Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-12-22
CHAPTER II.

eral luxurious rattan chairs. 1t was
situated upon the hurricane deck di-
rectly under the wheel-house. and had
large windows instead of the usual
ports, so that we had an unin terrupted
view OF everything that was going on.
While l smoked an after-dinner cigar
end enjoyed the breeze which blew
through our quarters. the strange and
rapid succession Of events that had
resulted in my being bound for the
/ most forgotten corner of the carth's
surface struck me very forcibly. Every
/ few moments some reminiscence of
J cid times would occur to one or the
other OF us, and I finally asked Hal
stead if he were married
No" he said; I'm not. ! was just
going 20 ask the same question. II
seems rather odd that we two should
, lave reached the age of-let's see: I'm
35. and YOU can't be- far from it
without settling down. Do you know
CID chap, I'm beginning TO think
! haven't made much of success In
/ life"
! "Oh, / don't know. You're likely TO
have a ship as long as you want to go
20 sea, aren't you? And the house
would probably offer fairly good
berth ashore, If you felt like taking it,"
II suppose so, as long as the pres
ent management remains unchanged.
| But, even so, there's no chance Of
making a fortune at it. Here we are,
/ you and |, two men in the prime of life,
and able thoroughly TO enjoy all the
good things in it, yet ! suppose we are
likely TO keep on drudging for some
! one else "a long as we live. In the
ong run tie fellow who persistently
drudges comes out ahead, and then
he's too old to enjoy his good fortune
1t takes young man TO apJ 'eciate
the things that money will buy. Now
why can't we strike bit Of luck some
where find n buried treasure or some
thing Of the sort, and then live like
princes In London or New York in
stead Of frying our gizzards out in
the East Indies? Isn't there a fairy
godmothcr that we might propitiate ?"
''Mm-m, | don't seem 10 remember
any In my family. But speaking of
treasure. aren't we sailing over pretty
nuch the same track as hat followed
hy the old galleons?"
That's right; same track. 10 n mile.
Tomorrow morning I'll show you
Port San Jacinto, on the island of
Ticao, where they used TO wait for n
favorable wind in beating through the
San Bcrnardino passage. Anson's
ships watched for them just outside
.he 'Embocadero,' as il Is called in
Spanish. and they all stopped at the
Ladrones for pigs and water on the
voyage across"
well. weren't they usually loaded
With pretty rich cargo?"
Rich! Why. man, the Acapulco gal
con brought between two and three
millons-in silver dollars, gold doub-
looms. and indigo-to Manila. once or
twice every year. You see. the iunks
used TO come down from Kong Kong
II March or April, loaded with, silk bro
5ou"bt and. after keeping what they
wanted for personal use. shipped TO
Acapulco on speculation. Mexico was
yiceregal province then, and the
Philippines was a subdepcndency. The
return galleon brought the proceeds
Of these speculations; though, as The
boletas, or shipping permits for trans
portation space, were issued by the
gobernadors for revenue, they prac-
tically amounted to n Philippine sub
sidy."
That's about as ! remember II.
There were a good many galleons
wrecked on the coral islands, weren't
thcrc?"
Lots Of them; they were great un-
wicldy tubs, always loaded beyond
their carrying capacity. And, by the
way, that reminds me Of an instance
which / happen to know about, more
or less directly. Last voyage, PADRE
Julian, who has been in charge OF the
mission on Saipan for 30 or 40 years,
came home with me. The old chap
Is good deal of II student, and has
the history of these islands at his
fingcr-cnds-best judge Of rum and
sherry ! ever saw. ] used 10 MI him
up with good liquor, just 60 see him
enjoy II and hear the stories he told
when the stuff got into his blood.
Among other things, he told me one
night about the loss Of Nucstrn Sonora
de Scvilla In 1863 on the Santa Rosa
Reef somewhere south of GuaJnn.
The padre was pretty mellow, and
prcgg said more than he meant to, Tor
| never could get another word out OF
him about the wreck. II seems that
Intiye in one Of the flying proas-the
,4,,,iYa hoard n
them-found an unconscious officer
lashcd to spar several miles out at
sea, and turned him over to Fray lg-
nacio, who was then running the
church at Agann, when he came In.
The fray and his brother priests sue
ceedcd In restoring the man long
enough TO get his account OF the
wreck. together with the approximate
position Of the gullcon when she
struck; then he died. Being method
icnl old chaps, they jottcd the story
all down, md Fray IRnacio signed H..
Then, like the pious old imbccilcs that
they were, they buried the document,
with several others, in the trays
garcophngus when he got through
with life. / believe he and his box nfe
now in the crypt under the church.
The story seemed straight enough,
and guess there's no doubt OF there
being two or three millions OF good
rusty money lying at the bottom Qf
the ocean, south Of Guajnn, 10 this
day. Il might as well be In the Banf
Of England aE far as we nre con
ccrncd. Another case Of life's Httle
ironics. isn't it?"
How deep is the water thcrer
"Wcl. the Alert rot from 1000 TO
1000 fnthomg near there In 1bsl-sny
| two 90 four miles. Why, were you
thinking Of diving for itY'
"Not exactly. ] meant the depth on
that reef"
"Oh, Santa Rosa2 couldn't tell you
! that. There are no EoundiuRH OF IT,
| even on the Spanish charts, though II
was laid down on Dnlrymplc's md Can
| toyas older maps. Dompicr said he
| found II In 1886. four fnthoms under
| yyntcr. One of the gallcous struck On
Il Ia trying to avoid his ships while
| they were lying at Guajnu, nnd had q
deuce Of time getting of, but no cap
tnin has seen the slightest indication
of reef there since that time. Most
| OF these ialnnds are volcanic. you
| know. and II may have sunk TO the
| three or four mile level
"Vcry>likcly. sHll. ;hc ships that
| t,..LoJ f,, Il trf,,hf have been there a /