The fable of the missing treasure at Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia - the 'Loot from Lima'

I grew up in Queenscliff, Victoria, from around 1963 (when I was five) to 1977, when I left. As a kid living with an uninterrupted view of Swan Bay, right next to the now demolished High School, we saw the treasure hunters come and dig into the low rise cliffs and the swampy lowland next to the railway line. They never found anything.

But the story persists. Three of the better versions of the story were:

What was the treasure?

The author of the 1938 article in MAN magazine said the treasure consisted of bullion and jewels to the tune of 13 million pounds, gold, and gem-studded images.

Hayden said it was 'fabulous silver and gold ornaments' from the Cathedral of Lima, 'the gold of the republic' made up of 350 tons and worth 200,000 pounds.

Van der Klooster said it was: one life-size, pure gold statue of the Madonna; twelve life-size, pure gold statues of the apostles; one hundred life-size, pure gold, statues of the Saints; 200 chests of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls; 350 jeweled swords; 150 jeweled sacramental vessels; 300 bars of gold; 600 bars of silver; one golden candalabra over 2 metres high.

Hassall quotes one story as saying that the loot consisted of: alter trimmings of cloth of gold with baldachin, monstances, chalices, comprising 1,244 stones; 1 chest; two reliquaries weighing 120 pounds, with 624 topazes, carnelian's and emeralds, 12 diamonds; 1 chest; 3 reliquaries of cast metal weighing 160 pounds, with 860 rubies and various stones, 19 diamonds; 1 chest; 4,000 doubloons of Spain marked 8, 5,000 crowns of Mexico, 124 swords, 64 dirks, 120 shoulder belts, 28 rondaches (small shields); 1 chest; 8 caskets of cedar wood and silver with 3,840 cut stones, rings, platens and 4,265 uncut stones; 28 feet to the north-east at a depth of eight feet in the yellow sand; 7 chests with 22 candelabra in gold and silver, weighing 250 pounds, and 164 rubies.

Where did it come from?

The 1938 article said it came from Spain. Hayden said it came from Lima. Van der Klooster said it came from 'Spanish American Lima', and was loaded at the port of San Felipe at Callao.

What was the name of the ship?

Hayden said it was the Mary Dyer. Van der Klooster said it was the Mary Dear, 'a British ship under Captain Thompson'.

Where did it off-load the cargo?

Hayden and Van der Klooster both said it was off-loaded on the Cocos Islands.

Hassell points out that '... authors all agree on one point that the so-called treasure is buried on a tiny island in the Pacific known as Coco's Island. Coco's Island lies in Latitude 5 32' 57'' North, Longitude 87 2' 10'' West, about 550 miles due west of Panama City. It is sometimes confused with Coco's Keeling Islands.'

What happened then?

The 1938 article said that priests from Spain took a ship loaded with treasure. The ship was captured by a pirate, one Benito Bonito, who killed the priests and took off with the ship, and was then following by a British ship. Bonito came into Port Philip Bay in Victoria, buried the treasure, and took off. However, they were caught and, except for two, hanged. The two exceptions were an eight year old cabin boy, and the ex-captain of the Spanish ship (who was apparently the only one spared). The captain then went back to England and concocted the story of a Cocos Island link, while the cabin boy remained in Queenscliff and made his home on Swan Island near the old wreck. He became known as 'Kerosene Jack'.

Hayden said that, when the ship was a day or so out of port, it was captured by Benito Bonito who fled, purshed by three British Men-o-War ships. He was saved by a storm and stopped at Cocos, some say to bury the treasure. Sometime between 1810 and 1815, another ship, similar to Bonito's, entered Port Philip Bay and unloaded the treasure. the ship then left, followed by a British Man-o-War ship. Bonito was captured in 1821 in the West Indies where he committed suicide.

