The matter of Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang (“Le Butin”)’s papers and his (allegedly) buried treasure cache has exercised my mind greatly over the last few years, though not so much in the traditional “how can I get my eager hands upon his pirate loot?” way as a “what the heck is going on there?” way.
The problem is simple: even though thousands (if not tens of thousands) of Mauritians have gone a-hunting for his treasure based on the description given in his papers, nobody has yet dug up so much as a brass earring, let alone (archivally) any scrap of evidence that proves that Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang ever lived.
All of which has greatly encouraged those who like to conclude that such cipher mysteries are necessarily fakes or hoaxes. In this instance, however, the correct answer is that the case is “Not Proven”, neither for nor against. It would be nice if we could tell either way but (for now)… we simply can’t.
The Sea Fog Starts to Recede…
More recently, though, things have started to make a little more sense (well, to me, at least). It now seems highly probable that of the three “Le Butin” papers, Nageon de l’Estang himself only wrote the first two (BN1 and BN2, a Will and a letter): it appears that the three documents that the writer of the third paper (BN3) mentions having been given (by a dying sea captain, somewhat melodramatically) were in fact BN1 and BN2, along with a (now probably lost) third document.
If this is correct, it is really helpful, because it helps us know how the three papers are (and are not) connected to each other: to be precise, the (unnamed and as yet unknown) corsair who wrote the third paper seems to have known no more about the contents of the other papers than we do. So the fact that Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang’s name does not appear on the crew lists of the Apollon (as apparently referred to in BN3) would make sense: it is the “missing corsair” (the author of BN3) who was on the Apollon, not Nageon de l’Estang.
It also now seems quite clear that “Le Butin”‘s papers have absolutely nothing to do with the treasure tradition associated with Olivier Levasseur (AKA “La Buse”, ‘The Buzzard’). This, too, helps keep our eyes focused on what we need to be looking at, and not distracted by other stuff.
Moreover, the version of the papers owned by Loys Masson (and described in print by him in 1935) turned out to be substantially different to the version given by Robert Charroux in 1962. Furthermore, it would not surprise me if the version described by long-time Mauritian treasure hunter Philippe Cherveau de Montléhu were to prove to be different from both. And again, it would not surprise me if the version described in Paul Fleuriau-Chateau’s book (which I’m hoping to see at the British Library this week, at long last) will turn out to have subtle differences from the others.
So… the first thing that would be good to see would be a set of transcriptions of the various copies of the papers.
Cladistics, Perhaps?
For those who study medieval manuscripts, the term ‘cladistics’ is sometimes used to denote the study of different versions of the same document, with the idea of trying to discover their relationships with each other: which is the original, which is the copy, which is the copy of the copy, or indeed might we reasonably hypothesize the existence of a missing original from which different copies were made?
Perhaps one next big step forward will involve collecting together the various versions of the “Butin” papers and applying this kind of analysis to them as a group. Can we do this to reconstruct what the original documents looked like? Or perhaps we would be able to identify one particular set as being most likely to be the original?
From what (little) I’ve seen so far, my prediction would be that Loys Masson’s copy of the papers are closer to the original set than Charroux’s copy: but this is still a very long way from certain.
Finally, it might be extraordinarily revealing to see the various copies of the letters (people must have photos of them, right?), because their internal evidence implies that we should expect BN1/BN2 and BN3 not to have all been written by the same hand. So if we find a set written by at least two hands, it is far more likely to be the original set than a (single-handed) set (i.e. probably copied by a later owner). Something to think about, anyway.
So… the second thing that would be good to see would be a set of photos of the various copies of the papers.
An Underground Riverbed…?
As far as the treasure expeditions go, Klondyke Company-style treasure hunting groups seem to have excavated in countless places along Mauritius’s West coast, as well as in numerous places along the island’s South and East coasts, though apparently without success. Phillipe Cherveau de Montléhu‘s fruitless 20-year hunt would seem to be entirely typical in this respect.
But given that the letters say (quite unambiguously, it has to be said) that the treasure was sealed in an underground river (between a river and a cliff, and apparently not too far from Vacoas), the right tool for searching would be not a huge team of guys with pickaxes and hungry eyes, but ground penetrating radar. If GPR can’t find something resembling an underground river void, you’d best leave your spades and trowels in the shed.
