Evening star., 1933-07-30
TREASURE UNDER THE SEA
Fabulous Golden When GaAn old Spain Vas Wkad
Ago. Mas the Goal Of This Recent Expedition Tropical Seasee
Aaouut of Its Aduntues and of the Relics 1t Recovered

feed II husky men for three months-is
no small item; and the ship had to be
completely altered and refitted for our
purpose.
RUT at last all was ready. The vessel
sailed for southern seas, and in due
time we dropped anchor in West Indian
waters at the spot had selected as the
most promising. Our little ship appeared
very small in that vast waste of waters
as in the tiny launches we headed for
the reefs in the distance. But it was
calm day; the sapphire sea lay with
scarcely ripple under a cloudless sky
and only the upflung breakers of the
ground swell on the boilers" broke the
line of the horizon.
Never will forget the sensation we
all felt as we approached the first of
these coral heads. Just awash, with the
long ocean swell sweeping over them and
then receding, leaving the sharp talon
like corals exposed, they seemed en-
dowed with some malignant purpose,
terrible, sinister monsters reaching out
hungry hands to grasp our craft and
drag them to destruction. Even the most
sea-hardened of our men, old sailors that
they were, confessed to such feeling of
terror, and all of us actually shuddered
with dread each time surge sucked our
fnvu 10 ms
So transparent was the water that the
bottom at eight or 10 fathoms appeared
within reach of ones outstretched hand
with every detail standing out clearly
and sharply. Yet the objects upon the
floor of that reef filled ocean were amaz-
ingly deceptive. There were great fingers
of coral which looked like the massive
timbers of sunken ships. There were
strange sea growths that were the exact
counterparts of chests and kegs, and
again and again we thought we had
located a wreck, only to find, when the
divers went down in their "hats," as
they call their helmets, that eur
wrecks" were but natural growths.
That first day was the only calm day
we had. For two months thereafter our
little 10o-foot ship rolled and pitched
continuously. But Dame Fortune smiled
upon us, and presently, as we searched
the bottom of the sea between the reefs,
one Of the party discovered an anchor.
Almost coincidently another spied two
more anchors, and the next moment
great cannon was found.
EXCITEMENT ran high. Here was in
= disputable evidence that we were
above a wrecked ship, and the type of
the anchors and gun left no doubt as
to the vessels age. With straining eyes
we searched the sea floor for further
wreckage, but nothing of the sunken
vessels structure was visible
Quickly the air pump was manned,
and, wearing only their hats" the divers
dropped down. Intently we watched.
And then came great surprise. From
our boat the two smaller anchors had
appeared no larger than ordinary kedge
anchors, but when diver grasped one
and raised it upright the shank ex-
tended for more than two feet above his
head! It took all our tackle and hercu-
lean labor to salvage the smallest of the
three; the largest was more than IL
feet In length.
Though they had rested under the sea
for more than three centuries, these
massive, handforged anchors that once
had served to moor a galleon Of Spain
were In q remarkable state of preserva.
ton. Beneath the two-inch incrustatioQ
cot linn III ieon was still sound. an1 n