BURIED TREASURE ?
On the main coast of Belize, there is a rocky promontory named Little Rocky Point. In the 60's a Chilean came to Ambergris Caye and purchased a large tract of beach front property north of Tres Cocos (now the Peter Handcock property). Despite his land holdings on Ambergris Caye, his attentions seemed to be focused on Little Rocky Point on the mainland. He hired quite a few residents of San Pedro to help with excavations in the Little Rocky Point area. One day all of the workers were laid off and apparently then the Chilean went back to Little Rocky Point. He then returned to Ambergris Caye, and about the time a Mexican gunboat appeared off the Caye. Both gunboat and the Chilean left the island. Speculation has it that the Chilean had a treasure map of some kind, and may have recovered a substantial treasure that he spirited elsewhere.
on the beach in the Tackle Box Bar area, immediately south of the main park, several U.S. gold coins dating 1880 to 1900 were found. These were usually found after severe storm surges. Local folklore says that there was a wealthy old man who used to bathe there by pouring the gold coins over himself like water.
LIST OF SHIPWRECKS REPORTED BY MARX
Sir Robert Marx, a noted marine historian, has compiled lists of known shipwrecks in his book "Shipwrecks of the Western Hemisphere". The following list, specific to Belize and Yucatan (Chinchorro Atoll), is partially excerpted from his publication.
The three major wrecks off Ambergris Caye have already been covered in the text.
1749 A hurricane of Sept. 18:at least 20 English merchantmen were totally lost on coast and off cayes and reefs.
1751 English merchantman, the "Monmouth", Capt. Wydham, on his way to London, wrecked on Glovers Key: crew was saved.
1751 Two Rhode Island sloops and a Jamaican snow lost on the north keys (Lighthouse Reef
1764 English merchantman, "Mary Oxford", coming from Jamaica lost on Turneffe Island.
1774 Two ships wrecked on Glover's Reef: English merchantman, "Argyle", Capt. Fisher, about 5 leagues (a league is about 3 nautical miles) from the southwestern end of the reef: the American ship "Polly", Capt Waid, going to New York, on the Northeastern end of the reef, crews and part of cargo saved.
1780 The English ship "Live Oak", sailing to Jamaica, wrecked on the coast at Black River (Sittee River), crew was saved.
1786 English merchantman, "Assisstance", Capt Galt, coming from Jamaica, lost crossing the bar at Black River
1786 Unidentified Scottish ship, Capt Carr, wrecked on Glovers reef, the crew saved.
1787 On Sept. 2, (a hurricane), 30 plus English merchantmen were on coast and off-lying areas; 15 were lost in the port of Belize. The only ship identified by name was the "HMS Triumvirate" lost at St. George's Caye which was carrying a large amount of silver specie. The large ballast pile off St George's Caye may be from this ship.
1793 English gunship, "HMS Advice", with 4 cannon, Capt Edward Tyrell, lost to leeward of Rey Bokell (southern tip of the Turneffe Atoll), her crew saved.
1793 English merchantman "Chance", Capt. Reed, coming from Jamaica, wrecked on Glover's Reef.
1803 English merchantman "Fishburn", Capt Leake, sailing to London lost on a reef near Belize, Feb. 19.
1804 A ship of unknown registry, "Mentor", Capt. Simpson, coming from Jamaica, lost on "the main reef" near Belize, part of cargo saved.
1807 English ship "General Don", Capt Messeroy, coming from France lost on Glovers Reef.
1808 English merchantmen, "Perseverance", Capt. M'Nutt, coming from Jamaica, lost near Belize on Dec. 20, but the crew was saved.
1814 Ship of unknown registry, "Pompey", Capt Cowlan wrecked on "the main reef", March 31, cargo of wine saved.
1815 Scottish merchantman, "Lord Blandtyre", Capt M'Lea, coming from Jamaica, wrecked in August on the "Southern Four Keys" (Lighthouse Reef).
1818 American ship, "Enterprise", Capt Wayne, sailing from the Bahamas to New Orleans, lost on March 9, near Belize, the crew saved.
1818 English merchantman, "John Winslow", Capt Hodges, coming from Liverpool, lost July 26 on the "main reef", cargo and crew saved.
1819 English merchantman, "Vestol", Capt Hutchinson sailing to London wrecked on Corker Key (Caye Caulker), in August, crew and part of cargo saved. See wreck list. One of the two wrecks described off Caye Caulker-Caye Chapel may be from this vessel.
1821 English merchantman, "Barrrosa", Capt. Anderson, coming from London totally lost on Nov. 8 on the "Southern Fourth Reef" (Lighthouse Reef), crew and most of cargo saved.
1822 American ship "Phoebe Ann" sailing to New York wrecked near Belize about April 11.
Chinchorro Wrecks, (The Triangles, immediately north of Belize and included here due to their proximity)
1769 An English merchantman, "Liberty", Capt. Beard, coming from Jamaica, wrecked on the southern end of Chinchorro Reef, but her crew was saved.
1771 American ship, "Andrew", Capt. Passgrove, sailing from Honduras to Philadelphia, wrecked Oct 22.
1773 American merchantman, "Industry", Capt. Glenn, sailing from Honduras, with a cargo of-indigo (logwood) and mahogany.
1776 An Irish merchantman, "Hercules", Capt. Norwood, sailing from Honduras to Dublin.
1821 French ship, "Ceres", Capt. Mourant coming from France was wrecked on July 18, only the crew saved.
The following information is taken from Potter's Treasure Diving Guide.
1792 English ship, "Water Witch", lost offshore Ambergris Caye carrying $1,200,000 in specie.
1785 Spanish galleon lost on the northeastern tip of Turneffe carrying $800,000 in specie (unverified reports indicate the remains of an old ship in this area).
