TREASURE OF THE YUCATAN

[Music] you know there are many things to lure a man into danger sometimes it's fame or notoriety sometimes it's money sometimes just the promise of excitement but if i had to name one thing i believe very few people can resist i'd say hidden treasure the lure is gold lost treasure the dangers are real and so are those doubloons so here's a story with all the classic ingredients of true adventure if you like excitement and drama and a colorful location come along with us as we go hunting the treasure of yucatan tales hidden gold and pirate treasure are common in the caribbean region but one of these stories heard by chance has caught the imagination of four american adventure seekers actually it's not so much a story as a rumor because it said that somewhere underwater off the coast of the island of kosovo there's supposed to be a fortune in spanish gold in addition to that rumor of sunken treasure there's also a tale about a crazy witch doctor [Music] our party consisting of bumpy bell cameraman his son tinker and martin and graham a couple of expert divers arrive in this fascinating area [Music] as soon as we've landed we're met by an old friend ramon zapata he's been doing some checking he says he can take us to meet someone who claims to have first-hand knowledge of the treasure it's supposed to have been stolen centuries ago from the mayan priests our destination is the home of captain villanueva in the village of san miguel [Music] ah like all treasure tales there's a lot of secrets mysteries surrounding this one but captain villanueva is expecting us ramon hasn't given us any details of the captain's story because he wants us to judge it for ourselves as the captain tells it he starts by saying that what we've heard about that crazy witch doctor was true apparently he was an old man the rest of the islanders had avoided out of superstitious fear but many many years ago the captain had befriended him in return when he was dying the old witch doctor had tried to pass on the secret of a hidden fortune [Music] the captain's story is no secret in the neighborhood everyone's familiar with it they've even poured over the ancient map that the witch doctor gave him the captain believes it's a mayan map dating back sometime to the 1500s the trouble is it's very very difficult to interpret but the captain believes that the significant features deal with a wreck and an island lagoon well the story's still vague on details but our friends decide to explore it further the captain agrees to let us hire his boat and crew to carry on the search [Music] we're on our way to a lagoon near the eastern tip of the island according to the captain it corresponds to the one shown on the map the members of our party meanwhile are checking out their scuba gear [Music] ramon and two other members of the group tinker and martin study the map thoroughly it shows what may be meant to be underwater caves but the location is only approximate because the map is proving to be only a rough sketch nonetheless the captain is sure that he knows the lagoon the map shows it's one of the few clues he's been able to track down himself so he leads us to it [Music] the lagoon proves to be more like a swamp the canoe the captain left here on his previous visit comes in mighty handy soon we're on solid ground again hitting for an ancient ruin this is fascinating country down here goes back all the way to the days of the maya indians it's watched over by short-tempered iguanas and tropical birds but if there are treasure clues here we can't find them the captain believes it's because we don't know exactly what to look for but obviously we can't dig up the entire landscape so we have to regard this as a false lead that's the way it is with treasure hunting we start off now on a search for the wreck itself [Music] so for captain villanueva this is a long time dream coming true although he's had the map for years he's never had the money or the equipment to search the ocean floor this is just the first of several locations where he believes the wreck may be found and so under the water we go into a fascinating silent world [Music] but there's no sign of wreck anywhere down here all we get for our troubles is a seafood dinner which isn't too bad [Music] by now everyone except the captain is getting discouraged but our friends agree to make one more attempt to find the wreck [Music] the divers this time are tinker and graham both are pretty well convinced by now that they're hunting a will of the wisp but down here at the bottom of the spanish main you never know what you might find and sure enough this time the captain's faith is justified [Music] here is a ship a ship that's laying at the bottom for untold generations and it's not long before they make their first discoveries there there's the skeleton of a human hand a carved idol and what looks like an old spanish float [Music] well the map has led us to a wreck we found a few interesting relics the idol or statuette is certainly a mayan workmanship but now what what has all this to do with a fortune in hidden gold [Music] using the wreck as a point of reference we've decided to start looking for the nearest underwater caves if you remember underwater caves were spoken of in this story a rumor of the old witch doctor [Music] since finding the wreck we've developed much more confidence in the captain's map sure enough it's not long before tinker and graham discover the mouth of a submarine cave the boys proceed cautiously the captain has warned them to look out for rock falls for cave-ins [Music] it's an eerie terrifying sensation to go inside a cave like this underwater it soon becomes apparent that the cave is more of a passageway or tunnel [Music] the boys come to the end of the tunnel they find themselves in a small lagoon inhabited by six foot barracuda [Music] the lagoon is surrounded by jungle [Music] realizing that this may be the lagoon the map referred to