WEBVTT - S03 Episode 11: Into the Abyss (Pt.1 of 2) 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:18.520 L L flooring, MARL flooring punto comin stark elist e 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:29.920 L L floring, lumber liquidate verses LAL flooring through. Yes, 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:42.479 maybe it should be in the effects of an unusually 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:47.000 dry summer causing unfamiliar variations in the color of the grass, 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.120 Or perhaps it was just the way the light had 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:55.400 fallen that morning which caused Donald to take notice. Either way, 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:58.760 if there was one thing the three farmers now standing 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.000 over the peculiar impress in the ground could agree on, 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.040 it was that none of them had seen it before. 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.039 Donald had called on them as soon as he'd found 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.080 it that morning, suggesting they come and check it out 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:17.240 for themselves. Seemingly manufactured, it looked like a thirteen foot 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:21.319 wide circle had been carved into the ground, positioned in 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:25.199 a small clearing under the bow of a large solitary oak. 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.319 It was certainly strange that they hadn't come across it before. 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.039 Or three of them had lived and worked on the 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:34.800 island for a number of years, and with it being 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.560 just over one hundred and forty acre's worth of land, 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.720 there was belly an inch of it that they hadn't seen. 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:46.360 Being first and second generation immigrants themselves, the men knew 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.920 only too well how transitory the local population had been 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.920 through the years, But since the island was thought to 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.480 have been entirely uninhabited prior to its incorporation only a 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.680 few decades ago, they were stumped as to what the 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:04.240 straight marking could be. Maybe it was just a well, 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.320 or some kind of fire pit, suggested one of the men, 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.600 that had long since been filled in an ancient burial mound, perhaps, 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:18.640 suggested another. The year was seventeen ninety five, and the 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.720 place a two and a half kilometer long island known 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:28.320 locally as Oak Island, situated just two hundred meters of 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.320 the east coast of a stretch of land recent settlers 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:36.200 had called Nova Scotia. Perhaps it shouldn't have been such 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.200 a surprise for Donald to have stumbled on something so 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:42.880 strange that morning, for the island had always been somewhat 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:48.280 of an enigma, a stranger in the midst The clue 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:53.320 was in the name Oak Island, inspired by the interloping 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:58.440 evergreen oaks that were dotted all across it, reaching upwards 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:02.240 of ninety feet with bare trunks and flats played out canopies. 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.680 They dwarfed the many surrounding pine trees that were far 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:10.480 more common to the region. In fact, it is said 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.440 that Oak Island was the only island out of three 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:17.079 hundred and sixty four in the surrounding Mahone Bay but 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.680 was home to such a species. Perhaps they had pondered 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.480 on this when they decided to make a quick excavation 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.919 of the area that morning to see what they might find, 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:33.840 or perhaps they did not. Nonetheless, there was little chance 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.080 they could possibly have anticipated just quite what was going 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:44.120 to happen next. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:58.760 McClean smith Into the Abyss Part one. The men had 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.400 only made it two ft down when one of them 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:05.600 struck something hard. Assuming it to be a large rock, 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.880 he tried digging a few feet to the side, only 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:13.840 to hit something similar again. It wasn't until they'd cleared 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.960 more of the earth away that they discovered the entire 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.719 area of the circle had been covered over with flat stones. 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.760 After removing the slabs, a few more hours of digging 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:29.039 revealed some kind of pit that seemed to narrow to 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:33.520 about seven foot in diameter under the flagstones. With the 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.800 soil having been obviously displaced and refilled before, it was 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:42.520 easy to follow the contours of the original dig. Pickaxe 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.800 markings on the inside of the wall gave further indication 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:51.840 of the previous excavator's work. By the afternoon, having reached 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.000 just under ten feet in depth, one of the men 0:04:55.200 --> 0:05:00.640 struck something solid again. Clearing the mud away, they found 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:04.160 a layer of rotting timbers that had been carefully positioned 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.520 deep below the surface. Believing they might finally have an 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.760 answer to the purpose of the pit, the men pulled 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.839 up the wood, only to find an empty two