Lost Treasures of the Caribbean. Found pirate treasures Comment by unholynite

The life of a pirate is unthinkable without the sea, a ship, battles, treasures, rum and women. The first four points in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag are given great attention, the rest is secondary: there is no time to party and drink, but you cannot change (Caroline is waiting on the banks of Kenway, to whom he promised to return rich and famous). Active privateering and treasure hunting will help the upstart pirate meet the two-year deadline and try to keep his promise. Treasures in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag- This is one of the ways to get rich quick. Raids on trade caravans also bring good profits, but are associated with great risk and danger. After some time, endless skirmishes become completely boring due to the monotony of actions; boarding ships becomes boring and does not seem anything more exciting. From now on, naval contracts, treasure hunts, guild assignments, and many other pleasant little things help relieve boredom. In Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag you will have to search for treasures using maps that are hidden in different parts of the Caribbean. Most often they can be found next to the remains of pirate adventurers on the sandy shores of islands or in secluded and inaccessible places ( icon with a red cross appears after visiting viewpoints in the selected location).

Found treasure maps contain clues: coordinates and schematic sketches of landmarks. You can be in the shoes of a treasure hunter at the very beginning of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, when before leaving Cape Bonavista - after the freeing of the merchant Steed Bonnet from the clutches of British soldiers - the corpse of an adventurer with a map in his hands is found on the sandy shore. A quick acquaintance will allow you to understand that the treasure is located in the nearest cave. When Edward gets close enough to the target, a golden glow, which will indicate the exact location of buried treasure. To dig it up, no tools are needed, everything is done automatically after pressing the [E] key. Eagle vision is now also no help, it is useless, because additional clues do not appear, this does not happen even in cases where the location of the treasure is already known. Moreover, buried chests cannot be found without maps- the “Dig” option simply will not appear. There is no need to rejoice ahead of time at the ease with which you will be able to find and dig up your first treasure chest. Subsequently, the maps lose their connection to the places where they were found. That is, you will need to look for treasures not on the island where the map was found, but on another.

The main thing is to use the information received correctly. The Caribbean map is divided into 64 sectors (8x8), which contain values ​​from 0 to 1000. Counting starts from the lower left corner. The coordinates prevent you from making a mistake in choosing a territory to start your search, since the numbers indicated in the tips are latitude (horizontal sectors) and longitude (vertical sectors). Simply put, if the hint, for example, indicates the value 307.195 (Mysterios Island), look for it in the third vertical column, starting from the left edge of the map. To obtain detailed information about the island, just hover over its icon. If the coordinate values ​​coincide, then the island where the treasure is buried has been found. All that remains is to find and dig up the treasure chest, checking with a picture from the prompt(keys and [F]). The treasure hunt can be postponed until later; after completing the main plot of the game, there will be enough time to explore the length and breadth of the Caribbean. You should not ignore fast travel points; they help you overcome huge expanses of water in the blink of an eye. Rewards for your efforts and patience serve money, and several achievements in the Uplay and STEAM systems.

The last three of the twenty-two treasures in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag are obtained using cards shipped from abroad. Fleet management and selection of tasks occurs through the navigation map in the captain's cabin on the Jackdaw (connection to Ubisoft servers is required). Pirated versions do not have this option. Coordinates of sea convoys and treasure maps can be purchased in taverns by paying the innkeeper 200 reais for the information.

Locations of treasure maps and buried chests in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag:

