The adventures of William Kidd have inspired works of literature as well as endless searches for buried treasure. But his greatest haul was perhaps his first act of true piracy (he had been a privateer for the British Navy until then): the Armenian trading ship Cara Merchant, which he commandeered off the coast of India. He sold most of its rich cargo but may have buried much of the loot after he scuttled the ship off the coast of Hispaniola, in what is now the Domincan Republic. The ship's remains were positively identified this month.