The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-03 00:00:00

RELICS OF A WRECK.

The Natal Mercury says —" Mr. Sydney Turner,
of Durban, and Lieutenant Beddoes, late of the Natal
Pioneers, have been at work for several weeks en-
deavouring to recover valuable things said to have
gone down in the wreck of the Grosvenor, Indiarnan,
which occurred, we believe, in 1782, on a point of
rocks about twenty-five miles on the Natal side of St.
John's river, where the sea breaks very heavily.
There is an old rumour that on board the vessel
were General or Colonel Campbell and two daughters.
These daughters are said to have been made wives of
by the natives, and it is told of them that when their
friends after some time found th.ri out they refused
to leave from feelings of shamo. Certain it is that
near the Umgazi river are living a small clan of light-
coloured Caffres, many of whom are supposed to be
descendants of some Europeans wrecked near St.
John's river.

"Mr. Turner has shown us (says the Natal Mercury)
the articles recovered from the rocks, chiefly by
dynamite blasting. There are about fifty gold coins,
about 100 silver, and several copper ones. Many of the
coins were found cemented into oxidized iron, the ship
having been ballasted with pig iron. The gold pieces are
a bout the size of a sovereign, but are much thinner ; and
although they have been so long exposed, several of
them are in a wonderfully good state of preservation.
The larger gola coins are supposed to be Portuguese.
On one side there is a representation of two standing
figures, one holding a staff surmounted by a. crucifix.
The reverse side is not unlike the spade side of an old
guinea. In somewhat of a diamond shape there is
another standing figure having a halo round the head
and encircled by stars. The designs are similar in
most of the gold coins, but the inscriptions vary. On
one side of the best specimens are the following
letters and words, as far as we can distinguish
them S.M. Venet, Franc, havred, D.V.' On
the other side there appears to be 'Regis Islib
Luca, Sit. X. P.B. DAT. Q. T.V.' A number of
little gold coins are quaint-looking pieces, not unlike
ordinary sized shirt studs. They bear the effigies of
Indian gods, and a large copper token has the world on it
w.ith the zodiac. The silver coins are nearly all of one
size, that of a shilling, and they appear to be of a very
ancient date. They are very thick, and bear on them
Indian characters, which we have had translated to us
by a competent authority in Durban as Akbar Shah,'
the name of the first king of the Delhi dynasty. The
date is not distinct on any of the coins, but as that
personage flourished 1,200 years ago, it may be con-
cluded that the coins left their primitive mint a long
time back. Some Spanish coins appear to bear a date
either about the year 1740 or 1770. Above high-
water mark at the spot are large piles of charcoal and
remains of large fires where the Caffres have burnt
the wreckage, probably to extract the bolts, &c.
"There is an idea in the minds of the local Caffres
that a box of treasure is buried near the spot where
the Grosvenor came ashore, but although a stone is
said to have been marked to show where it is, there is
as yet little clue to the whereabouts of the hidden
prize. Nine of the cannon carried by the Grosvenor
are lying among the rocks, as well as large quantities
of iron ballast."