the ivory wreck had been a vessel engaged in the slave 

 trade, of uncertain age and nationality. The third wreck, 

 from which had come this early-seventeenth-century can- 

 non, was Spanish, he was quite certain. More than that he 

 could not say until he had had a better opportunity to 

 identify the gun. It puzzled him that while each of the 

 other two wrecks had yielded a variety of artifacts fur- 

 nishing broad hints as to the country of their origin, so 

 far nothing but cannon had been found at the location on 

 Delta reef. 



Pete, as we came to know Mendel Peterson, turned 

 out to be an indispensable member of the expedition. 

 His head was packed with a fund of historical facts and 

 figures which were invaluable, as well as a broad knowl- 

 edge of old armament, which was his special hobby. 



It was Pete who was responsible for channeling Ed*s 

 developing interest in the underwater world into the field 

 of marine archeology, for it was impossible to discover 

 these ancient artifacts vidthout feeling a tantalizing curi- 

 osity as to their origin. What had started out to be merely 

 a new sport for the Links soon resolved itself into a con- 

 suming and enthralled interest in the past history of that 

 part of the world. We questioned Pete at length. 



It was early in the sixteenth century, soon after Cortez 

 conquered the rich lands of Mexico, Pete told us, that the 

 Straits of Florida, leading between the Florida coast and 

 the Bahama islands, became the regular sailing path for 

 most of the ships returning to Europe from the vicinity of 

 the Caribbean. It had not taken the early navigators long 

 to discover that while the best route to the New World 

 led from Europe south toward the Cape Verde islands, 

 westward to the vicinity of Trinidad, and then across the 

 Caribbean with the southeast trades to the early seaports 

 of Cartagena, Vera Cruz and Havana, the most favorable 

 return route carried them northward through the Straits 



The Florida Keys 17 