1. Cape Bonavista() - the map lies on a corpse near the shore, not far from the place where the soldiers mocked the merchant Steed Bonnet. You can dig up the treasure in a grotto under a cliff (no need to return to the jungle).
   • Reward: 1500R.
2. Havana() - the card lies on the corpse behind the cathedral, in the northern part of the city, next to the mixed goods store. The treasure is hidden on the southern sandy shore, where the city wall begins, separating the city from the jungle (between the wall and a curved palm tree).
   • Reward: drawing - figurehead from Queen Anne's Revenge, 3000R.
3. Abaco Island() - the map lies on a corpse near a palm tree on the shore in the southwestern part of the island (we visit it according to the plot). The clue shows the island of Salty Lagoon; the treasure is buried near a large boulder in the northwestern part of the island. There is no such treasure on Abaco Island, so you don’t have to look for it.
   • Reward: drawing - snake figurehead, 3000R.
4. Andreas Island() - the map lies on a corpse at the southern tip of the island (we visit it according to the plot). The buried chest is found among the palm trees on the island of Abaco, to the side of the stern of a Spanish ship of the line that ran aground. The ship appears later, after the development of the game's plot.
   • Reward: 4000R.
5. Salty Lagoon() - the map lies on a corpse off the northeastern coast of the island (we visit it according to the plot). The treasure is buried behind the mill on a cliff on the eastern side of New Bone Island. The island is guarded by a level 60 battleship.
   • Reward: 4000R.
6. Mayaguana Island() - the card lies on the corpse in the stone passage in the center of the island. The treasure is hidden on a small island between palm trees in the southwestern part of Andreas Island.
   • Reward: drawing - special harpoon, 3000R.
7. Great Inagua() - the card lies on a corpse in a cave at the northwestern tip of the island. The entrance to the cave is above the beach. You need to run along the trunks of several fallen trees without going deeper into the jungle. To see exactly where the path begins, we look up. The treasure chest is buried in Nassau, north of the estate on the hill. We go down the path (as shown in the hint), before reaching the swamp, turn left, to an area with a flat boulder and a fallen tree.
   • Reward: drawing - gray sails, 3000R.
8. Tortuga() - the map lies on a corpse off the northeastern coast of the island. The treasure is hidden in the jungle in the eastern part of Matanzas, in a niche between two Mayan stelae, which is reached by a path behind the warehouse.
   • Reward: drawing - special compartment for mortar cannonballs, 3000R.
9. Cumberland Bay() - the map lies on a corpse off the southeastern coast of the island, from where the Spanish battleship guarding the entrance to the harbor is clearly visible. The treasure is hidden in a clearing on Pinos Island, between the main pyramid with a viewpoint and a large tree.
   • Reward: drawing - Aquila helm, 3000R.
10. Anotto Bay() - the card lies on a corpse in the flooded mines. To go underwater you need a diving bell, which appears as the story progresses. To swim to the room, you need to use the air pockets marked on the map. They will help replenish your air supply. A staircase will help you get out of the mines, which will lead straight to the ship from the last room where the smugglers will gather. The buried treasure chest is located in Principe, on a hill behind two towers next to the stockade where the first group of hostages was held in the story mission and where Edward jumped from in an attempt to catch up with the Sage.
    • Reward: 4000R.
11. Petite Cavern() - the card lies on the corpse near the execution post in the western part of the grotto. Valuables are buried near an old tree on the coast of Tulum, near the southern viewpoint.
    • Reward: 4000R.
12. Il-a-Vash() - the card lies on a corpse at the northwestern tip of the island. The treasure is hidden near a palm tree in the smugglers' cave on Higuey, not far from the fire and the boat.
    • Reward: 4000R.
13. Providencia() - the map lies on a corpse in the northern part of the island on the way to get Wade (according to the plot in Chapter 8). The treasure is buried among the palm trees next to two huts opposite the northern viewpoint on Long Bay.
    • Reward: 4000R.
14. Misterios() - the card lies on a corpse on the middle level of the destroyed Mayan pyramid in the center of the island (according to the plot in chapter 10). The treasure chest is hidden between three wooden boxes next to a hull wreck, behind all the ships in the bay on the east side of Kingston.
    • Reward: drawing - ebony steering wheel, 3000R.
15. Santanilla() - the card lies on a corpse behind the broken bow of the ship in the northern part of the island (according to the plot in chapter 10). The treasure lies in the tunnels under San Juan. As soon as Kenway emerges from under the water, after an unexpected meeting with a moraine, and stumbles upon a couple of smugglers, we climb onto the wooden platform and take a step towards the exit near the ceiling, the inscription “Dig” will appear on the ground.
    • Reward: drawing - special incendiary shells, 3000R.
16. Corozal() - the card lies on a corpse near the fire on the northern side of the island. The jewelry is hidden in a niche in the corner to the left of the exit from the water tunnel with the jellyfish and up to the stairs to the temple with the smugglers, in the caves of Ambergris Key. For deep-sea diving you need a diving bell, which appears as the story progresses.
    • Reward: 4000R.
17. Ambergris Key() - the card lies on a corpse in a dead end, not far from the exit, on the upper level of the temple with smugglers. The wealth is hidden in a chest near the fountain behind the main Mayan temple, behind the viewpoint, in the temple complex on Mysterios.
    • Reward: drawing - special heavy cores, 3000R.
18. Cayman Bay() - the card lies on the corpse in the northern part of the island. The valuables are hidden on the site next to the fire on the opposite bank from the ship in Petite Cavern, in the southwestern part of the grotto.
    • Reward: drawing - compartment for special heavy cores, 3000R.
19. Pinos Island() - the card lies on a corpse under a fallen column in the temple complex in the northern part of the island. The treasure chest is located at the end of the shore before the last four palm trees in the northeastern part of Cayman Bay.
    • Reward: 4000R.
20. () - we send ships to complete the mission “Empty Cellars” in the Eastern Colonies of Britain through the captain’s cabin. The trade route opens after completing several tasks in the Southern Colonies of Britain and the Gulf of Mexico. The task completion time is 10 hours. If successful, the flotilla will bring with it a treasure map, which will indicate that the buried treasure is hidden on the sandy shore in the northern part of Cumberland Bay Island, just above and to the right of the only vantage point.
    • Reward: 4000R.
21. () - we send ships to complete the “Scarlet Fever” mission in Eastern Canada through the captain’s cabin. The task completion time is 16 hours. If successful, the flotilla will bring with them a treasure map that will indicate the location of a hidden treasure on the southern coast of Providencia, buried among the palm trees behind the wreck of the ship. If you use the viewpoint and immediately after fast moving look to the right, then the nearest island, with four palm trees near the water, will be exactly the place you are looking for.
    • Reward: drawing - special compartment for incendiary shells, 3000R.
22. () - we send ships to complete the task “Excellent Reputation II” in the Mediterranean Sea through the captain’s cabin. The task completion time is 24 hours. If successful, the flotilla will bring with them a treasure map that will reveal the location of the hidden treasure in the smugglers' lair in the flooded mines of Anotto Bay; in the same hall among the boxes in front of the stairs at the exit where the treasure map was found.
    • Reward: 4000R.

