A huge treasure in the Indian Ocean
A treasure still to be discovered image chosen by monsieurdefrance.Com Three-shots from Pixabay
A boat full of riches in Saint Denis Bay
Two boats resembling those of the Buzzard era. Image chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: by Rujhan Basir from Pixabay
If it really exists, the Buzzard's treasure is the greatest treasure in the history of piracy . Historians estimate its value at between 4 and 5 billion euros. On April 8, 1721, the pirate Olivier Vasseur, known as"La Buse", and his accomplice, Taylor, arrived on Reunion Island from the Mascarene Islands not far from Madagascar. In the harbor off Saint Denis de la Réunion, they discovered the "Virgin of the Cape", a Portuguese ship. Not just any ship, but the flagship of the Portuguese fleet. She's 800 tons strong, defended by 72 cannons. What a beast! And in this ship is what two very wealthy men were able to accumulate over 10 years in the Portuguese colonies . The two men who put all their wealth in the ship's holds were Luís Carlos Inácio Xavier de Meneses, Count of Ericeira, Viceroy of the Portuguese East Indies, and Don Sebastian de Andrado, Archbishop of Goa. Diamonds, bars of gold and silver, silk, works of art... Several tons' worth in all. And the boat is in bad shape, having been caught in a storm shortly before arriving.
The pirate assault
A pirate imagined by artificial intelligence. Illustration chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: by Ivana Tomášková from Pixabay
What's amazing about what happened is the incredible nerve of La Buse and Taylor, who wasted no time in attacking the ship (not so heavily guarded, by the way) and taking it. The Count of Ericeira would later write that he bitterly defended the ship and ended up crumbling under the number of forbbans, but it's not impossible that in order to feel less ashamed of such a loss, he invented a bit by inventing a fight that didn't exist. It's more likely that he didn't see it coming, and that it was from the shore that he saw the boat taken and carried away by the forbans. In any case, the battle quickly turned to the pirates' advantage. The capture of this boat is just enormous. And the inhabitants of Reunion were stunned to see it sail away. It was renamed "Le Victorieux" by its new "owners", La Buse and Taylor, who continued to scour the Pacific with varying degrees of success. They take on the "Ville d'Ostende", then the "Duchesse de Noailles", which doesn't satisfy them because it "only" carries slaves, and which they decide to burn (leading to the slaves' horrific deaths).
The Buzzard: life and death.
It's not impossible that the Buzzard resembled this AI-generated pirate He died a little after his 30th birthday . Illustration chosen by monsieurdefrance.Com Felix Lichtenfeld from Pixabay
Who is "the buzzard"?
Olivier Vasseur was born in Calais, France, on January 4, 1695. In Calais, near the sea, and it was to the sea that he turned, as did many Calais residents. He was 21 years old when he was first recorded in the history of piracy, helping Samuel Bellamy to become a pirate. He became one of the most famous of them all, known as "Black Sam", the prince of pirates. First skimming the Caribbean Sea, he ended up leaving it, like virtually all pirates, when the various nations sharing the islands decided to do their utmost to pursue the thieves. As America was no longer of interest, the Gulf of Guinea became the forbans' hunting ground, followed by the Pacific. Olivier Vasseur, now known as "la buse" (the buzzard), visibly climbed the ranks and became a fixture in the profession. In 1720, fate dealt him a cruel blow when his ship sank off the coast of Mayotte. Recovered by two other pirates, Edward England and John Taylor, he ended up in partnership with them. The threesome didn't last very long, however, as in April 1721, Taylor and "the Buzzard" couldn't stand England any longer, and decided to abandon him on Mauritius, before moving on to what was happening on what was then Bourbon Island, now Reunion Island. It's at this point, in April 1721, that they enter the official sources and we really have documents concerning them. And it's only logical, since this is when they pulled off the heist of the century by taking "la vierge du cap" and its fabulous treasure. He was only 26 when he pulled off this feat.
