CHAPTER X.
THE SUNKEN TREASURE.
"AND what became of the chair?" inquired Clara, "The outward aspect of
our chair," replied Grandfather, "was now somewhat the worse for its
long and arduous services. It was considered hardly magnificent enough
to be allowed to keep its place in the council chamber of Massachusetts.
In fact, it was banished as an article of useless lumber. But Sir
William Phips happened to see it, and, being much pleased with its
construction, resolved to take the good old chair into his private
mansion. Accordingly, with his own gubernatorial hands, he repaired one
of its arms, which had been slightly damaged."
"Why, Grandfather, here is the very arm!" interrupted Charley, in great
wonderment. "And did Sir William Phips put in these screws with his own
hands? I am sure he did it beautifully! But how came a governor to know
how to mend a chair?"
"I will tell you a story about the early life of Sir William Phips,"
said Grandfather. "You will then perceive that he well knew how to use
his hands."
So Grandfather related the wonderful and true tale of the sunken
treasure.
Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome, old-fashioned room,
with a large, open cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a
magnificent gold cup, with some other splendid articles of gold and
silver plate. In another part of the room, opposite to a tall looking-
glass, stands our beloved chair, newly polished, and adorned with a
gorgeous cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold.
In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy frame, whose face has been
roughened by northern tempests and blackened by the burning sun of the
West Indies. He wears an immense periwig, flowing down over his
shoulders. His coat has a wide embroidery of golden foliage; and his
waistcoat, likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened with gold. His
red, rough hands, which have done many a good day's work with the hammer
and adze, are half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his wrists.
On a table lies his silver-hilted sword; and in a corner of the room
stands his gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully polished West India
wood.
Somewhat such an aspect as this did Sir William Phips present when he
sat in Grandfather's chair after the king had appointed him governor of
Massachusetts. Truly there was need that the old chair should be
varnished and decorated with a crimson cushion, in order to make it
suitable for such a magnificent-looking personage.
But Sir William Phips had not always worn a gold-embroidered coat, nor
always sat so much at his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was
a poor man's son, and was born in the province of Maine, where he used
to tend sheep upon the hills in his boyhood and youth. Until he had
grown to be a man, he did not even know how to read and write. Tired of
tending sheep, he next apprenticed himself to a ship-carpenter, and
spent about four years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak-trees into
knees for vessels.
In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he came to Boston, and soon
afterwards was married to a widow lady, who had property enough to set
him up in business. It was not long, however, before he lost all the
money that he had acquired by his marriage, and became a poor man again.
Still he was not discouraged. He often told his wife that, some time or
other, he should be very rich, and would build a "fair brick house" in
the Green Lane of Boston.
Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a fortune-teller to
inquire his destiny. It was his own energy and spirit of enterprise, and
his resolution to lead an industrious life, that made him look forward
with so much confidence to better days.
Several years passed away, and William Phips had not yet gained the
riches which he promised to himself. During this time he had begun to
follow the sea for a living. In the year 1684 he happened to hear of a
Spanish ship which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and which
was supposed to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phips went to
the place in a small vessel, hoping that he should be able to recover
some of the treasure from the wreck. He did not succeed, however, in
fishing up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of his voyage.
But, before he returned, he was told of another Spanish ship, or
galleon, which had been east away near Porto de la Plata. She had now
lain as much as fifty years beneath the waves. This old ship had been
laden with immense wealth; and, hitherto, nobody had thought of the
possibility of recovering any part of it from the deep sea which was
rolling and tossing it about. But though it was now an old story, and
the most aged people had almost forgotten that such a vessel had been
wrecked, William Phips resolved that the sunken treasure should again be
brought to light.
He went to London and obtained admittance to King James, who had not yet
been driven from his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth that
was lying at the bottom of the sea. King James listened with attention,
and thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury with Spanish
gold. He appointed William Phips to be captain of a vessel, called the
Rose Algier, carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men. So now he was
Captain Phips of the English navy.
Captain Phips sailed from England in the Rose Algier, and cruised for
nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of
the Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep that it is no easy
matter to discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies. The
prospect of success seemed very small; and most people would have
thought that Captain Phips was as far from having money enough to build
a "fair brick house" as he was while he tended sheep.
