pieces of eight, and a few pieces of gold jewelry, includ- 

 ing a pair of gold filigree earrings set with emeralds. 



Reposing upon a black velvet cushion was a rare and 

 finely worked gold religious medallion, which had been 

 discovered on the galleon wreck only recently. According 

 to the legend, the medal had been struck in honor of the 

 canonization of the Peruvian Archbishop, Turibius, in 1726. 

 It seemed quite possible that it had been part of the bag- 

 gage of some high ecclesiastic aboard the plate ship when 

 it sank. 



Out on the wreck the next day we found that Art, over 

 the past winter, had succeeded with much effort in uncov- 

 ering a great many more of the ship's timbers. It was now 

 definite that she was lying on her side, for it was even possi- 

 ble to distinguish gun ports at points beneath the ballast 

 where the timbers had been exposed. Reposing, slightly 

 uncovered, in the sand were the four cannon which we 

 had located with the metal detector the previous summer. 



Art was delighted to have us arrive with the air lift 

 which Ed had promised, for he was sure that with its help 

 we would be able to reach a great many more objects than 

 had been possible previously. He was also counting on the 

 help of Sea Diver's lifting equipment to move the heavy 

 cannon, once they were uncovered, to the top of the bal- 

 last pile, where they would be safe from the shifting bot- 

 tom sand, and where they could be viewed by Art's patrons 

 on the glass-bottomed Treasure Princess. 



The men spent the better part of the day in rigging the 

 new air-lift equipment. After joining the large sections of 

 galvanized pipe together on Sea Diver's deck, and connect- 

 ing a long section of heavy rubber hose to the air compres- 

 sor, which had been installed in the lazaret, the divers 

 maneuvered the long, gleaming pipe to the sea bottom in 

 the vicinity of the cannon. It was placed at an angle so 



The Florida Keys 97 



