THE
THE CHINA - MAIL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, -1061.
RIDDLE OF THE
Hauling aboard a rusty old cannon retrieved from the mysterious galleon.
The author and his colleague Marx, having ubandoned salvage work on the wreck of the Matanceros, are obsessed with the riddle of its identity. From it they harvested a rich haul of treasure in the form of pewter plates, bottles, artifacts, crucifixes, cannon, etc., none of which established beyond doubt the origin of the wreck.
OF
WRECKED
GALLEON
We began by ruling out
CONCLUDING
certain possibilities. For example, we did not believe
was English because of the large quantity of crucifixes on board.
Obsessed by the mystery. Mark and I pushed on, checking every source we could for ship- ping losses in the area.
at
With our growing knowledge,
last, we began seriously Our conclusion that to question
of
the ship was English. By then we kad thoroughly studied the political climate in the Indies during the period. In view of the war between Spain and England in 1740 It seemed the Daily highly Mail cantonts had stressed, that En English trading ship
US
would be bound directly for a
our ship was a pirate vessel. DIVING FOR PLEASURE Spanish port.
From the massive anchors
and large number of cannons
we knew she was much larger
than most light, swift pirate
ships.
We then ruled out men-of- products
and guardavosios
AND TREASURE
he
Identica! with the
From Such bottles. recovered shops, armed with as many as wreck. In fact, during 1740,
Win!
view to
60 cannons, or more. and carry bottles Identical with ours were
In manufactured
New g a large
man the even ordnance, were unable to ship Jersey, by a German immigrant
orge cargo of trade goods. named Wistar (His bnilles After careful analysis, we widely admired, were known as returned to the conclusion we Wistarberg bottles). had reached after our first, cursory search of the wreek.
She was, we believed, a huge merchantman armed with about 20 cannons. The cargo led us to believe she was English.
As time went on the researen At 1s vessel's history grew tronendously complex and I Whis not able Jo devate the Proper time to 1.
Records
by
CLAY
BLAIR (jun.)
We estimated that we had raised a total of about 5,000
crosses.
We knew that there were still thousands on the bottom. By extrapolation, we conservatively calculated that the ship kaust have carried a total of 80,000 crucifixes. What English trader could hope to dispose of such a number in a fleeting, élande. sting trade In an unguarded Spanish port?
Spanish?
After
8
very
careful
re-
appraisal of the existing facts, we reached the conclusion that only 6 small fraction of the ship's cargo was, without ques- The bulk of it tion. English.
This new conclusion prompted after a large one of the sume an exhaustive eЛori to learn shape in the cathedral of Carn- more about the specific obiecta vaca. It was specially esteemed we recovered. We were soon to by Spanish seamen hecause it learn that such information is was thought to help them pre-
diet winds. very hard to come by.
The Caravaca cross was the Turning to the religious art-
first item we discovered definite- facts, ww consulted with
ly to have been manufactured in could have been manufactured Catholic religious authorities,
Father Daniel Power workmanship.
Spain. Since the material, in any country Including
un and figures
The number
of Jesult priest
and variety crosses (Including crucifixes, knives, talismans, the University. Father Line Canedo the smaller
the Si Thomas cross) were proximity of Nimes to Spain, at the Franelscan Institute for Latin American Studies, and similar, we concluded that all the cantons and anchors, the
al Georgetown
the a
Faber Charles Auth Dominican House of Studies in the Washington,
Caravace.
of
the crosses had been made by geographical location
the sume manufacturer, in wreck, and the absence of any major loss in English shipping records for the period and place, indicated to us a ship of Spanish
Even so, we still stubbornly clung to the view that the ship was English
Reward
I wrote to a friend, Charles Stution, who was an editor of the London Daily Mail,
registry.
The more we discussed it, the more firmly we believed the wreck to be Spanish, possibly a prize taken
West from some
in 1740. Indian port by Admiral Vernon
Rol: Mx. who Wax
Tapi et Xis on any of us to learn 1234 sla adent.y. Bew 10
identified three neu These Washington, and in co-operation the saints on the various medals The Smithsonian Instilu and helped us with the Latin. nor and the Library of Con- Greck, Italian, and Spanish gre
pent several months abbreviations. But none of the intensively searching the avail- medallions gave any clue to the ale jeds. During this period date or nationality of the wreck.
The top picture shows the author holding a collec Marx then resolved the my-
tion of the oddly shaped wine bottles brought up he read more than 200 books in the Library of Congress stery of the double-transom
from the wrecked galleon. Below: Some, of the veng every coureivable re- "Cross of Lorraine."
