The Irish standard., 1898-11-19

IhlllpplneS was aSubdepenuency. Inc
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-
ttcally amounted to Philippine sub
s'dy"
That's about as I remember it.
wrecked ON the coral islands, weren't
there?"
Lots of them; they were great un-
wieldy 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 80 or 40 years,
came home with me. The old chap
is u good deal of student, and has
the history OF these islands at his
flnger-ends-best judge of rum and
sherry ever saw. used to fill him
up with good liquor, just to see him
enjoy it 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 Nuestra Sonora
de Sevilla in 1869 on the Santa Rosa
Reef, somewhere south of Guajan.
The padre was pretty mellow, and
guess snid more than he meant to, for
never could get another word out of
him about the wreck. It seems that
native in one of the flying proas-the
island catamarans, you've heard of
theln--found an unconscious officer
lashed to spar several miles out at
sea, and turned him over to Fray Ig-
nacio, who was then running the
church at Agana, when he came in.
The fray and his brother priests sue
ceeded i'll restoring the man long
enough to get his account of the
wreck, together with the approximate
position of the galleon when she
struck; then he died. Being method
icai old chaps, they jotted the story
all down, and Fray Ignacio signed it.
Then, like the pious old imbeciles that
they were, they buried the document,
with several others, in the trays
sarcophagus when he got through
with life. believe he and his box IRE
now in the crypt under the church.
The story seemed straight enough,
and l guess there's no doubt of there
being two or three millions of good
rusty money lying at the bottom Of
the ocean. south of Guajan, to this
day. 1t might as we'll be in the Bank
of England as far as we are con.
cerned. Another case of life's little
ironies, isn't it?"
"How deep is the water there?"
swell, the Alert got from 1000 to
1000 fathoms near there in 1SS1-say
two to four miles. Why, were you
thinking of diving for it?"
"Not exactly. meant the depth ON
that reef"
"Oh, Santa Rosa2 Icouldn't tell you
that. There are no soundings of it.
even on the Spanish charts, though it
was laid down on Dalrymple's and Can
tova's older maps. Dampier said he
found it in 1886, four fathoms under
water. One of the galleons struck on
it In trying to avoid his ships while
they were lying at Guajan, and had
deuce of time getting of, but no cap.
tain has seen the slightest indication
Of reef there since that time. Most
Of these islands are volcanic, you
know, and it may have sunk to the
three or four mile level"
every likely. Still, the ships that
looked for it might have been there at
u time of year when the weather was
unfavorable for search"
"You mean-?"
'That, as is quite probable, they may
have been cruising during the sum-
lner. That would be the southwest
monsoon, wouldn't it? Rain, fog, hur-
ricanes-"
"That's so."
"And the water might have been 60
lumpy that careful sounding would
have been out of the question"
Hardly. They wouldn't attempt to
sound in bad weather, unless for their
own safety. Still, they might not have
happened to try it when they were
over the exact spot, and the shifting
of the monsoon might make anything
like an accurate search impossible.
Oh, wouldn't venture to say that
there is no reef there; its existence
and position are not definitely known,
that's all. But suppose there is. Sup
pose for the sake of argument that its
lagoon isn't more than 100 feet or
so deep, how much chance do you
think there would be of finding even
the fragments of hulk lost there 1870
years ago? Why, man, it would have
n coral jacket on so thick that you'd
have to use dynamite II 1t were above
water. Coral deposit increases at the
rate Of an eighth Of an inch year, or
more, according to Agassiz; that
would make make thickness of about
Is inches. Adding shell-fsh and other
marine growth. 1t would be safe to fig
ure two or three feet. wouldn'tit?"
Probably; but thought that coral,
diatomaceae, and foraminifera depos-
tied pcrpendicularly on these volcanic
atolls?"
That's so. If the wreck lay in q
bold position SOME of her side timbers
might still be exposed, or at least COW
cred very thinly. Harry. what crazy
notion have you got in your head?
There isn't one chance in million Of
an attempt to raise that treasure be-
ing successful. 1t would be folly to
think Of trying it without fully
equipped wrecking steamer, and even
then you'd have piracy to contend
with among your crew."