So… the third thing that would be good to see would be GPR scans of any areas in Eastern Mauritius between a river and a cliff.
And So… A “Le Butin” Documentary?
Even though I’ve been pursuing this whole story for some years, I suspect there’s little else out there that will be publicly available. I keep plodding away behind the scenes, sure: but the Law of Dimishing Returns seems to have firmly set in.
So I now suspect that the best way to try to bring new stuff into the open would be to take a bold step sideways, by crowdfunding a “Le Butin” documentary.
As part of the film, I’d like:
* to go through various Mauritian archives (e.g. in Curepipe etc) for documents and old photos
* to look for archival traces of the Klondike Company and other treasure hunting groups
* to interview Phillipe Cherveau de Montléhu (if he’s still alive?) and any other “Le Butin” treasure hunters out there
* to interview Mauritian historians who have taken an interest in this over the years (some must have seen copies of the papers, surely?)
* (of course) to carry out a GPR scan (to look for any sign of an old underground river between a cliff and a river in the Black River District)
Does this sound sensible? Is there anything missing from the list that you think would be interesting to see in a documentary? Can anyone advise about the most appropriate GPR setup to use (e.g. what frequency would be best for searching for underground river beds in a basaltic area)?
Google Maps satellite view gives great detail of the island including rivers. There is a lot of tourist development on the West coast.
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_mauritius.htm
Going through archives, picking up real documents and talking to
real people all sounds great. Knowing what drives the treasure hunters.
Maybe get a perspective on the local opinion on Mauritius. Getting an angle on how wild treasure hunting may be a real problem or a blessing there too…
I personally think that the GPR scan is going to be too expensive and also the biggest disappointment. Unless you have secondary evidence of an underground river and you can find someone or a company which has some new GPR scanning tech to demonstrate…
George: the point of carrying out a GPR scan wouldn’t be to find treasure, but rather to try to discover if there was any factual basis for the claim (implicit in the letters) that there was an underground riverbed in the right kind of place.
Nick, GPR would only be an efficient exploration tool once a very localised area has been identified as an area of interest. There are far more efficient and effective methods to explore large areas. The depth of penetration of GPR is limited by the conductivity of the rock (including the conductivity of any water in the rock fissures). EM radiation is absorbed by conductive environments and regarding your question as to the best frequencies to use for GPR, the longest wavelength (smallest frequency) that will see the target is the most appropriate, particularly where the rocks are significantly conductive.
The penetration of EM radiation falls off rapidly as the frequency increases and the effect is not linear. GPR generally works OK in places like Canada because the rocks are usually suitable (massive rocks such as granite with few fluid filled fractures, un-weathered and in a low salinity environment). GPR generally works poorly in a place like Australia where the rocks are weathered to quite significant depths. I know nothing about the geology of Mauritius but I will see what I can find. I have a friend who is a geophysicist who has a Russian GPR system (a refinement of the Russian GROT system I think) and I will ask him for his opinion. He has previously been involved in searching for Spanish galleons, lost submarines (AE1), WW2 bunkers and lost war graves amongst other things, so he might be interested in looking into the Mauritius affair.
There are much more effective methods available that can search large areas remotely by satellite, aerial photography and by special purpose drones carrying various remote sensing systems. When likely target areas have been identified there are various geophysical techniques that could probably be used to refine the targets. The use of small drones generally avoids access problems and when the target areas have been reduced to small areas then ground based geophysical methods such as GPR can be employed as appropriate.
From my preliminary reading it sounds like the treasure was buried in a cave of some sort? Is that so? Probably a limestone cave or in a basalt cave (a lava tube cave). Zones where limestone caves are likely to be developed can often be detected by an analysis of the aerial photographs (and various satellite imagery). An area of say 1,000 Km2 can be boiled down in short order. The same is true of lava tube caves.“Underground rivers” in most cases debouch somewhere that is visible from the air and the point of debouch is usually very easy to see in aerial photographs and even in Google Earth images. It is often a relatively easy exercise to then follow the surface clues that are visible in the aerial photos etc. to map the possible extent of the cave system. This is just standard air photo interpretation technique. And likely access points to the cave system can often be mapped as well, even when they have been filled in or blocked by natural processes or by human activity.
