A SUNKEN TREASURE.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3094, 17 January 1879, Page 1

A SUNKEN TREASURE.

The Chilian Times reports the fitting out of an expedition to search for six millions of silver dollars which were lost many years ago upon the coast of Tene« zuela, with the Spanish ship San Pedro de Alcantara. Captain Folingsby, of New York, the organiser of the expedition, has made an arrangement ifith .the Government of Venezuela by which the exclusive right of searching for 'this treasure in the neighborhood of the site of the wreck is reserved to him for six years. The Government is to rewire five per cent, of whatever treasure is found. A schooner of 100 tons, named. Peter Mitchell, has been purchased for the expedition, and is being fitted Out at New York, J '' l ■ '" ■ ■••" ■' •■ ■■'■'.■■■;■•.:

In noticing the above, the Evening Standard remarks:—There is always ft j certain fascination attaching to a search for hidden treasure. If it can only be found, it lies ready to hand, and the finder becomes rich without the, trouble of earning his money. Edgar Poe's story of the " Gold Beetle," and Alexandra Dumas' " Monte Christo," go very little beyond possibilities. The illustration of Captain Kidd's treasures is familiar to every reader, and from time to time jars and chests of coins are unearthed, as it' to show that there is something of the squirrel still left in mam But of all the concealer! of treasures the sea is the wealthiest. The man who would reclaim the Goodwin Sands would make more than one fortune ; and now that diving is no more of a mystery than ballooning, we may expect to witness exploits for the recovery of i mnken treasure which would have been n.iadnes's a generation ago. It will be wi thin the recollection of most, of our readers that almost all the gold carried by the Eoyal Charter was quickly recovered from, the wreck off Orme's Head. The Bed Sea, and Bishop's Hock on the- iScilly Isle, have witnessed the recovery, not only of treasures, but of mail bags. It is, therefore, not strange that aa expedition should have been fitted up from New York to search for six millions of silver dollars, lost in a single ship many years ago-an the coast of Venezuela. There appears to fee very little doubt as to where the ship was lost, the point of most importance will be liow far the treasure w&s scattered. To search under water for a silver, dollar in a bushel of sand would hardly pay expenses, even if the dollar were discovered. On the other hand, a find of a tub full of dollars night make a fortune. Having the example of the harbour of Vigo before us, we ar« inclined to think that it is better to make money on land than to look for treasure at the bottom of the sea; but, at the same time, it does seem a little hard that a few fathoms of water only should separate us for ever from untold wealth. Man can hardly call himself lord of creation in the face of such an anomaly.