foot 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:20.599 pocket of air underneath. Undeterred, they continued to dig until 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.880 the early evening, making it a further eight feet down, 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:30.560 when once again their shovels struck timber. Utterly Perplexed, the 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.680 men pulled up the next row of logs, only to 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:39.679 find nothing but dirt underneath. With the light fading quickly 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.799 and not having ladders long enough to dig any further, 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:47.880 the men call it a day. Any suggestion of the 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:52.320 pit being a burial chamber has been thoroughly dispelled, since, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.880 despite being twenty feet down already, they had found nothing 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.880 to show for their efforts. But in the days that followed, 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:05.280 slowly something began to dawn on them. A clear reason 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.920 why some one might go to all the trouble of 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.720 digging a secret pit on the edge of a tiny, 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:25.800 nondescript island and fortifying it to keep it safe. Back 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:29.039 in seventeen o one, in the city of London, a 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.680 man had been condemned to death and eventually hung at 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:36.719 the infamous Execution Dock, located in Wapping on the banks 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:41.680 of the River Thames. His name was William Kidd, and, 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.280 like many of the unfortunates for whom Execution Dock would 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:51.240 be their final destination, he was a pirate there was 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.839 much a victim, as he was a participant of the 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:58.360 rampant scheming and corruption perpetuated by British gentry in matters 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:02.320 of trade and expansion. Kidd had none the less exhausted 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.240 all favors by the time the noose was placed around 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:09.240 his neck, and though his life would be short, his 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:14.640 legend was only just beginning. It had long been suspected 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.240 that Captain Kidd had buried a significant portion of his 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.800 stolen wealth in an effort to curry favor lest he 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:26.080 ever be captured. Indeed, a large stash of it had 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:30.960 already been discovered shortly before his execution on Gardener's Island, 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.239 a small outcrop at the northern tip of New York State, 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:39.400 but few believed there wasn't more. And if you were 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.000 looking for somewhere to hide a treasure trove of gold 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:45.480 and jewels, far from the usual shipping lanes of the trade, 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.680 as Donald, Anthony and John would shortly come to believe, 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.080 you couldn't have found a better spot than the anonymity 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:58.240 and seclusion of Oak Island. Returning to the site a 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.240 few days later, convinced of their destiny, the men managed 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.520 a further fifteen feet, but were left disappointed, finding only 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:11.400 another shelf of timber. Frustrated and realizing they had neither 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.960 the skill or the financial means to carry on, the 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.880 men were forced to bring an end to their adventure. Also, 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:23.000 they had all told each other in truth, John Smith 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:37.120 had very different ideas. Over the next few years, Smith 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:41.559 surreptitiously secured ownership of the pit, buying up the land 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.640 and a number of the plots around it. Finally, by 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.320 eighteen oh three, along with three other investors, with whom 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.600 he formed the Onslow Company, he was ready to tackle 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:57.040 the mystery again. Before long, they had made it to 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:00.880 another five feet down, where again they mind yet another 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.559 floor of timbers, but this time there is something else, 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.040 a layer of charcoal scattered across the top of it. 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.760 Since it was common to use charcoal fires to draw 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.360 fresh air into mining shafts, it was now clearer than 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:20.200 ever that a significant operation had once taken place here. 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.320 The company soon make it to almost ninety feet in depth, 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:30.640 uncovering a further four timber shelves, each at ten foot intervals, 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:36.440 and incredibly layers of coconut fibers, suggesting that whatever was 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:40.760 down there had likely traveled from some distance, the nearest 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:45.880 cocoanut trees being thousands of miles away. Not only that, 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.600 but as the men well known, cocoanut fibers were often 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:55.560 used to pack precious cargo. Then, at ninety feet down 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:03.360 they find something extraordinary. Having anticipated finding another layer of wood, 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.120 the team instead find a thick slab of stone measuring 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:12.880 two feet long and one foot wide. Peeling it carefully 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.880 from the mud, they are astonished to find there is 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.920 an inscription carved on to its under side, only it's 