At the end of July, professional treasure hunters from 1715 Fleet found several hundred gold coins from sunken Spanish galleons off the coast of Florida. The total value of the treasure is about $4–5 million.

That same month, a treasure trove of gold coins was discovered near Florida. And in August, media reports appeared that a train containing Nazi gold that disappeared at the end of World War II could be found in Poland.

Treasure hunting has long been a business, but luck does not necessarily favor pragmatists. Treasures are often found alone, and quite by accident. RBC selected seven “precious” recent finds

“Treasure of the Naryshkins”

Price:€4 million

During the renovation of the Naryshkin-Trubetsky mansion in St. Petersburg at the address: st. Tchaikovsky, 29, workers discovered a cache containing over two thousand silver items, mostly table silver. The treasure took 40 boxes. The silver could have belonged to the captain of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, Sergei Sergeevich Somov.

Two paired candelabra were recognized as the most expensive items. Their cost at the end of 2013 was estimated at 2.2 million rubles.

The state had to pay 50% of the value of the contribution to the three owners of the building in which it was found.

"California Treasure"

Price:$10 million

When and where found: February 2013, northern California. The exact location is unknown.

The couple, who insisted on anonymity, said they discovered the treasure while walking their dog on land they owned. They noticed something metal in the ground and started digging. As a result, eight metal canisters were brought to light. They contained over 1,400 gold and silver coins from the late 19th century.

Soon after the discovery of the treasure, the media began to speculate that the couple would have to hand over what they had found to the US government. The fact is that at the beginning of the 20th century there was a theft from the San Francisco Mint. The stolen coins were similar in type to those found in Northern California, and under the laws of the United States, the government had the opportunity to insist on the return of the property stolen from it. The assumption was eventually found to be false.

"Anglo-Saxon treasure in Buckinghamshire"

Price:£1 million

The treasure of 5,251 coins was discovered by treasure hunter Paul Coleman. The coins turned out to be silver. They are dated from the end of the 10th to the beginning of the 11th century. The coins were minted during the reigns of kings Æthelred the Foolish (978–1013, 1014–1016) and Cnut the Great (1016–1035). The hoard is believed to be the largest collection of coins from the Anglo-Saxon period ever discovered in Great Britain.

