Treasure ship discovered in Canadian waters
The wreck of the Auguste
has been discovered in Canadian waters.
This shipwreck is unique in two respects. First - it’s cargo of treasure has not been disturbed by
previous generations of salvagers, and second - it has revealed
information on a fascinating time in Canada’s, and the
world’s history.
In 1759 France and England are near the end of their
Seven Years’ War. The
fighting extends to their colonies which include Canada.
On September 13 a decisive battle is fought on the Plains
of Abraham outside Quebec City and the French are defeated.
Within a year, England has won the war and taken control
of the provinces. Officers
that fought for France, many who had been born or spent most of
their lives in Canada, are considered security risks by the
English. It is
decided they are to be rounded-up and deported to France. The men are allowed to sell off their property and holdings
and convert it into transferable wealth - primarily gold and
silver coins.
In October of 1761 three ships leave Quebec City with
a number of prominent aristocrats on board, all carrying their
fortunes with them. Among
the passengers is Saint-Luc de la Corne, one of the most amazing
men of his time. He was not only an aristocrat, but a fur trading entrepreneur
that became one of Canada’s first millionaires. La Corne made his fortune by going deep into the unexplored
interior and setting up a fur trading empire.
As an officer in the Marines, he fought in local wars
during the 1740’s and 50’s and became an expert at guerilla
warfare. He established ties with many of the native peoples, spoke
four or five of their languages, and was given the nickname
“General of the Indians”.
His bravery in battle against the English earned him the
Croix de St. Louis medal, equivalent to the Medal of Honor,
bestowed on him by King Louis XV of France. At 50 years old, La Corne is forced to sell off all he owns,
and is to be sent off to France to start anew.
On La Corne’s ship are one hundred and twenty one
passengers including his two sons, a brother, and two nephews.
The ship’s name is the Auguste.
She is a modest ship, a typical freighter of the time,
not befitting the status of her passengers. Wooden ships of this era had a life-span of about 15 years.
The Auguste is 10 years old and starting to show some
signs of age. The
crossing is supposed to take six weeks, but foul weather and
strong currents hamper their progress.
Two weeks into the journey a fire in the galley gets out
of control, badly damaging the ship and destroying a good
portion of their supplies.
In early November the ship runs into a terrible storm off
the coast of Nova Scotia. The
captain, John Knowles, tries to run for the coast hoping to
maneuver his ship into the mouth of a river.
In Cape Breton’s Aspy Bay twelve to fifteen foot waves
capsize the vessel and begin tearing it apart, throwing men into
an angry sea. Hypothermia
and death are inevitable. Only
7 survive. One is
Saint Luc de La Corne.
On the beach the following morning, the men take stock
of what they have left. Their
elation at having survived the wreck quickly fades. Marooned on
a desolate shore, 100 miles from
the closest European settlement, with no map or compass and no
chance of rescue, their chances of surviving the winter are
slim. They must
find food and shelter. After
gathering up about a weeks worth of provisions and burying the
114 unlucky souls that had washed ashore, they set out - not
knowing where they are or where they are going.
It is November and the Canadian winter is almost upon
them.
In the group is La Corne, Capt. Knowles, three
soldiers, and two domestic servants.
La Corne quickly takes charge.
He is a seasoned explorer having led military expeditions
on all the frontiers and is skilled at living off the land.
However, the journey to escape this remote place proves a
difficult one. La Corne writes in his journal, “We traveled over sheer
cliffs whose hideous aspect dismayed us, through forests so
dense it frightened us, over rivers whose swiftness hindered our
march, and over mountains so difficult to climb we lost all
heart.” After 9
days of treking two of the men are too sick to carry on.
La Corne makes the decision to leave them behind,
promising to send help. After
walking for three weeks the 5 men stumble to the edge of St.
Anne’s Bay and a large channel.
They have no way to cross.
It seems they too will not survive.
Capt. Knowles is deathly sick with terrible sores on his
legs and the other 3 men are also sick.
Just when all seems lost, two Migmaw indians come upon
the desperate group. They
load them in their canoe and take them to the small Canadian
settlement of St. Pierre. Rescuers
are sent to retrieve the two men left in the wilderness.
Once they are all safe and rested from their ordeal,
it is decided they must go to the nearby British Fort in
Louisburg and turn themselves in.
La Corne breaks with the group and makes the decision to
gamble his future and trek back to Quebec.