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.680 not in any language that they have ever seen before, 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:28.400 made from thirty nine geometric symbols spaced out over what 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.200 seems like eight words. It appears to be some kind 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:37.959 of code. A short time later, the workers notice water 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.640 seeping up from under the hole, but decide to ignore 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:47.240 it and continue to dig. That afternoon, at roughly ninety 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.760 eight feet, once again, the shovels hit wood and a 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:55.800 ninth timber platform is unearthed. After prising the logs apart, 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.480 only to find more mud and clay below. The team 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.840 finished for the day, convinced they are only feet away 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:08.920 from the objects of their wildest desires. Spirits are understandably 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:11.960 high when the crew return to work the following morning, 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.040 only to find a solemn looking John Smith waiting for 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.480 them by the pit, wringing his hat in his hands. 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:31.079 The pit has completely filled with water. Are you always 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.760 taking care of your family? Do you often take care 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.760 of others and not yourself? Now it's time to take 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.400 care of yourself, To make time for you. You deserve it. 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.000 Tele Adoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:46.760 help you get back to feeling your best to feeling 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.280 like yourself again. With tele adoc, you can speak to 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.120 a licensed therapist by phone or video. Therapy Appointments are 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.200 available seven days a week from seven am to nine 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:01.480 pm local time. If you feel overwhelm sometimes maybe you 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:05.760 feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or you might 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.640 be struggling with a personal or family issue, teledoc can help. 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:14.439 Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:17.400 make it easy to change counselors if needed. For free. 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:23.000 Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.719 the app or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:33.120 podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com slash 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:43.120 Unexplained podcast. All hands work furiously to bail out the water, 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:48.000 but the level refuses to budge. With no other option, 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.920 the company pulls the rest of their money and hires 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:55.480 a mechanical pump. The plan works perfectly as the water 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.040 is soon drained from the pit, but then, with only 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.600 eight more feet to go, disaster strikes when the pump 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.800 breaks down. By the end of the day, the water 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:11.080 line is back to where it started. Believing they knew 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.840 roughly where the treasure might be, the team dig a 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.640 second tunnel, from which they planned to dig across to 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.439 the first one. Once they had reached the required depth 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.200 of a hundred and ten feet or so, but the 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.120 crew only make it as far as twelve feet before 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:30.920 their access pit is also completely flooded. Having run out 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.120 of money, the Onslow Company is forced to give up, 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.920 and so the pit secrets will remain submerged by water 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:43.679 for the next forty years. As for the stone, with 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.120 its peculiar coded markings, it is left in the possession 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.360 of John Smith, the landowner and one of the pit's 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:55.880 original discoverers. However, believing it to be worthless, the code 0:13:55.920 --> 0:14:01.800 is never deciphered and the stone soon forgotten about. By 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.960 eighteen forty five, with Donald mccinnis having died and John 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.560 Smith vowing never to waste another scent on the hopeless venture, 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.600 it is left to the third of the original finders, 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:19.280 Antony Vaughan, to take up the reins. Now in his sixties, Vaughan, 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:23.560 together with another seven investors, forms the Truro Syndicate, and 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:27.400 by eighteen forty nine finally secures the rights to start 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:32.040 his own attempt to locate the treasure. That summer, the 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.600 largest team yet sets up camp and immediately gets to 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:40.000 work draining the pit. After two weeks, they have drained 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:43.560 it to within five feet of the bottom. Returning the 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:46.920 following day, however, the crew is devastated to find that 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:51.920 once again the waters have returned, but this time they 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:57.040 have a new plan. After constructing a wooden platform over 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:01.080 the pit, a large drill is dropped into it, with 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.240 the hope of at least determining what materials are buried 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:10.160 further down. They will not to be disappointed. Passing the 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.880 bottom of the hole marked by the shelf of timber 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.360 ninety feet down, they drill on to roughly a hundred 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:20.800 and fifteen feet, Deciding they have gone deep enough, The 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.480 crew watched with bated breath as the device is withdrawn 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.880 from the depths and pulled finally into the light of day. 