rthur.

Already one of the Spanish galleons has been brought to the surface of
Vigo Bay, but she happened to have been laden with costly merchandise
instead of plate, and her cargo was long since ruined by water and
corrosion. The list of articles recovered during the searches of
recent years is a fascinating catalogue to show that the story of the
lost fleet is a true romance of history. I quote Iberti who dwells
with so much joyous enthusiasm over "the anchors, including that of the
_Misericordia_, of Santa Cruz, guns of different caliber, wood of
various kinds, thirty gun carriages, wheels, mortars, silver spoons,
mariner's compasses, enormous cables, innumerable balls and bombs,
statuettes of inlaid gold, magnificently engraved pipe holders, Mexican
porcelain, tortas, or plates of silver, some weighing as much as eighty
pounds; gold pieces stamped by the Royal Mint of Mexico and ingots from
Peru."

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[Illustration: Cannon of the treasure galleons recovered by Pino from
the bottom of Vigo Bay.]

Hydroscope invented by Pino for exploring the sea bottom and
successfully used in finding the galleons of Vigo Bay.

(_By permission of The World's Work, London._)

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The latest of the concession held by Pino and his company whose
shareholders have invested large sums of real money, is an unusual
document in that bona-fide treasure seeking seems so incongruous an
industry in this twentieth century. It bears the signature of His
Excellency Don Jose Ferrandiz, Minister of the Royal Navy, and was
granted on August 24, 1907, to be in force until 1915. The wording
runs thus:

"With this date, I say to the Director General of the Mercantile Marine
as follows:

"Most Excellent Sir,--Having taken into consideration the petition
presented by the Italian subject, Don Carlos Iberti, representing Cav.
Don Jose Pino, inventor of the hydroscope apparatus for seeing,
photographing, and recovering objects sunk to the bottom of the sea, in
which petition he explains that he obtained a Concession for the term
of eight years to exploit what there is in the Bay of Vigo appertaining
to the galleons which came from America, which Concession was published
in the _Gaceta Official_ of the 5th of January, 1904; that he was at
the Bay of Vigo from the month of April until the end of the said year,
c