Our treasure at the bottom of the sea…

Our treasure at the bottom of the sea…

17-April-2014
To mark National Heritage Week, Tony Mathiot, on behalf of the National Heritage Research Section considers an aspect of our cultural heritage that is highly at risk…

Imagine that you are diving out there, somewhere among our outer islands. You descend deeper into an abyss, perhaps about 20 fathoms where the water gets colder and visibility is nebulously dark.

As you get closer to the seabed, your torchlight illuminates a cluster of coral-encrusted objects of various sizes. You move closer and you touch them. You try to lift one. It is firmly embedded in its position. You try another. It won’t budge. Through your face mask you squint at these objects. As you hang there in the frigid stillness of the sea, you feel that familiar rush of adrenaline – because you know what you are looking at… The contents of a shipwreck from over a hundred years. Yes, imagine the thrill of such a discovery! To think that there are those who have actually experienced such an exciting sensation!

In April of 1971, two divers were looking for shells off the coast at La Digue Island when they found 11 bronze naval guns of different sizes among the corals at a depth of about 60 feet. Imagine that! It took eight men three days to lift the guns and other huge pieces of iron which probably were used as ballast into a 40-feet boat.
Those precious artifacts were carried over to Mahe. Some of those cannons are now at the National Library building. One can be seen at the entrance gate of the National Heritage research section at La Bastille, Union Vale.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=241396