CHAPTER XXIV
LONG ISLAND
On our way down the bay we will find Long Island nestled in between Peaks and Great Chebeague Islands, but don’t sell this island short, as it has a history going back to the sixteen hundreds. The first settlers were here around 1640, so you see we have a background of real early history on Long Island.
The Indians gave special attention to Long Island because of its many fresh water springs. It was, and still is, a delightful place to put on an old fashioned shore dinner. The early settlers and Indians would join together and have a mammoth outdoor shore dinner on this island to celebrate some new trading deal between each other.
There are several nice beaches that should receive your attention when checking with the detector, but, by all means, don’t forget to check the areas surrounding the fresh water springs. The areas leading back from the beaches should be gone over with the thought in mind to watch for the sunken ground locations that could have been the site of old log cabins or vegetable cellars. Many a treasure has been uncovered in a locale such as this.
Stone walls also are a source of buried monies and household valuables. A small metal detector would be just the instrument to use when checking out cellars, walls, floors, old wells, etc. The six-inch loop detector would be perfect for this type of hunting. These small detectors are much more sensitive than the larger ones when seeking small objects. Some of these smaller detectors also will detect through salt water where the larger detector will work only through fresh water. The larger detector, of course, will give you greater depth. I have read where some of these larger instruments will detect a metal object that is five feet long at a depth of twenty feet. This is a super job of metal detection. The type of detector used, of course, has a lot to do with the size of the object that you are searching for. Personally, if I were a novice at treasure hunting, I would purchase a small detector and learn how to operate it before purchasing a larger one. Of course, if you know how to operate a detector, the size will make no difference whatsoever. The Author has a small detector and is now thinking about the purchase of a larger model. The choice of size is strictly up to you. Happy Hunting!
CHAPTER XXV
PETTENGILL ISLAND
To locate this small island we will follow Route 1 north from Portland until we reach Freeport Village. Here we will make a right turn at the yellow blinker light and follow the signs to Flying Point. When we reach Flying Point we will look offshore across the small bay and there we will see Pettengill Island. There are no inhabitants on this island although I believe it is privately owned.
The Author rowed over to Pettengill and landed on the rocky southwest point. Here I discovered an old iron cleat that had been sunk into a large boulder. The hole in the rock had been hand drilled to accommodate the cleat. Whoever drilled this socket in the hard rock surely worked hard, as I could see it would take a person three or four hours to drill a hole this deep with a hand drill. What type of boat was moored to this cleat would be anyone’s guess. The cleat was checked as to age and was believed to be about a hundred years old.
There are several open areas in the thick pine groves that could easily be locations for buried treasure. On the easterly side of the island you will find a small cove and perfect beach for landing. Maybe some band of pirates also thought that this cove was a good spot to land and hide a bit of loot. I would go over this cove area very carefully, and as I mentioned, don’t forget the southwest point of the island. I still think you could come up with something at either location. Your iron probe would serve you in good stead, as most of the clearings are covered with pine needles. The probe will push easily through the needles until you reach harder ground. Most of the islands are very rocky, so anything that was buried would not be too deep due to the rocky condition, probably two or three feet deep in the ground.