Levasseur in pirate fact - or fiction? Pt 2

I found this article while browsing the internet. Quite a bit of it is factual, but parts of it are not. For one, I don’t know where the author got their information that Levasseur’s nick name is “The Hawk.” I have always seen his nickname listed as “La Buse” (The Buzzard) and “La Bouche” (The Mouth.)

The comments about his appearance while walking to the gallows I am unable to verify, as unfortunately the author, like so many articles like this, does not identify their sources.

The editor’s note about not being able to find any family links is interesting and I would love to know more about this, but again, no source material is cited. 

The Hawk's Cryptogram: The Hidden

Treasures of the Pirate

Vo l . 4  Number 3   ISSN  1 4 8 1 - 5 9 9 0   P a g e 7

ALA 2008    www.Levasseur.org

Olivier Levasseur, "The Hawk" (~1680 (?) - Hanged July 7 1730)

The Pi r a te' s Cryptogram

Prior to being h a n g e d o n

Reunion Island in Saint-Paul, the

Hawk tossed a scribbled message

to the crowd shouting: “My

treasures, to he who understands ! ”

Though it has been translated,

the text remains impenetrable and

the treasure was never found. Take

note treasure hunters!

Olivier Levasseur, the Hawk, born in Calais was a bloodthirsty buccaneer.

When he climbed on the scaffold at Reunion Island in Saint-Paul on a

warm July day in 1730, he donned a pleasant and challenging appearance.

Severe according to some and ironic according to others, he took a piece of

paper with scribbling on it from his pocket and tossed it to the crowd

shouting: “My treasures to he who understands”. Without flinching an eye

he said to the hangman: “Proceed with your task”. Who picked up the

cryptogram? No one knows. All we know is that the Hawk's famous

cryptogram is in the hands of numerous treasure seekers who have studied

it carefully but it has remained impenetrable. Many have searched the

Islands around Madagascar for the Hawk's treasure but their search has

been to no avail. (ref. Magazine GÉO)

Grave covered with black lava flagstone on which one can

read:

“ Here lies Olivier Levasseur,

alias the Hawk, piratebuccaneer of the South Seas,

executed in Saint-Paul en

1730”. 

Born in Calais, the Hawk initially sailed the Atlantic and

then the Indian Ocean which was less patrolled by the

England. He lived by his plunders for a brief period of

time of the coast Malgache near the Bay of Antongil prior

to being captured by the (The rest of this note is cut off on the web page - Laura)

Editor's Note: Olivier Levasseur, the Hawk, was born in Calais, France. His roots are French but

 he has never docked his ship in any of the ports in New France. No family link has ever been

established with any of our ancestors who settled in North America.

Here is the actual web site for those who wish to view it:

http://www.levasseur.org/doc/dossiers/200407_Olivier_Levasseur_La_Buse_eng.pdf