WOMEN TAKE PART IN ARMADA TREASURE HUNT

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6805, 8 January 1929, Page 9

WOMEN TAKE PART IN ARMADA TREASURE HUNT

OBJECT IS GALLEON LINK IN TOBERMONY BAY. Another treasure hunt, in which two women have an interest, is about to begin. With new and improved appliances a fresh attack is to be made on the Spanish treasure galloon, the Aimirante de Floreneia, which lies in sixty feet of water in Tobermony Bay, Scotland. One of the -women is Lady Edith Fox-Pitt, daughter of the eighth Marquess of Qucensbcrry, and the other is Mrs. Leask of Dymchurch, Kent, who before her marriage was a diver and. has actually walked on the deck of this sunken treasure ship. These two women are co-operating financially with a private syndicate headed by Colonel K. M. Foss, of London, in this endeavour to recover from the deep some, if not all, of the £2,000,000 to £3,000,000 worth of jewels, plate and ducats with which the chests of this Spanish vessel are said to bulge. Tho Almirante dc Floreneia, supposed to be the pay ship of the ill-fated Spanish Armada, has lain in the clay at the bottom of Tobermory Bay since 15SS. The story goes that during the disastrous flight of the Armada from Drake and the British fleet the galleon put into the bay for provisions. The commander, however, not only refused to pay for them but actually took captive a Highlander as a hostage. This Highlander is said to have had his revenge by blowing up tho vessel as it Sailed away. This story is based apparently on the report that divers who succeeded in reaching the wreck as long ago as 1661 found part of the deck blown away. The truth, however, is more likely to be that the Almirante de Floreneia shared tho same fate as many other vessels of the Armada. In the attempt to escape by going round the coast of Scotland and down through the Irish Sea, the Armada was attacked by a succession of violent gales and the shores of Scotland and Ireland were strewn with wrecks. Of the 129 large vessels that left Spain, only 54 reached home again. The Almirante de Floreneia has been the objective of adventurous treasuro hunters for centuries; but the results have not proved valuable c-nough to pay them for their efforts. The hunters of 1661 thought themselves near success. The vessel was hot so deeply imbedded in the clay as it is now, and they reached the poop under which tho treasure was supposed to lie. Unfortunately for them, their operations did not meet with the approval of the local clan, and they were driven away. , Since then divers have brought to the surface a number of objects, including a piece of silver and gold plate, a Venetian bowl, some Spanish coins, daggers and swordbelts,, and stone cannon balls.

In this latest attempt divers arc using a three-ton diving bell fitted with plate-glass windows and powerful electric lights. Lady Edith Fox-Pitt is very hopeful that with this and other modern appliances to bo employed the expedition will meet with success. She even thinks it possible that the whole galleon may be raised. “How wonderful that would bo!” she said in an intcrvieiv. “Imagine gazing at a ship of the Great Armada, brought up from tho bottom of tho seal Imagine handling the Armada treasures!

“Legend says that the galleon holds a crown and sceptre blessed by the Pope, which she carried from Spain for the coronation of a Spanish King in England. ’ ’ She added that the lvorlc was in expert hands, the head diver being a man who has been at work at Scapa'Flow helping to raise the sunken German battleships.

Mrs. Leask had a narrow escape from death when, as a diver, she descended to the wreck. She found a leak in her diving suit, and when, in response to her signals, she was brought to the surface, her suit was nearly full of water.