OTTAWA, July 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A legendary "treasure island" in Canada's eastern province of Nova Scotia is to be sold for about six million US dollars after the two estranged business partners agreed to give up their hunt for the buried treasure.

    Dan Blankenship, 82, and David Tobias, 81, who own most of the Oak Island, located off Nova Scotia's South Shore, have decided to shut down their business, Oak Island Tours Inc., and offered to sell it to the provincial government for seven million Canadian dollars, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said on Tuesday.

    The island was rumored for two centuries as the home of hidden treasure including pirates booty, the royal jewels of France, the treasures of King Solomon's temple, and the Holy Grail.

    A court-appointed liquidator hoped to wind up the business at the end of August, CBC said. At that time, the island could change hands, provided that the partners and the court approve the sale.

    First discovered by a teenager in 1795, the mysterious money pit of the Oak Island, has stymied treasure hunters for decades, but 200 years of searching has failed to yield any thing. Blankenship and Tobias have spent almost 40 years in their search.

    Modern engineering has failed to crack the mystery of various layers of logs and metals, mysterious inscriptions on stones, and booby traps that have either flooded the pit or caused it to collapse inward. Enditem