Hassell 'during a trans-Atlanic voyage, a man named William Thompson confided to a John Keeting about the story, saying that in 1890 '... he had been at anchor in the British Brig 'Mary Dear' in the Port of Callao. The ship was the only one in the harbour when the Spanish loaded the treasure onto the Mary Dear, together with guards and priests. The guards and priests were murdered and Thompson then sailed to the Cocos Islands. They anchored in Chatham Bay and unloaded the treasure in a cave there. They were then spotted by a Spanish Frigate 'Espsigle' which captured then and, after not finding the treasure, left Thompson on the island with a mate, whose name was apparently Benito Bonito, or Chapelle. A ship known as the Niagra was also apparently involved.

Hassell says that, said that Bonito was allegedly hanged at sea. The only crew member to escape was a cabin boy who had a map tattooed on his arm. He also notes that,after burying the treasure in a cave near the heads of Port Phillip Bay, Benito Bonito sailed out of the Bay and was chased by a British Man-o-War. Following a 'DrumHead trial', Van der Klooster said that the ship and its treasure were plundered by an infamous pirate, Benito Bonita, who took charge of the ship and sailed to Australia.

Who knew most about this story?

The 1938 article said that 'Kerosene Jack' knew most. However, Mr Joseph Induni (1848 - ?), quoted in 1938, claimed to have lived in Queenscliff all his life and discounted the story. So did the mayor, L Klugg, and a Mr James Hutchins.

Hayden said that 'Jack Karasino' knew about it. Jack had lived in Queenscliff in 1860 and claimed to be the son of Bonito, who had left before Jack was born, never to return. Jack set off in search of his father and ended up in Queenscliff. He found the treasure and unearthed it, but then reburied it. He died in 1906.

Van der Klooster said that 'John Karasine', known as 'Kerosene Jack', knew about this. He had said he was born in Italy in 1810. He claimed he had heard about the story from working on various ships, then was convinced that Bonita was his father. He jumped ship in Port Phillip Bay, swam ashore, and found some of the treasure which he then re-buried sometime in the 1840's. He apparently then returned to Queenscliff in his old age where he died around the age of 100, and was supposedly buried in nearby Port Lonsdale cemetery (Queenscliff has no cemetery). Before his death he apparently confided his story to a local man, who then unsuccessfully attempted to locate the treasure.

Van der Klooster also provided an alternative version, suggesting that Bonito's mistress, Mary (nee unknown, later Welch), was aware of this story. She was shipped to Tasmania after being caught by the British along with Bonito, who was hanged. She claimed that Bonito's real name was Graham, and that he had been in charge of a British naval ship and became a pirate. Welch was apparently set free in 1853 and thereafter married Joseph Welch and moved to San Francisco, United States. Despite trying to find the treasure in the Cocos Islands, she never made it back to Australia.

Hassall notes that historians believe a shadowy figure of a man known as Benito Bonito did exist, but his real name was Captain Bennett Grahame, a British naval officer who had served with none other than Lord Nelson. In 1818, Grahame was send to the Pacific in command of HMS Devonshire to survey the coast between Cape Horn and Panama. He apparently tired of this and turned to piracy and, after murdered his crew, became known as 'Benito Bonito of the Bloody Sword'. Eventually he was captured, convicted and hanged. One of his crew members was a Mary Welch/Welsh who claimed that Grahame had picked her up from Panama some years before; she was apparently the one who started the Queenscliff version of the tale, claiming that Bonito/Grahame committed suicide after burying the treasure and engaging in a battle just outside the heads.

Hassall said that 'the maps and documents she had in her possession proved worthless, many historians believe her tale to be nothing more than a fabrication of the imagination.'

He noted that 'Kenneth W. Byron wrote a book entitled, 'Lost treasures in Australia and New Zealand.' In it he describes investigations made by Harry Riesberg, who visited the Cathedral at Lima. He found that at no time was there a war between Chile and Peru. He was astounded when a priest pointed to a life-size effigy of the Virgin Mary, and also discovered that at no time had the Cathedral been plundered. The British Admiralty has no records regarding the capture of Benito Bonito, his trial, execution or even the transportation of prisoners to Tasmania.'

So, is there a treasure buried somewhere in Queenscliff?

Probably not!

Page added 18 June 2015, last updated 31 October 2024. Copyright © Andrew Warland