French pirate
Olivier Levasseur
(1688, 1689, or 1690 ? 7 July 1730), was a French
pirate
, nicknamed
La Buse
("The
Buzzard
") or
La Bouche
("The Mouth") in his early days for the speed and ruthlessness with which he always attacked his enemies as well as his ability to verbally attack his opponents. He is known for allegedly hiding one of the biggest
treasures
in pirate history, estimated at over $1 billion, and leaving a
cryptogram
behind with clues to its whereabouts. He is also the inspiration for the king of the pirates, Gol. D. Roger from the popular manga,
One Piece
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born at
Calais
during the
Nine Years' War
(1688?1697) to a wealthy
bourgeois
family, Levasseur became an architect after receiving an excellent education. During the
War of the Spanish Succession
(1701?1714), he procured a
letter of marque
from King
Louis XIV
and became a
privateer
for the French crown. When the war ended he was ordered to return home with his ship, but he instead joined the pirate company of
Benjamin Hornigold
in 1716. Though he already had a scar across one eye limiting his sight, Levasseur proved himself a good leader and shipmate.
After a year of successful looting, the Hornigold party split, Levasseur partnering briefly with
Samuel Bellamy
[1]
before deciding to try his luck on the Brazilian Coast aboard a stolen 22-gun merchant frigate named
La Louise
. He attacked many boats and ships on his way to the south of Brazil, most notably a slave ship coming from Angola, whose crew was abandoned to sink in their ship after it was robbed and damaged. He then abandoned 240 stolen slaves on an island off
Macae
(next to
Rio de Janeiro
) before a Portuguese armed boat gave him chase. After skirmishes with the Portuguese at
Ilha Grande
and
Ubatuba
, where ten pirates were killed,
La Louise
took shelter in
Cananeia
for some days. There Levasseur was informed of a rich French merchantman in the nearby bay of
Paranagua
. While giving it chase,
La Louise
was caught in a storm off Cotinga Island and sank on 9 March 1718, with the death of about 80 of its crew. Levasseur escaped on a small brigantine that escorted his ship, and from there went south to
Sao Francisco do Sul
, where he robbed a boat full of
cassava
flour, in order to feed his surviving crew, sailing back to Cananeia.
[2]
The pirates then sailed further north preying on ships again. Levasseur later reappeared in the Caribbean in June of that year in a smaller vessel that he had managed to steal on his way back from Brazil, but was almost captured by
HMS
Scarborough
under the command of Captain Hume, and fled with much of his valuables to the Caribbean area in a smaller sloop.
[2]
He later joined his former associates. After
William Moody
was ejected from command by his disgruntled crew in late 1718, they elected Levasseur as captain in Moody's place.
[3]
In 1719, he operated together with
Howell Davis
and
Thomas Cocklyn
(who had also served under Moody) for a time. In 1720, they attacked the slaver port of
Ouidah
,
Kingdom of Whydah
(on the coast of what is now
Benin
), reducing the local fortress to ruins. Later that year, he was shipwrecked in the
Mozambique Channel
and stranded on the island of
Anjouan
in the
Comoros
. His bad eye had become completely blind by now, so he started wearing an
eyepatch
.
From 1720 onwards, Levasseur launched his raids from a base on the island of
Sainte-Marie
, just off the coast of
Madagascar
, together with pirates
John Taylor
,
Jasper Seagar
,
[4]
and
Edward England
. The
Great Mughal
's heavily armed but also heavily laden
pilgrim
ships to
Mecca
sailed these seas. Levasseur's quartermaster at this time was
Paulsgrave Williams
, who had been Bellamy's quartermaster and fellow captain until Bellamy was killed in a storm off Cape Cod.
[5]
They first plundered the
Laccadives
, and sold the loot to Dutch traders for $75,000. Levasseur and Taylor eventually got tired of England's humanity and marooned him on the island of
Mauritius
.
