The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-04-28

by an American gentleman who COM
missioned me to go down, twenty-five
miles from Gibraltar, in search of
part of the cargo of the sailing vessel
Cyclades.
b Ten years before, this gentleman had
purchased almost the entire vintage of
a certain years Italian chant; and
was about to ship it for America when
the captain of the Cyclades suggested
to him that the wine would be greatly
improved if it could toss on the Medi-
terranean ten years or so. The Aneri-
can, who was always looking for a
chance to improve his wine cellar, de-
cided to store the cases in the Cy-
clades, with the understanding that
each spring the captain of the vessel
must ship one case of the wine to
America, leaving the rest to churn and
churn in the stern of the light craft
For several years this was faithfully
done; but on the sixth year the Cy-
clades met with an accident and went
down, though the captain and his men
escaped in a small boat
The American desired me to recover
the wine at any cost. 1 soon located
the Cyclades and raised the cases. 1t
was all done in days time. but I got
$1,000 for the job and souvenir in the
shape of a little naphtha launch which
the American had bought at Gibraltar,
so as to be able to accompany me on
the diving tour to the scene of the
disaster, as he anticipated a long hunt
in the sea for the little boat.
A difficult search was one of my first
ones. 1t was after a cargo of Roman
curioS, near an island in the Atlantic.
There were also fifteen bars of silver
in the cargo valued at two thousand
pounds. The ship was the Barcelona,
and when she went down off Cadiz she
rested in a ledge, then parted amid
ships and rolled into deep water.
1t took me a long time to get into
her treasure room, and some idea of
the difficulty in gaining access may be
A-IT
| compelled to blow the deck away with
| dynamite. The air and water pressure
was great; and, in one place, 1 was
| compelled to crawl into a space of two
feet in order to get access to the room
| in which the silver was known to be
contained.
I finally got the contents and sent
up thirty boxes of curiOs and the sill
/ yer bars. During this time I worked
/ four hours cOnSecutiVely under water,
and when hauled up was absolutely ex-
/ hausted. I had never worked so long
\ at such a great depth, and when I
/ landed 1 found that there was not a
/ drop of fresh water to be had The
| diving apparatus had been located on
a small island on the top of which was
a spring.
We ALL for the pleasure of walking
! on land-climbed the hill and were lust
/ about to drink the water when we saw
a quantity of white sails bearing down
| upon us. We knew at once that they
| were pirates; or, as they are called
| nowadays, sea marauders; and we real
lied that our treasure was exposed to
| great danger.
We hurried down from the hill, but
| did not arrive there until they had
| captured our cargo. We chased them
and when they saw they were over
taken they threw the treasure over
/ board.
1t was necessary then to bring the
ship from the mainland and anchor
over the spot in order to make another
descent, but I recovered all the bars
and failed to find only one case OF
curios.
My most disastrous expedition was
| in search of a vessel wrecked in the
English Channel fifty years ago. AT.
ter much search I found a wheel, the
only remaining part of the ship. Thi:
was identified by the firm of ship
builders as being of their former manu-
facture; there were also a few scrap.
of iron. But not particle Of the cargo
could be found.
JUAN CARvALHO.