ARMADA TREASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14453, 20 August 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

ARMADA TREASURE.

SEARCH FOR SUNKEN GALLEON. Tohkrmort Bay, on tlie west coast of Scotland, is once again the scene of a treasure hunt. It is reported that the wreck of the Florencia, a treasure galleon of the Spanish Armada, which went down in Tobermory Bay in 1538, has been located within an area of 400 yards square in a bedding of sand and silt. It is known that the Florencia sank with a treasure of fabulous value on board. The venture for her recovery is being undertaken by a London syndicate, which secured a lease from the Duke of Argyle in September lust. Lieutenant-Colonel K. Mackenzie Foss, who has had extensive experience of submarine work in Ceylon, is superintending the actual operations. The necessary plant, sent from London to Oban, is ready for use as soon as the preliminary arrangements are made. When the party of borers have come upon the wreck, divers, either of the ordinary type or Ceyloik'se divers employed in the pearl fishery, will be sent down to ascertain the contents of the solid masses of material of whh h specimens have been brought up by the boring apparatus. The problem is, j therefore, not the insuperable difficulty j which it was when Captain Burns, of sal- I vage fame, undertook the search for the ! west of Scotland syndicate in 1903 and ! 1905. For at least two years inquiries of I a historical character have been prosecut"-! in Britain, Spain, and Italy, with a view of establishing the actual facts. As a result, the situation of the wreck has been located to within 400 yards square, and the problem correspondingly narrowed down. Colonel Foss has discovered that the Florencia was 120 ft in length, with 40ft beam, and that she had on board 44 cannon and a considerable quantity of cannon balls, of an aggregate of about 20 tons in weight. The ship, he believes, contains much silver and copper in coin, and, he hopes, also much wealth in bullion, candelabra, and plate. Many articles have been recovered "from time to time, but the bulk of the treasure still lies at the bottom of the bay.