TREASURE OF THE SEA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12790, 15 June 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

TREASURE OF THE SEA.

— ■■ m* . . r-, THE LUTINE'S MILLION STER-,-LING. ,te/ . # Captain Gardner, of the Natioiial Salvage Association, has left ; fcondon for Amsterdam to renew the' efforts to salve the treasure which lies im. -the wreck 41 the Lutine, a 36-gun . frigate, which was captured from the FrencpV Airi Nelson's days at the siege of Tpulon. She went down off the Vlie Island,': at the mouth of the Zuyder Zee', On.. October, 10,1799, only two of the. crew being saved. Iri the hold of the Lutine was a sum of £1,200,000 m Spanish coins, and as the vessel is only some;4s feet down from the surface, many- determined efforts.: have-., been made- .to salve this fortune. In 1801, and again m 1859, tbey were attended with, wjne success, £108,000 m all being- recovered on these occasions. Since then ", ithes/currents m the sea have changed, and hrige deposits of sand have gradually settled over the: wreck. A couple of "years l ago she was covered with' a sand deposit: to a depth' of 20 feet. This aahd,-- : bjvirig .to the weight of the water upon'|ty is as hard as a brick, and it was found impossible to remove it with the old -Appliances. In November 1910, -JBOwever, the National Salvage Association started operations wl^h improved! .machinery, and during the following--' "-year,- shifted considerably over -600,000k tons of sand, leaving the decks of the vessel clear. Subsequently they reikjyered various cannon, anchors, and a \ few coins, and they anticipate that since then very little fresh- sand will haife settled on t he vesseL The gold is lying. -m the hold. It is believed that the seaA will, within "tlie next two months,' be made to disgorge this million pOundis, Wb"jh it has kept to itself for the past -il3 years. The enterprise is being * financed by Lloyd's, who have; since / the date of the wreck, been responsible for thi* various efforts made to recover the hoard. -A .-.//