THE NAME BELIZE
The origins of the name Belize are as subject to speculation as are the origins of the first English settlement. The first non-Maya name for the Belize River was Rio Viejo which means Old River in Spanish. Later historical records often refer to the Belize River and settlement with a variety of names that ail sound very similar. One of the more often proposed origins is that it is a corruption of the name of its founder, the pirate Wallace. Indeed one author has a page of reproductions of the names ascribed to the area in documents from the 1700's: Wallise, Wallis, Walix, Walis, Waliz, Valix, Valis, Balise, Balis, Baluz, Bellese, Bellise and Belize. Others have proposed that the name is derived from the French word balise, meaning beacon, reasoning that the early freebooters set a beacon at the river mouth to aid in navigation.
THE NAME AMBERGRIS CAYE
On some very old maps, in the 1600's, the island now called Ambergris Caye is referred to as Costa de Ambar, Amber Coast in English. Amber is quite a different substance than ambergris and this discrepancy has puzzled some people. Amber is the fossilized resin from trees that was quite familiar to Europeans long before the discovery of the New World, and prized for jewelry. The name ambergris is derived from the Spanish "ambar gris", ambar meaning amber and gris meaning grey, thus the name signifies grey amber. At one time ambergris was treasured as first a remedy in European folk medicine and later in the perfume industry for its unique fragrance. It was found along the seashores in the Caribbean and in the Orient and was an extremely valuable commodity, out its origin was not clearly known. The following is quoted from the 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
"AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or Grey Amber) is a solid, fatty, inflammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour, the shades being variegated like marble, possessing a peculiar sweet earthy odour. It is now known to be a morbid secretion formed in the intestines of the spermaceti whale (Physeter macocephalus), and is found floating upon the sea, on the sea-coast, or in the sand near the sea-coast. It is met with in the Atlantic Ocean, on the coasts of Brazil and Madagascar; also on the coast of Africa, of the East Indies, China , Japan, and the Molucca Islands; but most at the ambergris which is brought to England comes from the Bahama Islands, Providence, &c. It is also sometimes found in the abdomen of whales, always in lumps in various shapes and sizes, weighing from 1/2 oz. to 100 or more lb. A piece which the Dutch East India Company bought from the King of Tydore weighed 182 lb. An American fisherman from Antigua found, inside a whale, about 52 leagues south-east from the Windward Islands, a piece of ambergris which weighed about 130 lb, and sold for 500 sterling. Like many other substances regarding we origin of which there existed some obscurity or mystery, ambergris in former times possessed a value, and had properties attributed to it, more on account of the source from which it was drawn than from its inherent qualities. Many ridiculous hypothesis were started to account for its origin, and among others it was conjectured to be the solidified foam of the sea, a rungoid growth in the ocean similar to the fungi which form on trees, the excreta of sea-birds, &c. The true source and character of ambergris was first satisfactorily established by Dr. Swediaur in a communication to the Royal Society (Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxxiii.) It was found by Dr Swediaur that ambergris very frequently contained the horny mandibles or beaks of the squid (Sepia moschata), on which the sperm whales are known to feed. That observation, in connection with the fact of ambergris being frequently taken from the intestines of the sperm whale, sufficiently proved that is was formed within that creature, and not an extraneous substance swallowed by the whale. It was further observed that the whales in which ambergris was found were either dead or much wasted and evidently in a sickly condition. From this it was inferred that ambergris was in some way connected with a morbid condition of the sperm whale. Ambergris, -men taken from the intestinal canal of the sperm whale, is of a deep grey colour, soft consistence, and a disagreeable smell. On exposure to the air it gradually hardens, becomes pale, and develops its peculiar sweet earthy odour. In that condition its specific gravity ranges from 0.780 to 0.926. It melts at a temperature of about 145 Fahr. into a fatty yellow resinous-like liquid; and at 212 it is volatised into a white vapour. it is soluble in ether, volatile and fixed oils, but only feebly acted on by acids. By digesting in hot alcohol, a peculiar substance termed ambrein is obtained, which deposits in brilliant white crystals as the solution cools. In chemical constitution ambrein very closely resembles cholesterin, a principle found abundantly in biliary calculi. It is therefore more than probable that ambergris, from the position in which it is found and its chemical constitution, is a biliary concretion analogous to what is formed in other mammals. The use of ambergris in Europe is now entirely confined to perfumery, though it formerly occupied no inconsiderable place in medicine. As a material of perfumery its price varies from 15s. to.25s. per ounce; and in minute quantities in alcoholic solution is much used for giving a "floral" fragrance to bouquets, washed, and other preparations of the perfumer. It occupies a very important place in the perfumery of the East, and there it is also used in pharmacy, and as a flavouring material in cookery. The high price it commands makes it peculiarly liable to adulteration, but its genuineness is easily tested by its solubility in hot alcohol, its fragrant odour, and its uniform fatty consistence on being penetrated by a hot wire."
Ambergris, being a very lightweight material, will float and thus washes up on beaches. Large quantities of ambergris nay have washed up on the shores of Ambergris Caye before intense whaling of the-1800's and early 190O's decimated the sperm whale populations. Interestingly, the Bahamas also include an island named Ambergris Caye.
One of the obscure suggestions for the origin of the name, is that the word "ambar" refers to pieces of Mayan stone implements made from a translucent brown flint, which could resemble amber.
In Spanish the word "amba" is a botanical term for "the fruit of the mangrove". Ambar could be derived from this word.
Another dictionary definition for the word ambar follows: ambar. n.m. amber; ambar gris, ambergris: es un ambar, it is excellent; it is very sweet (wine, liquor).
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