One day Bob Marx turned to
12,000 items the divers found. These included Searching through dozens of
some extracts from "La Graceta de Mexico," a daily newspaper
plates, coins, crucifixes, medals, spoons and buckles. t We had held to the view books on crosses in the Library English. Everything about them graph of a double-transtim cross thal our lopsided bottles were of Congress, be found a photo-
published in Mexico City, which were on Ale in the Francisab ships that were lost were so lapsed in the face of 'Admiral for Latin American noted in the Book of Registers. Vernon, El Matanzero hung on smacked of old England. identical with ours. Everything
Institute
drama of desperately, making one anal careful matched, including the figure of
Studies. Thumbing through the But perhaps in the After search of the books on the his Christ and the Virgin Mary.
extracts for February, 1788, larger events the invasion of try alone. It was not a "Cross of Lor
Marx, scarcely believing his Italy, the war in the Indies-the try of bottles and glass. Marx
Bot raine" but a "Cross of Care
eyes, spotted a Spanish ship fate of El Matanzero was over- was necessarily so.
vaca, manufactured in a small German town in south-eastern Spain,
THE HUNDREDS OF SHIPS that sailed the Indies in the period 1733-40 one was wrecked on Punta Matanceros. But which one? That was the question we were determined to answer. In time, hundreds of experts in the United States, Mexico, England, France, Holland, Germany and Spain would join in our hunt, which was almost like looking for a needle in a hay stack. The search would lead us down many obscure and fascinating byways of history. manufacturers had produced Caravaca. The cross is modelled
However,
reported that this
A great number of
i proposed that Stutton take all our clues and publish them in his newspaper, offering a re- ward to the person who solved the mystery of this important English loss.
Station, thinking this would hold vast appeal for his mari- time-minded English readers, gave the story a large spread in two instalments, offering £100 (R200) reward, two months' salary for a retired officer, for any information. The Daily Mail was deluged with letters.
But while there was much in- formation in the letters that led
She carried no treasure-as
named El Matanzero. The ship, looked by the harassed book- such. But if our premise:be accepted, then her stary (18 had Spanish merchantman
keepers. been in the Verz Cuz trade
It may be stretching the facts much of it as we have been able about the time of
somewhat, but
to bring to light and dar work our wreck.
we like to be- According to the Book of lieve that El Matanzero, the especially our planeering -
bour in
marine Matanzero got stubborn ship that still refuses archaeology take
the field of Registers, under way and departed Cadiz obscurity, represents the last of
*signi- ficance that to us is more valu- -alone-on November 30, 1740. a great era.
She is not shown as having
EX
On
She was, first, a member of able than the gold doubloons us nowhere, most of the Daily arrived in Vera Cruz, of return the last of the big Spanish we had sought,
readers doubted the ship ing to the Indies again. Most pleasure fleets. When they col-
Well, almost.
HENNESSY
COGNAC BRANDIES
HAVE THE EXTRA
QUALITY THAT
COMES FROM
LONG MATURING
HENNESS
COONAR
over 3 years old
V.0.
over 15 years old
VS.OP
OF FRANCE
V.S.O.P. over 25 years old
X.0.
over 45 years old
EXTRA over 75 years old
Sole Agents:
JARDINE, MATHESON & CO., LTD.
JHEWNESSTECH
COONACHA
They've
struck
OIL...OIL...OIL
THE Union Oil De-
Exports during November
the big increase in this cheque
have
velopment Corp. this were worth £101.9 million and week announced an oil was partly due to a rise in the flow at the A. O. G. price of wool and good ship- Moonie No. 1 well about ments of wool and wheat. 200 miles west of Bris- This is only the second time bane, and in a 74-minute that Australia's exports drill stem test of the topped the £100 million mark bore, it showed a mix- ture of 48 gravity black crude oil and water flow. ing at the rate of 500 barrels a day.
At least half the flow was oil, The company now plans to continue dřüling from its pre- sent level of 5,925 feet to examine possibilities below 0,800 feet. This will take several weeks.
Senator Spooner, Minister for National Development said the strike was the first in Australia
oil of crude
with refining possibilities, and the Common- wealth Government had spent more than £1 million in the last three years subsidising oil search in Queensland.
Shares rose sharply when the flow was announced, teaching. 807 during the day, but sub- elded to 20/- at the close, 'ra- presenting a net gain of 8/8.
OVERSEAS
TRADE
in a month.
In a new venture this year a almost 200 people will man 40 cruisers for "Carols by Cruiser" night on Sydney Harbour on Sunday, Decem- ber 17,
Alxty members of Police Boys Club Chairs, musicians, and members of the Royal Motor Yacht Club of New Smith Wales will take part in the two-hour procession - which will circle, Rose Bay
then go up the
Harbour to. Farm Cove and back to Rose Bay
All the boats will carry fairy fights and will travel about 100 gards from the shore, close enough for the people on the foreshores to hear the earDIA, Twenty of the orüiliers are 30 feet, In length, others are. 59, 60, ami No footers.
Great
singer
AUSTRALIAN NEWSLETTER
the
Miss Jaan Sutherland, one House. the great Lingen Autis
by EMH
JOAN SUTHERLAND
York Opera
Sydney
hower produced will will return later
It is not yet known whether world celebrities
In June of next
1st time in 11 the opening ut and It is Ironic that for Opera House. Hér er Australidna" it will be are fully booked for 1082" their first change to ier and part of 1983 and there are
the Hash the prima complex probleme which
casion, including Miss Suthe
toti
Robard Bonyngo
Svengali la
1