The cache was found by Coleman by accident. He later recalled that he barely had enough money for the trip to Buckinghamshire - Coleman was unemployed at the time of the discovery of the treasure. He had to transfer £500 thousand to the owner of the land on which the treasure was located.

"Priceless" treasure on the Mediterranean coast of Israel

Price: Priceless

When and where was found: February 2015, National Park Caesarea, Israel.

In February 2015, a group of recreational divers discovered over 2,000 gold coins on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. At first they assumed that the coins were toy souvenirs, but quickly realized that they were mistaken. They notified the management of the diving club, which alerted the authorities about the discovery.

The coins belonged to various historical periods and were in circulation in the Fatimid Caliphate. Scientists have suggested that the coins were transported on a ship to Egypt, but the ship sank for unknown reasons. A spokeswoman for the Israel Antiquities Authority told AFP that the find was "priceless."

Slate later reported that the divers who found the treasure received nothing.

“Coins of the steamship “City of Cairo”

Price: about $50 million

When and where found: In 2011, the remains of the Cairo City steamship, which transported silver from Bombay to London, were located. The ship was sunk by a German submarine in 1942. By September 2013, the operation to extract part of the gold was completed. It became known about it in April 2015.

The "City of Cairo" was sunk 772 km south of the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. On board were silver coins that were supposed to be delivered from Bombay to Great Britain. For a long time it was believed that finding the remains of the ship was impossible, but in 2011 the British government hired Deep Ocean Search to search for it. The remains were located at a depth of 5150 meters - this is deeper than the remains of the Titanic (at a depth of 3700 m).

The successful search operation and recovery of “most” of the $50 million worth of silver became known in April 2015.

"Golden Solids of St. Albans"

Price:£100 thousand

When and where found: October 2012 near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK.

In October 2012, near the city of St. Albans in the British county of Hertfordshire, aspiring treasure hunter Wesley Carrington discovered 55 gold solidi immediately after purchasing his first metal detector. These are rare coins from the late Roman Empire. Carrington received £50 thousand. The rest went to the owner of the land where he was engaged in research. In May 2015, the coins were purchased by one of the St. Albans museums.

Piracy, despite all its dangers, has always remained a pretty good way to get rich quick. Many of the famous pirates, for example, Henry Morgan and, accumulated enough wealth to provide a comfortable life not only for themselves, but also for their descendants for several generations to come. For this reason, a large number of legends arose telling about countless pirate treasures that sea robbers hid by burying in the ground. In this material you will get acquainted with the most common legends about pirate treasures.

Treasures of Henry Morgan

• is one of the most successful and famous pirates of the Caribbean, who later also made a political career for himself. After the capture of Panama, Henry Morgan hid much of the loot, which, as legend has it, is still buried somewhere on the Isthmus of Panama.. The amount of hidden pirate treasure is estimated at millions of dollars.
• Another treasure myth involving this pirate tells of treasures buried on Cocos Island, estimated at more than $1,000,000,000! This legend is quite old and appeared during the life of the pirate. In the 19th century, more than 300 expedition groups were sent to the island, but the search for none of them was successful.
• Another legend tells about a pirate treasure in the Cayman Islands. The plausibility of this legend is difficult to believe, since it is based only on the fact that Morgan had his own home in the Caymans.
• After the successful capture of Portobello, Morgan began to prepare for his next operation; Cow Island was chosen as a stopping place. On his frigate, the pirate threw a feast for his crew, but in the midst of the fun there was an explosion that claimed the lives of almost the entire crew and took away the crew’s military treasury, which was stored on the ship. The captain and several other people survived, but the treasury sank forever, thereby giving another reason for the search for current treasure hunters.

The Myth of Pirate Treasure

As far as we can tell, only one pirate in history has ever buried his booty, and it happened under rather unusual circumstances. The privateer named was returning to New York, where he suspected he might be charged with piracy. He separated some of the loot and buried it on Long Island to provide a strong argument for future negotiations. But the option didn't work. Kidd was immediately thrown behind bars, the location of the treasure was snatched from him, and then he was sent in chains to England, where he was hanged for piracy.

