IT IS the stuff of a boy's adventure story; swash-buckling, cut-throat pirates, a remote, uninhabited island, buried gold and jewels worth millions and determined bands of treasure hunters.

It might all sound like something from the pages of a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, and, in fact, he did base his book "Treasure Island" on the fabled cache of riches said to have been buried on the Cocos Islands off the coast of present day Costa Rica.

Back in 1934 American millionaire, Anthony Drexel financed what was to be yet another expedition, which included Frank Worsley, the sailor and Antarctic explorer, to try and track down the treasure but like all other previous attempts the search was to no avail.

The luxury, 600 ton yacht, Queen of Scots, which was owned by Drexel and used in the expedition, returned to Southampton in December more than 80 years ago where a photographer from the Daily Echo was on the dockside to record the arrival of her master, Captain A Bellingham and some of the crew.

They had been in search of the "Great Treasure of Lima" , a legendary haul of gold, silver, and jewels that the Spanish had collected after looting the Inca empire under the authority of the Catholic Church.

When revolution began spreading across South America in 1820 the governor decided to ship this treasure back to Spain, loading it onto the brig Mary Dear in the care of Captain William Thompson.

Once at sea, Thompson and his crew rose up and murdered the soldiers and clergy sent to guard the treasure, and then buried it on Cocos Island. They planned to come back for the gold when tensions had cleared but were captured before they could do so.

Spanish authorities executed every member of the Mary Dear's crew for piracy, sparing only Thompson and his first mate in exchange for a promise to lead them back to their stolen treasure.

That never happened.

When searchers got to Cocos Island, Thompson and his first mate escaped into the jungle and neither were ever seen again, and the treasure was never found. To this day it remains hidden, buried somewhere on an island off of Costa Rica.

Stories say the Great Treasure of Lima, 11 boatloads in all, were buried in a cave with a natural door, which may be part of a cliff which revolves or an entrance which can be wedged with rocks.

Benito "Bloody Sword" Bonito, the Portuguese pirate was also said to have used this island to bury his millions in 1820, while it is claimed that pirate, William Dampier, excavated several caves in the sandstone in 1822 and hidden treasure valued at more than £60 million.

Efforts to trace these treasures include the crew of the schooner Fanny in 1871 who found nothing. A Captain Welch also tried in 1871 with the same result. Schooner Vanderbilt tried in 1879 with no luck.

In all, over the centuries, 450 expeditions have set out to locate the treasures, all have failed...

The yacht, Queen of Scots, set out for the Pacific and the expedition was so confident of finding the treasure, some members even brought along their wives on the voyage.

For nine months the expedition stayed on the island cutting its way through dense jungle undergrowth, moving boulders and hard labour was necessary to clear likely spots for searching.

It was during this time that a row erupted between the expedition and the Costa Rican authorities who arrived with a squad of armed policemen and forcibly removed the treasure hunters.

The Coco's Islands has attracted many famous individuals to its shores seeking the Lost Loot of Lima. Little has ever been recorded as being found one individual lived on the island for many years with little to show for his efforts.

It was reported at one time that the United States Army went in with heavy equipment including bulldozers and found nothing.