Later, as he swam over the white-sand bottom beneath 

 our boarding ladder with the instrument extended before 

 him, the indicator hand kept up a mad jig. The bottom, 

 between Sea Diver and Treasure Princess, was seemingly 

 filled with metal objects. Yet when he applied it to the 

 sandy area on the far side of the pile of ballast, he was un- 

 able to secure any indications at all. 



The galleon must have lain on its side and spilled its 

 contents in only one direction. The barren side was per- 

 haps close to where the ship's bottom had reposed. 



By the end of the brief afternoon, the two men poking 

 away at the coral-cemented ballast stone and the white 

 sand beneath it had recovered many interesting objects, for 

 this was the first time that a metal detector had been used 

 on the wreck. Ed was especially proud of a well-preserved 

 sword which he had unearthed at the edge of tlie ballast. 

 There were cannon balls galore. 



Back on the deck of Sea Diver, as we headed once more 

 for Miami, we reviewed the events of the afternoon. After 

 checking the location of the wreck with our chart, we came 

 to the conclusion that we probably had been diving on 

 the remains of the galleon El Capitana, If this were so, it 

 was one of the larger warships which had guarded the sil- 

 ver fleet. It had carried the general in charge of the expedi- 

 tion, according to the records, and most of the 225 persons 

 aboard, including the general, had been lost in the tempest. 



If Art had really stumbled upon El Capitana, we real- 

 ized that this wreck should be unusually rich in findings, 

 for at that time the galleons generally carried the bulk 

 of the valuable gold and silver, while the smaller ships 

 were loaded mainly with bulky merchandise, ores, log- 

 wood, precious woods, cochineal and the like. Also, be- 

 cause the larger vessels were safer and more comfortable, 

 they were more apt to have had as passengers important 

 church and government officials and other well-to-do trav- 



90 Sea Diver 



