The pirates of the Esperanza

This week's story is not about the pirates of the Whydah, but I still find it intriguing. I am still doing some further research into the history of Savate and whether it was utilized by sailors of the early 1700's. 

So I'm taking a break this week and bringing you this story concerning the mysterious island of Palmyra:

In about 1816, a Spanish pirate ship, the Esperanza, kept a grim appointment with destiny in the waters off Palmyra Island. Sailing with a rich cargo of gold and silver artifacts reportedly stolen from Inca temples in northern Peru, the vessel was attacked by another ship, and a bloody battle ensued.

Surviving Esperanza crew members managed to sail away from the battle

with their treasure intact, but soon wrecked on a submerged coral reef. As the ship sank, the pirates successfully transferred their treasure and provisions to the nearby deserted atoll: Palmyra.

The following year the stranded men built rafts, split into two groups and, after hiding their treasure, sailed off in opposite directions for help. It is known that one raft sank.

An American whaler found and rescued its only survivor, seaman James Hines, who soon died of pneumonia. None of the crew members on the other raft was ever heard from; it is assumed all died at sea. And since no one has ever reported finding the Inca cache on Palmyra, it might still rest there, a collection of Mesoamerican objects several times more valuable in today's art market than the gold and silver would be as precious metals. 

Source

Bugliosi, Vincent, And the Sea Will Tell, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., New York, 1991, p 70.

You can find this story on a lot of web sites on the Internet