MILLIONS UNDER THE SEA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10957, 27 April 1907, Page 6 (Supplement)

MILLIONS UNDER THE SEA.

. TREASURE SHIP'S VOYAGE TO AFRICA.

■ .^ There is. a fascinating air of romance and' adventure about the expedition whjch leaves the East India Docks on March 27 hi the steamer Alfred Nobel, to search for sunken treasure worth £60,000,000 off the coast of -Africa, According to Captain C. A. P. Gardiner, of- Bloomsbury, wlio heads the expedition the African coast is lined with bullion sunk ni every kind of vessel from old Dutch galleons to modem linens. Here is an alluring list of a few of the treasures wliich it is hoped will be brought to the surface : Immensely rich treasure captured from pirates and sunk m the Wilmelm der Secunda; >^N^_ Priceless china, bullion, tin, lead, and silver, sunk iii the Dutch galleon Middle.burp. which. was Scuttled off Hoetje's Bay 192 years ago to avoid capture! ' cargo lost m the Dutch? Government's armed merchantman Crazenstein iri 1698. Copper, tin, and silver of great value, whiqu went down ih! the Aberdeen/White Star -oat Thermopylae. Captain Gardiner has served m the British and Chinese navies, and is an officer of the Royal Naval Reserve. His attention was drawn to tire records of the many wrecks wliich have occurred along the African coasts { and he spent. several years m endeavouring to locate them. WRECKS DISCOVERED, He was rewarded by the discovery of twentv-iun© wrecks, which could be reach, ed, and the result of hjs discoveries was the formation of the South African Salvage Company, Limited, with a capital of Jbj_rb,o\Jy. The steamer Alfred Nobe], once the Oromea, a pleasure yacht, .and more recently engage^ m carrying dynamite, was .chartered, and np pains or money was spared iri equippirig "iier as a salvage vessel. There will be twenty hands, including two divers, all ex-Navy or naval reserve men. They will sign on for five years, and will be given a 6 per cer^t. jjhare of all treasure found. "We are not going only to look for wrecks but we snail do salvage work pei> manently," said the captain to an Express representative last evening. **^her<_ is at present no salvage company m South Africa, and eight of nine valuable boats are wrecked tliere every year. The Cajita Government claims 15 per cent of the value of all silver raiped, 25 per cent of the value of gold and precious' stones, and 10 per cent of the value of other articles, but Captain Gardiner is quite satisfied tliat tliere will be enough left to please everybody concerned. 1 *