In the late 1500's Sir Francis Drake, while sailing up the west coast of South America, plundered many Spanish settlements. He, in command of the Golden Hind, fought a rich Spanish galleon named "The Spitfire". Drake captured so much silver that he nicknamed the galleon "Cacafuego", because they gave up so much treasure so easily. After Drake and his men decided to sail west, they realized that they were heavily burdened with weight. They sailed into a small cove on the island of Cano, now named Isla de la Plata.(Silver Island) While they took on water and turtles, Drake made a decision to lighten ship. He sent for a copper bowl from the galley, and had his men line up for a division of treasure. Each sailor recieved 16 bowls of coins, with the officers getting a little more. After the division, Drake ordered the rest of the silver ( mostly 70lb. bars) dumped overboard. The estimate was around 72 tons. There are accounts from some of his crew that verify the amount and location. I was contacted in the late 1980's by a treasure hunting group out of Calif. to do research on this treasure. In a manuscript written by Hyatt Villers (sp),I learned that a company came to Isla de la Plata in 1933, and found the location of Drake's silver. While lifting the treasure from the area, they lost the dragline head. Litigation came into play, and for a while no attempt was made at salvage. At the time of my research, I learned that a group from South America had secured the rights from the government, and would begin salvage.

• Re: Drakes' 72 tons of silver-The truth. Richard Walburn 14:47:17 4/12/99 (0)