I have been a caver (potholer/spelunker/speleologist) since I was a child and I started using geophysical techniques (resistivity methods using an electrode array) to try to locate new caves when I was a teenager. I have since used many geophysical techniques in exploring for various mineral commodities and I am currently developing new hyper-spectral methods for opal exploration.
I would start by looking at the geology of the general area. Caves that can carry an underground river are generally restricted to limestone areas so the published geological maps can be used to identify target areas. An air photo interpretation could then locate probable zones where cave development has occurred. But this work might have already been done by cavers. Are there any caving clubs in Mauritius? I don’t know, but I will check.
A noble idea Nick; one in which I would follow with great interest. I just wish I could imagine hordes of keen commercial sponsors anxious not to miss out on the find of the century.
A quick check revealed that there are well known lava tube caves on Mauritius and some contain water although there is no mention of flowing water. The limestone area on Mauritius seem to be limited to “aeolian calcarenite, mainly on the south and east coasts of the main island of Mauritius …”.
http://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf2/42.Middleton-Hume2.pdf
“The main island of Mauritius is almost entirely volcanic ……. Lava tube caves are widely scattered across the island; Middleton (1998, 2005) has documented over 150 since 1992. There are also a few karst caves in aeolian calcarenite, mainly on the south and east coasts of the main island of Mauritius and in the south-west of Rodrigues Island.”
The following site documents 114 lava tube caves on Mauritius as of 1998.
http://www.vulcanospeleology.org/sym09/ISV9Eal.pdf
Byron: if we take (Loys Masson’s version of) BN1 and BN2 completely at face value, it would seem that the person who wrote them believed that the place where they buried the treasure was a void formed by an underground river (which they then sealed up). Of course, it might equally have been a lava tube, karst cave or any other kind of pre-existing subterranean hole: but until someone finds it, we won’t know.
Greg Middleton’s map of Mauritian lava tubes (etc) doesn’t seem to have much in the West / South West area, but I am intrigued by his mention of a bulldozer operator accidentally exposing a “lava blister” (hollow tumulus) in January 1997 (p.4):
* http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1275&context=ijs
Byron: there are two books on Mauritian geology listed here http://iels.intnet.mu/geo_mts.htm –
* Proag, V. The Geology and Water Resources of Mauritius, Mahatma Gandhi Institute, 1995
* Saddul, P. Mauritius, A Geomorphological Analysis, Mahatma Gandhi Institute, 1995
Byron: for what it’s worth, I now think the most probable scenario was that our friend the pirate stumbled upon a lava blister or tiny lava tube (incorrectly believing it a hole down to an underground river bed), put ‘is treasure inside, and then just filled the remainder with dirt and rocks. Beats digging a hole yourself, wouldn’t you say?
In which case, it would be a good idea to read up on the lava blister found near “Xavier” (wherever that is) on the Black River Road in 1997: similar lava blisters in the vicinity may well be mentioned in the press coverage etc.
I might have a curveball to add to your mix , but need to try remember the source & find what penny just dropped a moment ago.
Does or has Someone called Cpt Rocco popped in your research?
Rookie observer: nope, sorry, doesn’t ring any bells over here.
Nick, now that I have a better idea of the relevant geology and geomorphology of the area I agree that a lava blister or small lava tube is the likely repository. I think it would be worthwhile to contact Greg Middleton and seek his opinion.
IXth International Symposium on Vulcanospeleology – Conserving the lava caves of Mauritius
: The caves of Mauritius Project 1998.
Gregory J. Middleton, Member, IUS Commission on Volcanic Caves, Sydney Speleological Society, Southern Tasmanian Caverneers. Address: PO Box 269, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7006, Australia. e-mail: [email protected]
I haven’t been able to locate “Xavier” but Greg would probably know.
The Cpt I mention from memory is a guy who the French authorities were after in connection with a cryptic message(s) early 1800’s. All I remember was I read two to three news articles on him but I never followed through and dug deeper. I may have the name wrong.
I agree that le butin & levasseur are two different subjects , but , in a rare interview that John Cruise Wilkins gave, he mentioned pre Savy that a Cpt Rocco originally had it.