A 17th-century ship on the sea. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance: ArtemKnyaz via depositphotos
After the shot: a pause
Sainte Marie Island, where La Buse stayed for 8 years as a ferryman for ships. Photo chosen by Monsieurdefrance.Com: By M worm - Personnal work, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3529288
After making a few more catches, and having a falling out, Taylor and "the Buzzard" parted ways and went their separate ways. La Buse settles on the island of Sainte Marie, off Madagascar's Antogil Bay , and stops piracy. There, he learns that a law proposes that freebooters stop stealing and move to Reunion Island or Mauritius, which need to be populated. It's a win-win situation: the pirates can make a quieter life for themselves, and the authorities can have peace of mind when it comes to trading. La Buse didn't take up the offer. He stayed on in Sainte Marie, where he worked as a smuggler for 8 years. His job was to board passing ships that didn't know the sea bed well enough to help them cross the bay and continue their journey in complete safety.
Taken prisoner, La Buse is hanged
La Buse was hanged on Reunion Island. He was 34 years old. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: depositphotos
In 1729, while doing his job as a smuggler, he is recognized by Piotr Héros, a former pirate aboard Captain Dhermitte's slave ship. Caught and confused, La buse finishes the journey at the bottom of the hold. It's quite a catch for Dhermitte, as he's quite famous. In fact, it's thought that Dhermitte did everything in his power to get close to Madagascar, so as to have a chance of catching the most famous pirate of the moment. La Buse landed on Reunion Island in spite of himself. He was imprisoned and immediately put on trial. He was found guilty of piracy and hanged , as stipulated in the judgment, which reads: "The Council condemned and sentenced him to make honorable amends before the main door of the church of this parish, naked in his shirt, with a rope around his neck and holding in his hand a burning torch weighing two pounds, to say and declare loud and clear that he has wickedly and recklessly plied the trade of a forban for several years, for which he repents and asks God and the King for forgiveness. [...] Executed at five o'clock in the evening of July 7, 1730, in front of the local church. He was 34 years old. La Buse's grave is still there, in the cemetery of Saint Paul de la Réunion.
Where is the Buzzard's treasure?
Plan de l'isle Bourbon (devenue la Réunion) 17th century. Illustration chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: via gallica.fr / BNF
He's probably in Reunion.
"Where's the treasure?" is the question everyone asks, even when Buzzard is alive. He refuses to tell the governor who questions him. Yet he's almost certain that the Buzzard has hidden his treasure and drawn very little from it. He says so himself, heading for the rope as he crosses a bridge. Those escorting him see him looking at the houses lining the way, and hear him say "with what I've hidden here, I could buy the whole island". As he was about to be hanged, he is said to have thrown a sheet of paper with a cryptogram written on it and said "my treasure to whoever can take it!"
A shoreline on Reunion Island. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.Com: zx6r92 viadepositphotos
What we know about the Buzzard treasure
What seems certain is that it is in Réunion Island. In fact, the two pirates, Taylor and La Buse, had to empty the ship before continuing to scour the seas, as they did a few months later. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to refill the holds. And then there's what La Buse said as he crossed the bridge: "with what I've hidden HERE". Having said that, we can't rule out a bit of boastfulness, a last moment of panache, before dying. Maybe La Buse just wanted to show off before he died. Many historians have long thought so. What changed things was the cryptogram sheet.
The Buzzard cryptogram: le cryptogramme de la Buse
The Buzzard's cryptogram. Can you decipher it? By Bibliothèque Nationale, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=402090
It was long thought that this sheet had never existed, but in the 1930s, a curator at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France named Charles de la Roncière claimed to have seen this cryptogram, which had been shown to him by a certain Madame Savy, a woman originally from the Seychelles, whose family owned it. The paper set off a treasure hunt that continues to this day. Some, like the Frenchman "Bibique" (1934-1995), have devoted their lives to it.
