InfoAnda - Seychellois man's Herculean pirate treasure hunt

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Thai opposition leader becomes prime minister | 15 December 2008
Spain says no resistance in euro zone to an aid request | | 12 October 2012
SKorean court clears ex-officials over bank deal | 29 December 2009

Emmy Awards get boost from Neil Patrick Harris | 21 September 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Seychellois man's Herculean pirate treasure hunt

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Asia Pacific World Seychellois man's Herculean pirate treasure hunt AFP - Thursday, December 10 Send IM Story Print Seychellois history teacher John Cruise-Wilkins stands near a rock just yards from his beachfront home where the ebbing turquoise sea laps at a keyhole-shaped marking his father found while in search for a long lost pirate treasure in the Island of Mahe in the Seychelles in November 2009. BEL OMBRE, Seychelles (AFP) - – While his country is busy fending off proliferating Somali pirates, Seychellois history teacher John Cruise-Wilkins is tormented by one French pirate who died almost 300 years ago. Cruise-Wilkins has spent much of his life, as did his father before him, dynamiting granite boulders, exploring caves and pumping water to find the treasure Olivier Levasseur is thought to have buried somewhere near his house in Bel Ombre, in the north of the Seychelles' main island of Mahe. Standing near a rock just yards from his beachfront home where the ebbing turquoise sea laps at a keyhole-shaped marking his father found, the 51-year-old ponders his future strategy. "We've used all kinds of machines and expensive equipment, ground-penetrating radars, but I think we need to go back to the old method. We need to get into this guy's mind," he says with a haunted gaze. Known as La Buse -- French for buzzard, but whether the moniker was for the speed at which he flung himself on his prey or for his aquiline nose is not known -- Levasseur was driven from the Caribbean with scores of other buccaneers and corsairs in the early 18th century. He eventually found new hunting grounds in the Indian Ocean, whose islands had not been settled yet but were already key stepping stones on Europe's trade routes to east Asia. La Buse and his associates, known as Taylor and England, formed an army of three ships and 750 men that ruled over the region's waters for years but the big catch came in 1721 -- a crippled Portuguese ship anchored off Reunion island. The Portuguese viceroy and archbishop of Goa were on board the Virgen del Cabo, as was a treasure of gold, diamonds and religious paraphernalia of prodigious value. "Each pirate got a share of 42 diamonds and 5,000 guineas and it took three pirates to carry the golden cross of Goa," said Cruise-Wilkins. "They all went to Sainte-Marie island, shared out the booty and had great fun." The story was told by Taylor, who was later captured. Levasseur for his part went low, lost his bigger ship and is believed to have stayed in hiding in the Seychelles' main island of Mahe. He failed to obtain an amnesty and was eventually lured onto the ship of a French captain posing as a trader and captured. "My treasure for he who understands," Levasseur is said to have uttered, tossing a scrap of parchment into the crowd with a rope around his neck, seconds before his hanging on Reunion island in July 1730. La Buse's last words preoccupy Cruise-Wilkins as he watches the sun set on the isle of Silhouette facing his seafront home and ponders the cryptogram. "I can imagine the scene. This paper going up in the air, many former pirates in the crowd, all those hands reaching up for it and cutlasses being pulled on the first man to grab it," he says. Two centuries later, Levasseur's clue ended up in the hands of a Seychellois lady called Rose Savy, who took a steamboat to Kenya in the 1920s and flew to France to have the document authenticated at the national library in Paris. Cruise-Wilkins' father Reginald, a former demobbed Royal Navy elite marksmen who later made a name using his skills as a big game hunter among Kenya's Maasai tribe, moved to the Seychelles and took up the treasure hunt. "He had done code-breaking work with he British forces and he found references to Andromeda in Levasseur's enigma," Cruise-Wilkins explained. Unlike the Somali pirates taking to the seas on rudimentary ships mainly out of economic desperation, the sea robbers who terrorised the world in the 16th and 17th century were Europeans often driven by a sense of rebellion against the political and religious establishment. Levasseur himself was a Greek and Latin scholar apparently versed in free-masonry and Cruise-Wilkins believes he buried the bounty according to a complex riddle inspired by the 12 labours of Hercules. "It's amazing what these guys did, the passion," Cruise-Wilkins marvels. When he recounts how his father and himself