I have no idea if at all if this fella is linked to either subject. Given that another article mentions a Cpt Gulvorg (Norwegian whaling Cpt ). given its been shown over time these two legends have been probably wrongly intertwined , perhaps digging deeper on these two guys might be worth the snoop?
Rookie observer: was that the 1970s “Wilkins to find the treasure of La Buze” Telegraph interview with Reginald Cruise-Wilkins (which I’ve never seen)?
I’m intrigued, I must admit, even if I can’t yet see anything to do with a Capitaine Rocco…
Wilkins junior gave an interview in a creole/ French documentary …2005-2010? (you tube ) sadly I never saved it. Rocco is mentioned in that.
French news articles mention a Rocco early 1800’s
Gulvorg came from a British news article.
Honestly I have no idea who is linked to which subject if at all.
Rookie observer: given that the Cruise-Wilkins pair were obsessed by La Buse and digging on a different island, it’s probably fairly safe to expect that their reference to Capitaine Rocco was to do with La Buse rather than with Le Butin. But… I’d be interested to see that video regardless, YouTube only seems to have the Olivier Fontaine documentary (several times over) along with a load of “decryptions”. 🙂
Interestingly, though, while looking for that I saw a reference to a 1988 UPI article that asserted that “several copies of the coded document [La Buse cryptogram] exist”, (which is the earliest mention of the existence of multiple copies that I’ve yet seen), though the same sentence ends, somewhat disappointingly, with the false assertion that “one is in the national library in Paris”, which I’m fairly sure isn’t true at all. *sigh*
http://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/31/Forty-year-old-quest-for-pirate-treasure-renewed/9031586324800/
Rookie observer: I should add that I didn’t see anything to do with a Norwegian whaling Cpt Gulvorg (“Guldborg”?) – what kind of archive were you looking in?
Yes there is multiple cryptogramme and yes an article predating 1988 , mentioning about them.
You tube documentary , honestly , am struggling to find it myself again.
Ah the distractions & discussions of pyrates has sidelined me from watching men & women of today’s time attempting to reach their own dreams of finding gold.
I will attempt to try find the sources I mentioned above this evening.
That said , it might be worth noting that Mauritius was / has been hit by a number of seriously destructive hurricanes and storms , although am unsure where the tip of cyclones hit on the Southern Hemisphere , this to could have impacted on any location mentioned in the letters.
It has also been mentioned that the river in question has changed its course over the years , that and possible land slides could have changed all visuals in the area.
It might also need to be considered that at time of wreck , could he have been disorientated and assumed he was near river but In fact further up or down the coast?
Lastly , before any notion of documentaries is suggested , would it perhaps not be better in finding if the alleged treasures did actually exist? If shipping can be narrowed down by cargo etc? Admittedly I do not know how much records exist for shipping & yes a long slow process. But we are all assuming there is a treasure based on letters none of us have seen, a big mistake no ?
Hi,
The French articles are taking longer to find than i thought.
A few , although not directly associated to this subject , but , nice to know none the less…
The Mercury , 26th March 1892, p3. (Tasmanian Press Association)
“The Windsor Murder”
The Sun , 21st June 1939 , p2. (Sydney , NSW)
concerning flying boat Guba
Very respectfully @ B. Deveson & Rookie Observer:
Have you been able to compare the Hawaiian Islands lava tubes with Mauritian tubes and sinkpots? In more recent years, man-made satellite photography is now being televised, in the daily ‘weather conditions’ posted by News Reporters world wide. Also, we are now able to view archaeological events, dang near anywhere on earth (and the moon?).
A most fascinating archaeological event which was televised was the tiny “caterpillar camera” which was filming the interior of King Tutankhamun’s pyramid. Unfortunately, the Museum’s director was eventually dismissed (by rivals) . He had begun to produce X-rays and chromosome studies. “Sacrilege” being his opponents’ rational for his dismissal.
Ennyway: One very interesting discovery was that the major interior ‘alleyway’ was focused on “Orion’s Belt” which Egyptian Kings reputedly went to after death. The other interesting discovery of that famous set of pyramids was that all of the existing pyramids are aligned as if they were built, again to emphasize the importance of their “god” Orion.
Again, Nick, I beg your pardon if I’ve 1-nce again gone far astray from your discussion.