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.280 Just as the last section is removed, something sparkles in 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:37.880 the light. The foreman hurriedly inspects the drill head and 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.160 is astounded to find three small lengths of a gold 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:46.120 chain as well as fibers of oak, suggesting the high 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:49.840 likelihood that the drill had broken through the walls of 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:56.920 some kind of chest. Finally they had found it, getting 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:08.480 it out would be another matter, entirely owing to the 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.040 incessant flooding of water. Just as the onslow team had 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.640 realized their best chance was to access it from a 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:20.080 parallel shaft, believing the treasure to be roughly one hundred 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.440 and ten feet down. Incredibly, the team managed to dig 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.600 a secondary channel to one hundred and nine feet and 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:31.200 are even able to start tunneling across before disaster strikes again, 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.640 and just as if something had been suddenly uncaught, water 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:40.360 rushes into the pit. But as the team regroups to 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:44.720 assess their options, one of the men notices something interesting. 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:51.040 The water is rising and falling with the tide. Tasting it, 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:55.520 he is amazed to find it is salty, suggesting that 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.760 rather than being the water table, it must be coming 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.560 from the sea. A hundred meters to the east of 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:07.800 the dig site lies Smith's Cove, named after one of 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.960 the area's earliest known settlers, Edward Smith, sometime in the 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:16.600 mid seventeen hundreds. Being the closest stretch of coastline to 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.760 the pit, the crew naturally assume it to be the 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:23.760 most likely source of the flood water. With the beach 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.560 being fairly small, the chief engineer suggests they construct a 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:31.760 dam to better see what they are dealing with. Making 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.560 quick work, it isn't long before they have blocked off 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:39.159 the cove and drained it completely of water. What they 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:43.960 discover next astounds them. The floor of the inlet is 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:48.679 found to be completely covered with cocoanut fiber and eel grass, 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:54.200 under which they find beech stones carefully laid out. The cove, 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:59.800 it transpires, has been synthetically constructed and underneath all the rocks. 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:05.320 Finally they find the source of all their problems. It 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.240 is some kind of booby trap made from a series 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.880 of eight inch wide drains of flat stone fanning out 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:17.119 like five fingers into the ocean. Together, the drains converge 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.600 into one single drainage channel that disappears underneath the island, 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:27.760 heading straight for the excavation site. The team immediately gets 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.000 to work locating the main drainage tunnel in the hope 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:35.840 of blocking it off completely. Yet another shaft is duck 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.119 twelve feet to the east of the original, revealing an 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:44.639 underground channel of water thirty five feet down. Next, timbers 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.280 are driven into the ground to block it off, and 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.080 when a fourth borehole twenty feet to the south of 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.720 the original is dug to one hundred and ten feet 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:58.560 with no sign of water, it appears their plan is working. Finally, 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.920 with no danger of water, making it past the blocking timbers, 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:05.320 the team are ready to dig through to the treasure. 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:09.679 All is going well when within two feet of the 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:13.639 original shaft, workers tunneling through the clay on their knees 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:17.960 and the dark notice the walls have become wet, and 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:21.720 soon their knees are damp, and before long their feet 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:29.320 and calves are drenched to the tunnel is filling with water. Mercifully, 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:31.960 the workers are able to scramble out and get back 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.199 to the surface before it is too late, while the 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.360 rest of the team watch with sinking hearts as one 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.680 by one the three surrounding boreholes steadily fill up with water. 