Leaving Brixham for Cocos

WESTERN MORNING NEWS AND MERCURY , THURSDAY FEBRUARY 18th 1932

READY TO SAIL FOR SPANISH MAIN

TREASURE QUEST START FROM BRIXHAM

WOMEN RUSH TO JOIN EXPEDITION

When the Vigilant hauls out of Brixham Harbour on Saturday, the auxiliary cruiser yacht transformed from a trawler ketch, will have aboard a gold diviner among the nine men who are setting out for the Spanish Main.

They are bent on treasure-hunting; their search is for buried gold of Spanish galleons - buried far back in the days of Drake and Elizabethan sea captains who harassed the Spaniards.

Treasure hunting has lost none of it's appeal even in these modern times, and when the news was known of the Vigilant's quest, the organiser of the expedition (Mr Stratford D. Jolly, of Bourne End, Bucks), was simply inundated with applications from people who wanted to join in. During the first week that publicity was given to the treasure search Mr Jolly received about 3000 letters. Altogether, about 5000 applications came by post and these included requests from 30-40 women. One man journeyed from Belfast to London, and then wrote that he had no money to bring him to Brixham. Two cycled from Manchester to London, mistaking Brixham for Brixton. Even when the Vigilant was at Shoreham, men tramped long distances to offer their services for the adventurous expedition.

The vigilant - once the holder of the Perpetual Challenge Cup, presented by the King - is ready for her voyage now. The huge crowd of holiday folk on Brixham quay last August, who interested themselves in the public auction of the Brixham fishing smack little thought that the craft was destined to be completley remodelled internally and fitted out externally by the nine adventurers.

It has taken from August to February to transform the trawler ketch into an auxiliary cruiser yacht, but now she looks spick and span.

GOLD DIVINING TEST

WHEN THE BANK MANAGER WAS PROVED WRONG

The Vigilant will spend the time between now and the departure from the inner harbour in cruising about Torbay. She is meritoriously the object for keen admiration. her bulwarks of grey hue are topped by the rail of Shamrock green, her sails tanned with russet ochre, are bent with proverbial Brixham preciseness, her new runnign gear looks taut for coming through the severest weather test and the Brixham fishing ketch rig stands intact in every detail of equipment.

Grey and green are the sailing colours of the organiser of the expedition, Mr Stratford D. Jolly. Even the "House Flag", presented by Mrs Jessie Wilson of Torquay, - a grey goose to lay the golden egg, mounted on a shamrock green bunting - adds interest to the sailing colours.

An inspection of the Vigilant reveals a complete transformation internally. A spacious saloon, 10 sleeping berths, the cooks quarters, the engine room, the stores cabins, all rebuilt by the men who are doing the trip with workmanlike acumen. The equipment provides for a plentiful water supply. The food lockers provide sufficient for an 8 months voyage.

- AND A CAMERA

The outfit includes dynamite, picks and shovels, three 12 bore guns, 4 sporting rifles, two big game rifles, fishing tackle and a Kinema camera.

The oil fuel capacity gives a cruising range of from 1000 to 1500 miles under normal cruising conditions. The vessel is electrically lit.

The admiralty granted Mr Stratford D. Jolly special permission to fly the Blue Ensign. The Burgee of the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club is flown at the mast-head.

The former owner of the Vigilant, Mr W. George Polyblank, actively assisted in the rigging out of the vessel. He recently voyaged in her from Brixham to Shoreham and back.

Mr Frank Cooper is the gold diviner. He uses a gramophone spring as the divining instrument. He successfully came through a very rigid test on board the Vigilant in the presence of a Bank Manager. Quite unknown to Mr Cooper, seven golden sovereigns where hidden in various places in the Vigilant. At the outset it appeared that the diviner was doomed to failure. His gramophone spring divined gold at a place where no sovereign had been hidden. "you're wrong" said the banker. But investigation soon proved that Mr Cooper was right. One of teh members of the crew, absolutely unknown to his fellow-adventurers had a gold cigarette case in the pocket of his coat. The golden cigarette case having been removed, Mr Cooper located with greatest confidence the seven sovereigns, either in the saloon or on the deck.

