Thanks to help from Cipher Mysteries commenters Paul Relkin and Thomas, it became clear that though my initial attempt at cracking the Hollow River Cipher was close, it wasn’t as close as it could have been. Essentially, even though I worked out the upper case / lower case trick and what I thought was a single cipher, it turned out that there were actually two separate ciphers in play (i.e. for lower case letters in the cryptogram) that the encipherer could choose from, either a +1 Caesar Shift or a -2 Caesar Shift.
It then became acutely clear that the otherwise mysterious line “2 = 1. 1 = 3. A = A.” in the cryptogram was therefore the key to the cipher, where the two Hollow River Cipher alphabets are as follows:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A (+1 Caesar Shift) X Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X (-2 Caesar Shift)
This means that we can decrypt almost all of the cryptogram, leaving only a handful of letters ambiguous. Here are the workings out:
e q E m e g u k O O o k A I k E [= cryptogram] F R E N F H V L O O P L A I L E [= +1 Caesar Shift if lower case] C O E K C E S I O O M I A I I E [= -2 Caesar Shift if lower case] F R E N C H S L O O P L A I L E [= Most likely plaintext] i U k e u s k A y q E m E o A Y 10, 1738 J U L F V T L A Z R E N E P A Y G U I C S Q I A W O E K E M A Y G U L F S T L A W R E N E M A Y 10, 1738 o q I u O m E q f U A q c E c e q e y O P R I V O N E R G U A R D E D F R F Z O M O I S O K E O D U A O A E A C O C W O P R I S O N E R G U A R D E D C R E W O m u g O q E N V H P R E K S E M O E N S H O R E k E A i M E y E u s m A U e q A i E L E A J N E Z E V T N A U F R A J E I E A G K E W E S Q K A U C O A G E L E A G U E W E S T N A U F R A G E I . u s i o I . V T J P I . S Q G M I . ? ? ? M g m o k A m w m m O y m I m s E m c y q H N P L A N X N N O Z N I N T E N D Z R E K M I A K U K K O W K I K Q E K A W O E N P L A N U N N O W N I N T E N D W R E e m u g I o s O O m A k k i U m u A m c s q E A u U q E j I c c E m k I m E F N V H I P T O O N A L L J U N V A N D T R E A V U R E K I D D E N L I N E C K S E I M Q O O K A I I G U K S A K A Q O E A S U O E H I A A E K I I K E C K S H I P T O O K A L L G U N S A N D T R E A S U R E H I D D E N ? I N e i u E E I i g s u O m E g U m c q g c A m c E k E n E m Y e w w o u o A k k F J V E E I J H T V O N E H U N D R H D A N D E L E O E N Y F X X P V P A L L C G S E E I G E Q S O K E E U K A O E A A K A E I E L E K Y C U U M S M A I I F I V E E I G H T S O N E H U N D R E D A N D E L E V E N ? ? ? U P S M A L L u s q g A o - k I m E g A k e k E m i s g m . y E u s e q O o u O u s g E m e - o V T R H A P - L I N E H A L F L E N J T H N . Z E V T F R O P V O V T H E N F - P S Q O E A M - I I K E E A I C I E K G Q E K . W E S Q C O O M S O S Q E E K C - M S T R E A M - L I N E H A L F L E N G T H N . W E S T F R O M S O U T H E N D - P I s u o I c c k k E u E e O m c . i e q O y u g A Y . I T V P I D D L L E V E F O N D . J F R O Z V H A Y . I Q S M I A A I I E S E C O K A . G C O O W S E A Y . I T S M I D D L L E S E C O N D . J C R O W S H A Y .
This gives the following net decryption:
FRENCH SLOOP L’AI[G]LE
GULF ST LAWREN[C]E MAY 10, 1738
PRISONER GUARDED CREW ONSHORE
LEAGUE WEST NAUFRAGE
I. ???
MEN PLAN UNNOWN INTEND WRECK SHIP TOOK ALL GUNS AND TREASURE HIDDEN ? IN
FIVE EIGHTS ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN ??? UP SMALL
STREAM – LINE HALF LENGTH N. WEST FROM SOUTH END –
PITS MIDDLLE SECOND. J CROWSHAY.
If the “L’Aigle” was the French Sloop ‘Eagle’ mentioned in the diary entry, then I’m almost certain that the “FIVE EIGHTS” were five 8-pounder cannon boxes. Moreover, my best guess for the final ??? is that this is YDS (i.e. “ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN Y[AR]DS UP SMALL STREAM”).
Hence it seems that what we have managed to decrypt is indeed exactly the kind of treasure map every schoolboy since Treasure Island has fantasized about:
1) TOOK ALL GUNS AND TREASURE HIDDEN ? IN FIVE EIGHTS
2) ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN Y[AR]DS UP SMALL STREAM (i.e. the Hollow River)
3) LINE HALF LENGTH N[ORTH] WEST FROM SOUTH END
4) PITS MIDDLE SECOND
5) [Signed] J CROWSHAY
So, if you walk 111 yards up Hollow River, then follow a line roughly half that length (say, 55 yards) in a north-westerly direction from the south end, you might well find pits containing five eight-pounder cannon stuffed out with treasure. (The “Legend” specifically mentions five pits!)
