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Just off the north-west coast of the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola (now divided into the two countries of Haiti and The Dominican Republic), lies a small rocky island which, from a distance, looks like a giant tortoise rising above the surface of the sea. The Spaniards in fact, named this island, ‘Tortuga’, which means, ‘Tortoise’.

During the summer of 1713, five notorious pirate captains met on the island to make an agreement never to attack each other. As a gesture of good faith, each took with them a bag of personal treasure to be buried on the island. If any of the five were to be killed, their treasure was to be divided between those who remained.

Each buried his treasure in an individual plot and a map was drawn, showing the locations. There were just five copies of the map, of which each captain had one. Within two years of the meeting, all five pirates were dead! Either killed in action or taken by the authorities and executed.

There were many rumours about the meeting on Tortuga, but no one knew the whereabouts of the treasure or who held any of the maps. The story was consigned to myth and legend.