went about following the trail of clues, John Cruise-Wilkins sounds like he is speed-reading the glossary of the latest novel by "The Da Vinci Code" writer Dan Brown. He reels off references to "hermetism" and trigonometry and explains how a "substitution cypher" led to the discoveries of the "circumpunct" and the "clavicle of Solomon" mentioned in La Buse's masonic code. So far the hunt has yielded little more than the gold ear ring found on one of three skeletons believed to be those of low-ranking pirates Levasseur had executed to keep the precious gold's location secret. But Cruise-Wilkins pursues his treasure with the excitement of a boy unwrapping his first pirate outfit, complete with eye-patch and hook, or reading about the infamous exploits of Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard. Having poured much of his personal wealth into the excavations, the prospect of striking a treasure valued at more than 200 million dollars -- four times the accumulated ransoms paid to Somali pirates in 2008 -- is also attractive. "According to the civil code here, there's 50 percent for the finder, 50 percent to the landowner," he says. Cruise-Wilkins -- who says he is ten down, two to go in his Hercules' labours -- has turned away foreign "piratologists" and treasure hunters who wanted access to all his research to lend their funds and expertise. "But the truth is now I need funds to pay for permits, equipment and above all workforce. Levasseur had no fewer than 50 men to bury this treasure, right now I'm on my own." Recommend Send IM Story Print Related Articles Tyler Perry says mom, inspiration for Madea, has died Reuters - 2 hours 24 minutes ago Aiken takes name off voter list, ending NC probe AP - 2 hours 42 minutes ago Supermodel Bundchen and QB Tom Brady have baby boy AP - Thursday, December 10 Interactive digital art show opens in London AFP - Thursday, December 10 God of love exhibition set to open in Athens AFP - Thursday, December 10 News Search Top Stories Qatar emir calls for gas and oil price alignment Three women take Ireland to court over right to abort Britain taxes bankers' bonuses as recession deepens Greece says debt threatens nation, promises action Giant iceberg spotted south of Australia More Top Stories » ADVERTISEMENT Most Popular Most Viewed Most Recommended Greece under pressure to take budget action Virgin unveils spaceship to offer space tourism Ohio executes inmate with single drug Woods' mother-in-law rushed to hospital US agency suggests Christmas gifts for the disaster age More Most Viewed » Global stocks mixed amid Dubai debt crisis Tiny magnetic discs could kill cancer cells: study Virgin unveils spaceship to offer space tourism Mankind using Earth's resources at alarming rate Dubai blackout over debt plans to hit Gulf markets More Most Recommended » Elsewhere on Yahoo! Financial news on Yahoo! Finance Stars and latest movies Best travel destinations More on Yahoo! News Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Subscribe to our news feeds Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS » More news feeds | What are news feeds? Also on Yahoo Answers Groups Mail Messenger Mobile Travel Finance Movies Sports Games » All Yahoo! Services Site Highlights Singapore Full Coverage Most Popular Asia Entertainment Photos Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community | Intellectual Property Rights Policy | Help

Other News on Thursday, 10 December 2009
Iraqi man, lucky dog reunite after Baghdad blast
Three women take Ireland to court over right to abort
Facebook rolls out new privacy tool
Pentagon chief warned over Afghan army problems
Britain taxes bankers' bonuses as recession deepens
NATO sees pick-up in Afghan combat, warns on deaths |
Pay babysitter on iPhone, says Twitter
Pakistani military has 'degraded' Taliban groups: US general
Greece says debt threatens nation, promises action
US-TECH Summary
Iraq's Maliki blasts foreign support for bombings
Thousands in Jerusalem protest settlement freeze |
Giant iceberg spotted south of Australia
France Telecom follows Apple's lead, launches applications
Egypt reported working on Gaza border wall |
Climate talks seek calm after fury at draft text
Facebook redraws site's privacy boundaries
Afghan civilians could have died in raid: NATO
Briton guilty of trans-Atlantic airline bomb conspiracy |
Settlers protest in Jerusalem against freeze
Iraq says deaths from Tuesday's bombings lower
Iran says former deputy defence minister held by U.S.
Apple to launch tablet in spring 2010: analyst |
5 Americans detained in Pakistan raid
Pay hike fosters uptick in Afghan army recruits
Neo-Nazi in murder trial gets makeover for trial
KRouge court dismisses bias claims against judge
Book returned to Ohio library after 60 years
Filipino worker beheaded by militants: official
U.S. hacker pleads guilty in more store break-ins |
NJ fugitive worked for Homeland Security in Ga.