Of course, I’d say that there’s a 90+% chance that this Hollow River Treasure has been cleared out or robbed out over the centuries (particularly given what was related in the “Legend” article), but you can never be 100% sure of what’s still there, eh? So… do we have any Cipher Mysteries readers on Prince Edward Island? (Asking is free, right? 🙂 )
I think Crowshay is a more likely name than Frowshay. Crowshay is a well documented British family name of that period. In fact, there was a British shipping company called Crowshay & Co., but I’m not sure if they were around at the time the cipher was created.
Paul Relkin: you are, of course, correct. 😉
A superficial (i.e. free) check of ancestry.com reveals a James Crowshay (born 1715?, so would have been 23 in 1738) marrying a Margaret Seuton, though readers with an Ancestry.com subscription should be able to pull up a little more information.
There’s a little more on the couple here on Geneanet (in Spanish), specifically saying that they were from York: https://es.geneanet.org/fonds/individus/?go=1&nom=SEUTON
MAY I suggest some re evaluation of the ‘eight pound’ gun scenario might be in order. If such guns were to be connected with the French sloop, than such could have been a might heavy in my estimation. In fact eight pound naval guns and similar shot carronades don’t seem to have come into general use until much later in the century. To my limited knowledge, four pounders were the norm for a sloop, until introduction of the short six in about the 1750s. As another of our well meaning contributors has reminded, we might take our wiki sourced info with a grain of saltpetre perhaps.
The ‘Line half length’ likely refers to 100 metres or a half cable, which could mean that the first calculation of 111 might logically represents fathoms ie a full metric cable linear land measurement or .1 of a standard nautical mile thereabouts.
Could be coincidence of course, but we all may as well be made aware that, just off the Prince Edward Island (St. Johns 1738) coast, lies Loup Island ie. Loup La Ile, or L’Ile, that gets uncommonly close to our French ‘onion’ sloop L’lai(g)le or Eagle what?. Similarly, over on the opposite mainland shore, is a small inlet stream, one of many which is known as Riviere du Loup. Something upon which we might like to reflect upon later perhaps!…
Having just read the note in the bottle yarn, all I can say is, that it was just as predictable as it was implausable. That being said, the decoding seemed to contain elements worthy of some thought provoking vagaries, with which our decrypton whizkids had only a few minor hic ups sorting through. I’ll confess that I’m really not into that stuff these days, though I’m more than happy to advise on technical issues, should such be deemed relevent eg. the French eight pound naval piece, weighed in at just around 1700lbs. neat (barrel). Are we all done with this one Nick?….
john sanders: as always, we’ll be done when the sterotypically rotund female opera person sings, and not a moment before that.
Nick: Not so much a fat lady; more like your stereotyoical elephant in the room. Our biggest problem concerns the logistics of manhandling five eight pound cannon, having a gross weight of around four tons, from a little sailing sloop of dubious pedigree, to a mysterious island for burial. How is our young able seaman Crowbait (sic) going to account for the magical transfer feat, boxing up and interment of the tubes along with their golden accoutrements; but to what eventual nett gain pray tell?. The best common sense approach would have been to store the loot inside the barrels and use deck tackle to get the unlimbered guns into the drink, a fathom below tidal influence, attached for easy recovery to chains passed through their built in tow rings. NB: Pirates were not generally in the habit of leaving their illgotten, hard fought gains lying around deep covered pits on foreign shores, with X maps to aid later recovery. That method only succeeded once to my knowkedge, in the kids adventure book Treaure Island….Are we done yet Nick?….
Lines of communication seem to have slowed somewhat; could it be that an exclusion zone has come into effect, as in tete a tete conversations for the privilaged few? Nah, that would be against the spirit of fairness that our esteemed moderator wouldn’t condone for a New York minute….I was wondering whether any letters to the Editor of PEI magazine, post July 1900 might not have included solutions to the Hollow River cipher, which we might well have anticipated. It’d certainly be interesting if we could have access to them and any additional new material gleaned on related shipping news from the old dart or the Americas.
john sanders: I previously gave a link to all the issues, with the suggestion that it might be a good idea, but I don’t know if anybody took it up. I would guess that Prince Edward Islander Julie V. Watson would have read every issue of the PEIM (she included a copy of the article in one of her books), but she didn’t include a solution, or indeed any follow-ups.
PEIM seems to have been a pretty well presented sort of a publcation for the times and one could well imagine a fairly wide readership within the populated eastern provinces and even the US border states. In that late gay nineties and new century era, before cryptic crosswords became the rage, brain teaser puzzles and hidden treasure maps were much in vogue, so it’s a wonder our Hollow River mystery yarn, with it’s related mind bender didn’t create any interest for myriads of eager amateur decryption advocates. Is it possible that the thing was considered fairly run of the mill, or else a repetition of similar themes published in other mags with wider readership perhaps?….
Nick: Sure hope you’re not into omens. I0th August, your big day, is also Saint Lawrence day, held on the the anniversary of his martyrdom in Rome. In case you arn’t into the gory details, it seems he got burnt. PS. We note that Mr. Petersen has only recently mentioned that the Gulf of St. Lawrence was named on his feast day.
John sanders: St Lawrence did achieve the immortality of being included in the Wikipedia page of unusual deaths: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths
All the same, picking your preferred martyr by the manner of their death would seem to be a little odd.