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.520 After trying again to unsuccessfully find the central flood tunnel, 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:52.080 the Truroau Company's hunt for treasure is also forced to 0:19:52.119 --> 0:20:05.520 come to an end. In eighteen fifty seven, John Smith 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:08.720 becomes the second of the three original Oak Island treasure 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:13.159 hunters to die. Ownership of his land is passed from 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.320 his sons, who, having watched the fabled treasure pit steadily 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.600 ruined their father, are only too happy to sell it 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:24.320 on to a Henry Stephen, who in turn sells it 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:30.320 to local landowner Anthony Graves. The Truau Company return in 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:35.000 eighteen fifty nine for one final stab, but their considerable 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:41.040 efforts will once again prove futile. However, rumors about the 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:45.520 island's apparent treasure are beginning to grow, and within two 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.959 years a new crop of hunters arrive on the island 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:54.720 ready to claim its reward. The Oak Island Association, led 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:58.840 by Jotham McCulley, draft in over sixty men and thirty 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.760 horses to a system, as well as employing the latest 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:07.199 mining technology, from an iron pump engine to industrial sized 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:12.880 winches and pulley systems. However, their heavy handed approach digging 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:17.040 three further holes and tunnels around the original pit results 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:20.359 in yet more flooding and the eventual collapse of the 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:24.280 original shaft, resulting in only the upper thirty feet of 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:29.720 it now being accessible. In the process of re excavating 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:34.760 the original pit, the pump boiler ruptures, spraying scolding water 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:40.119 onto a nearby worker and burning him to death. But 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.480 what's worse from the perspective of the Oak Island Association, 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.119 is that they are running out of money and with 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.800 news of the fatal accident now spreading, there is little 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:55.840 hope of raising fresh capital. A short time later, however, 0:21:56.240 --> 0:22:00.439 with work halted, Jotham McCulley here's a story about one 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:03.240 of the first artifacts to be found in the original pit, 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:10.040 a mysterious stone inscribed with a strange cryptic message. What's more, 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:13.280 as rumor would have it, the stone is still on 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:18.520 the island, having apparently been integrated into John Smith's old fireplace. 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.320 Wasting no time, McCully, whose company now owns the property, 0:22:24.920 --> 0:22:28.040 takes a chisel to the fireplace and sets about removing 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:33.400 it piece by piece. He hasn't been working long when 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:37.240 he spots one particular slab a little smoother than the others, 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:41.320 pressed into the wall at the back. Freeing it up, 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.720 he turns it around to find, much to his amazement, 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:49.240 a strange cryptic message etched onto the other side of it. 0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:02.200 Realizing it might be their lasts, McCully has the stone 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:06.640 loaded onto a horse and cart and dispatched immediately to Halifax, 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:11.199 the nearest major city. For the next few weeks, the 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:13.840 curious stone is placed in the window of a bookshop 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:16.840 to drum up interest in the Oak Island treasure hunt. 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:19.760 In an effort to sell more shares to keep the 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:24.639 company going. Many come to view the peculiar artifact and 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:30.400 attempt to decipher the code, but no one can crack it. Regardless, 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:35.080 excitement generated by the stone's mysterious origins is enough to 0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:38.760 raise another two thousand dollars what equates to roughly fifty 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:43.560 thousand today, enabling the Oak Island Association to continue their 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:48.159 search for a few more years. However, like all who 0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:52.760 had come before them, the company will fail, becoming the 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:56.760 third formal syndicate, forced to admit defeat in the search 0:23:57.000 --> 0:23:59.600 for what many have come to believe is the lost 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:05.720 treasure of pirate Captain William Kidd. A short time later, 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.040 the stone is brought to the attention of James Leechi, 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:15.280 a professor of languages at Halifax's Dalhousie University. A keen 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:20.399 amateur cryptographer, Leechie sets about trying to decipher the message, 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:24.920 assuming it to be a simple substitution code, whereby each 0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:29.000 symbol simply represents a letter of the English alphabet. It 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:32.520 is not long before Leachi believes he has cracked the code. 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:39.399 The message, he believes reads forty feet below. Two million 0:24:39.480 --> 0:24:46.880 pounds are buried. Part two of Into the Abyss will 0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:52.440 be released on Wednesday, twelfth of September. If you enjoy 0:24:52.560 --> 0:24:55.879 listening to Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:59.880 can now go to Unexplained podcast dot com Forward slash support. 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:05.320 All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. 0:25:09.520 --> 0:25:13.040 All elements have Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:15.840 Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes. But feel 0:25:15.840 --> 0:25:18.000 free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 0:25:18.040 --> 0:25:21.199 regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:23.160 have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:26.680 You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:43.159 or on Twitter at Unexplained pod. Now. It's time to 0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:47.120 take care of yourself. 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