35,000,000 Buried In Africa By Boer Chief
W.n;y Officer Claims Treasure Secreted In CaveSays
5fl00y000 In Gold Bullion Is Hidden In Mountain Carer
lievcs Treasure Is Cursed
JRMER BRITISH ARMY OFFICER RE
VEALS TRUE STORY OF FABLED
SOUTH AFRICAN TREASURE
vtl - "iPUL " ' " "" iTt. Capt. A. V. Lewis, retired British army officer, T-SSSSx
fjcJj "'fajr " ' n ZlJ"" JU?TLff ' " Jj? seated at extreme left, who claims to possess the
J
1 ,iwMPf-Kns)
Campaigning in South Africa during the Boer war. Transportation -m,"-S''r 4 Y " 't Jif Jfclil
was one of the big problems for both armies in a country where -cn'' "" 'S',i'";ff!ZfejK "MjimI JgxtJ St! A
grccmcnts frequently were fought guerrilla fashion. JJr V J "-iNk. It If k i f t?) V I C5 -
AV'-s-lltSiV A A scene typical of the village life of the South African na
lSy &ll tives. The Boer war was fought under extreme hardships with
I'v ? "' 1 1 VI both sides frequently pressing the black people into service.
By Harry M. Nelson
WERE have been many stories of ill-fated
treasures. The Hope diamond which is re-
fcd to bring ill luck or death to anyone com-
in contact with it, is an example. Often
:s this "aura of destruction" is brought
Jut through the pronouncement of a "curse"
(the jewel, or whatever it may be, by a pagan
1st who has served as its keeper. And in
ir instances it is the treachery and ruthless
ings that have ensued in the fight to gain
session of the treasure, which is responsible.-
ie latter condition may be said to apply to.
tabled store of gold bullion which is believed .
iave been hidden during the Boer war at the
mand of Oom Paul Kruger, president of the
ublic of South Africa. Kruger's government
its ally, the Orange Free State, were waging
fattle to the death with the British Empire
possession of the rich Witwatersrand
ics. Defeated and forced to flee, President
;er, so rumor had it, secreted a large supply
fold, with the idea that it would be used to
bilitate the fortunes of his people, when
w was declared.
J' that time never came to pass. Instead,
W remained in exile in Holland, the Boer
rMics were re,uced t British provinces, and
cache of gold eventually became a myth.
ut the existence of the gold was never
ioted by those who had been in South Africa
ng the Uoer war. It was talked about on tho
ft and in the cities of the land and in the far
fs of the world. But there was no clue as to
"hereabouts. Nevertheless, one expedition
f r another braved hardships and death in the
f! of finding it. But failure was their only
art.
hcweer, the true story of this gold
maw k r . . ... I
mm, vapi. a. w. L,ewis, a reurea
army officer living in Berkeley, Calif.,
himself a veteran of the Boer war. is the
P man livinar wh Vina thin nt nrmntinn. Hl
ka the silence of more than 30 years to tell
of intrigue and murder, and of dishonor
en no had no connection with the treasure
than to have been associated with those
" " its hiding place.
at Captain Lewis told this writer, is
'" hi a mountain cave in the vicinity of
-'wrg m the northern Transvaal. He esti-
to be from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 Eng
Pounds about as nnn nnn t :. s- k. fnrm
'""'on, packed in stout cases.
' cme into existence, he says, at the time of
"non of Johannesburg by the Boers, in
1900. President Kruger had been offered refuge
in Holland, and in . leaving he wished to take
aboard ship with him a quantity of gold bullion
which had been taken from the Witwatersrand
mines. But the Boer officials who remained be
hind demanded that a portion of the gold be left
in the country, so that they could carry on after
peace was declared. Kruger conceded to this de
mand, and as a result the necessity developed
for hiding the. gold.
Shortly after the English had occupied Johan
nesburg and the surrounding territory, they be
gan to hear tales about this treasure. It was
common talk among the English, as well as the
Boers.
SA
lieutenant, in command of the third squad
ron of the Bush Veldt Carbineers an irregular
cavalry unit, which was stationed at Pieters
burg. He heard this talk of gold, but paid little
attention to it
"We had our work to do," he explained. "Any
way, the thought of my ever being connected
with the treasure never entered my head. I prob
ably wouldn't have had anything to do with it,
either, if it hadn't been that at about that time
the Boers began surrendering. Little bands
would come into camp and lay down their arms.
And many of them joined the British forces and
fought against their own people. Such conduct
did not endear them to us. But they were good
fighting men, and they were valuable to us as
guides.
"It was about this time that Sergeant-Major
Lord of my command reported that a young
Boer trooper with us, had told him he had taken
part in hiding the treasure. The man's name
was Van Niekerk. I questioned him, and he told
a straight-forward story. He said the gold had
been entrusted to Landdrost Hans Minnik,- a
Boer official who held a position similar to that
of mayor. The instructions were to conceal the
gold in the interest of the Boer government.
"Minnik, he said, had selected him and a fel
low officer, Du Toit, to aid in carrying out these
instructions. Kaffirs native blacks, were com
mandeered to assist in the work. When the gold
had been hidden, the Kaffirs were killed to in-'
sure their silence.