It is hundreds of miles away, and he will be traveling
through rugged wilderness in the middle of the harsh Canadian
winter. He sets out
on December 18th. In
mid January he reaches Ft. Cumberland in present day New
Brunswick and gets resupplied and a brief rest.
On February 24, 1762, three and half months after leaving
his home, he returns to his wife and daughters in Montreal.
La Corne writes in his journal: “The hard experience of
the shipwreck itself was almost forgotten in the further
difficulties I encountered in getting back to my homeland.
I declare that the more I go over in my mind the
circumstances of my shipwreck and my safe delivery - the more I
am amazed!”
The British high command had been eager to see Capt.
St. Luc de La Corne depart for France and was not to happy to
see him show up in the middle of winter.
However, they were most impressed with his story of the
wreck of the Auguste, of the loss of his sons, brother, and
nephews, and the enormous journey he made to return to his home.
In the end General Gage said, “He is to be pitied”.
Instead of sending him back to France, he is allowed to
stay. Soon he is
once again a wealthy and influential resident of Montreal.
Politically astute, he is appointed to the first
legislative council of Quebec in 1775 and becomes a remarkable
figure in Canadian history.
Ironically, La Corne eventually comes full circle and
ends up fighting with the English in the American Revolutionary
War.
For 250 years the Auguste, or what’s left of it and
her cargo gold and silver coins, has sat on the bottom of Aspy
Bay. Today a group
of modern day explorers calling themselves the Auguste
Expedition is searching for the remains of the ship and any
glimpe of history it may reveal.
They’re using an arsenal of high tech underwater search
equipment including JW Fishers Pulse 8X underwater metal
detectors, their hand-held Diver Mag 1, a boat-towed
magnetometer, and a sub bottom profiler.
“The logistics of working a wreck site in such a remote
area are almost overwhelming.
We’re out in the boon docks”, says expedition leader
Joe Amaral. “It’s
a major project getting anything in and out of here.
We’ll only use equipment that is rugged and reliable.
We can’t afford down time.
The metal detectors have been the real workhorses of our
operation. The
Pulse 8Xs perform consistently day in and day out.”
In one season the dive team found more than 1,700
coins. The coins are of various denominations in both gold and
silver.
Each coin
is scrutinized for an assayers mark, which shows where and when
it was made. The
coins recovered are from Spain, Portugal, France, and England.
A number of them are quite rare with dates from the
mid-1600’s. Joe
went on to say, “One of the very interesting things about this
site is the number of personal items we’re recovering.
The divers have found jewelry, buttons, shoe buckles, a
solid silver hand guard from a sword, a lady’s gold
ring with three rubies, a silver crucifix, cutlery, and a
number of lockets. Some of the pieces that have the most significance are the
silver cutlery found with a family coat of arms engraved on the
handle.” Nautical
archaeologist Rob Reedy adds, “These are real signature
pieces. They
provide a detailed historical record of who was on board.
We can connect these directly to the names on the
passenger list. This site is unique. It’s very unusual to have
this much information on a shipwreck.”
One piece has already been traced directly to the La
Corne family and another has been connected to Louis Joseph
Gaultier de LaVerandrye, a reknowned explorer and map maker who
made his name exploring as far west as the Rocky Mountains.
In addition to the valuables, the team has also
located a number of cannons.
The Auguste carried two types of guns, deck
cannons to defend the ship from attackers, and inoperable
cannons that were used as ballast in bottom of the ship.
Knowing which type is being recovered helps determine
what part of the ship the wreckage came from.
Deck and ballast cannons would have come to rest in very
different places. Day
after day they “mow the lawn” with their mags, running grid
patterns over the search area looking for any significant hits.
When they see a spot that looks promising, the boat is
positioned over the site using a three point anchor system.
A “mailbox” is lowered into the water which is a
large metal funnel that diverts the vessel’s prop wash down
onto the bottom. It blows a temporary 3 foot deep by 4 foot wide hole in the
bottom in less than a minute.
The divers then go down and scour the area with their
detectors. Despite
all they have found, the stern of the wreck which is believed to
be holding the most valuable cargo still eludes them.
“But we will continue to press on” says Joe.
“It is important to me to continue trying to find out
as much as I can, not only about the site, but about the people
involved. It is
important for me to understand what their life was like before
they lost their lives, so I can accurately tell that story, and
tell it the way it really was.
That’s very important to me.”
