The Placer herald., 1873-11-08
THE HELL GATE TREASURE.

We copy the following article from the
New York Euening Post, and by it are re-
minded Of the historic fact that in Novem-
Der, 1880, the Hussar, a British corvette,
having on board about 81. 900, 900 in gold
en- guineas, designed to pay off His Majes-
ty's troops then engaged in fighting our re-
belious forefathers, became entangIed
among the rocks of He'll Gate, was broken
up and went down with all the treasure On
board and also about seventy Of our un-
fortunate fellow countrymen,, prisoners of
war, who had been taken from the infam-
ous Jersey prison. ship, and whoA were in
irons and confined in her hold. She became
total loss, and all attempts since to recov-
er her treasure have failed. 1t now seems
that another party is at work with tolera-
BILE show of success:
There goes down once, and oftentimes
twice day, diver clad in armor Of rub
Der, lead and copper. The common depth
in which man SO encumbered can work to
advantage is fifty feet. This man gees
down ninety. The current Of water is so
fierce that he can only visit the scene of his
labors on 81 ck tide, and even that one visit
is only Of an hours duration. This man
hopes to find the treasure, to place chains
securely about it, and then have it hoisted
up from above. By various descrip tons,
and from their own discoveries, the dig gers
have fixed upon spot where the gold
should be, and the diver is, with his shovel
and pick, slowly approaching the spot. The
treasure will be discovered probably in a
great number of boxes, doubtless corroded
and amalgamated by the action Of the wa
ter into solid mass.
The scene beneath the water is described
as being awful. 1t is nearly dark, and the
remains of the vessel lie in the shadow Of
an overhanging cliff. There are heaps Of
black timbers, the ends Of which jut out
from the banks of drfled sand. Here and
there is the stump of huge rib projecting
from the bed of the river, and the glimmers
from above fall upon the silent and motion
less place with an effect which is terrifying.
The diver hopes almost ae each day goes by
to conquer his final difficulties, and to seize
upon what the water and the sand have re-
tanned SO long He has sent up in bucket
a large number of relics of the ship and her
crew, and there is store-house not far
from the spot in which are heaps of articles
thus secured. One sees leather buckets
upon which the word "Hussar" may still
be traced; heaps of twelve-p pound cannon
balls corroded out of shape and into little
else but rust; a number of shackles and
chains; a ships bell marked with the ini-
tials &c. r." and the Aeur de lis. In c
champagne basket are a large number Of
human bones and skulls. The floor is
strewn with belts, cartridge boxes, pieces Of
broken muskets, and with thousand things
that are commonly ueed OH shipboard. The
writer has seen number of coins which
have been raised from this strange depth;
notably one lump of silver money as large
as an egg, upon which were stuck in vari-
GUS positions a number of golden guineas
with their mprints half efiaced by the ac-
tion of the sea. These were doubtless in
possession Of some of. the officers, who left
them behind in their haste. A lady's cask-
ct filled with jewels was brought up three
years ago, but it was stolen and has not been
recovered.
If the present company succeeds in get
ting the treasure, as it deserves to do, each
member of it need have no more fears for
his livelihood. 1t is anxious work. A
single days labor may now make each one
a man or woman of great wealth; and, on
the contrary, days work may expose the
fact that more months of labor and expendi-
tu,e must pass over before the prize may be
reached, If it ever shall be-
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