t, assisted by some of the inhabitants, they also saved part of the
cargo including blocks of silver bullion, silver vessels and plate,
precious stones, brooches and chains of gold, cloth of Arras, tapestry,
satins, velvets, and four sets of armor for the king of Portugal.
According to Porson, no sooner had these treasures been carried to the
top of the cliffs than three local squires with sixty armed retainers
attacked the shipwrecked men and carried off the booty.

Modern treasure seekers disbelieve this document and prefer the
statement of one of the squires concerned, St. Aubyn by name, that they
rode to the place to give what help they could, but the cargo of
treasure could not be saved.

_Cape Vidal_. Coast of Zululand. Wreck of mysterious sailing vessel
_Dorothea_ said to have had a huge fortune in gold bricks cemented
under his floor, stolen gold from the mines of the Rand. In 1900, May
21st, an item in the Government Estimates of the Legislative Assembly
in the Natal Parliament was discussed under the heading, "Expenditure
in connection with buried gold at Cape Vidal, search for discovery,
L173 19s. 3d." "Mr. Evans asked if a syndicate had been formed and
what expectations the Government had to give. (Hear, hear.) The Prime
Minister said there were several syndicates formed to raise the
treasure. The government had reason to believe that they knew where
the treasure was hidden, and started an expedition on their own
account. But unfortunately they had not been able to find the
treasure. Mr. Evans: The Government was in for a bad spec.
(Laughter.) The item passed."

Space is given to the foregoing because it stamps with official
authority the story of the treasure of Cape Vidal. When a government
goes treasure hunting there must be something in it.

_Lake Guatavita_. Near Bogota. Republic of Colombia. The treasure of
El Dorado, the Gilded Man. To find this gold involves driving a tunnel
through the side of a mountain and draining the lake. This is such a
formidable undertaking that it will not appeal to the average treasure
seeker unless, perchance, he might pick up a second hand tunnel
somewhere at a bargain price. Even then, transportation from the sea
coast to Bogota is so difficult and costly that it would hardly be
practicable to saw the tunnel into sections and have it carried over
the mountains on mule-back.

THE END

End of Project Gutenberg's The Book of