A Legendary Pirate Left a Riddle to a Treasure's Secret Location. Centuries Later, the Mystery Remains Unsolved.

Technological advancements have helped researchers end many long-standing mysteries of the world. One riddle that remains unsolved to this date is the Levasseur Cipher, Discovery reported.

This riddle was reportedly given to the world by Olivier Levasseur, a legendary pirate, known for his loot of Nossa Senhora do Cabo – translated as Our Lady of the Cape. While on his way to die, Levasseur threw the riddle to the public and proclaimed that he had hidden the treasure stolen from the galleon in a location that could be figured out by solving the puzzle. 

The galleon was setting sail to Portugal after collecting riches from the East Indies empire. The ship was carrying spices, jewels, and other goods, to bring back to Europe.

A storm struck the ship allowing the pirates to enter the vessel, and take all the valuables with them. Levasseur and his crew took with them gold, diamonds, pearls, silks, art, and religious objects, including the pure gold Fiery Cross of Goa from the city’s Se Cathedral, inlaid with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds.

Levasseur took his share and distributed the rest among his crew members, Discovery reported. In 1724, an amnesty was offered by French authorities for all the pirates on the Indian Ocean.

As per the terms of this amnesty, the French government will take a certain portion of the loot and let the pirates keep the rest. Levasseur rejected the offer and escaped with the help of a bolthole in the Seychelles archipelago. 

French authorities declared Levasseur a fugitive and began hunting him. The pirate was eventually taken into custody in Madagascar, and taken to the French overseas department of Reunion.

He underwent a trial on the charges of piracy and was sentenced to death. He was scheduled to be hanged to death on July 7, 1730.

Just before the sentence was about to be carried out, Levasseur allegedly took out a necklace from around his neck and threw it to the public, Discovery reported. After that, he reportedly shouted, "Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!"

People looked into the necklace and found a cryptogram—a word puzzle containing encrypted text with a hidden message inside.

People assumed that the necklace's cryptogram would reveal the location where Levasseur hid the treasure of "Our Lady of the Cape," Discovery reported.  The cryptogram allegedly contained seventeen lines of random symbols.

After almost two centuries, a picture of the particular cryptogram was published in the book by Frenchman, Charles de La Roncière. The author explained, that the cryptogram is a pigpen cipher, in which letters are replaced with symbols, based on a grid system. This methodology is followed mainly when the creator wants the riddle to be solved easily. 

The cryptogram's authenticity remains a source of debate, Discovery reported. Many researchers point out that no report regarding the alleged riddle came to light till the 1930s. Many believe this could be a false story that went through many generations, and eventually began to be taken seriously by common folks.

In the 1940s, an Englishman named Reginald Cruise-Wilkins attempted to decipher the cryptogram. He began the process by considering the riddle, to have been based on symbolism used by the Freemasons.

The man also connected the symbols to zodiac signs. At one point, he took the help of the Clavicles of Solomon, a Renaissance-era book of magic – known as a pseudepigraphical grimoire. 

Despite, these varied lines of inquiry, Reginald Cruise-Wilkins could never find the treasure, Discovery reported. After his death, his son John Cruise-Wilkins began work on the riddles, in the 1970s. It is not known whether he managed to succeed in the pursuit. 

The Levasseur Cryptogram remains a riddle for researchers all over the world. Though many believe it to be false, yet, they have not been able to prove that the cryptogram is a sham.

Until and unless someone finds the solution to this ever-elusive riddle, there will always remain the possibility, that Our Lady of the Cape's treasure is out there waiting to be discovered.