749 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Reading Time: 4 minutes [623 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

PEDRO GIBERT AND OTHERS

Four or five days after the schooner had been carried to Cape Lopez, it was buried before the schooner was taken and remained buried until after the English captured her. The captain then sent word that all hands should run away, as the English were coming after them. The money that was buried at Nazareth remained there for about four months. Part of it was carried off and buried among the mountains. I never heard of this money afterward, as I and five others got on board a boat and started for Fernando Po. Before reaching the last-named place, we threw all the money overboard. I was persuaded to do this by the boatswain; he said that if we carried it with us, it would prove our condemnation.

The money was divided by Captain Gibert. He gave the mate $2,400, and I received only $250. The captain called me to him; he was sitting on the floor with the money by his side. He said he gave me money to buy clothes with and that I might go, as I had been wanting to go for some time. When I saw the captain, he had a knife in his bosom. I think he intended to kill all who refused to take their share of the money. He gave the boatswain $500, Garcia $400, Castillo $250, Montenegro $250, and Delgardo $300. I don't know whether others of the crew got any or not. All who went in the boat with me to Fernando Po had their money in bags. We placed the money in the bottom of the boat for ballast.

When we first landed on the beach at Nazareth, the third mate ran away. The captain sent him $1,000. The carpenter carried the money to him, sending it in the negro interpreter’s hat, where the third mate had fled. I later saw the money in the hut and saw the mate there also, who said that the captain had sent the money to him. When the schooner was run ashore at Nazareth, the captain told them if they were captured by the English to say they belonged to a Spanish brig that had been cast away. All the wages I ever received from Captain Gibert was a month’s advance before he left Havana. I had served on board the Panda for nine and a half months and have no doubt that if I had not taken my share of the division, I would have been stabbed.

The captain had $4,000 in his trunk, $5,000 which was left for him at Cape Lopez, and what remained of the $8,000 which were divided among myself and others. I do not know how much remained of the $6,000. There was no rule of division among the crew of the Panda. The captain was the sole owner of the vessel and did as he liked. Angel Garcia had $400, and I only $250, I suppose because he was a working man and I was only a boy. At Fernando Po, I told about the money that was hidden at Cape Lopez and in the interpreter’s yard. I and five others went in a boat from Nazareth to Fernando Po—all changed their names. We stopped at Camerone on the way; there was an English ship trading there. We went on board her and said we belonged to a vessel that had been cast away, saying this so that we might not be suspected of having money. It was the captain who ordered the Panda to be blown up in the river Nazareth. When the carpenter came ashore from the Panda, he...

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Note: The text ends abruptly, so I have left it as is.