The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, and gave up all hope
of making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted
to compel Captain Phips to turn pirate. There was a much better
prospect, they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels which
still sailed in the sea than by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath
the waves full half a century. They broke out in open mutiny; but were
finally mastered by Phips, and compelled to obey his orders. It would
have been dangerous, however, to continue much longer at sea with such a
crew of mutinous sailors; and, besides, the Rose Algier was leaky and
unseaworthy. So Captain Phips judged it best to return to England.
Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who
remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to
find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks, a few leagues from Porto
de la Plata.
On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phips solicited the king
to let him have another vessel and send him back again to the West
Indies. But King James, who had probably expected that the Rose Algier
would return laden with gold, refused to have anything more to do with
the affair. Phips might never have been able to renew the search if the
Duke of Albemarle and some other noblemen had not lent their assistance.
They fitted out a ship, and gave the command to Captain Phips. He sailed
from England, and arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, where he took an
adze and assisted his men to build a large boat.
The boat was intended for the purpose of going closer to the reef of
rocks than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished,
the captain sent several men in it to examine the spot where the Spanish
ship was said to have been wrecked. They were accompanied by some
Indians, who were skilful divers, and could go down a great way into the
depths of the
sea.
The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, and rowed round and
round it a great many times. They gazed down into the water, which was
so transparent that it seemed as if they could have seen the gold and
silver at the bottom, had there been any of those precious metals there.
Nothing, however, could they see, nothing more valuable than a curious
sea shrub, which was growing beneath the water, in a crevice of the reef
of rocks. It flaunted to and fro with the swell and reflux of the waves,
and looked as bright and beautiful as if its leaves were gold.
"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor; and then he
spoke to one of the Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that pretty
sea shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find."
Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding
the sea shrub in his hand. But he had learned some news at the bottom of
the sea.
"There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment he had drawn breath,
"some great cannon, among the rocks, near where the shrub was growing."
No sooner had he spoken than the English sailors knew that they had
found the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked, so many
years before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the
boat's side and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken
cannon. In a few moments one of them rose above the water with a heavy
lump of silver in his arms. The single lump was worth more than a
thousand dollars. The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed back
as speedily as they could, being in haste to inform Captain Phips of
their good luck.
But, confidently as the captain had hoped to find the Spanish wreck,
yet, now that it was really found, the news seemed too good to be true.
He could not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of silver.
"Thanks be to God!" then cries Captain Phips "We shall every man of us
make our fortunes!"
Hereupon the captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and
great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the
sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of solid
silver, once the property of an old Spanish grandee. Now they found a
sacramental vessel, which had been destined as a gift to some Catholic
church. Now they drew up a golden cup, fit for the King of Spain to
drink his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its former owner had
been grasping the precious cup, and was drawn up along with it. Now
their rakes or fishing-lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion.
There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and
sparkling, so that it is a wonder how their radiance could have been
concealed.
There is something sad and terrible in the idea of snatching all this
wealth from the devouring ocean, which had possessed it for such a
length of years. It seems as if men had no right to make themselves rich
with it. It ought to have been left with the skeletons of the ancient
Spaniards, who had been drowned when the ship was wrecked, and whose
bones were now scattered among the gold and silver.
But Captain Phips and his crew were troubled with no such thoughts as
these. After a day or two they lighted on another part of the wreck,
where they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could
have guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the
salt water, they had become covered over with a crust which had the
appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces
with hammers and axes. When this was done, a stream of silver dollars
gushed out upon the deck of the vessel.
The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious
stones, and all, was estimated at more than two millions of dollars. It
was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. A sea-
captain, who had assisted Phips in the enterprise, utterly lost his
reason at the sight of it. He died two years afterwards, still raving
about the treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would have
been better for this man if he had left the skeletons of the shipwrecked
Spaniards in quiet possession of their wealth.
Captain Phips and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and
dollars, as plentifully as ever, till their provisions grew short. Then,
as they could not feed upon gold and silver any more than old King Midas
could, they found it necessary to go in search of better sustenance.
Phips resolved to return to England. He arrived there in 1687, and was
received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and other English lords
who had fitted out the vessel. Well they might rejoice; for they took by
far the greater part of the treasure to themselves.
The captain's share, however, was enough to make him comfortable for the
rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife,
by building a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of Boston. The Duke
of Albemarle sent Mrs. Phips a magnificent gold cup, worth at least five
thousand dollars. Before Captain Phips left London, King James made him
a knight; so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter who had
formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his
return as the rich and famous Sir William Phips.
