SUNKEN MILLIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 227, 23 March 1912, Page 7

SUNKEN MILLIONS.

SPANISH ARMADA GALLEON. A SEARCH FOR TREASURE. There has been a facination about attempts otreorrvect Nslirdlu etaoocfw m tempts to recover treasure from wrecks, which, in th.: form of bullion or specie, lies fathoms deep iu the sea (writes the London corespondent of the Sydney Telegraph). There is a considerable elemenf of gambling in such attempts, lint it is rather less than in the ordinary mining VGiitui'e. When the wreck is a comparatively recent one, it can.be proved that the treasure was actually on board, whereas in a gold mine there is always considerable doubt whether the gold is there to be discovered. In the case of treasure, which went down in a wreck reward is tolerably certain if the wreck can be located, and the depth of the sea is not too great to permit of diving operations being carried out. Of course, there is the risk of having been forstalled in these operations. When an attempt, made a. few years back, to recover specie from the Elingamite, which was wrecked off the Three Kings in November, 1902, on its way from Sydney, to New Zealand, resulted in failure, the opinion was expressed that a secret expedition had succeeded in getting the gold beforehand. In a country like Australia, where events that date back a hundred years seem hoary with antiquity to the present generation, a proposal bp obtain treasure from the galleon, which formed part of the Spanish Armada, and was blown up in 1855, would not be regarded as a very sensible venture, but in Great Britain, where historical associations date back over so many centuries,where some of the noblest buildings in the country have histories extending into the remote past, where many of the shops and offices in daily use in London were erected nearly two hundred years ago, the suggestion to obtain treasure from a wreck belonging to the sixteenth century seems by no means a wild one. Did not the people of London see, a few months ago, a Roman war galley, dating back to B.C. 55, which had been recovered from the mud of the Thames in a fair state of preservation, drawn through the streets of the city, by a team of horses to the new London Museum, which is to be opened at Kensington palace? If a boat belonging to the period l of the Roman invasion of Britain, was intact, how much more likely is it that a Spanish galleon belonging to the sixteenth century can be raised when its location is known?

THIRTY MILLIONS IN CASH. The galleon is the Florencia, 961 tons, which carried 52 guns, 86 sailors, and 400 soldiers. When the Armada was dispersed, the Florencia, like most of the Spanish vessels, fled northwards, with the object of retreating to Spain by a circuit round the Orkney Islands, but she was forced by furious storms, and shortage of provisions, to put in at Tobermory Bay, in the Island of Mull, on the west coast of Scotland. As the result of negotiations between Sir Lauchlan Maclean, chief of the clan. Maclean, and the Spanish commander, the Macleans were given the assistance of a hundred Spanish soldiers in their war with the Macdonalds. Hostages were given by the Macleans ot the Spanish commander for the safety of his troops, and one of these—Donald Glas Maclean, of Morven, —in revenge for his imprisonment, after a quarrel between his chief and Spanish commander, set fire to the vessel, and she blew up. It is supposed that the Florencia was the paysliip of the Armada, and that she carried a large treasure, but there is no direct evidence on the point. The pay and food of the Grandees, officers, soldiers, and sailors of the Armada, and of the Duke of Parma's army and his transports amounted to about 1,000,000 ducats (150,000) a month, and the expedition was prepared for a six months' campaign in England. Assuming that the Florencia was the pay ship of the Armada, she probably had ax large treasure on board. It has also been suggested that she carried a considerable quantity of gold cups, silver plate, and ivory crucifixes, which were intended for the Spanish court Philip of Spain intended to set up in London. According to the statement of the captured pilot of the San Marie, another vessel belonging to the Armada, which was wrecked on'4th September, 1388, his vessel '•held- 15,000 ducats of silver, in gold as much, and much more in plate, rich dresses, and golden cups" yet the San Marie was not regarded as a rich vessel, whereas the Florencia was. The legend which has come down to the present day is to the effect that she had on board "thirty millions in cash." but the legend is not definite as to whether the amount has been reckoned in English pounds or Spanish reals. If reals are meant the treasure would represent about £265,000. THE WRECK LOCATED.

Charles 1. gave the rights over the "wreckship" as the wreck of- the Florencia is called in the old legend, to the Earl of Argyll; but Charles 11. and James 11. both tried to dispossess the Argyll family 'of them, -as they believed the legend that the wreck contained a large quantity of treasure. In the time of Charles 11. a costly lawsuit was brought against -the Earl of Argyll over the matter, but lie won the action. A few years ago a search was made for the treasure, and, although the exact position- 'of the wreck was not ascertained, a number of coins and several pieces of cannon were recovered. Colonel K. M. Foss, who as a leaseholder from the Duke of Argyll, is at the head of the present venture to obtain the treasure, declares that the vessel has been located, and- that operations will be commenced as soon as the weather moderates. He states that after boring for tliTee months with a steam boring plant, some pieces of the oak timbers of the vessel were found, and it was ascertained that the hull is embedded in six or eight feet of sand. Even if the wreck should prove not to contain any great treasure, the boring and diving operations will almost certainly result, in discoveries of great historical and archaeological interest, and on that account archaeologists are interesting themselves in the matter. Some old English families, more particularly those connected with the Court of Queen .Mizabetli, are assisting the venture financially, and if it is successful they will be rewarded with some of the relics that are found. If the oak hull, guns, and armaments can be raised, they will be preserved for, the nation as ii relic of the Armada.

Some controversy has arisen', not only as to whether the Florencia has anv great amount of money on board, but also as to whether the'wreck in Tobermory Bay is that of the Florencia, The fact that a Spanish galleon belonging to the Armada was blown up there is"uot disputed, as the historical records are definite on the point, though not decisive as to her name. Tt is also declared that the legend of the vessel having had "thirl v million* in c;ish" on board did not spring up until nearly a hundred years after the destruction of (lie ship, ft has been proved from Spanish records that the Paymaster-General of the Armada, was not on board the Florencia, but the San Salvador, and that the part of the King's treasure placed 011 board the latter vessel for the expenses of the Armada was only £7500. But, in any event, the raising of a Spanish galleon which formed part of the Armada will, if the operations prove successful, be a matter of widespread interest.'