Somewhere down in Florida, near St. Augustine, there is a chest buried by an ancient live oak. In it, a small fortune in pirate gold. In 1785, Gaspirilla, a famed pirate, tired of the risks and hardships of his business of piracy, decided to change his ways and become a law-abiding citizen. He planned to leave his pirate headquaters on Gaspirilla Island and head for Anastasia Island, just off the coast of St. Augustine, which was then in the hands of the Spaniards. From there, he intended to contact the Spanish governmor of St. Augustine, buy the governor's forgiveness, and arrange for sanctuary in that city. Only thus could he escape from his many enemies.But to carry out his plan, it was necessary to get some cash away from his pirate cronies and hide it where he could lay his hands upon it later. This is all recorded in his diary, by the way. He dropped anchor just off Anastasia and, alone, rowed ashore in a small boat. With him was a small chest containing $50,000 in coins. From the ship, his henchmen watched him draw the boat onto the beach and stride off into the dense foilage. An hour or so later he returned without the chest and rowed back to the ship. According to an old document, he went "a short distance inland, turning from the sea marshes into a jungle of palms, sage trees, and live oaks, where i travelled about a half an hour, stopping under a large, live oak tree...where I buried a small chest which contains $50,000" That is the only record of his treasure. The chest of gold may still be there, for the pirate never used it to buy his pardon. A short time after he buried the coins, his ship was seized and he jumped overboard to his death. He had never returned for the chest, and none of his crew knew exactly where the live oak tree was. By now that tree is probably gone and there may even be a filling station or a beach house where the tree once stood. It's justtoo bad that Gaspirilla couldn't have been a bit more specific with his directions.
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