treasure, and that was the
principal reason why I traveled in that direction, and thus found myself
in the savage-inhabited part of the island."

"Fifteen leagues? How far would that be?"

"Forty-five miles."

Nothing more was needed as a stimulus for the boys. They had truly been
thrown on an island of wonder.

"Why is it," asked Ralph, "that so much of the treasure of the world was
hidden in these out-of-the-way places by the pirates?"

"I imagine," replied John, "that they didn't have much confidence in the
rest of the world. The manner in which they got most of the money was by
acts of piracy on the high seas, and it was necessary to hide the
proceeds of the robberies as fast as acquired, because if they should be
captured, its possession would at once seal their doom. These hidden
treasures are distributed over every part of the world. As to the other
part of your question, the vast hoards of gold and silver so
distributed, formed a very small part of the wealth of the old world. It
is not known how vast a sum Pizarro took from the Inca in Peru, but it
is estimated variously at from twelve to twenty tons."

The boys opened their eyes in astonishment.

"How much would that be worth in money?"

"Counting it at the present value of gold, every pennyweight would be
worth a dollar."

"Let me see; twenty pennyweights in an ounce, and twelve ounces in a
pound; that would be two hundred and forty dollars in a pound."

"That is right."

"And then twenty tons would be 40,000 pounds. And multiplying that by
240 would make $9,600,000. My, what a lot of money!"

"Cortez, at about the same time, conquered Mexico, and secured a much
greater amount. All over the western hemisphere, from northern Mexico
down to Peru, untold millions of gold and silver were looted by the
Spanish and Portuguese navigators, and taken to Europe, and it is
estimated that as much more was disposed of in these hidden recesses,
and those who deposited them were swept off the seas, and all knowledge
of the caches were lost."

"During what times was most of this money deposited?"

"The pirates which infested the coasts of Spanish America and the West
Indies, flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Originally the French and English during the wars against Spain used the
expedition against her ships, as acts of war, but later on, after peace
was established in Europe, the buccaneers continued in their
depredations, and it was