the boys give it a thorough search but soon their air supply begins to run low they have no choice but to start back toward the ship [Music] now both of them are intrigued by occasional patches of light coming down through the ceiling of the tunnel there must be openings that lead to the shallow water of the bay overhead as tinker moves on ahead of him graham investigates one of these exits the first sign anything's wrong is a sudden stream of bubbles from a broken regulator graham is trapped and losing his air supply on the surface the children on shore who are the sons of the crew have yelled for help ramon finds graham trapped in shallow water his regulator damaged his air supply almost gone meanwhile tinker is returned along the tunnel without his scuba gear graham would have made it through this exit without difficulty getting him free is no easy matter now finally he's free and up to the surface they go [Music] well the boys have had enough excitement for one day but tomorrow they tell the captain they'll go treasure hunting again [Music] sunrise finds our party checking out their scuba gear they've decided that the best thing to do is to make a systematic search of the entire area looking for caves none the worst for his experience yesterday graham is accompanying tinker again [Music] this dive is going to be a deep one [Music] underwater photography at best is difficult but the film at this depth is very difficult because we're going down and down 120 160 180 feet down [Music] at this depth there can be no question of finding the treasure without modern equipment there'd be no way to get down here to hide it but this far down the ocean has a special fascination and the boys keep going [Music] of course making motion pictures at this step is very difficult 200 feet down not many scuba divers can claim they've been this far beneath the surface the big danger down here is the condition called nitrogen narcosis or rapture of the deep it's marked by a drunken sensation sometimes sad sometimes happy easily fatal because it makes divers forget where they are makes them forget the most elementary safety precautions this is a dream world that can easily turn into a nightmare a fascinating dive but not a productive one for the next couple of days the search goes on our cameraman bumpy bell makes a point of being ready for anything but nothing of note happens just the same when a few of the boys decide to relax and have a little fun in the water the camera is ready to follow them in just in case [Music] here comes graham determined to do a little underwater hitchhiking [Music] even a turtle has to come up for a breath of air now and then [Music] uh [Music] and this is the fellow who leads the boys to their next adventure [Music] purely by chance there's a cave entrance the boys go in for a quick look around [Music] it doesn't take long to discover that this is no ordinary cave it's part of a system of interlocking caves and passages although we stumbled on this chance we can't rely on chance for any more favors the exploration has to be methodical the boys head for the surface [Music] come on fellas rest time is over a quick conference decides that graham and ramon will make the first trip into the cave system [Music] all the equipment is in good working order the boys are ready to go more excited than they care to admit [Music] and so the exploration of the cave system begins [Music] remembering the captain's warning of cave-ins ramon and graham keep a sharp lookout for signs of weakness in the rocky ceiling [Music] they work very carefully now [Music] easy does it [Music] can you imagine being under the water like this deep in a cave there it is the first hint that we may be on the right track actually it's the first real sign we've had that the whole search isn't a wild goose chase [Music] here is evidence of tragedy and another urn like the one in the passage behind them suddenly a cloud of sand streams down from the roof another of the containers [Music] this time there's no doubt about it from the noise the roof is caving in [Music] [Music] the boys have made it out in time bringing one of the urns with them [Music] the urn they've salvaged is heavy it's probably filled with sand during its many years underwater the question is does it contain anything more valuable [Music] finally gold coins spanish doubloons the story was true now the old witch doctor got his hands on the map we'll never know could he even read it or was he simply remembering a story handed down through the generations one thing certain the doubloons are real and there's enough of them to pay for the trip well we can't help wondering how many more of those doubloons lie buried under that cave-in were they really stolen from the mayan priesthood again we'll never know all we can say is that even now you can still sail the spanish main and [Music] at the start of the program we were talking about the things that will lure people into danger and of course with bumpy bell and his friends the lure was gold or was it was it really a lure or just an excuse an excuse to visit colorful far away places and soak up a lot of sunshine and enjoy some excitement well if there were no treasure to look for i think the people who now go treasure hunting would be up to their ears in some other form of adventure maybe mountain climbing or hunting big game with bow and arrow but the fact is though that there's plenty of treasure still waiting to be found treasure that we know went down with certain ships off the florida keys for example or the coast of europe not to mention some of the more uncertain propositions like the lost treasure of captain kidd the lost dutchman gold mine so gold as an excuse for adventure is going to be with us for a long long while well i hope you've enjoyed sharing this one with us until we meet again this is bill beretzing may all your adventures be happy ones [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] you