Find my treasure, the one who may understand it! Mystery Cache
The Inkwell: We really enjoyed this one but with the low traffic in the park and no finds for several years, we decided to just let this one go. Thanks to all that found it!
Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!
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(regular)
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**The cache is not located at the posted coordinates. In order to find it, you'll have to solve the mystery of Olivier Levasseur.**
Olivier Levasseur (1688-1730), born in Calais, France, was a ruthless pirate known on the seas as La Buse, or The Buzzard. Levasseur made a name for himself as a pirate by plundering and looting many ships off the coast of Western Africa. La Buse's greatest exploit was the capture of Nossa Senhora do Cabo, a Portuguese galleon that was transporting an unimaginable amount of treasure which belonged to the Bishop of Goa. The haul consisted of bars of silver and gold, diamonds, pearls, rubies and emeralds as well as artworks, silks, religious artifacts and dozens of boxes of golden Guineas. The booty was split up amongst Levasseur's crew, with each man receiving over 3 dozen diamonds apiece as well as £50,000 in golden Guineas. Adjusted for inflation, the staggering total of each man's haul was approximately £7,500,000! Now this is where the story takes a twist...
Some years later, Levasseur was captured by the French Government, who demanded he return the stolen loot from Nossa Senhora do Cabo. Defiant until the end, La Buse refused to disclose the whereabouts of the treasure, which he had hidden in an unknown location some years prior. He was hanged for piracy in Saint-Denis on July 7th, 1780. As he awaited his fate on the hangman's scaffold, Levasseur tore a necklace from around his neck and threw it into the on looking crowd. He yelled out "Trouver mon trésor, celui qui peut le comprendre!" Roughly translated, his final words were ""Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!" The necklace was inscribed with a cryptogram, the style of which will certainly be familiar to some. The lines on the necklace read as follows:
Now I am certain that you're wondering why we're sharing this old pirate tale with the rest of you. Over time, the necklace was lost and although many people have tried to find Levasseur's treasure, nobody to our knowledge has succeeded. I've been spending a lot of time at the Lockport Library this winter and I came upon some interesting information while perusing the archives in the local history section. Did you know that there was a French Pirate whom the locals called Ollie the Buzzard who spent a brief time traveling down the St. Lawrence Seaway from Montreal to Lake Ontario? Supposedly, this pirate looted many rum and fur carrying vessels that were making their way from Montreal to Toronto. Interestingly enough, the timeframe of these lootings seems to be shortly after the robbery of Nossa Senhora do Cabo. Could it be that Levasseur, in an attempt to escape persecution from French Authorities fled to the New World for a short time before returning home? Perhaps the reason that the hidden treasure of Olivier Levasseur was never found is because it was hidden a world away? I guess we'll never know.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Sbe gubfr yhpxl rabhtu gb svaq gur gernfher, srry serr gb uryc lbhefrys gb n tbyq thvarn be gjb, ohg cyrnfr yrnir gur erfg bs gur gernfher va cynpr va beqre gb cerfreir gur gurzr bs gur pnpur.