difference.”
“Well, I can’t wait.” Keiko jumped back out of bed and went to her suitcase. She took out a map of the area and spread it out. "We really need to tour these islands over here. The one south of Cocos, Caño, and this little one over here. If we can match which one resembles our map the most, it could be the key to finding it.”
Keiko brought a copy of the treasure map back to bed to show Julian.
“The names back in 1818 would not have necessarily have been the same. Since the name was written over and changed from Cocos to Caño, there’s a chance it’s not that one either, but one of these two. See the reference here to sharks?”
Keiko pointed to an area on the map, “Why make a big deal out of sharks when all the islands obviously have them swimming around?”
Julian shrugged, took a sip of his coffee, then spoke, “Sharks like reefs. Maybe one of the islands has more barrier reefs or the right conditions to act as nurseries. Or maybe they migrate here, and after a long ocean swim it’s dinner time. Time to chow down. Maybe the sailors noticed. Reefs are very damaging to the underside of boats and can sink them. Between sharks and reefs, this island may have been too dangerous to approach.”
“What else do we have to go on?” Julian asked.
Keiko spread out the different copies “I've taken different magnification levels of the map. Plus, I've noted what’s left of the historical record, which frankly is mainly folklore, so it may not be accurate at all.” Keiko shuffled her papers and handed one to Julian.
“As far as Captain Bennett Graham is concerned, we only know he was ordered in 1817 by the Prince-Regent George IV on behalf of his father King George III, to take the Devonshire to do a coastal survey of Costa Rica.” Keiko pointed to another paper and pulled it forward.
“Now I have been able to track the ship. There have been eight HMS Devonshires. This one, his ship, was built in 1812 and launched in September of that year. It was built at the Deptford Royal Navy shipyard. It was one of forty Vengeur class ships commonly referred to as the forty thieves. The Devonshire could hold up to three hundred sailors, and had seventy -four guns. It was a great warship. However, after its launch, the data gets kind of fuzzy. Folklore seems to be the mainstay of the rest of the tale. I found dozens of conflicting stories, with no solid proof of any of them.”
Julian picked up one of the pictures.
Keiko continued, “The most common thread running through the stories is that somewhere between 1817 and 1827, Captain Bennett turned into a rogue pirate. He captured a ship from Spain loaded with gold and silver bullion treasure that he then buried on Cocos, which may or may not be the correct name of the island. The other name I've discovered on the map by using magnification is Caño.”
Julian nodded while listening, sipping his coffee, and reading her notes at the same time.
“It looks like he scratched off the tags on the ‘a’ and the right side of the ‘n’, changing them into an ‘o’ and a ‘c’ respectively.”
Julian interjected, “So he changed the name from Caño to Cocos. Either he named it wrong to begin with, and with his skills that is highly unlikely, or later for some reason he changed it to Cocos to keep the treasure from possibly falling into the wrong hands.”
“Yes.”
Julian spoke up, “Can you grab me a Coke out of the fridge? I love you but I really can’t handle more than a half cup of coffee in the morning. It brings back bad memories of the swill they served over in Iraq.”
Keiko bent over and kissed him, “I’m sorry. I’ll grab you one.” She took his mug, set it on the counter, reached in the small fridge, and brought back his soda.”
Julian picked up one of her notes and read, “Supposedly he was caught sometime after 1827. He was hung for his crime along with several of his crew. The rest were shipped off to a penal colony on
“Well, I can’t wait.” Keiko jumped back out of bed and went to her suitcase. She took out a map of the area and spread it out. "We really need to tour these islands over here. The one south of Cocos, Caño, and this little one over here. If we can match which one resembles our map the most, it could be the key to finding it.”
Keiko brought a copy of the treasure map back to bed to show Julian.
“The names back in 1818 would not have necessarily have been the same. Since the name was written over and changed from Cocos to Caño, there’s a chance it’s not that one either, but one of these two. See the reference here to sharks?”
Keiko pointed to an area on the map, “Why make a big deal out of sharks when all the islands obviously have them swimming around?”
Julian shrugged, took a sip of his coffee, then spoke, “Sharks like reefs. Maybe one of the islands has more barrier reefs or the right conditions to act as nurseries. Or maybe they migrate here, and after a long ocean swim it’s dinner time. Time to chow down. Maybe the sailors noticed. Reefs are very damaging to the underside of boats and can sink them. Between sharks and reefs, this island may have been too dangerous to approach.”
“What else do we have to go on?” Julian asked.
Keiko spread out the different copies “I've taken different magnification levels of the map. Plus, I've noted what’s left of the historical record, which frankly is mainly folklore, so it may not be accurate at all.” Keiko shuffled her papers and handed one to Julian.
“As far as Captain Bennett Graham is concerned, we only know he was ordered in 1817 by the Prince-Regent George IV on behalf of his father King George III, to take the Devonshire to do a coastal survey of Costa Rica.” Keiko pointed to another paper and pulled it forward.
“Now I have been able to track the ship. There have been eight HMS Devonshires. This one, his ship, was built in 1812 and launched in September of that year. It was built at the Deptford Royal Navy shipyard. It was one of forty Vengeur class ships commonly referred to as the forty thieves. The Devonshire could hold up to three hundred sailors, and had seventy -four guns. It was a great warship. However, after its launch, the data gets kind of fuzzy. Folklore seems to be the mainstay of the rest of the tale. I found dozens of conflicting stories, with no solid proof of any of them.”
Julian picked up one of the pictures.
Keiko continued, “The most common thread running through the stories is that somewhere between 1817 and 1827, Captain Bennett turned into a rogue pirate. He captured a ship from Spain loaded with gold and silver bullion treasure that he then buried on Cocos, which may or may not be the correct name of the island. The other name I've discovered on the map by using magnification is Caño.”
Julian nodded while listening, sipping his coffee, and reading her notes at the same time.
“It looks like he scratched off the tags on the ‘a’ and the right side of the ‘n’, changing them into an ‘o’ and a ‘c’ respectively.”
Julian interjected, “So he changed the name from Caño to Cocos. Either he named it wrong to begin with, and with his skills that is highly unlikely, or later for some reason he changed it to Cocos to keep the treasure from possibly falling into the wrong hands.”
“Yes.”
Julian spoke up, “Can you grab me a Coke out of the fridge? I love you but I really can’t handle more than a half cup of coffee in the morning. It brings back bad memories of the swill they served over in Iraq.”
Keiko bent over and kissed him, “I’m sorry. I’ll grab you one.” She took his mug, set it on the counter, reached in the small fridge, and brought back his soda.”
Julian picked up one of her notes and read, “Supposedly he was caught sometime after 1827. He was hung for his crime along with several of his crew. The rest were shipped off to a penal colony on
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