In truth, the myth of pirate treasure first appeared in a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Written in 1881, this extremely popular novel chronicles the hunt for hidden pirate treasure. Although this story was a fiction from beginning to end, since then people believe that pirates regularly buried some of their loot, but they usually drank it all away. Or they lost in taverns. Or they spent everything on the “nice ladies” in the cities. Only a few had enough common sense to put gold in a bank or spend it on buying an amnesty or a title of nobility, and most spent everything as soon as they managed to get something.

Captain Kidd's Treasures

William Kidd was not one of the most successful pirates and gained his fame solely thanks to speculation about hidden treasures, the search for which continues to this day.

• The ballad "Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas" tells the story of 200 hidden gold bars. Treasure hunters searched for Kidd's pirate treasure on a number of different islands, but no one was able to find anything significant. Many spent fortunes in the hope of finding these supposed pirate riches.
• The only island where the pirate's buried treasure actually turned out to be was Gardiner Island. Kidd hid the treasure there shortly before appearing in court, at which the question of his involvement in piracy was raised. During interrogation, William Kidd split, and, trying to use every excuse for his salvation, he told about the hidden treasure. The authorities soon found the treasures and sent them to England. Kidd still did not escape a fatal fate and was hanged as a pirate, and the jewelry found proved the justice of the sentence as well as possible.
• There were many fake letters and maps in Kidd's name telling about the treasure. In 1951, using such fakes, fraudulent fundraising was carried out for an expedition to the Chinese Seas, where the treasures of William Kidd were allegedly located. It's funny, but Kidd Chinese seas never been, the scammers did not even bother to carefully study the biography and activities of the pirate.
• In 2015, off the coast of Madagascar, a

Comment from danielodland

OMG that was terribly annoying. As beforementioned, DO NOT DIE. When you get back there, the chest is gone, the item that summons the pirates is no longer usable and your map is gone, so you"d have to acquire it again. After all that running, swimming and dying. I"m NOT doing that quest again, that was not cool. I"m sure you think I"m a noob and a moron for even managing to die, but the fact of the matter is that I tried summoning the pirates 3-4 times because of what I read here. For me, the tips did not work because it was not possible to pull one without pulling all. THey did not split up like someone said. Maybe this is new. Maybe I'm a noob.

Comment from unholynite

a fair warning, bring all the highest and best stuff you can, like pets and gear. i got 8 lvl 45-47 pirates with my 42 pet out instead of 47 cause i just tamed it, so i got my *** kicked and went back (from the graveyard in the middle of tanaris) and got so @#$% ed cause the chest was gone, just a suggestion, if you cant heal yourself, bring a friend that can. gl hunting - surrounded by turtles 48-50 too.

Comment from yoda607

if you die when you try to kill those 5 pirates and you come back and the treasure is gone, just delete the key you needed for it from your key bag, then you can open that Inconspicuous Landmark again to retry killing those pirates.
If no one can help you with quest, just try to kill one of em then run away, and then kill another then run away till you have taken em all out, then you can open the chest.

Comment from Redoak

Ok, On all my chars I struggled @ L40-42 with this........BUT , I finally rolled a NE Rogue(L.42 & Combat), and I must say this ques was really easy.
Treasure site @ 55:92 in Tenaris
What I did:
waited for all my Cd"s to be ready.
Ok be sure to click on stealth as soon as you have clicked the flag, walk backwards as the 5 pirates will be storming from the sea.I then distracted the bunch to face the ocean. sap one closest to me choose one other, cheapshot, and use normar rotation, but also activate your blade flurry & evation.
As soon as 1st Pirate is dead LOOT dont try to be Superman, your wearing Leather!
Anyway, immediatly after you looted the key use Vanish and walk back wards.........eat/bandage!
Stealth.
Distract all again to face ocean, hand in quest and and do shadowmeld (Horde can just wait for their vanish to cd or just die after getting the reward) what ever you choose. Just a reminder that your hp will need to be full as they will be pounding away at you while handing the quest in!

Hope this help all the rogues who find this quest hard.

According to the US Hydrographic Survey, over the past hundred years, an average of 2,172 merchant marine vessels perish in the world every year. And these are only the recorded losses. From 1500, when the Europeans, especially the Spaniards, began the robbery of the New World, until the middle of this century, that is, in 450 years, the world's civilian fleet lost almost a million ships. Portugal alone, and in the 16th century alone, lost sea cargo worth $124 million. If we add to this the cost of the lost ships themselves, the amount of losses will increase to an astronomical figure.

