24 MILLIONS

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 May 1925, Page 2

24 MILLIONS

BATTLE FOB TREASURE

Tlia story of the' 63 'vessels.. of -the Turkish fleet stlrllf.in Navarino' Bay, years' ago, with gold anti 'sllVei' treasures worth'’ £10,000,000, looted 4 front Greeks,- has recently been told. But the modern diver-adventurer has greatdr (ionquests awaiting him. In Vigo Bay, Northern Spain,- lie’s a fortune of £24,000,000 in .gold,- silver and precious stones, is'iink’ 222 years ago! Itbcbyery of/thm vast for tune, say's a London paper, may be no more than ail idly dream 5 but with up-to-date equipment, salvage work that was diice impossible is'‘how regarded ’tiapracticable. Vigo is a small seaport, prosperous in a .modest way, but not ono. thfit would eb thought from, external appearance to have, any clitlihs td' great' riches. Yet, if the sandy bottom of a harbour can be said to. form-any part d; a port, Vigo is one .of the richest ports in the world. Beeiiath thfe quiet waters of the bay lies one of the greatest fdtt linos th Eit the bld Empire of Spaiii ever brought blit -of .its colqpies in the. Jiew W0r1d..... In 1702 there sailed from'Vera Ortiz a. “plht-e fleet” of Spain. In usual circumstances the sailing' of this? fleet, bearing the spoils of both -mining ( and’ murder, was a yearly occurrence, but oil this occasion the fleet carried three £(iarS’ accumulation of riches, a dispute as to. a succession to thb ihibiie having caused'delay, . " .. ~. . Jit was’not without misgiving that the Spaniards entrusted this treasure," estimated at £24,000,000, on the, high seas. . They wbre well acqtiUiilted yntli the marauding habits' of certain English admirals, aiid Difcfej though' dead, yet lived, in the fear that he had pttt into the hearts of the Spaniards. Wneii the 17 plate ships sailed with their rich cargo they were accompanied by 23 ships of the line. These were under the command of Count de Chateaurenard, and were lent by Spain’s,ally and ever-faithful frieiid, France, News of tlie sailing of this “fleet of gold” soon arrived in London, where Queen Anno held her Court, and, with equal speed, certain admirals put to sea, determined to have another brush wjth Spain, and make a bi dfor the. prize that would fall to force of arms.,. But luck was against the English. The “plate fleet” sailed on, while the seas were being scoured in every direction but the right one. Councils were -held . daily on the richly-laden ships, and.. discussions took place regarding the safest point ini Europe to sail for. The French advocated, making for their own country, where help might be obtained to protect the fleet, but the Spaniards were suspicious, thinking that once the treasure got near ' French shores it might be “naturalised” and lost to them. They were therefore determined to make for Vigo, where, in due course, the fleet arrived safely. Difficulties and dangers were over—at. least all thought—and but for one extraordinary piece,, of stupidity such wo.uld have been the case. Having ar 7 rived at Vigo, instead of Cadiz, as was their custom,, the commanders of the “plate fleet” found themselves prevented from unloading their precious cargo by, “red tape” regulations. The .citizens of Cadiz held a charter for the discharging, of, ships from America, and were in no frame of mind to allow their poorer brethren of Vigo to earn honest, pay by usurping their rights. A pretty dispute arose, which, aftpr much -wrgngling, was deferred to Madrid for* settlement. Meanwhile, the plate ships were lying. peacefully at anchor, their cargoes still aboard them, ’and what was of far greater importance, ah English fleet, command of Sir George ’Robke, was . slowly drawing near. This admiral, with ,a. certain ’Dutchman—friends,for the time being—was returning from a disastrous' attack on Cadiz, in. which, for'a'change, the Spaniards had come off best.. It .so happened, that 11.M.5. Pembroke put into Lagos for fresh water, and there /through the.instrumentality of a talkative chaplain, news was heard concerning the arrival of a rich “plate fleet” at Vigo. No sooner had the chaplain blurted out his .talo when the Pembroke weighed anchor, and wept in chase of Sir Georgb. Rooke. Slip caught him up. What a change the news she carried wrought in the minds of the defeated sailors! Dutch and English,- the wopnded and the sick, from high ollicep to lowly gunner, . all burst into cheers when the news went round. Treasure ! Wealth such as Drake and Raleigh never dreamed of! Their minds no more needed the cheering woyds of their commanders to keep them in the best of spirits.' “To Vigo! To Vigo!” they cried. Word soon. Reached Vigo . of the enemy’s approach. Immediately the forts were manned, militia called out, chains., stretched across the harbour, and —-crowning, folly of all—portions of the treasure, already surreptitiously sent ashore, were loaded back on the ships

Against the formidable preparations cd the Spaniards the English sailed gleefully ■ while Vice-Admiral Hopson was crashing into the chains and booms at the entrance of the bay, the Duke, of Ormond was leading his Grenadiers against the forts. Ihe attacks both by land and sea wqre successful, though not without heavy payment in the price of lives. The ships bore down on the anchored galleons, moored so close to each other that they dare not lire their broadsides. Alany were blown out of the water, others were set on lire, and those heaviest laden were carried by the sword’s point. Soon the land forts had fallen, the galleons were blazing, tho day was England’s. As. soon as victory was assured all efforts were spent on putting out the Hames on the burning craft, but it was not for glory, but for gold, that the men had-so valiantly fought. The task was no easy one. While the English were doing their utmost to put out tho fire.% the Spaniards, realising that all

was lost, were starting new ones, and blowing up treasure ships that hitherto had escaped the attention o: the victors. Sir George Rooke managed to get

away with booty to the value of £2oo,ooo—no mean prize for a fleet returning from defeat. But the rest of the treasure was sunk in the waters of the bay. Many attempts have been made to recover the lost treasure. An Englishman, with the aid of a diving bell, recovered. bars of silver to the' value of roughly, £BOO, but the Spaniards stopped him from going on with his enterprise. In 182,5 a Scotsman arrived on the scene. He was allowed to try-his luck on. condition that 90 per cent of tho wealth found was handed over to the Spanish Government. He raised a considerable portion of the treasure, and, having done so, made the Spanish representatives present hopelessly drunk, and then sailed away. Near Perth there stands a house in which this cute treasure-seokor spent the remainder of his days. Front time to tune acores of plans have boon ''tried out’’ in order to rob