Originally published in Pearson's Weekly (C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.) vol.1 #16 (08 Nov 1890).
Few persons can form the smallest conception of the vastness of the treasures which the sea has entombed.
A notable case is that of L'Orient, a line-of-battle ship, blown up by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile.
L'Orient is stated to have had on board specie of the value of no less than £600,000, besides other treasure, the spoil of a raid on a Roman Catholic Cathedral at Valetta, and an immense quantity of other valuables. The vessel had been dispatched with money to Bonaparte, to pay the arrears due to the French forces.
A parallel case to that of L'Orient is that of the La Lutine, a war-ship of thirty-two guns, wrecked off the coast of Holland in 1799. This vessel sailed from the Yarmoutb Roads on October 9 of that year, with an immense quantity of treasure for the Texel. In the course of the day it came on to blow a heavy gale; the vessel was lost and went to pieces. Salvage operations during eighteen months resulted in the recovery of £80,000 in specie.
In 1814 further attempts were made to vet at the wreck, which had become deeply imbedded in the sand, but with very indifferent success, the result of seven years' toil (1814-1821) being the recovery of only a few pieces of silver. In 1822 several thousand pounds were spent in diving operations, but the result was absolutely nil. From 1822 to 1857 spasmodic and unsuccessful efforts were made to fish up further specie.
In 1857 a further agreement was entered into between the Dutch Government and Lloyd's, and from 1857 to 1861 (sixty years after the wreck had taken place) great good fortune attended the efforts of the searchers, about £25,000 being the amount of Lloyd's share. Some interesting relics were also found, including part of the ship's rudder and her bell.
In 1871 the Society of Lloyd's obtained a special Act of Parliament for the purpose (among other things) of applying the said sum of £25,000 towards further salvage operations. These efforts appear to have been further successful, for only two years since a gun was brought up and presented to the City Corporation. It is predicted that should the bed of sand now covering the wreck be shifted in a storm, the salvage operations could be continued much more successfully.
Another remarkable case of recovery of specie is recorded in 1806, when sixty-two chests of dollars of the value of about £70,000 were fished up by means of a diving-bell from the Abergavenny, sunk some years previously at Weymouth.
Great efforts have been made to find the wreck of the British frigate De Braak, lost in a storm off Lewis, U.S.A., in 1798, having on board no less than £2,400,000 worth of specie and jewels, taken from an intercepted Spanish fleet while on her voyage to Halifax, and two hundred prisoners. The latter were in irons on the lower decks when the vessel foundered, and all were lost.
It would scarcely be believed that valuables have been recovered nearly two hundred and forty years from the date of a wreck. It is recorded that the good ship Harleem, which was driven asbore in Table Bay, in May, 1648, and became a total wreck, had on board
many cases full of curiosities and antiquities for sale to European museums. These cases contained idols, rare china, glass, silver, etc. As lately as 1888, salvage operations were rewarded by the recovery of several of these articles. The china was not at all injured by having been two hundred and thirty-five years under the sea, but the silver articles had suffered considerably.
Another very notable case is that of the Thetis, a British frigate, wrecked off the coast of Brazil in 1880, with £162,000 in bullion on board. The hull went to pieces, leaving the treasure at the bottom. The Admiral of the Brazil station and the captains and crews of four sloops-of-war were engaged for eighteen mouths in recovering it. The service was intended with great skill, labour and danger, and four lives were lost.
One of the most recent cases of successful salvage operations is that of the Spanish mail steamer, Alfonso XII., bound from Cadiz to Havanna, in February, 1885, and sunk off Point Gando, Grand Canary, in twenty-five fathoms of water. She had on board treasure valued at £100,000. The underwriters who had insured the vessels organised a salvage expedition, which was despatched to the scene of the wreck in the following May. It is reported that a few months later most of the specie was recovered.