IMPORTANT FUNCTION

For gold, the gramophone spring rises, and for water it deflects. Mr Cooper, it is said, can divine the presence of water at a depth of 100ft, and accurately reveal the direction in which it is running. He can also detect the presence of silver through the medium of his divining instrument. On his ability as a gold diviner very materially rests the success of the treasure seeking expedition. The expedition will most probably be joined at Trinidad, by another expert in gold divining through the medium of a metal-divining instrument. Mr Jolly is an explorer of considerable repute. He was one of the leaders of the Sacambaya expedition in Bolivia. He has searched for lost treasure at Montezuma in Guatemala. His adventurous career has caused him to penetrate the head-waters of the Amazon on launches and canoes. He has explored the back rivers of Peru, the Urubana, Ucayali and Napo. He has not divulged the real objective of the expedition, in order to avoid any setbacks in the zones in which he proposes to search for gold and jewels that were stripped from Spanish Galleons by pirates, and hidden by them in places which so far have defied all efforts in location. Mr Jolly proposes to illustrate the venture through the kinematograph. A feature of the expedition will be shark fishing solely for the shagreen, the most expensive portion of shark skin.

VIGILANT'S PERSONNEL:

EXPERINCED NAVAL MEN AND FORMER RUGBY INTERNATIONAL

See Vigilant Crew Selection in the contents page.

The Vigilant will voyage to Madeira and then voyage across the Atlantic to Trinidad and Jamaica, the British Honduras, the Spanish Main and the South Sea Islands provide the main itinerary.

TIVERTON GAZETTE

23^rd February 1932

SEARCH FOR BURIED TREASURE

Nine Men and Brixham Ketch

Commander Plumpton of Cullompton as Skipper

Of all the lives I ever say,

A Pirate’s be for I,

Hap what hap may he’s allus gay,

An’ drinks an’ bungs his eye.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) an auxiliary yacht, “The Vigilant” formerly a trawler ketch, is expected to sail from Brixham Harbour on as fascinating a quest as ever any of the old Devon seadogs undertook. The crew of nine men are to go forth in search of treasure. No definite outline of the places to be explored has been announced, but it is an open secret that once again the Cocos Islands will figure amongst the places which it is hoped will divulge its hidden hoards.

The Cocos Oslands treasure was taken from the Cathedral in the Peruvian capital of Lima to save it from the victoriously advancing Bolivians. Those in charge of it were murdered by their Captain, which was a way that Captains had, and the treasure was secreted by this crafty individual in Cocos Island. From month to month in later years

Particulars of its whereabouts were passed along, and it will be remembered that of the attempts made to find it in recent years one expedition was lead by Captain Malcolm Campbell in 1926. That expedition was futile, but it was almost a super-human task that was essayed. The party was too small, and the time at their disposal, a fortnight, too short. Captain Malcolm Campbell in his thrilling book “My Greatest Adventure” says he shall return to Cocos, and that when he does he will not give up the search until he had either found the treasure or convinced himself that it is humanly impossible to discover it.

What will be the fortune of the present expedition to Cocos Island, and other places, which they might explore? The result will be awaited with interest, for treasure hunting appeals alike to young and old, and the organiser of the present expedition has had thousands of applications from persons anxious to join in the adventure. On one occasion Mr W J A Grant of Hillersdon was one of a party of searchers. The object of the expedition which set forth of Saturday is announced as a search for buried gold of Spanish galleons, buried far back in the days of the Elizabethan sea captains who harassed the Spaniards. The Vigilant will voyage to Madeira, and then cross the Atlantic to Trinidad and Jamaica, British Honduras, the Spanish Main, and the South Sea Islands provide the main itinerary.

The crew

“The Vigilant” has been the object of much interest while in Torbay as she looked a picture as she rode on calm water in the sunlight. She has a good record and was once the holder of a perpetual challenge cup presented by the King.

Mr Stratford D Jolly of Bourne End, Bucks., is the organiser of the expedition, which is equipped for an eight month’s voyage. A cinematograph apparatus is on board and the film will be worth seeing if there are no mishaps, and ity is brought back safely. Mr Jolly is not new to the Treasure Hunt game. He was one of the leaders of the Sacambaya expedition in Bolivia. He has searched for lost treasure of Montezuma in Guatemala. His adventurous career has caused him to penetrate the head waters of the Amazon in Launches and canoes. He has explored the back waters of Peru: the Urubana, Ucayali, and Napo. Plenty of excitement has been crowded into his life; not a little danger and certainly a variety of adventure.

Local interest centres around two members who represent respectively Somerset and Devon, counties which have in the past provided Sea Kings of great fame. From Somerset came William Damper, a celebrated navigator born near Yeovil in 1652, who conducted a voyage to the South Seas, and among other feats waged war with great delight on the Spaniards. It is therefore appropriate that the glove town of Yeovil should have its representative in the present expedition in Mr Frank Cooper, who is an engineer and gold diviner. To find gold he uses a gramophone spring, and his success in locating buried gold coins has been marvellous. It is hoped he will have better luck than the diviners in other expeditions.