They then perpetrated one of piracy's greatest exploits: the capture of the Portuguese great galleon
Nossa Senhora do Cabo
(
Our Lady of the Cape
) or
Virgem Do Cabo
(
The Virgin of the Cape
), which was loaded full of treasures belonging to the
Bishop of Goa
, also called the
Patriarch of the East Indies
, and the
Viceroy of Portugal
, who were both on board returning home to
Lisbon
. The pirates were able to board the vessel without firing a single
broadside
because the
Cabo
had been damaged in a storm; to avoid capsizing the crew had dumped all 72 cannons overboard, then anchored off
Reunion
island to undergo repairs. (This incident would later be used by
Robert Louis Stevenson
in his novel
Treasure Island
, in which the galleon is referred to as
The Viceroy of the Indies
in the account given by his famed fictional character
Long John Silver
.)
The booty consisted of bars of gold and silver, dozens of boxes full of golden
Guineas
, diamonds, pearls, silk, art, and religious objects from the
Se Cathedral
in
Goa
, including the
Fiery Cross of Goa
, made of pure gold and inlaid with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. It was so heavy that it required three men to carry it to Levasseur's ship. In fact, the treasure was so huge that the pirates did not bother to rob the persons of the ship's passengers, something they normally would have done.
When the loot was divided, each pirate received at least $50,000 worth of golden Guineas, as well as 42 diamonds each. Seagar died when they sailed to Madagascar to divide their take;
[4]
Levasseur and Taylor split the remaining gold, silver, and other objects, with Levasseur taking the golden cross.
In 1724, Levasseur sent a negotiator to the governor on the island of Bourbon (present-day Reunion) to discuss an
amnesty
that had been offered to all pirates in the Indian Ocean who would give up their practice. However, the French government wanted a large part of the stolen loot back, so Levasseur decided to avoid the amnesty and settled down in secret on the
Seychelles
archipelago. Eventually he was captured near
Fort Dauphin
, Madagascar. He was then taken to
Saint-Denis, Reunion
, and hanged for piracy at 5
PM on 7 July 1730.
The treasure
[
edit
]
Discovery in the French archives
[
edit
]
At the beginning of the 20th century, Charles de La Ronciere, a renowned historian on the French navy and curator of the Department of Printed Documents at the
Bibliotheque nationale de France
, declared in an interview he gave to the Milwaukee Journal on 15 July 1934 that he had helped to study a cryptogram that he acknowledged to be from the 18th century.
This cryptogram belonged to a young woman whose name he did not give (we now know, according to
Robert Charroux
, that it was Mme Savy, originally from the Seychelles). She is said to have asked for a work called the Clavicles of Solomon. Its deciphering yielded nothing conclusive, but launched a formidable treasure hunt that is still going strong. Several hypotheses have been put forward as to the whereabouts of the Buzzard's treasure: it is believed to be in
Reunion
, of course, but also in the Seychelles,
Rodrigues
, Madagascar,
Mayotte
and
Sainte-Marie Island
.
According to legend, when Levasseur stood on the scaffold to be hanged, he wore a necklace containing a cryptogram of 17 lines, which he threw into the crowd while exclaiming, "Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!"
[6]
The necklace has been lost, but treasure hunters have since tried to decode the cryptogram, hoping its solution will lead to a treasure.
Treasure hunters
[
edit
]
On Reunion Island, the French treasure hunter and picturesque island figure Joseph Tipveau nicknamed Bibique spent part of his life searching for treasure on the west coast of the island, before finally turning his search towards the south of the island, near the Ango ravine.
On the island of Rodrigues, French
2008 Nobel Prize in Literature
J. M. G. Le Clezio
's paternal grandfather settled down and spent twenty years digging in a gully.
In 1947, Englishman Reginald Cruise-Wilkins studied the documents, but the cryptogram was more difficult to solve than first believed. Cruise-Wilkins' early writing indicates that the code may be based on
Masonic symbolism
. Cruise-Wilkins claimed to have discovered a connection with the
Zodiac
, the
Clavicles of Solomon
, and the
Twelve Labours
of
Hercules
. Various tasks, representing the Labours of Hercules, had to be undertaken in strict order. The treasure chamber is somewhere underground and must be approached carefully, to avoid being flooded. It is protected by the tides, which requires damming to hold them back, and is to be approached from the north.
