Thanks csvset. Interesting find off Madagascarrrrrrrrrr.
Posted on 05/07/2015 7:27:16 AM PDT by csvset
Underwater explorers in Madagascar say they have found what is thought to be the treasure of notorious Scottish pirate William Kidd.
Soldiers on Sainte Marie island have been guarding the 50kg silver bar after divers brought it to shore. Madagascar's president as well as UK and US diplomats received the suspected treasure at a ceremony on the island. Capt Kidd was executed in 1701 for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Talk Like A Pirate Day coming this September 19th!
Arrrgh!
Oh no it is not! It is my treasure I lost it while on vacation. Mine, Mine, mine!
I thought is was buried on Oak Island - guess I can stop watching ...
50 kg = 1786 ounces which is a fairly decent chunk of change.
As far as I know, William Kidd was not related to his American near-namesake, Billy the Kid.
Little over $29,000.
They are going to need some real solid verification for this claim. The area they found it in is notorious for shipwrecks, because it was right along the “India passage” used by Portuguese sailors for centuries. They would try to navigate through the center of the Mozambique channel, while keeping Madagascar in view, so they would not get too close to the dangerous waters near the African coast, but if they strayed too close to Madagascar, they would run aground on the reefs.
Eventually, the Portuguese made their ships start going around Madagascar because that channel was so dangerous.
Capt Kidd was not a pirate he was a privateer operating under the authority of the King of England to harass and attack French shipping and confiscate it. He was basically a pirate for the crown. That is until he attacked a ship that was under a French flag that was actually captained by a British Citizen with ‘connections’.
At that point he was branded a pirate returned to England, tried , convicted and hung. He was actually hung more than once and then put on display as a ‘warning’ to others against piracy. The true warning was that the King would hang your ass if you crossed one of his friends or benefactors. Kind of like Bill and Hillary.
Thanks for that info.
Thanks csvset. Interesting find off Madagascarrrrrrrrrr.
Kidd's trial was a real farce. He spent years trying to get his papers (while in prison). When he finally did, just before the trial, the most important papers were missing.
In pre-trial, still requesting the papers in order to prove his innocence, he was told that those papers would need to wait as evidence brought up during the trial, so he plead not-guilty so it could proceed to trial.
When the trial came he still hadn't received the papers that would prove his innocence (yet implicate the King IIRC). When the judge asked him for proof, Kidd said he was still waiting on the papers.
The judge told him he had had over two years to get his affairs in order and he should have mentioned it earlier. It was too late now. Guilty.
So cool!
Oh, you beat me to it. No more mystery surrounding the sinkhole on Oak Island.
50 kg = 1,607 troy oz; $25-30,000
The money quote:
“Capt Kidd was captured and brought back to London. He was found guilt of piracy and the murder of one of his crewmen during a row in 1697, and sentenced to death.
During his execution in Wapping in 1701, the first rope put around his neck broke, so he was strung up a second time. That rope also snapped, but the third one held.
Afterwards, his body was dipped in tar and hung by chains along the River Thames to serve as a warning to would-be pirates.”
And not a particularly competent one. Doubtful if he amassed much treasure.
TV documentary on Pirate Treasure off Madagascar on cable today on one of the History channels or maybe the Smithsonian.
They were diving on a wreck they hoped was the Fiery Dragon from the early 1700s. They had found some Chinese pottery and a few gold coins when it closed.
I don’t know if this was the wreck from the story on this post.
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