preservation of much memorabilia, as in consequence many 

 precious objects which have been recovered must have 

 been melted and recast into anonymous shapes of gold and 

 silver before being placed upon the market. 



The Bahamas abound in tales of the discovery of 

 caches of old coins in abandoned wells, in the foundations 

 of long-destroyed houses and outbuildings, and in caves 

 and rocky pits. Many of these stories are true, for in the 

 early days of pirates and desperadoes there was no other 

 way for the householder to secure his valuables. 



The shrewd natives coming upon these caches over 

 the past century have learned to keep their discoveries 

 secret, for their prosperity is short-lived once the acquisi- 

 tive government learns of their finds. Instead they hoard 

 the coins, exchanging them one or a few at a time where 

 they will create the least attention; delighted when they 

 can find a visiting American who will give them good 

 present-day currency in their place. 



There still remained to be located the three fishing 

 sloops bearing "lead" ballast from Cay Gorda which had 

 foundered in hurricanes upon the banks. While we were 

 based at Nicolls' Town, Kemp produced a fine-looking 

 young fisherman named Yorick, who claimed he could take 

 us to the location of the foundered sloop which had carried 

 the Cay Gorda ballast on the banks north of Andros. We 

 made several trips, with Yorick as our guide, in search of 

 it. Always we seemed to run into foul weather or heavy 

 seas before the ballast could be located. But because Yorick 

 was so sincere in his efforts, and Kemp was so sure that 

 he would eventually take us there, we kept on trying. 



Even in May of 1956, en route to Jamaica by way of 

 Nassau, we stopped off once again in this area and spent 

 the afternoon in a fruitless search for this wreck. To the 

 best of our knowledge it still lies undiscovered somewhere 

 in the vicinity of Northwest Channel light. Somehow we 



138 Sea Diver 



