WEALTH OF THE DEEP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 8

WEALTH OF THE DEEP.

SUNKEN HULKS' TREASURE. NEAR CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. SALVAGE SYNDICATE FORMED. [from our own correspondent.] CAPETOWN, Jan. 21. Before the Suez Canal was opened almost everjf ship from the Orient, when homeward bound, put in at Table Bay for water and provisions. Many of them, caught in the treacherous currents, or by the storms that rise off the Cape of Good Hope, were wrecked and sent to the bottom of the bay. Recently a salvage syndicate has been formed in Capetown to explore these old hulks. The position of several of them is well known and it is on record that they contain, among other things, old Chinese porcelain and copper ingots. The isilk and soft goods will have perished long since, but bullion and base metals, which :in many cases have been lying undisturbed for over a century, will still be in their original condition. A quantity of porcelain has already been recovered from the wrecks in Table Bay and although it is seldom of superfine quality, being mostly of the blue and white or Nankin variety, and consists for the greater part of household utensils and crudely-painted and thick vases, it realises a good price to-day for decorative purposes.

There are at least three wrecks in Table Bay from which broken -porcelain is washed out at every heavy north-west gale. Many of the pieces show new fractures and the cobalt colouring and glaze are as bright as they were when loaded into the ship in China.

The guns of H.M.S. Sceptre still lie •t the bottom of the bay somewhere and their recovery would prove of historic interest. Probably the vessel carried one or more brass guns of small calibre with the ship's name inscribed on them, and such guns would be extremely valuable. That there is much treasure among the hundreds of wrecks ft certain, but to what extent they have been silted up or smashed to pieces remains for the syndicate to ascertain.