He kept his real intentions secret from his family and friends
In 1962, a man named Bernard Grimshaw spent the last of his money on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Friends called him a hermit and a loner, tired of the bustle of civilization. But the man spent 40 years on the island, secretly searching for pirates’ treasures. He even refused to sell the island to an Arab sheikh for millions of dollars.
Grimshaw bought the island for only $13000. Ile Moyenne is 24 acres, which is enough for one inhabitant. The man moved to the island immediately after the purchase and started digging for treasure.
In the early years the man had to bring drinking eater from the neighboring islands. All his free time the man devoted to the improvement of the island. At least, that’s what he said to everyone. In order to dig deep holes without any suspicion, Grimshaw started planting palm, mango and other fruit trees.
None of his relatives and friends ever suspected that the man knew anything about treasures. It turned out, that Grimshaw had come across some information about famous pirate Olivier Levasseur, while he was on his African expedition.
The east India Company pressed the privateer on the last remaining ship exactly to Moyenne in 1729. So, it was logical, that Levasseur left the biggest part of his treasures on that island. Historians estimate the worth of the treasures around $40 million.
Grimshaw has been digging up the entire island for over 40 years, at the same time he managed to make the island a real paradise on Earth.
The man got bored and decided to attract birds to his island. He also provided a shore for giant turtles, which are hunted on all other islands.
Grimshaw decided to uncover his secret to journalists only in the 2000s. He admitted that he was looking for Levasseur’s treasures. However, it is still unknown if he managed to find anything.
There is a confirmed information, that the prince of Saudi Arabia has tried to buy the island for $50 million, but Grimshaw refused him.
Currently, Moyenne is under public administration. It has been turned to a national park, and treasure hunts are banned there.
