e
dispatched to the shore under the command of Dyer, who had by this time
sufficiently recovered from his hurts to be able to sit in a chair and
supervise the operations of the working party. And while these were
busily engaged in the excavation of a pit capacious enough to receive
the enormous amount of treasure in the hold of the _Nonsuch_, George
with the remainder of the crew was as busily employed in getting the
treasure up on deck in readiness for its transfer to the shore, and
making such preparations as they deemed necessary for its adequate
protection.

The particular part of the treasure about which Saint Leger was most
anxious was the chest of pearls. He had not the most remote idea as to
its value, but he knew that it must be almost fabulous; and he knew also
how easily the delicate gems might be injured by damp penetrating to
them from the surrounding earth; he therefore took the most elaborate
precautions for their protection, those precautions being initiated
immediately after the departure of the ship from San Juan. His first
step was to have the junction of the lid with the box carefully and
effectively caulked with cotton; and when this was done to his
satisfaction he caused the exterior of the box to be painted several
coats of thick paint, with the object of rendering the wood damp-proof.
But, not content with this, he further caused the sailmaker to make two
canvas coats to fit tightly over the chest, one coat over the other, and
each coat securely fastened by a lacing. Then, when the paint on the
chest itself was quite dry, the first canvas coat was slipped on,
carefully laced, and then painted four coats, each coat of paint being
allowed to dry before the next was applied. Then the second canvas coat
was put on, the reverse way of the first, and secured. This was then
coated several times with Stockholm tar, to preserve it from decay; and
finally, when the last coat of tar was quite dry, the exterior was
thickly coated with boiling pitch, as a culminating precaution, after
which George decided that he had done everything possible for the
preservation of the pearls and that they must now be left to take their
chance.

It took the crew a full fortnight to transfer to the shore, bury, and
cover up the treasure in such a manner as effectually to obliterate all
traces of their operations; and on the morning of the fifteenth day
after their arrival they hove up the anchor and made sail southward