And these are only the ships whose fate is known and reflected in documents. How many unknown tragedies does the World Ocean hold? It is believed that for every known and recorded case of a ship sinking, there are hundreds of unknown ones. The nautical charts of the British Admiralty reflect the death of almost 1,600 ships that sank in the English Channel, and almost 6.5 thousand that died off the coasts British Isles. Summarizing the Admiralty data on lost merchant ships and their cargo, we can conclude that almost 20 percent of all gold and silver mined on Earth was lost in maritime disasters.

And here is the data for the Great American Lakes: from 1679 to 1951, 7,167 ships sank here carrying copper, iron, lead, timber, coal, flour, grain, oil and cash.

So, at the bottom of the oceans, seas and lakes lie enormous wealth, and half of it can be brought to the surface with the help of modern underwater technology. This means that the search for sunken treasures should be considered not just a business, but a Business with a capital B, very attractive for both professionals and amateurs. A legitimate question: why, in this case, the search and extraction of sunken treasures is not put on a broad state basis, with the involvement of experienced professionals?

Actually this is not true. In the UK, France, Italy and the USA, various agencies are involved in salvaging lost cargo, mostly sunken during the Second World War. In the listed European countries corresponding programs began to be developed immediately after the end of the war and are still being implemented. As for the USA, the special department of the Ministry of the Interior does not have sufficient personnel and equipment for such work and is forced to limit itself to projects involving minimum costs with the high value of sunken cargo. At the same time, the government seems to encourage the search and extraction of underwater treasures by private entrepreneurs.

In fact, professional treasure hunters rarely take on large projects due to the usual bureaucratic red tape in such cases. It is easier and more profitable for them to do small work, of which there is no shortage, and not be bound by official contracts.

The work of an underwater treasure hunter is difficult and dangerous, and a true professional will take on a specific task only with good views for return. Everything is taken into account, including the weather conditions: after all, the submariner’s equipment is very expensive and a delay due to weather conditions can deprive the entrepreneur of all hopes of profit.

Every business, every project provides the underwater treasure hunter with a new option, adding to his professional experience. Factors such as geographical and topographical changes in the seabed, caused, for example, by tectonic factors, in turn change the direction of currents, tides. As a result, the wreck may be completely buried, hidden by bottom materials, or moved to another location. The movement of the vessel at the bottom can create other obstacles: severe deformation of the hull, which will not allow the researcher to penetrate inside.

South Florida is a popular area for underwater treasure seekers. The search technique is simple: cruise along the coastal shallows and try to find signs of sunken ships. And the surest sign is an accumulation of large stones, the remains of ship ballast. Such stones can be clearly visible in water to a depth of 16 - 18 meters. Most shipwrecks off the coast of Florida are found at a depth of 12 - 15 meters, usually on reefs or shoals. Thus, a 44-gun British frigate that disappeared in 1744 was recently found.

One of the local treasure hunters, a certain Art McKee, is famous for finding several bars of pure silver weighing more than 3 kg each. In addition, he is the owner of many other “seafood” exhibited in his own museum. Most of the exhibits are all kinds of items from Spanish galleons that became victims of hurricanes. The remains of these galleons litter the seabed of the Florida Straits - from the east coast of the peninsula to the Bahamas.

The huge galleon Santa Rosa, sailing to Havana from the port of Veracruz (Mexico), sank near Key West (the western tip of the long, narrow Florida Keys, south of the Florida Peninsula) with a cargo of gold and silver bars and other treasures for the amount of 30 million dollars. Today it was discovered by divers Navy USA south of Key Uzsta, in an area closed to the public.

A preliminary examination of the sunken ship showed that its hull appears to be intact, despite the fact that the galleon has been resting at the bottom for hundreds of years. Naturally, it was heavily overgrown with corals and shellfish. Once the area is discovered, divers intend to recover the treasure.

The first to find treasures in the Caribbean was the 17th century pirate, famous for his atrocities, François Olone, the menace of the Spaniards, the leader of the Tortuga pirates. During his famous raid on Maracaibo (Venezuela), Ohlone heard about $300,000 worth of treasure hidden on one of the neighboring islands. Having finished with Maracaibo, Ohlone went to this island with his thugs. History testifies that Ohlone actually found treasures there, but is silent about their exact location and the name of the island.

