TREASURE TROVE
This four page
article is written about one of Johns’ favourite subjects – treasure. He makes a couple of references of interest
to Biggles fans. He says “Somewhere in
the pack ice of the South Polar seas is said to be the ship Starry Crown, with her hold full of
Australian gold. This, of course, was
the basis for the 1949 book “Biggles
Breaks the Silence” (later
reissued in the 1970’s as “Biggles
in the Antarctic”). After talking about a number of the world’s
reputed treasures that await finding, Johns turns to Scotland. “Nearer home is the great Spanish ship Florencia, at the
bottom of Tobermory Bay, off the west coast of
Scotland. A few pieces have been
recovered from her; I myself have a gold doubloon said to have come from this
hulk”. This is a reference to the gold
doubloon from “Biggles Flies
West”. That story hinges around a “cursed” gold
doubloon and the early editions of the book feature photographs of two such
coins “in the possession of the author”
(click here to view).
Johns would appear to be referring to one of these coins.