s land-crabs and foul and cruel sea birds."

An ideal place, this, for pirates to bury treasure, you will agree, and
good for nothing else under Heaven. The South Atlantic Directory, the
shipmaster's guide, states that "the surf is often incredibly great,
and has been seen to break over a bluff which is two hundred feet
high." Trinidad was first visited by Halley, the astronomer, after
whom the famous comet was named, who called there in 1700 when he was a
captain in the Royal Navy. Captain Amos Delano, the Yankee pioneer in
the Far Eastern trade, made a call in 1803, prompted by curiosity, but
as a rule mariners have given the island a wide berth, now and then
touching there when in need of water or fresh meat in the shape of
turtles.

At one time the Portuguese attempted to found a settlement on Trinidad,
probably before the forests had been killed by some kind of volcanic
upheaval. The ruins of their stone huts are still to be seen as humble
memorials of a great race of explorers and colonists in the golden age
of that nation.

With tremendous exertion, the party from the _Alerte_ was landed with
its tools and stores, and headquarters established close to the ravine
which was believed to be the hiding-place of the treasure as indicated
by the chart and information of the Finn quartermaster with the scar
across his cheek. It was found that there had been no actual
landslide, but the ravine was choked with large bowlders which at
various times had fallen from the cliffs above. These were packed
together by the red earth silting and washing during the rainy season
when the ravines were flooded.

Along the whole of the windward coast were found innumerable fragments
of wreckage, spars, timbers, barrels. From the position of the island,
in the belt of the southeast trade winds, many derelict vessels must
have been driven ashore. Some of this immense accumulation of stuff
may have lain there for centuries, or ever since vessels first doubled
the Cape of Good Hope. Here and there were the gaunt rows of ribs to
show where a ship had been stranded bodily, and doubtless much valuable
property in silver and gold, in bars, ingots, and doubloons, lies
buried in the shattered hulks of these old Dutch East Indiamen, and
galleons from Peru.

As particular landmarks near the ravine, the pirate had mentioned three
cairns which he and his comrades had heaped up. Sure enough, the
previous treasure seekers of the _Aurea_