Commander James Plumpton, “The Walronds”, Cullompton, has one of the most important parts to fill. He is the nautical skipper, and has an experience of sailing and steam craft. He was an officer in P & O liners until 1910, when he entered the Royal Navy as an officer with R N R. He served two years at the Admiralty. He received the R N R decoration.

Major H L Phillips of Southwick, Sussex, is the mate. He served with the mechanical transport of the siege gun ammunition column in France during the War.

Lieut.Commander Finnis - He was the gunnery officer on H M S Pathfinder, which was blown up during the war.

Lieut Commander C Milbourne of Guernsey, cook. He was on H M S King George V during the Battle of Jutland.

Mr Guy Tracey of London played as the right-centre-three-quarter for Ireland against England and Wales in 1912. During the War he saw service in the Royal Navy.

Mr A H Sheffield of Bournemouth is a yachtsman. Mr Percy Howe of Manchester is the youth in the adventurous crew. He is a naturalist of the party.

8^th March 1932

TIVERTON GAZETTE

LOST TREASURE

THE VIGILANT SAILS

Possible Destinations

After three days of north-easterly gales, which had held up the departure of auxiliary yacht Vigilant, Commander J Plumpton RNR (retired) of Cullompton, gave the order to strike the Blue Peter on Wednesday, and the tiny fore-and-after swept out of Brixham Harbour under reefed mainsail, topsail, mizzen and jib on her run for Madeira, the first stage of her treasure hunting expedition.

It is the intention of Mr S D Jolly of Bournemouth, the leader of the venture, to make an intenside search of the Cocos Isles for a treasure believed to have been secreted by refugees from Lima, in the early stormy days of the Peruvian Republic. Other hidden treasure is in view, notably in Caribbean waters, but secrecy is being observed for fear of premature intervention by the Governments under whose flag the various destinations lie.

A FORECAST

Lying some hundreds of miles north-east of Brazil is Trinidad, a barren, volcanic rock, thrusting itself upwards from the deepest part of the Atlantic. The spot is noted mainly for large land crabs of a peculiarly loathsome variety, and for a petrified forest covering its central peak. The climate is terrible and aggravated by an almost complete absence of water, while the crumbling lava makes travelling a nightmare, and the presence of a criss-cross of treacherous ravines throughout the island has led to more than one fatality. Day after day the Atlantic piles itself up on the rocks and landing is only possible at infrequent intervals and in face of marked danger. The island is a menace to navigation and is avoided except when an occasional boat whose chronometer is in error sights the place for a bearing, and departs as quickly as she came. Otherwise, Trinidad is left to the tropic sun and wheeling seabirds.

In spite of the unprepossessing nature of the place, more than one expedition has been drawn to it by the lure of treasure believed to have been deposited by a buccaneer, who afterwards double-crossed his comrades-the tale is more creditable than most, and bears the appearance of probability. The most famous expedition was that of the Alert, towards the close of the last century, in the command of Knight, the famous Corinthian yachtsman, who paid a previous visit to the island in the Falcon, a sixty-ton yawl. Knight and his party laboured unremittingly but had to abandon their search, though not before they had proved the accuracy of certain of the clues which led them to the island. There would be small cause for surprise if Comm. Plumpton sets the Vigilance on a course for Trinidad in an effort to succeed where others failed.

Other possible destinations for the latest venture are the Salvage Islands, which the Vigilant may pass on her way to the Cape Verde Islands, where a considerable treasure is said to be buried. The main difficulty in searching this Portuguese group is to determine on which of the three islands the clues point; either might be the right one.

At the other end of the Atlantic, Tristan da Cunha, a lonely outpost of the British Empire, from which a battleship has just returned, holds a story of hidden gold, secreted in a cave near the waterfall from which the islanders draw their supply. There is little reason to doubt the existence of the treasurer; the problem is how to find it and how to get it out when found, for in most islands frequent landslips have radically altered the original hiding place.

Along the whole course of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America the tale of hidden treasure is persistent. When it is remembered that these seats were for many years the hunting grounds for many generations of pirates, each of whom had little reason to trust any other, it appears that many of the legends may have a sound foundation. Moreover, during the naval wars of Britain and France, the whole area was in turmoil as it was throughout the early history of the Spanish Republics. Undoubtedly much wealth was hidden awaiting better times by owners who died or were killed before their hopes were realised. Even around Kerhuelen, a large island near the Antarctic, the tale of hidden wealth persists. Whether hidden treasure in any paying quantity will ever be found is another matter; at all events the Vigilant will carry with her the good wishes of all.

If you have any information to add or any comments, please drop me an email: jamesplumpton.history@gmail.com