CHAPTER XIV

JEWELL'S ISLAND

Now here is an island that fairly reeks with legend and treasure lore. Certainly no island in the Bay so ideally lends itself to piratical practices with its deep landlocked harbor, hidden coves and thick woods that even today shelter all observation from the sea. All of which lends credence to staunch belief that at one time in its history it was the favorite haunt of smugglers and pirates. Jewell is only a little island of but two hundred and twenty-one acres, one of the outer islands that fringe the boundaries of Casco Bay. Being out of the beaten path of tourist travel, it has not received the attention that its natural beauties merit.

George Jewell, from whom the island is said to have taken its name, came from Saco, Maine, and is presumed to have purchased the island from the Indians in 1637.

From earliest times it has been traditional in the history of Jewell Island that a pirate's treasure lies hidden somewhere on its shores.

Jewell Island has several so-called "treasure markers." These "markers" are a pile of flat stones lain one on the other, until the marker reaches a height of about four or five feet. It is near these markers that treasure was supposed to have been buried. How near, or just where, is a question that might be answered by your metal detector. I most certainly would give the shore and beaches a good going over.

This island can be reached by the tourist boats that go to almost all the islands in Casco Bay. If the boat does not stop at Jewell Island, you can go to Cliff and cross over to Jewell by rowboat. The trip across the channel is a short one.