the wreck, they were astonished to see that the waters 

 thereabouts were dotted with ships. Like vultures they 

 had gathered from every port around to snatch what they 

 could of the treasure feast so lavishly spread on the ocean 

 floor. There were ships from Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, 

 the Bahamas and even faraway New England. 



When the armed vessels of the English appeared, 

 many of these boats left precipitately. The captains of 

 those which stayed promised to turn over what they had 

 secured on shares, and to continue working with Captain 

 Phips in return for a portion of the finds. However, the 

 small divisions they were promised did not prove sufificient 

 to keep them at the arduous task, and one by one they cut 

 their cables in the night and sailed away. 



This time the wreck proved very disappointing to the 

 searchers. Phips's divers had already skimmed the cream 

 on his previous visit, and the scores of small boats which 

 had scoured the spot while Phips was gone had removed 

 whatever else was easily come by. Now it was necessary to 

 break up the coral that had grown over the wreckage and 

 hoist great chunks of the rock to the decks of tlie boats, 

 where they were pounded apart to uncover the valuables 

 within. It was slow and difiBcult labor, and it taxed the 

 strength and ingenuity of the salvagers to the limit. 



During their search, the divers reported to Phips the 

 discovery of a large section of the ship lying on the bottom, 

 so heavily encrusted in coral that it was impossible to 

 break into it with their pikes and other equipment. They 

 were sure that it contained a large portion of the gold and 

 silver which the ship had carried, but their heaviest assaults 

 failed to penetrate it, and they were finally forced to give 

 up. 



The English ships stayed on the banks and worked 

 the wreck until May eighth, then headed back to England 

 by way of Turks island. They arrived there on August 



The Silver Shoals 245 