Bartholomew the Portuguese

Another equally famous pirate of the Caribbean, Bartholomew the Portuguese, left a Spanish galleon with a cargo of gold and silver worth half a million dollars at the bottom off the coast of Cuba. This story is like this. One day, the Portuguese was sailing on a small bark off the western coast of Cuba and, going around Cape Corrientes, unexpectedly met a large Spanish galleon. Despite the inequality of forces - the barge had 40 people and 4 cannons, the galleon had 70 and 20, respectively - the pirates attacked the Spaniards, but their first attack was repulsed. On the second attempt, the galleon was captured and the pirates took it west. However, almost immediately they came across three other Spanish ships.

This time the battle was short-lived: the Spaniards captured the pirates, whose leader was among the prisoners. The recent booty of the pirates - 70 thousand piastres and 120 thousand bags of cocoa - again became the property of the previous owners, and the Spaniards on four galleons, with captured pirates on board, headed to Campeche (Mexico, West Coast Yucatan Peninsula). Local merchants, having learned about the prisoners, wanted to immediately hang the Portuguese, but the execution was postponed until the next morning. While the gallows were being built in the city, the Portuguese managed to escape from the galleon. Under cover of darkness, he passed the city and disappeared. He spent two weeks almost without food or drink, until 40 miles from Campeche he came across a gang of pirates he knew who had landed on the shore in search of water. The Portuguese told them his story, not forgetting, of course, to mention the attractive goods on board the Spanish galleons. After this, it was not difficult for him to assemble a suitable team: twenty pirates, led by the Portuguese, went to Campeche in small boats.

Having penetrated the bay at night, the pirates captured the largest of the galleons and, without waiting for the morning, sailed on it to the open sea. The Portuguese returned to Cuba, where he was caught in a storm. The galleon died on the rocks near southern shores islands, the Portuguese himself with several pirates managed to reach the shore. For the second time, the Portuguese lost a huge booty, which to this day lies near the cliffs of Jardine Rocks. No one has ever tried to get the treasures of this galleon - gold and silver bars and coins, valued at $2 million.

Bartholomew the Portuguese appears on the historical stage two years after the events described. He is again in the same area, off the island of Pinos, south of Cuba, on board another Spanish galleon. This time his production is 12 tons of silver bars. But again a storm destroys the ship - on the rocks at the eastern tip of the island of Pinos, where it still lies with an untouched cargo of pure silver.

The story of another Spanish galleon, the Santa Paula, has captivated the imagination of treasure hunters for many years. The galleon left Havana on the morning of August 12, 1679 and headed for the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands). The list of passengers included Spanish grandees, officials and other important people, including the governor's sister Canary Islands. In the holds of the galleon, in addition to other valuables, there was also “living goods” - black slaves. The voyage had barely begun - the galleon was passing three miles from the southeastern tip of the island of Pinos (modern Cape Punta del Este) - when the captain was informed that some strange sounds were coming from the hold. Captain Fernandez himself went down into the hold and witnessed a terrible picture: in the bottom of the ship there was a hole, cut by one of the slaves, a kind of black Hercules, and the hold was rapidly filling with water. The captain rushed on deck and changed course, steering the ship towards Punta del Este in the hope of reaching shore before the galleon sank.

But the Santa Paula only managed to reach the reefs at the southeastern tip of the island and began to capsize. The crew and passengers barely had time to leave the dying galleon on boats, which sank to the bottom just before the reef barrier. Of course, all the cargo remained on board, only the ship's log was saved. This journal was subsequently sent to the Admiralty archives, where it was discovered. According to the registry, the Santa Paula was carrying cargo worth $3.5 million: gold and silver bars, coins, etc., as well as a box of emeralds belonging to the sister of the governor of the Canary Islands.
The only person who has seen the Santa Paula since then is the famous submarine explorer Lieutenant Harry Risberg. In the hold of the galleon, he found chests with coins worth 65 thousand dollars. Lieutenant Risberg discovered the Santa Paula on an underwater rock ledge, at a depth of more than 50 meters, with south side reef extending east of Puntadella Este.

