SUBMARINE TREASURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3426, 11 November 1919, Page 59

SUBMARINE TREASURE.

EXPLORING A GALLEON

A special correspondent of the Daily Chronicle writes: — _ I have just returned from the diving operations in Tobermory Bay, where a Sykes digger is cutting through the boulder clay and sand over the Spanish Armada galleon which was sunk in 1588. A new feature of the operations is an effective hose, which, working at a pressure of about 1001 b a- square inch, cuts up and clears away the clay and mud between the trenches cut by the digger in the tumulus containing the old galleon, revealing any solid material, which is immediately raised under the care of the diver.

Already quite an array of relics have beeen recovered. Several of them, of little intrinsic value, such as huge ballast stones, weighing half a ton, round stones, and sheet lead, are brought up daily, and are of immense interest to the salvors, as their presence testifies to the correctness of the historical documents relied upon for the success of the undertaking.

Colonel Foss and his staff are busy on their barge with these great ballast stones. They are searching for more plate, copper, and gold. The first find I was shown on board the salvage pontoon was a silver peso, or "piece of eight," just found that afternoon. It was the finding of a gold doubloon on the fluke of a ship's anchor that led to this search for treasure in 1903. h

The crew of the diving ship often wonder how they are getting so many rounded stones of three and four inches diameter in the boulder clay and sand, but an extract from the Spanish State papers in the Castle of Simancar explains ; the frequency with which these are found as well as the quantity of lead-sheathing continually being taken up by the grab on board.

" General Orders for the Armada by the Duko of Medina Sidonio, May 1, 1588" (page 293). "Every ship will carry on board loads of casting-stones to be used during a flight. These stones are to be divided between the deck, ths poop, and the fighting-tops." ~ ' The other, given on the same page, runa as follows :

"The artificial fire must be entrusted to the care of the most skilled men who understand how to manage it; otherwise the result may be great damage to ourselves."

This accounts for so much lead and copper sheathing being found in the course of the search. To protect them the big Spanish galleons used sheet lead and copper -to sheathe their wooden deck 3 against the use of this artin'cial fire on thd part of the English. Among other relics brought up during the past weeks are calcareous accretions showing rusted muskete, daggers, swords, and axes, lead-piping, pewter, quantities of black African oak, much perforated by teredo worms, and a variety of shellsoysters, an inch or more in thickness, huge clams, and hermit crabs. Colonel Foss hopes to exhibit the ship alongside the old Victory, or the old Roman galley reconstructed at Westminster.