Underwater archaeologists in Madagascar have discovered pirate booty belonging to famous 17th-Century pirate William Kidd, better known as Captain Kidd.
Capt Kidd is notorious as he was first appointed by the British government to fight piracy but later became a ruthless criminal himself. He was eventually executed in 1701.
A silver bar weighing approximately 100lbs was brought ashore Thursday on the island of St. Marie. The bar is thought to be from the wreck of the Adventure Galley, Kidd’s ship.
Madagascar, a remote island off the coast of Africa, was teeming with excitement about the big news.
Madagascar’s president accepted the bar at a special ceremony, where soldiers watched over the silver along with curious diplomats
U.S. explorer Barry Clifford, who helped discover the sunken treasure, says there are many more bars still inside the wreck.
The team suspects that the bar, marked with a letter S and a letter T, is from 17th-Century Bolivia. Yet the ship it was found in looks to be built in England, which seems to associate it with Captain Kidd.
Unusually for treasure finds the location of the ship has actually been well-known but no treasure has been discovered previously. It was believed to have sunk in 1698,
While UK ambassador to Madagascar Timothy Smart, said he “hoped that Mr Clifford’s latest discovery would raise Madagascar’s profile as a tourist destination”, that could be problematic for the exotic species that call the island home.
The country is often referred to as a continent because of its diverse and incredible wildlife. Yet as tourism grows this wildlife is coming under immense pressure from deforestation, poaching and wildlife smuggling.
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