nies was constantly tlireatened by pirates and the daring 

 privateers sent out from England and France to harry it. 



The waters surrounding the West Indies in the seven- 

 teenth century were a constant battleground for des- 

 peradoes of every nation, intent on seizing for themselves 

 a part of the wealth which flowed so freely from the New 

 World to the Old. Spain's prestige and power, established 

 by reason of her being first to discover and exploit this part 

 of the world, was gradually giving ground before the on- 

 slaughts of her enemies, led by men like the English Mor- 

 gan and Drake. 



France was by now well established in western His- 

 paniola, in the wake of the "pirate colony" on Tortuga is- 

 land, a motley crew representative of all the seafaring na- 

 tions, which had finally come under French leadership. 

 And England possessed colonies in the Bahamas, Barbados, 

 Bermuda and Jamaica as well as on the North American 

 continent. English sea power was in the ascendancy, a 

 powerful weapon which she would use to mold the world 

 to her pattern for centuries to come, while Spain, with 

 the destruction of the Spanish Armada, was already on the 

 downward path. 



During the years between the sinking of the Spanish 

 galleon and its eventual discovery by William Phips, there 

 are on record attempts by the ships of many nations to 

 seek its resting place. In 1683, Charles II of England com- 

 missioned two ships, the Bonetta and the Faulcon, under 

 Captain George Churchill and Captain Edward Stanley, 

 to discover and salvage the Hispaniola treasure, as it was 

 then called. The two ships spent nearly three years in the 

 vicinity of the silver banks, "ever scanning the sea for a 

 lone rock rising high above the water." This lone rock 

 was mentioned many times in early accounts of unsuccess- 

 ful searches. 



It was during this time that a sailor, Thomas Smith, 



238 Sea Diver 