However, perhaps it was not only Lieutenant Risberg who saw the sunken Santa Paula. Once upon a time, a man who had considerable experience in underwater research in the Caribbean came into the office of the President of the Association of Underwater Treasure Hunters (Florida, USA), F. Coffman. He said that he discovered a sunken ship near the island of Pinos, at a depth of about 50 meters. The ship apparently sank a long time ago: there was no bulwark, access to the hold was free. With a visibility of about 30 meters, this researcher was able to see that along the entire hold there were small chests placed tightly together. All of them were heavily covered with silt and sand, but the narrator had no doubt that these were chests. Without any special means for removing the chests, he left the place of his discovery, hoping to return here with the appropriate equipment. This territory belongs to Cuba. After repeated discussions of the project with Cuban officials, this submariner did not dare to continue the business: it was clear that the Cubans were trying to extract from him the necessary information in order to lift the treasure themselves.

F. Coffman, a very experienced expert in such matters, does not reject the possibility that the found ship is the Santa Paula.

From the 16th century to the 40s of the 19th century, the Caribbean Sea was the scene of vigorous and fruitful activity of corsairs and pirates of all stripes, hunting for Spanish ships transporting wealth from Mexico and South America through Havana to Madrid. Such famous pirates as Ohlone, Morgan, Montbars, Basiliano, Scott, Davis, Bonet, Rogers, Gasparilla, Teach (Blackbeard), Kidd, Payne, Bonnett and many others of a smaller caliber operated here.

In this area lie on the seabed the remains of many thousands of ships of Spain's "silver fleet", destroyed by severe storms and hurricanes, treacherous reefs and villainous pirates. The island of Tortuga, off the northwestern coast of Haiti, is literally surrounded by a ring of sunken ships: hundreds of galleons, frigates, sloops, barques and others that perished on their way to Spain carrying gold and silver from the New World. Two hundred miles northeast of Tortuga is Banca Silver (Silver), where the ships of the Spanish “silver fleet” with cargo worth a total of $21 million were lost in the mid-17th century.

Off the eastern coast of Haiti, near Cape Entaño, lie at the bottom the remains of the Spanish ship "Golden Hind", which was caught in a hurricane on July 4, 1502. The ship was carrying gold, silver and precious stones worth $5 million to the King of Spain, which the governor of Hispaniola (as the island of Haiti was then called), Bobadilla, “privatized” from the natives. Great depth And strong currents make it very problematic to get these treasures, among which we should especially highlight a table made of pure gold - a personal gift from Bobadilla to the King of Spain.

Some details about the Silver Bank treasures. Every year, the Spanish fleet, before sailing to Spain, gathered in Puerto Plata (north coast of Haiti) with a cargo of treasures from the New World. One flotilla (it was called the Galleon) "worked" along the coast of New Castile (Peru, Chile, Colombia, Panama), the second - "Flora" - cruised the Caribbean Sea, collecting tribute in Central America. Loaded with booty, the two fleets met in Havana and then headed to Puerto Plata before the 4,000-mile journey across the ocean.

On a November morning in 1643, the Spanish fleet was leaving Puerto Plata. The fleet was led by the admiral's ship La Santissima Trinidad. Knowing that large reef shoals are located in a chain along north coast The Hispaniola sailors headed north, into the strait between the Muschoir and Silver banks. The wind was favorable, but suddenly it died down, and then blew from the northwest, gradually intensifying. Soon a real hurricane was already raging in the strait, the entire fleet was inevitably carried to the reefs of the bank, now called Silver. One after another, the ships of the “silver fleet” perished, and only the admiral’s ship managed to bypass the deadly obstacles.

A few days later, in a pitiful condition, he managed to return to Puerto Plateau, bringing the sad news of the death of the fleet with a cargo of 21 million dollars. Forty years later, part of the cargo, worth $1.5 million, was recovered, and already in this century, Lieutenant Risberg mapped the location of the sunken ships. Old documents of the British Admiralty testify: "... the bank consists of two large reefs and many shoals; the distance between the North and South reefs is about 7 leagues. The Spanish fleet lies almost in the middle of the North Reef, the length of which is 7 leagues, the width is 0.5 leagues."

Most of the remains of Spanish ships are found at depths of 15 to 30 meters; one ship lies at a depth of 36 meters, another - 60 meters. The entire fleet consisted of 16 ships, which means fifteen sank. Near Crooked Island, north of the eastern tip of Cuba, lies another large Spanish galleon, which sank in 1668.