The Curse of Oak Island continues this week as the Lagina brothers look to drain the swamp and find Captain Kidd’s treasure.
The team have moved their efforts from the original Money Pit site, where they’ve been digging for a few weeks. Last week they went in search of a mystery golden object and now they are keen to dig deeper.
Earlier in the season they did find something of interest in the swamp, which it was thought might have come from a ship. Now they want to get to the truth of the matter and plan to dig down into the sodden earth.
However, to do that they need to take a leaf out of president-elect Trump’s book of promises and drain the swamp!
They install massive pumps and begin pumping water out, though we do wonder how fruitful that will be if they can’t keep it that way for long.
The hope is that a shipwreck lies beneath, perhaps even the treasure of Captain Kidd.
An old map shows his treasure as being buried on the island and accounts state he did hide some treasure.
Captain William Kidd was a 17th century pirate who hailed from Scotland. Historians are somewhat divided over whether Kidd was one of the most active pirates in history or a much maligned privateer, whose trial was more about politics and an irked Royal Navy than justice.
Kidd travelled widely but his rise to power starts in 1689 when he and the crew mutinied against their pirate captain in the Caribbean. They then became part of the effort to protect the island of Nevis from the French.
His work was often commissioned by governors and countries and it is this fine line between being a privateer and pirate that sees history somewhat blurred.
All do agree that in 1701 Kidd was found guilty of murder and piracy, he was hanged twice (the rope snapped) then his body was hung a on gibbet near London for three years as a warning.
However, rumors of him burying treasure when he knew the game was up are rife. Indeed on Long Island, New York, treasure was found at the time on Gardiner’s Island, and the governor had it sent back to England as evidence against Kidd.
But many believe he buried more as he made his last desperate journey around the area before he was lured and captured.
In 2015 a 110lb (50kg) block that was thought to be Kidd’s silver was found off the coast of Madagascar, but further investigation found it to be mostly lead and probably from another ship.
What will the brothers find as they dig up the drained swamp?
Catch The Curse of Oak Island: All That Glitters at 9/8c on History.