Treasure map

A group of pirates study a treasure map.

"Don't think the thought of mounting a search for Zerzura hasn't occurred to me, Captain. That was nearly the first thing I thought of, when I reached my new assignment."
"The only problem with legends like that, is that most of them don't include treasure maps."

―Cutler Beckett and Jack Sparrow, on the legend of Zerzura

A treasure map was a map that marks the location of buried treasure, a valuable secret or a hidden locale. More commonly used by pirates, treasure maps were often hand drawn and containing arcane clues for the reader to follow. Regardless of the term's literary use, anything that met the broad definition of a "map" that describes the location of a "treasure" could appropriately be called a "treasure map."

History

A treasure map.

"They say the Templars hid tons of treasure. They say it would take a fleet of ships to haul it all away. And they say they had several caches of it. There are hidden treasure maps and ciphers and such."

―Jack Sparrow to Christophe-Julien de Rapièr

When young Jack Sparrow and his fellow pirate Christophe-Julien de Rapièr discussed the possibility of searching for some ancient treasures, Jack said the Templars left behind hidden treasure maps that would lead to several caches of treasure. Approximately five years later, when Jack worked as a merchant seaman for the East India Trading Company, he and his superior Cutler Beckett talked about the legend of Zerzura and its treasure-filled labrinth. When Beckett stated that they were on the west coast of Africa, meaning somewhere relatively close to the supposed location of Zerzura, Jack replied that the problem with legends like that one was they never included treasure maps.

At some point after Jack Sparrow returned to a life of piracy aboard the Black Pearl, he bought a treasure map for a ridiculously low price. However, the map led Jack and his crew to a chest of mold instead of gold, and most of the crewmen deserted him. Later, as the Black Pearl sailed off the coast of South America, Jack looked at the nautical map, trying futilely to figure out their position. He then complained that regular maps were very confusing, and he would rather use a treasure map. At some point during his pirate career, Jack Sparrow buried some gold on a small desert island in the Caribbean Sea. The pirates tattooed a map of the island on the back of one of them, Scurvy Joe, with an X marking the location of the buried treasure. Scurvy Joe later participated in Hector Barbossa's mutiny against Jack and fell under the curse of the Aztec Gold, becoming an undead creature, with the moonlight turning him into a walking skeleton and making the treasure map disappear and reappear every time he moved out of the moonlight. Following the battle of Isla de Muerta, Jack and his new crew managed to capture Joe and used the tattoo to find where the treasure was buried. When the infamous pirate Captain Shipwreck Stevenson and his crew stole the gold of Peter Preston's family, Stevenson buried the treasure chest on Shipwreck Island and made a map of the location. Following Stevenson's death, the map was obtained by his crewman Lucky Tom.

Behind the scenes

Treasure maps first appeared in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.

In the 2006 video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, maps were featured in the menu detailing the playable levels. When Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann end up marooned on Rum Island, Jack immediately pulls out a treasure map and starts searching for treasure.

Appearances

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (First appearance)
• Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean (First identified as treasure map)
• Jack Sparrow: The Pirate Chase (Mentioned only)
• The Price of Freedom (Mentioned only)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
• The Capture of Jack Sparrow!
• The Treasure of Shipwreck Island!
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (video game)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow
• Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies

External links

• Treasure map on Wikipedia

See also

• Map