Japan to give US base relocation plan next week
WWII veteran had Hitler's art book on bookshelf
Philippines files rebellion charges over massacre
France Telecom follows Apple's lead, launches applications |
Myanmar's Suu Kyi meets junta liaison: official
Japanese police praised for arrest of Hawker suspect
Gatorade drops Tiger drink; decided before wreck
AP NewsAlert
Recount to start in tight Atlanta runoff for mayor
US praises resettlement of Sri Lankan refugees
Dean embraces Senate compromise on health care
Thai Airways sues protesters over airport closure
Panasonic completes Sanyo takeover: source
VW to boost Indian presence with Suzuki stake
Statue of Obama as boy erected in Indonesian park
Suntory buys majority stake in China wine importer
Thousands gather in Indonesian anti-graft rallies
China says it will continue to push consumption
Morgan Freeman brings touch of God to Mandela film |
Dubai Islamic Bank's Pakistan unit expands operations
ABC to tap Stephanopoulos as co-anchor of GMA |
Volkswagen to buy 20 percent of Suzuki for $2.5B
Tyler Perry says mom, inspiration for Madea, has died |
Supermodel Bundchen and QB Tom Brady have baby boy
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has first baby |
EU honours Neapolitan 'mother of all pizzas'
Seychellois man's Herculean pirate treasure hunt
Croatia's tourist figures slightly decrease
God of love exhibition set to open in Athens
Rwandan genocide film aims to promote reconciliation abroad
Brian Bonsall appears briefly in Colo. court
Depp to play Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa
Charitable trust refiles `Dukes' royalties lawsuit
Aiken takes name off voter list, ending NC probe
News
News
News
News
News
Brown, Sarkozy in united front on bank bonuses
Amnesty says Iran rights at lowest ebb in 20 years
Climate change 'Plan B' awaits if diplomacy fails
Petraeus sees short-term rise in Afghan violence |
Iraq's March vote won't affect U.S. drawdown
'Anti-social network' aims to be Facebook killer app
Qatar emir calls for gas and oil price alignment
Iraqi MPs to question interior minister over blasts
China says opposed to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan |
Al-Qaida claims this week's deadly Baghdad blasts
Facebook privacy revamp draws fire
Iraq's March vote won't affect U.S. drawdown: Pentagon |
Zelaya talks to leave Honduras for Mexico hit snag |
Variety to begin building 'pay wall' around website
Thousands in Jerusalem protest settlement freeze
French, British leaders to meet after job spat |
Pakistani military has 'degraded' Taliban groups: US general
Nokia to close U.S. flagship stores
US residents gorging on data bytes: study
Colombia raps Venezuela over FARC rebel insult |
Saudi crown prince to return home after treatment
Briton guilty of trans-Atlantic airline bomb conspiracy |
EBay exec: Craigslist knew we could compete
Cisco and British Telecom head for the "cloud"
AOL going public after Time Warner divorce
Jerusalem protest against slowdown in settlement building
Nokia to close U.S. flagship stores
EBay exec: Craigslist knew we could compete |
US envoy has 'very useful' nuclear talks in NKorea
US aiding Pakistan in alleged terror plot arrests
Nokia to close U.S. flagship stores |
US, Russia closing in on nuclear agreement
Swine flu strikes isolated North Korea
Berkeley council sends hangers as abortion message
Facebook privacy revamp draws fire |
SF law on illegal immigrant youth to take effect
Philippine forces hunt for hostages after beheading
Obama departs for Norway to accept Nobel prize
Aussie firefighters face tough fire conditions
Mass. driver convicted of running over mother duck
Developing nations clash over climate targets
Colo. team predicts above-average hurricane season
U.S. online holiday spending up 3 percent: comScore |
U.S. envoy ends trip to North Korea
House Roll Call: How they voted on tax break bill
Hawaii leads nation in public health spending
Guam says can't take US base at centre of Japan row
China climate envoy criticises rich nations
Police eye clues in death of prominent LA lawyer
Five U.S. men arrested in Pakistan
House debates bank oversight changes
HIGHLIGHTS-S.Korea central bank chief's comments
Pakistan
Philippines says exports fall moderates
Hollywood eyes record $10 bln box office for 2009
"Twilight: Eclipse" to play in Imax theaters
Korea Hot Stocks
Hollywood breaks revenue record of $9.68 billion
Garlic prices soar in China
