Tuesday, 30th March 2004 (3642 views)

A group of New York investors is backing an attempt to raise a shipwreck containing gold and silver coins, jewellery and silverware from the sea bed.

The shipwreck of the Auguste de Bordeaux off the northern coast of Nova Scotia occurred during a wild November storm in 1761.

Norman Miles, a senior financial planner who is managing partner of Auguste Expedition, told The New York Post that the investment group was negotiating book and movie deals for the story of the wreck and hopes to set up a travelling museum based on the haul.

The Auguste sank in just 25 feet of water, but the recovery is complicated by the shifting sands of Aspy Bay, which have covered the treasure in 3 to 5 ft of sand and stones. Because the ship broke up, the treasure is also scattered across a wide area on the sea bed. Divers are salvaging artifacts from the wreck.

The government of Nova Scotia is entitled to some of the treasure, but most will remain the property of the expedition, which hopes to sell the collection to a museum.

Only seven people out of the 121 passengers on board the wooden sailing ship, travelling from Quebec to France, survived the storm. St Luc de la Corne, a French military hero, fur trader and one of the wealthiest men in Canada, walked hundreds of miles during the worst of winter back to Quebec City after managing to reach the shore. He kept a journal of his ordeal.

 

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