How did it start?

 

History of Highland InCo

During the American Revolution in the 1770s, a large number of ships from the Canadian Colonies (the eventual Atlantic Provinces) answered the call when the British Crown offered letters of mark. Local merchant ships and even fishing vessels became privateers.
As one Bostonian put it “Our nice neighbours north of Main, suddenly took to piracy.”

 

Among them was the Halifax built brig; Loganic, an average merchant ship with just a few guns. She had a well seasoned crew including 3 life long friends from Cape Breton Island. The Glace Bay boys, they were called because of their home town.

The Loganic sailed several times seeking targets of opportunity. The captain being something of a pirate at heart, was always interested in adventure and getting rich quick. So it was that the Loganic came across an uncharted island in the Atlantic. No written first hand account of what happened there exists, the pages of the log having been ripped out. The stories of the survivors were a jumble about an ancient city, fabulous treasures, dangerous creatures, and what can best be called fevered dreams.

The Glace Bay boys were among the hand full who returned home. Although the treasure was real enough, the story was quickly changed to something more believable. Officially the Loganic had found a wreck on the Brazilian coast. While salvaging it, the crew had been attacked by natives and many men were killed. Others suffered from tropical fever, thus the original fanciful story.

Using some of the treasure, the Boys, purchased the Loganic and refit her. They also hired a new crew, as most of the other survivors wanted to retire. They certainly did not want to make a return trip to the mysterious island. Which was exactly what the Boys had in mind.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view, they did not find the island again for several years. It was in 1787, exactly 10 years to the day, that the Loganic once again found the island. This time the Boys were better prepared, knowing what horrors to expect. This time the log had an entry and the official story was close to the truth. No talk about monsters, although several crew were killed by them. Instead the log talked about wild animals and poisonous plants that could make you hallucinate, just by touching them. The ruins were described as very Aztec like, although none of the crew had ever seen any actual Aztec buildings.

As with the first voyage, the Boys were among the few who made it all the way home. In addition to those who died on the island, several expired after a few days of illness, and two accidentally fell overboard during their fevered dreams. While most were shadows of their former selves, the Boys returned to Cape Breton strong, healthy and full of determination. They could have retired and lived a quiet easy life, but this was only the beginning for them.

Exactly what happened on the island is a closely guarded secret. But as the years passed it would become clear that the gold and nick-nacks they acquired was only a small part of the real treasure.