Jonathan Burnes is the grandson of Joseph Burnes who was a member of Captain Henry Avery's crew. In 1808, he set out on a journey to look for Avery's treasure. But he died from the bullet wound in his thigh, shot by Hayes.
History[]
Background[]
Not much is known of Jonathan Burnes' early life other than he was grandson of Joseph Burnes, who survived through his son Richard. At some point in his adult life, he married a woman named Claire. However, according to his letters found on Libertalia, presumably their relationship was strained, given Burnes' obsession with finding the treasure of the legendary Henry Avery.
Search for Libertalia[]
At some point during or before 1807, Burnes decided to start an expedition to locate Avery's colony of Libertalia and claim his treasure. His search started in Panama, where his late grandfather Joseph was imprisoned and executed, and found a St. Dismas Cross that led him the to St. Dismas Cathedral in Scotland. Over time, Captain Darby and his crew began to doubt Burnes after losing their quartermaster to the lethal traps beneath the cathedral and having spent weeks scouring the mountains of King's Bay. It was only through the efforts of their navigator Dover did they managed to find a series of islands where Avery's trail was pointing them to that improved their morale. By then, two of their men had fallen ill with ship fever and had to be quarantined before they set camp to explore the islands.
On January 24, 1808, Burnes dreamed that he was being hung by his own grandfather in Panama before being woken by the sound of the ship's fever-addled rigger commandeering a caravel, fatally stabbing Darby when he attempted to intervene. Burnes and his men managed to stop the mutineer when the ship ran aground, before he ordered the rigger tied to a broken mast as punishment, despite First Mate Walter Hayes' protests to simply execute him. Believing an example had to be set to avoid a similar incident, Burnes held firm.
On March 20, Dover approached Burnes, insisting they return home so they might renew the search with more men and supplies but Burnes simply laughed and repeated his mantra: the treasure was within their reach. Despite Dover reasoning that even if they did find Avery's treasure, their sole remaining ship barely had enough room for the return voyage. But with Hayes backing him, Burnes issued a veiled threat to Dover to stay in line and not foment dissent among the crew. Subsequently, Burnes discovered Dover attempt to desert the crew and punished him by pushing him off a cliff to his death.
On March 23, Burnes learned that Hayes also intended to desert, having grown disillusioned with Burnes' increasingly unstable behaviour. Despite Hayes brandishing his pistol, declaring his intent to return to England and inform the world of his deeds, Burnes shot him when his back was turned and fled into the jungle. Hayes managed to fire back, only managing to hit Burnes in the thigh.
Death[]
On April 14, Burnes had managed to extract Hayes' bullet but by then his wound had also festered, crippling him with fever. At this point in his quest, he had determined that Avery had hidden his treasure within the mountain. As he rested to regain his strength, Burnes began to compose his thoughts into his last testament. Though he briefly experienced self-doubts on the righteousness of his actions through the whole expedition, he subsequently regained his conviction. He then rested, confident that his fever would so he might finally finish his grandfather's journey, only to end up dying of his injury.
Legacy[]
In the modern day, Nathan Drake discovered the remains of Burnes' expedition as well as the testaments of the man himself and his crew before ultimately discovering Burnes' remains.