Treasure of Lima

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Since the 16th century, when Spain defeated the Inca, it also took control over Lima. During the next centuries, the Catholic Church gathered a huge treasure in Lima. In the early 19th century, Spain became difficulties with its colonies because of wars of independence in South America. Lima was no exception and in 1820 the city came under heavy pressure and finally even had to be evacuated.

In 1820, Captain Thompson^[clarify] was ordered to ship the treasure of the church of Lima with his brig, the Mary Dear, to Mexico. The story goes, that Thompson wasn't able to resist the temptation of the treasure, killed the passengers and navigated with his crew to Cocos Island where he buried the treasure. It is estimated that the treasure of Lima was worth around $60,000,000. Captain Thompson later joined forces with pirate Benito Bonito and his crew was finally arrested when his ship came under attack of a British warship, but the Captain himself was able to escape. Under torture they all admitted that the treasure was hidden on Cocos Island. Captain Thompson himself died 1844 under the care of Keating, whom he told where the treasure was buried. Keating went to Cocos Island where he got into trouble with his crew but was able to flee with a small amount of gold. Since then, even until today, hundreds of treasure hunters went to Cocos Island and tried to find the treasure of Lima (most notably the German August Gissler), but none ever succeeded in even finding the smallest piece of gold. Even not with the newest techniques or by blowing up whole hills. Nevertheless, the legend of the treasure on the Cocos Island holds up and there are still dozens of treasure hunters each year which try to find the gold of the church of Lima, allegedly buried there by the mutinying Captain Thompson. ^[1] ^[2]

[edit] The Stevenson theory

The Swiss author Alex Capus suggests based on inquiries of Walter Hurni, that Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, found the treasure of the church in Lima around 1890. Despite his episodic ill health, Stevenson shipped for two years from North America to Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean. After arriving there, he seemed to have undertaken a few mysterious sailing tours with unknown destinations. Capus discovered, and he assumes that Stevenson must have found out the same, that the then already called island of Tafahi near the Samoa island of Upolu (where Stevenson was living at the time), was called Coconut Island (or Cocos Eylant) at the time Captain Thompson was living and not many people at that time knew the island existed. Shortly after his arrival in Samoa and his mysterious sailing tours, Stevenson became very rich and built a big and expensive mansion in Samoa (Vailima) and none of his relatives ever had to work for their living again. Stevenson died from a stroke just four years after his arrival.^[3] Stevenson was a successful author who continued to publish works and received substantial royalties from his works which by themselves could account for his wealth.