The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-06-06

up little clouds of ooze as they bur
rowed themselves out IF sight. mon
strous transparent starfisn noItel bl nd
~ up against the glass of my helmet
and attached itself so that l could not
see. but I drew my knife and stuck IT,.
and the thing then dropped off and set
tied.
Il climbed to the top of a little sand
hill which stood close by and looked
about me for the wreck. Presently,
looming in a vague shadow through the
glimmering fogginess Of the water. I
made out a large black object. which
knew was the sunken ship, and in all
probability the vessel I was seeking
But she was too far of for the scope of
my pipe TO enable me TO reach her, so
signaled to be hauled up again. The
darkies dragged me up with frantic zeal
and | told them to get the anchor. We
stood on until l guessed the sloop to be
nearly right over the wreck. l then
gave the word TO bring her up again.
and taking a cup of hot chocolate TO put
some warmth into me-for the water
struck cold at that early hour of the
morning. once more descended.
Il had so well calculated the spot
where the hull lay that this time l came
down close alongside Of her. What
first beheld looked to me like great un-
recognizable mass. covered with weeds
and sea-moss. with her patches of shell
encrustation showing between. But
standing awhile and gazing, the shape
OF the bulky object presently grew clear
TO my perception. I am not we'll versed
in the marine architecture of bygone
ages, but I would willingly have staked
that the craft j was viewing could not
have been resting down in that green
and oozy sepulchere for much less than
a couple Of centuries. She sat nearly up
right, with her bows slightly hove up.
The stumps Of three masts still stood,
ArN~r- #NNrr=
vance aft, which I have since thought
was probably the great lanthOrn you will
see in pictures of ancient vessels. In
shape she was a mere tub of a ship. not
very much more than twice as long as
she was broad, with great bulging quar-
ter-galleries. an immensely tall stern.
narrowing atop and castellated with
ports. descending in a succession Of
breaks to a very low waist. and thence
with a sudden spring to prodigiously
raking bows. / could not regard her
without a feeling almost as Of awe when
l thought her as the relic Of a romantic
past; but that she was the traditional
treasure ship ! felt very little doubt. and
the citation I experienced over my dis
covery Of her rendered me very little
disposed TO moralize.
Il had no difficulty in getting on board.
A man is feather-light under water. espe-
ctally with a helmet full Of air upon his
head. and it needs weighty leaden-soled
shoes to keep one from shooting up like
cork. l walked close under the lowest
part Of the hull. and gave a spring which
carried me above the level of her rail.
a stroke Of the arms then propelled me
over her decks. upon which | alighted
The sight between the bulwarIs was far
more surprising and lovely than the spec
tacle of the wreck outside. Not only was
ii that the deck seemed formed entirely
Of shells of many hues; there was rich
abundance of coral grOwths. pink and
white. sea plants of wonderful beauty
and gay colors. weeds of the dantiest
cOnfguration. delicate green moss soft
as plush-in short, the whole scene struck
me as forming a very fitting marine
garden for some mermaid queen.
Whether the matches were on or not,
could not say so thick and massive was
the coating of the decks. and, indeed.
feared IT would take me a very long
while TO break through that shelly sur
face Of deposit into the hold beneath
II had read a bit in the literature of
the old free-booters Of the Spanish main,
and knew a little about the value Of the
II easure-ships which used TO sail once a
year between Acapulco in Mexico, and
the island of Manila. We get a good
idea Of what such vessels as these We're
like from the account given in 'AnsOn's
Voyages of the galleOn which the Cen
turian captured. / can tell you from
lltFItolN the contents OF lldL famous
ships hold, for I used 10 read the ro-
mantle story again and again when a
boy, till I came to get ii nearly by heart
First Of all, they discovered hard upon
one million three hundred and fourteen
thousand pieces-of-eight and while they
We're staring with speechless wonder at
the hundreds of cases brimful Of the
sparkling white dollars, a party Of sea-
men rummaging yet further into the hold
came upon a matter OF thirty-six thou
sand ounces of virgin silver. to say moth
ing OF an enormously valuable cargo,
composed of arrObes Of alpaca WOOL
serons Of cocoa quintals of tin, and bales
Of cOchineal. indigo, silk and coffee
Why. sir. there was the wealth Of an
oriental principally in the hold Of one Of
these Spanish galleOns, and the recOllec-
ton Of what | had read concerning them
worked in fever of impatience in me as
I stood upon the weedy deck of that
sunken wreck. and realized that she was
beyond doubt one Of that ancient fleet
which used 70 inspire the dreams Of
such buccaneers as Dampier, Rogers,
ShelvOcke, Stradling and a score Of others
whose names you may be better ac-
quainted with than I am.
After having made a long and thor
ough survey Of the queer-looking old
craft. 1 gave the signal TO be hauled up
again, and was brought hand over hand
TO the surface by my Jealous Malay boat
men. L removed my head-piece, dried
myself. and sat down TO consider how
l should set to work To get at the inside
of the wreck. A little revenue cutter
came steering alongside. and an off,
cial in gOld-lace cap and brass buttons
hailed to know what we were doing
told him seeking for treasure which lay
hidden below. He laughed and waved
his hand. wishing me luck. l had no
motive in concealing the truth. knowing
that we were beyond the limit of all
local authority, and within no iurisdc-
tion short Of that which the British aG-
miralty exercises upon the high seas. so
that / was aware Of my title to keep
anything / might recover.
There was but one plan which ] could
hit upon for breaking through the bar
nacle-crusted walls of the submerged
galleon. and that was by blowing her
up To have attacked the steel-lilye sur
face of shells and stones would have
been as futile as trying 10 kin a turtle
by stabblng its covering with a table
knife. 1 accordingly gave orders for the
slOOp to be got under weigh again, most
carefully noting the exact bearings OF
the spot and we returned TO CapetOwn.
/ had no difficulty in procuring the ma
terials / needed for constructing an in
fernal machine which i guessed would
answer my purpose. and in a couple OF
days il was ready. with a detOnatOr con-
nected by an electric battery, that we
might be able TO explode il from safe
distance. Early on the following morn
ing / assembled my little black crew on
shown above the level ridge of Table
faf We mo mol pr