BURIED TREASURE DISCOVERED : A RUM STORY , IF EVER THERE WAS ONE

Now and  again our  intrepid Shipping   Reporter, the only one north of  Hobart , disappears without notice . We attribute  this  to  the possibility that  a  press gang  shanghaied  him  and  he  is on a  slow boat  to  China  .

On  his return , he  never explains why he  vanished. Just  says it is top secret. 

 He bursts into this  blog's office  at times  with a  smelly kitbag  full of   oddities from his travels ,some with associated  colourful stories, a  few unprintable. 

Early on  New Year's Day , he   tottered into  Little Darwin  and made the sensational   announcement  he  had  found Captain Kidd's buried   treasure   on  a  North  Queensland  island, which  he  refused to  name . Pull  the  pirate's other   wooden   leg, we  scoffed. 

To  back  up  his  preposterous claim , he left  in  high dudgeon,  shouting  he   would  return, like a certain famous general, with  Captain   Kidd's  personal   chest   filled  with   untold  treasures. He  lurched out of  the office , walking  like  Peg-Leg Pete , as if  he   had  been  doing  a marathon jig    with  the   wild  (female) wee  people  the  night  before  in  Molly Malone's  Irish  Pub . 

Soon after, he returned  in  a   uber   taxi  driven  by  a woman  , and  , with    a dramatic   flourish, threw  a   Bundaberg  Rum   carton   on   a  desk.He   declared  the contents had  once  belonged  to  the 17th century  terror  of  the   Caribbean .

 

On  top  was  a  repulsive  slab of   liver !!!!!! It is often  said pirates  slaughtered  all those who helped  bury their  treasure  on an island .  Maybe   the  strange  Shipping Reporter   had  indeed stumbled  upon  a  trove, similar to  that   in   the   Curse  of  Oak  Island  in  Nova Scotia  ?

This   sick fantasy was  soon dispelled when   it was  discovered  that the  ghastly chunk of  meat  was  an illustration on a   l973   record   by  a  Pommie  group  called  SCAFFOLD,   which started off in Liverpool as a comedy, poetry and music trio,  later  included  Tim  Rice of  great  musical  fame . 

It  just so happens that  Captain Kidd  ,once commissioned by the  English    King    William  to  be a privateer  and wage war on the French  ,  also  with powerful  friends in   New York ,  ended up  on  a  scaffold , his   body left to  hang  in  public  for  years . 

 In  2020 ,  by  then  knighted, Sir  Timothy   Rice was described as  the 21st  richest  music  millionaire  in  the UK, worth 155 million - more than  any pirate  every  made. 

It was  therefore  possible, but highly unlikely , that the Bundaberg Rum cartoon could   contain some of  the many gold  bars Captain Kidd looted. 

Removing the  grotesque  record  from the top, the contents were found to be a  let down - well worn , insected  and  soiled  books-some dealing  with   nautical, medical and  Australian  legal  subjects, even the selected  letters  of T.E. Lawrence ,  a very grotty   Summer Lightning , by P.G. Wodehouse .

However , it did prove to be a treasure   trove  in many ways , with  links  to  Melbourne and past booksellers  , a prominent  North  Queensland    couple, now deceased , who had been deeply involved  in  the  medical , social and political scene , and a  bizarre connection  to  Cyclone Tracy  which  flattened  Darwin in  l974 . 

In  the    above  photograph  are  WW ll  Australian  navy  books   which once belonged to  a  man who served   on  one of  the  vessels mentioned . There is a Christmas  1983  presentation  copy  to the Queensland couple,  mentioned above  , who  owned a yacht , of  There Was A Ship , by  Patsy Adam-Smith , about her life at  sea. 

A 1943  well worn copy of Men Dressed As Seamen , by Roger Furse , carried the inked in name  L.R.Cole, 9 Toorak Road, Camberwell on the title page . Another volume , Wordsworth,Coleridge and Keats Selections , with the same name , was  dated 1914.