Until his death at Reunion, Cruise-Wilkins sought and dug in the island of Mahe. In a cave, except for old guns, coins, and pirate
sarcophagi
, he did not find anything. He died on 3 May 1977 before being able to find the treasure. His son,
Seychellois
history teacher John Cruise-Wilkins, is currently still seeking the treasure, concluding that after using state-of-the-art equipment, he needs "to go back to the old method, [getting] into this guy's mind, [claiming he is] ten down, two to go in his Herculean Labours."
[7]
More recently, young French researcher Emmanuel Mezino claims to have deciphered the cryptogram and precisely located the treasure, which is believed to be buried somewhere on
Reunion
Island. He says that in 2012 he joined a team of amateur researchers and cracked the cipher written in the Francacan alphabet. He claims to have located the treasure, which he recounts in his book ‘Mon tresor a qui saura le prendre’, published in 2014.
Unfortunately, it is now impossible for us to go any further because we have not obtained the necessary administrative authorisations to dig on the island. What's really regrettable is that the site is currently being wildly excavated, and some of the remains and pieces have already disappeared. The real place for this treasure is in a museum.
[8]
In November 2023, French chemist Cyrille Lougnon, grandson of Albert Lougnon, historian of Reunion Island, published a book titled
Olivier Levasseur dit la Buse, piraterie et contrebande sur la route de Indes au xviiie siecle
(Riveneuve). He revealed how he had discovered ‘
le cairn de La Ravine a Malheur
’ on Reunion Island and spoke of a 200 m3 megalithic structure less than 1,000 m from the Cremont road, under which the treasure cache was believed to be hidden.
[9]
Transcription of the cryptogram
[
edit
]
[ 1] - apre jmez une paire de pijon tiresket
[ 2] - 2 doeurs sqeseaj tete cheral funekort
[ 3] - filttinshientecu prenez une culliere
[ 4] - de mielle ef ovtre fous en faites une ongat
[ 5] - mettez sur ke patai de la pertotitousn
[ 6] - vpulezolvs prenez 2 let casse sur le che
[ 7] - min il faut qoe ut toit a noitie couue
[ 8] - povr en pecger une femme dhrengt vous n ave
[ 9] - eua vous serer la dobaucfea et pour ve
[10] - ngraai et por epingle oueiuileturlor
[11] - eiljn our la ire piter un chien tupqun
[12] - lenen de la mer de bien tecjeet sur ru
[13] - nvovl en quilnise iudf kuue femm rq
[14] - i veut se faire dun hmetsedete s/u dre
[15] - dans duui ooun dormir un homm r
[16] - esscfvmm / pl faut n rendre udlq
[17] - u un diffur qecieefurtetlesl
Veracity of the cryptogram
[
edit
]
The cipher was first mentioned in the 1934 book
Le Flibustier mysterieux: Histoire d’un tresor cache
by Charles de La Ronciere.
[10]
No mention of Levasseur's supposed cryptogram, his necklace, or his gallows speech occurs in period sources. Modern historians of piracy regard the legend as a 20th century fiction.
[11]
Popular culture
[
edit
]
- Basil Rathbone
plays Levasseur in the 1935
Errol Flynn
film
Captain Blood
.
- The story of Levasseur's treasure was featured in the comic book series
Spike and Suzy
(also known in the UK as
Bob & Bobette
or the original names
Suske en Wiske
by the Flemish author Willy Vandersteen), in the album
The Amazing Coconut
(1990). There the medallion of Levasseur was taken by a bird, which fled into the forest, where it became trapped in a mature fruit called
coco de mer
. This coconut was sold in Belgium in 1988 to the heroes of the series, and they went on to discover the medallion and finally the treasure.
- The 28th episode of
Redbeard
features the fictitious daughter of the historical pirate Olivier Levasseur.
- In the Japanese
anime
and
manga
series
One Piece
, the main storyline is ignited by the deceased pirate
Gol D. Roger
, who, much like Levasseur, during his public execution dared the assembled people to find his hidden treasure called "One Piece", assuring them that he had left everything he owned in one place.
