[3] Hidden Treasure Maps vs. Real Life Sea-Charts
IN THE FILM: Thanks to Chunk’s clumsiness, a shattered frame reveals a hidden treasure map marked with the year 1632. It is written completely in Spanish with a rhyming warning: “Ye Intruders beware. Crushing death and grief, Soaked with blood, Of the trespassing thief.” Skeptical big brother Brand is doubtful, claiming that “everyone and their grandfather” has tried searching for this particular buried treasure. Now things are getting good, as we’ve just been introduced to the infamous One-Eyed Willy, “the most famous pirate in his time,” according to Mikey. One-Eyed Willy, so the story goes, stole an entire hoard of gold and precious gems from the British King and “sailed off into the sunset.” When the King found out about it, he sent an entire armada after Willy, resulting in a full blown battle. In the midst of battle, Willy escaped into a hidden cave, where the British blew up the walls all around him so that he got caved in (and he’s been there ever since…). To protect his precious treasure, he set up an intricate system of booby traps so that anyone who tried to get to his treasure would die. But it’s said that one crew member must have escaped with the treasure map, which is how it eventually wound up hidden in Mikey’s attic for the goonies to discover.
Contrary to popular belief and mythical pirate lore, actual hidden treasure maps like the one we see in the film didn't seem to exist in real life. In fact, there are few reliable accounts of buccaneers who would actually bury their loot, but we'll get to that topic in the next few posts. While notions of 'X' marks the spot and tattered documents riddled with bewaring curses have no real historical legitimacy, other types of maps and navigational methods were certainly crucial to any sort of mariner navigating the open ocean.
While western depictions of mysterious treasure maps have led us to believe that anyone -- even a group of rambunctious children -- can follow the dots to the buried or booby-trapped treasure, many of the beautifully drawn charts and maps used were often inaccurate and could only provide a "general shape of coastlines and the position of the islands" (Cordingly 83). According to author David Cordingly, "considering the primitive state of navigation and charts in the early part of the eighteenth century it is surprising that more pirate ships were not wrecked" (Cordingly 82).
However, thanks to the journals of buccaneers such as William Dampier, Woodes Rogers and Basil Ringrose, fellow seafarers could share in the knowledge of descriptive sea-charts and maps to assist them in navigating at sea. Buccaneer and explorer William Dampier, for example, was the author of many navigational calculations and detailed logbooks which were tremendously "valuable source[s] of information about the navigational problems which faced the ocean-going seamen of his day" (Cordingly 83).
Although they didn't pertain to secret treasures, accurate sea-charts and maps were highly valued during the Golden Age of Piracy, especially during a time when European maritime nations were competing for colonies and challenging Spain's influence in the New World (Cordingly 86). An excellent example of this is the story of Captain Bartholomew Sharp and the looting of the Spanish ship, El Santo Rosario.
In July 1681, Captain Bartholomew Sharp and his crew captured and looted the Rosario, coming into the possession of what buccaneer William Dick called a "great book full of sea-charts and maps, containing a very accurate and exact description of all the ports, soundings, creeks, rivers, capes and coasts belonging to the South Sea, and all the navigations usually performed by the Spaniards in that ocean" (Cordingly 86). Sharp's men then continued on to raid and destroy Spanish ships along the Pacific coast, causing the Spanish to lose both a ton of money and a ton of men. Naturally, Sharp returned to London to face the outrage of the Spanish ambassador, who demanded Sharp be tried and hanged for piracy (Mason). However, the clever Sharp had put himself in the good graces of King Charles II by presenting the maps, knowing that the king would take a great interest to their value. An English copy of the sea charts was made, and Sharp was acquitted, showing that the sea-charts (quite literally) saved his neck.
From this account it is clear that these highly valuable Spanish sailing charts saved not only Captain Bartholomew Sharp's freedom, but also his life. With that being said, one might even argue that to the real-life pirates, navigational maps just so happened to be the most valuable 'treasures' of all.
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life among the Pirates. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.
Mason, Betsy, and Greg Miller. “Pirate Maps Were the Most Valuable Treasure of All.” Culture, National Geographic, 4 May 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/pirate-maps-all-over-the-map?loggedin=true.
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