The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-01
THE PIRACY OF NEPTUNE.
His Gains in Gold and Silver-Richly Freighted Barques That Foundered -Trea sure -TrOVe.

Freighted Barques That Foundere Treas asure-Trove.
 There is popular belief that vas
 wealth lies buried deep between tn
 sand and rocks of our coasts. Ship af
 ter ship, laden with ingots and coinage
 has struck on the British beaches ant
 gone to pieces during the last five hun
 dred years. From time to time hun
 dreds of pounds worth of gold has beer
 showered on the seashore and picked
 up and used; yet there still remain
 something like eighty millions sterling
 in gold and silver under the sea.
 When the Jonkheer Meester van dc
 Wall Dutch East Indiaman, struck the bound sea front of the Lizard
 many years ago, she went to pieces be"
 fore anything could be done to save T her. Some fishermen from Penberth Cove, while engaged in fishing up
 blocks of tin which formed part of the
 vessels cargo, found tin box lying in
 six fathoms of water, Being opened, 1 It WdS lOuIlu lO COIllulii SpAiio eS siiS
 value of G13,000. It is said that there
 are other boxes of gold, silver and
 banknotes lying among the rocks and
 sands where the ship sank.
 | In 1874 a Spanish galleon went ashore
 near the Lizard, having on board many ] thousands of pounds worth of bar gold and money, which were being carried to London for safety during the unset , tied state of affairs in Spain. The great CT part of this vast wealth still lies awaiting recovery between the rocks which have, even at low water, six feet | of water over them.
 ! Some years ago a company sank a shaft through the rock below highwater sea holds so tight. It was imagined that the waves after a storm would drive some portion of the buried specie into the hole at the bottom of the shaft. Before the work was completed, how ever the sea broke in, and the shaft had to be abandoned. Another syndicate soon afterwards dragged the bottom of the sea in the Lizard district, but noth- ing of importance was found. The treasure is undoubtedly there, for coins and ingots are being constantly washed ashore on the beach.
 Treasure to the value of a million and a half sterling, which went to the bot tom of the sea with a Dutch galleon, lies awaiting recovery somewhere on the Shesil beach, long, narrow tongue of shingly land near the great convict station of Portland. This Dutch treas cIi Indies laden with precious metal, and when coming up channel was caught in a gale and driven into Portland Race. where tremendous broken seas rage when there is any wind. Gradually she was carried toward Chesil Beach, and it did not take her long to dissolve in to matchwood The entire freight of gold and silver went to the bottom. Occasionally the fishermen are remind ed of its existence by finding a silver or gold bar or two on the beach,
 The Abergavenny, which was lost in the storm off Weymouth, about the year 1900, had on board several thousand pounds worth Of specie and jewels In 1906 a syndicate was formed and. by means of a diving bell, sixty-two chests
  fished up.
 Treasure of vast amount is supposed | to lie under the sea in the Sarn Badrig, a sunken causeway running miles out | to sea from the Welsh coast The story runs that a French treasur ship, the Bretange, struck on this death-trap of ships, and. caught by one huge wave hurled completely over to sink with all hands In deep water.
 Another case of total loss involving 'our and half millions in gold coins, was the striking of the Infanta, a noble Spanish galleon, on the rocks of Mizene Head, near Bantry bay, in November, -793. The nature of the coast renders investigation difficult, and not a single ,oin has been brought to the surface. n all probability the treasure will re- main in the sea for centuries
 The Czarina, having G3,000, 900 in gold ,n board, foundered in Filey Brigg, on he Yorkshire coast, and another gal con was lost a few miles further south, lear Brldglington Quay. Thirty thou and pounds have been drawn from the ea's clutches at Bridlington Quay, and he remainder lies awaiting the person ( vho is able to rescue it. The Gunfleet bank, off the Essex { cast, is thickly strewn with gold and , liver, in coin aud ingots, for the f vrouwe Folder a Dutch vessel, emp I jed it's cargo of half million sterling I ] gold and silver thNre. q About century ago q Spanish treas V re-ship, carrying a freight of a mill , on sterling, was caught in a storm Q ear Beachy Head, and sank with all q n board. The treasure lies in a deep q ole over which a strong current runs " laking it impossible for divers to de- q 2end. ', Much easure-trove lies off the coast F Ireland. Many Spanish galleons have f. lcd their riches there, and several Q lips of the Great Armada, with all 6 leir wealth on board, came to grief in I, le district. Three millions are scatter ( off point near Tralee, or rather ifs h luivalent i'll doubloons. Numerous at n mpts have been made to recover the ir easure, and one syndicate actually h scued $40, coo from the sea: but the n llk of the wealth remains untouched c1 this day, and at low tide there is only O foot of water over the scene of the fl reck. The ship, however, is buried in tc Q sand; but one day a mighty gale n, ight swoop the sand away and reveal h, e lost treasure, and then some person a, ,l 1,t oIr