I recently accessed an 1848 article printed in “The Friend,” an old but defunct newspaper organization that was located Honolulu, Hawaii. The article was titled, “A Narrative of Capt. Roberton, the Treasure Hider,” by Blue Water.
Frankly, I was vaguely aware of the hidden treasure story from past literature. At the time, I was not that drawn to the subject until I came across the subject article. After all, my primary interests and focus is on Chamorro and my genealogy. Low and behold to my surprise within the subject article as I read it I saw my great-great-great grandfather’s name: John Anderson (click to find out more about John Anderson husband of Josefa dela Cruz).
Within the article, John Anderson’s narrative was provided and reprinted in this article regarding Andrew Gordon Roberton and the hidden treasure. Anderson mentions a native of Guam named “Matemy.” Matemy was part of crew that untied Captain Smith and his crew after being bounded by Roberton and his crew. Not much else is said about Matemy after that.
In some accounts it is said that Spanish Governor Jose Ganga Herrero sent up to 600 Chamorros to try and find the buried treasure on Pagan, but were not successful. It is also interesting to note that some literature suggests that the treasure was buried in Agrihan. But nonetheless and to this very day no one has ever found the alleged hidden treasure.
I have included image extracts of my two primary sources from the 1800s where you can read about this interesting story.
(Note: To view a larger format of the image, after clicking on the image, click the icon in the upper right hand corner to enlargen the image)
Bibiliography
___. 1828. Capt. Roberton, A Pirate. The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and it Dependencies, Vol. XXVI, July to December 1828, pp. 350-352. Parbury, Allen & Co.: London.
Blue Water. 1848. A Narrative of Capt. Roberton, the Treasure Hider. The Friend: Honolulu, Hawaii.