"Van Niekerk said the gold was hidden in a
mountain cave, some 120 miles away. He offered
to lead us to the place if we would promise him
a share of the treasure.
Ml TOOK the matter up with Major Lenahan.
He gave me permission to take a patrol and
check on the story. I was permitted to select the
best men and horses in the command, because
the trip would be in enemy country for the most
part
"We left about 9:30 o'clock one evening. It was
a moonlight night, and winter time the best
time of the year for travel. Twenty miles from
camp we came into Boer territory. We galloped
14 Ml
This gentleman from the dark continent would scarcely rank as a beau brummel
on Broadway, but he is a power among his people and has to be reckoned with by
i white invaders of his realm.
along single file on narrow trails through the
bush which is characteristic of that country.
There was one specimen of bush which was par
ticularly annoying. It was a huge thorny variety,
about 12 feet in height, and with wide spreading
branches. The natives call it 'Wachtenbietje',
meaning 'wait awhile'. Occasionally we would
brush against one of these bushes at a narrow
place in the trail, and the result would be torn
clothes and severe thorn wounds.
"We had to be continually on the alert, be
cause of the danger of running into a Boer
patrol. The tension on our nerves was increased,
too, by the cries of wild animals. These would
burst on us without warning. Sometimes they
seemed to be at our very elbow. I particularly
remember the cry of the hyena. The jackals are
bad, too, and the leopards. Occasionally we
would be startled by the rour of a lion. And
again we would hear the cries of wild animals
fighting each other.
"We rode all that night and the next day and
the following night. We reached our objective
just before dawn. I left the patrol on the road,
and with Sergeant Lord and another trooper,
Jeffries, as 'my companions I followed Van Nie
kerk. He led us up a hill, through a regular
jungle.
ii A IE HAD to make our way through dense
V undergrowth and over and in between
huge boulders. Because of the intense heat, it
wasn't long before our clothes were wet with
perspiration. And as we fairly crawled along,
Van Niekerk kept telling us to look out for the
green mambas, a snake which Is more deadly
than the cobra and which is found in the African
jungle. It hangs from a limb and attacks Its
victim as he passes underneath. We didn't en
counter any of these snakes, but it was certainty
a nerve-shattering experience.
"We finally reached the cave, at the entrance
to which were marks in the soil, indicating that
heavy cases of some sort had been deposited
there recently. There were other signs, too.
"When we arrived at the cave, Van Niekerk
asked if he might talk to me privately. We drew
to one side, and he told me he had brought me
here to provu that he was telling the truth. The
gold, he said, had been moved from this cave to
another a short distance away. He then showed
me this cave. 1
"His story was' that after helping Minnik hide .
the gold, he and' Du Toit decided they had as
much right to it as any one. So they hired Borne
Kaffirs and moved the gold to a new hiding
place. Then they killed the Kaffirs, as Minnik
had done previously. Du Toit, he said, had met
his death in action shortly afterwards, leaving
him as the only one possessing the secret."
Captain Lewis says that with the exception of
those who accompanied him to the cave, none of
the members of the patrol knew his mission.
They suspected it had to do with some prospec
tive military maneuver. He says they never
learned otherwise.
- Junt why the Captain himself maintained the
secret of the gold all these years may seem a
bit puzzling to the average person. He says it
waB chiefly because of the superstitious horror
he developed for the treasure, as a result of the
ill luck which overtook practically everyone who
came in contact with-it in any way.
IT SEEMED to him that his return from th
gold hunt marked the beginning of a series of
disasters to his regiment. It was as if some sin
ister influences were at work. The disintegration
of tHe morale of both men and officers were
rapid. Hard drinking, hard living group that they
were, they now exhibited a spirit of brutality,
which was foreign to their natures. Some of the
officers seemed obsessed by an insane desire to
kill. This madness manifested itself in the ruth
less murder of several innocent Boer prisoners.
It was in this connection that Van Niekerk
met his death. He was shot down by an officer
of the regiment, because he protested the bru
tality shown to Boer prisoners.
"The history of the regiment," Captain Lewis
said, "was that of tragedy. A number of Inno
cent Boer prisoners were brutally murdered. Two
of the officers were courtmartialed and executed
for these crimes. The regiment disbanded tn dis
grace and the commanding officer sent home a
prisoner to Australia, to die of a broken heart."
One might consider this tragic outcome as
having been due largely to the intense heat of
the South African climate a hent which oftca
drives men mad; and to the inherent brutality of
war, and to an over-indulgence In liquor. But
Captain Lewis is Inclined to believe that the
cause goes deeper than this. He sees in the
catastrophe the malign Influence of the treas
ure. "It may seem foolish," he said, "to draw any
such inference. But only one who 'has experi
enced these horrors is competent to judge."
It was because of this belief that he resolved
never to have anything to do with the treasure
again. And he kept his vow for more than 30
years. He now hopes to visit South Africa again,
and, perhaps, interest the government In recover
ing the gold.
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