Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson

Author:Robert Kurson [Kurson, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Caribbean & West Indies, History, Nonfiction, Retail
ISBN: 9781400063369
Google: DU-_oQEACAAJ
Amazon: B00NDTV6W6
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2015-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

THE ORACLES

Mattera flew back to Santo Domingo after his journey to the archive in Seville, but he didn’t go on to Samaná to rejoin his team. Instead, he made phone calls to old men in America, living legends of treasure hunting who knew things a person couldn’t learn from books. He doubted that any of them had chased a pirate before—these men lived for silver and gold—but he believed in wisdom and experience, and in that way, they were oracles to him. Soon, he had appointments to see the best of them.

He flew to Florida and checked into a hotel in Key Largo. At a lobby kiosk, he saw a brochure for the Pirate Soul Museum in Key West. “See real pirate treasures from the Golden Age!” “No quarter given!” Mattera stuffed the flyer into his pocket. Key West was one hundred miles to the south. He had people to see the next day. But pirates were calling, so he started driving.

Standing in line outside the museum, he took in the passing parade of bohemians, artists, and tourists. To him, Key West was laid-back and glorious, a place he could live for up to a week before going crazy and needing something to do.

He paid the $13.95 entry fee and walked back in time. In the first few rooms, he saw authentic pirate swords, pistols, treasure, cannons, rum bottles, and tools, including a gruesome amputation kit. The museum even had a globule of quicksilver—mercury—captured from pirates and entombed in a small jar of water. All of it dated to the Golden Age of Piracy, between 1650 and 1720. But the rarest items were still to come.

Hanging on one wall, ominously lit, was an original Jolly Roger, the infamous skull-and-crossbones flag flown by pirates, and one of only two known surviving examples in the world. Near it lay the only pirate treasure chest in America, complete with hidden compartments and belonging to captain Thomas Tew, number three on Forbes magazine’s list of the Twenty Highest-Earning Pirates (estimated career earnings $103 million), who was said to have been disemboweled and killed by a cannon shot during battle. On another wall, Mattera saw an authentic English proclamation from 1696, offering five hundred pounds for the head of pirate Henry Avery; the piece was likely the oldest wanted poster in existence.

The museum had been put together by Pat Croce, the former owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, from his personal collection. “This guy might love basketball,” Mattera thought as he stood before a 1684 first-edition copy of Exquemelin’s The Buccaneers of America. “But he loves pirates more.”

Mattera didn’t leave until he’d read about the great pirates, and they all lived here: Morgan, Blackbeard, Kidd, Anne Bonny, “Black Sam” Bellamy, “Calico” Jack Rackham. Each one’s career seemed more thrilling than the last. Yet, walking out the door into the blinding Key West sun, Mattera couldn’t help but smile, because he knew a pirate captain who could top them all.

—

THE NEXT DAY, Mattera walked into Manny

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.