COCOS— A TALE OF TREASURE 267 



literally fell into the treasure, or at least some por- 

 tion of it. Tradition says that he brought away as 

 many coins as he could carry, and the story is 

 always quoted as being "well-substantiated," but 

 by what or whom it is not easy to discover. If he 

 found more than he could carry, it seems likely that 

 his shipmates would have been more than willing to 

 lend him a hand. 



Two Englishwomen outfitted a ship and went to 

 Cocos, equipped for a stay of ten weeks. They an- 

 nounced that the treasure — when found — would be 

 used to establish an orphan asylum in London, but 

 their supplies gave out when they had no more than 

 begun their battle with the island jungle. They 

 returned to London and convinced a firm of hard- 

 ware dealers that they knew the very spot where 

 excavation would reveal vast riches. A ship of 

 500 tons was chartered, provisioned for six months, 

 and great steel boxes with special locks were built 

 into the hold for the safe storage of the treasure. 

 Five months of frantic industry on the island found 

 them none the richer, except for augmented muscles 

 in the hardware business. Thoiii^ the capitalists 

 finally weakened, the women remained confident, 

 and returned to London with the avowed intention 

 of finding more big hammer-and-nail men. 



An excited German, who had been exploring 

 Cocos with five other men, returned to New York 

 to interest zoological societies or circus exhibitors 

 in a project for capturing the dragons that make 

 that tropical island their home. He had seen 

 dragons there, their footprints in the sand, their 