- In the mobile game
Assassin's Creed: Pirates
, the
Templar
-fronted corporation Abstergo Industries wants to find La Buse's treasure. To this end, they hire the player, a genetic memory researcher, to delve into the memories of the pirate Alonzo Batilla, whom La Buse befriended before becoming a legend. His treasure contains a Piece of Eden, one of numerous artifacts left behind by the First Civilization, humanity's precursors.
- The travel book
The Age of Kali
by
William Dalrymple
devotes a chapter to Levasseur and the people's local belief in the spiritual power associated with his grave in Saint-Denis.
- The Amazon Prime Video series
The Grand Tour
features La Buse's treasure in season 4 episode 2 "A Massive Hunt". The episode ends with
Jeremy Clarkson
,
Richard Hammond
and
James May
failing to find the treasure - but discovering the
Holy Grail
instead, to their disappointment.
[12]
See also
[
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]
Sources
[
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]
- Treasure Islands
, Cameron platt & John Wright, London, O'Mara books, 1992.
ISBN
90-6564-201-3
- Pirates!: Brigands, Buccaneers, and Privateers in Fact, fiction, and Legend
, Jan Rogozinski, New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.
ISBN
0-306-80722-X
- Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates
, Don Carlos Seitz, Mineola, NY: Courier Dover Publications, 2002.
ISBN
0-486-42131-7
- Erik A. Dresen,
Paragon Island
, Ventura Verlag (2015),
ISBN
978-3-940853-29-5
;
Die Paragoninsel
, Ventura Verlag (2015),
ISBN
978-3-940853-28-8
.
- (in French)
http://www.pirates-corsaires.com/levasseur-la-buse.htm
- Nelson, Laura "Samuel Bellamy and Olivier Levasseur ? Two Pirates Just Kickin' Around the Caribbean" in Pirates and Privateers
http://www.cindyvallar.com/BellamyLevasseur.html
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Olivier Levasseur"
.
goldenageofpiracy.org
. Retrieved
14 March
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Hostin, Geraldo (2019).
The Pirate of Cotinga Island (1718): A Historical and Archaeological Study of a Mysterious Shipwreck in the South of Brazil
. Primedia eLaunch LLC.
ISBN
978-1-64826-767-3
.
- ^
Grey, Charles (1933).
Pirates of the eastern seas (1618-1723): a lurid page of history
. London: S. Low, Marston & co., ltd
. Retrieved
26 June
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Fox, E. T. (2014).
Pirates in Their Own Words
. Raleigh NC: Lulu.com.
ISBN
9781291943993
. Retrieved
17 June
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Woodard, Colin (2008).
The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down
. Orlando FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
ISBN
978-0547415758
.
- ^
Smith, Wilbur (2018).
On Leopard Rock: An Adventure in Books
. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 274?276, 283.
ISBN
978-1-4998-6128-0
. Retrieved
26 June
2020
.
- ^
'One Man's Search for Buried Treasure' by Jean-Marc Mojon (Agence France-Presse) in The Jakarta Globe of 14 December 2009, Features C3
- ^
Leger, Delphine (2017).
"Emmanuel Mezino : chasseur de pirates"
. Centre Presse
. Retrieved
6 May
2024
.
- ^
Lauret, Thierry (2024).
"Cyrille Lougnon affirme avoir debusque le tresor du pirate La Buse"
. Zinfos 974
. Retrieved
7 May
2024
.
- ^
"La Buse Cryptogram"
.
The Cipher Foundation
. Retrieved
7 August
2023
.
- ^
Rennie, Neil (2013).
Treasure Neverland: Real and Imaginary Pirates
. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
ISBN
9780191668654
. Retrieved
3 July
2017
.
- ^
"A massive Hunt",
The Grand Tour
:
- Hammond: "There's something there!"
- Clarkson: "What's that?"
- May: "What is it?"
- Hammond: "I think it's the Holy Grail."
- May: "Oh cock."
- Clarkson: "And on that terrible disappointment, it's time to end."
External links
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