conduct any searches based on them.

Also, burying treasure in the ground to protect it from enemies was not unusual. Below is a document describing the response of the East India Company when it was attacked by René Duguay-Trouin. https://archive.org/details/diaryconsultatio1712madr/page/100/mode/2up

 

[Bocaj]

Hiding isn't the same as burying, in fact hiding is a temporally concealed storage while the later is more permanent. Most ground apart from sand beaches makes it quite a task to bury something in it. Also it leaves the ground visible disturbed in most cases. There is a probability that a someone will observe the digging.

Simply hiding the treasure behind some stones, woods, caves is more attractive. The burying idea comes from land where it is more common not from a seaman. I doesn't totally dismiss the idea but make it a rather rare occasion.

The only place I can really think of is inside the former houses.