At the trial, the escort troops asserted that several more men were involved in the robbery than the six who were identified. According to popular legend they escaped on the Madagascar , which went missing on her voyage for London, and were involved in a mutiny to steal the gold and murder the remainder of the ship's passengers and crew. It appears more likely that the additional men were those arrested on George Francis' evidence but were released after his suicide, and that the ship was lost by natural hazards of the sea.
