Futility Closet

Cocos Island, in the eastern Pacific, was rumored to hold buried treasure worth millions of dollars, but centuries of treasure seekers had failed to find it. That didn't deter August Gissler, who arrived in 1889 with a borrowed map and an iron determination. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Gissler's obsessive hunt for the Treasure of Lima. We'll also marvel at the complexity of names and puzzle over an undead corpse. Intro: In 1875, Frederick Law Olmsted warned his son of the dangers of unchecked pussycats. Dogs were formerly so common at church services that "dog whippers" were employed to manage them. Sources for our feature on August Gissler: Ralph Hancock and Julian A. Weston, The Lost Treasure of Cocos Island, 1960. John Chetwood, Our Search for the Missing Millions of Cocos Island: Being an Account of a Curious Cruise and a More Than Curious Character, 1904. Hervey De Montmorency, On the Track of a Treasure: The Story of an Adventurous Expedition to the Pacific Islan