Who said that he did? The stone marker on Gardiner's says: "Capt Kidd's treasure was bur-ied in this hollow and recovered 1699". How do you know that some of Kidd's men, or John Gardiner himself did not bury it? ..You don't. And why is it such an "Aha" subject for you? Kidd never (to my knowledge) said that he buried any treasure.
History operates in terms of degrees of evidential confidence rather than absolute certainty. The cumulative evidential silence in John Gardiner's sworn deposition, Kidd's own subsequent testimony, and Lord Bellomont's correspondence concerning the recovery of the treasure Kidd had entrusted to Gardiner provides historical proof that this treasure was not buried (by "proof" I mean very high confidence not certainty). If the treasure had been buried and dug up, one would reasonably expect some reference to its burial, concealment or excavation in at least one of these historical sources. Yet none contains such a reference. Instead, they consistently describe the property as having been left with Gardiner, kept by him, brought away and delivered to the authorities. In that evidential context, the cumulative silence concerning any burial is itself probative and strongly supports the conclusion that the treasure was never buried. Gardiner brought the treasure (Kidd gave him) to Boston, where the authorities received and inventoried it. Throughout these documents concerning the inventory, the language used is consistently that of custody and transfer: the property was “left,” “kept,” “delivered,” “brought away” and “seized.” There is no reference (not in the slightest) to the property having being “buried,” “concealed,” “dug up” or “excavated.” So aside from the cumulative evidential silence, the wording of the documents describes a chain of custody/recovery that is inconsistent with the idea the recovered treasure had ever been buried.
He wrote: "I have lodged goods and Treasure to the value of one hundred thousand pounds..". The only hint that Kidd may have buried some of his treasure is written on the Yunnan Parchment: "Ator Near 2 ft͟ Deep..". Which is a logical assumption, as leaving treasure sitting uncovered and unprotected in a cave would not be very secure.
You have to put that sentence in context of other
sources that make clear he meant the
Quedagh Merchant (
Adventure Prize):
| Date | Valuation | Source/context |
|---|
| 19 June 1699 | £30,000 | Emmot reporting what Kidd had told Bellomont |
| 26 July 1699 | £30,000+ | Bellomont repeating Emmot's account |
| 5 Jan. 1700 | £50,000–£60,000 | Kidd's later valuation |
| 12 May 1701 | £100,000 | Kidd's letter to Robert Harley |
These can be read
here. It seems obvious that the changing numbers were a deliberate bargaining tactic by Kidd. He used the hidden
Quedagh Merchant as leverage to avoid prison and the gallows; as his situation grew more desperate, he continuously inflated the value of the ship's cargo to tempt the authorities into sparing his life so he could guide them to it.
Summary:
- 19 June 1699 (£30,000): Kidd was trying to negotiate a safe return with his backer, Richard Coote, the Earl of Bellomont. At this stage, he estimated the cargo at £30,000. Lord Bellomont referenced this £30,000 figure in his 26 July 1699, dispatch to the Council of Trade and Plantations in London, after having Kidd arrested on 6 July 1699.
- 5 January 1700 (£50,000–£60,000): By this point, Kidd had been in a Boston jail for months and was about to be shipped back to London in chains aboard the HMS Advice. To delay his deportation and try to secure his release, he doubled the promised value of the goods and treasure from £30,000 to up to £60,000.
- 12 May 1701 (£100,000): Kidd had been tried, convicted of murder and piracy, and sentenced to hang. On May 12, 1701, 11 days before his execution, Kidd wrote a final letter to Robert Harley, the Speaker of the House of Commons now claiming that the treasure was worth £100,000.
The reality is there was no lodged treasure since reliable reports reached Bellomont that the ship had been emptied and burned. As I said above, if you want to find an actual buried/hidden treasure with clues (and maps), try to solve an armchair treasure hunt where you know there is an actual buried/hidden treasure or prize.