Taiwan dollar rises on exporter deals
Hollywood eyes record $10 bln box office for 2009 |
Seoul shares rangebound; muted response to BOK
Boyle's Dream continues at No. 1 on album chart |
Oprah's channel to feature film club series |
China extends, adjusts pro-consumption policies
NZ-Aussie dlrs treated differently
Rihanna announces UK arena tour |
220-million-dollar fine for Taiwan firm in price-fixing case
Bruce Springsteen speaks out for gay marriage |
Broadway star Idina Menzel heading to Glee |
Obamas, Winfrey talk gifts on Christmas special
Mormon US senator records 'catchy' Hanukkah tune
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has first baby |
Galatoire's in New Orleans sells majority interest
Velvet Underground reunites -- to talk |
NC elections board ends exam of 'Idol' runner-up
Twilight: Eclipse to play in Imax theaters |
Velvet Underground reunites -- to talk
Bruce Springsteen speaks out for gay marriage
"Twilight: Eclipse" to play in Imax theaters
Rihanna announces UK arena tour
Shalev leaving 'The Early Show' on CBS
CBS pulls plug on 'As the World Turns' after 54 years
New Russian missile fails again in test: reports
Defense Secretary Gates arrives in Iraq
French army sides with Mozilla in Microsoft email war
Thai anti-government protesters demand new elections |
On Syria border: No sign of Saddam loyalists
Russian nuclear missile test fails, visible in Norway |
Embattled Iraq insurgency shifts tactics, eyes poll |
Human rights violations in Iran worst for 20 years: Amnesty
Gunmen hold 57 hostages in Philippines |
Afghanistan no worse than Iraq in 2007: US general
Human rights violations in Iran worst for 20 years: Amnesty |
China detains three in new toxic milk scare |
Europol arrests 115 suspects in child sex raids |
Frigid temperatures follow heavy snow into Midwest
French army sides with Mozilla in Microsoft email war |
Video games take bigger role in education |
Company: Cobalt mining in Idaho to start in 2011
Malaysia charges 3 for graft in huge port scandal
N.Korea accepts S.Korea swine flu aid offer
US: American soldier dies in Iraq
Others 'more deserving' of Nobel award: Obama
Nokia pulls plug on U.S. flagship stores |
SKorea vows to go ahead with Afghan troop dispatch
Court to rule if Polanski can fight case from afar
Swimming golds take Singapore top of SEA Games table
SF Bay schools phase out gay-friendly curriculum
ADB: Philippine poverty up despite economic growth
Officials: Gang rivalry led to Calif. prison riot
All children among Philippine hostages released
Experiment to test killing 1 owl to help another
India seeks Chicago man for Mumbai questioning
Promotion day arrives for white Conn. firefighters
Statue of Obama as boy erected in Indonesian park
Taiwan says no to Tiger Woods-style animated news
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Pakistani o/n rates ease; rupee flat; stocks up
Dubai stocks close on strongest gain since crisis
S.Korean economy to grow 5 pct in 2010: ministry
WRAPUP 1-Bank of Korea flags earlier rate rise
Surging Chinese property prices stoke bubble fears
India's Gurinder Chadha tackles migration with humor |
Audacious actress got close to the president
Malaysian firm buys Friendster social network site
Court to rule if Polanski can fight case from afar
China says US, Russia dumped electrical steel
Azerbaijan's traditional music thrives again
India food prices jump 19 percent on poor rainfall
Bali Democracy Forum opens in Indonesia
Hong Kong women shrug off tattoo taboo
Bikini Baristas Ruled Adult Entertainment
Ceausescu's final hours depicted in new play
High School Student Suffers Heart Attack After Tryouts
Van Dyck self-portrait sells for £8.3 mln
Recount Confirms Winner Of Atlanta's Mayoral Race
Police Arrest Suspect In Brutal Rape, Kidnapping OF 91-Year-Old Woman
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
USIBC Commercial Nuclear Mission Holds Talks with NPCIL
India's Gurinder Chadha tackles migration with humor
Cops Find Robber Using GPS-enabled Microwave
Poverty in SAfrica: 3 cows and a forced marriage
Sister of Clemmons Charged In Connection With Case
Obama Administration Opens Federal Coffers To Weather Battered Virginia
Oprah's channel to feature film club series
South Carolina Panel Votes To Censure, Not Impeach, Gov. Sanford
In Oslo To Receive Nobel Prize, Obama Says 'Others More Deserving' Of Award
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01