Real pirates and piracy The historian Luis Junco suggests that Treasure Island is a combination of the story of the murder of Captain George Glas aboard the Earl of Sandwich in 1765 and the taking of the ship Walrus off the island of La Graciosa near Tenerife. The pirates of La Graciosa buried their treasure there, and were subsequently all killed in a bloody battle with the Royal Navy; the treasure was never recovered.
Real pirates and piracy The historian Luis Junco suggests that Treasure Island is a combination of the story of the murder of Captain George Glas aboard the Earl of Sandwich in 1765 and the taking of the ship Walrus off the island of La Graciosa near Tenerife. The pirates of La Graciosa buried their treasure there, and were subsequently all killed in a bloody battle with the Royal Navy; the treasure was never recovered.