chamber to the deck of the ship, and thence to the hold,
will be able to transfer the treasure from the ship to the chamber by
easy stages."

How Lloyd's happens to own a treasure frigate of the English navy, lost
more than a century ago, is explained in the following narrative, many
of the facts of which were found in "The History of Lloyd's and of
Marine Insurance in Great Britain," by Frederick Martin, a work now out
of print.[1]

On October 19,1799, the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of London contained this
news:

"Intelligence was this day received at the Admiralty from Admiral
Mitchell, communicating the total loss of _La Lutine_, of 32 guns,
Captain Skynner, on the outward bank of the Fly Island Passage, on the
night of the 9th inst., in a heavy gale at N.N.W. _La Lutine_, had on
the same morning, sailed from Yarmouth Roads with several passengers,
and an immense quantity of treasure for the Texel; but a strong
lee-tide rendered every effort of Captain Skynner to avoid the
threatened danger unavailable, and it was alike impossible during the
night to receive any assistance, either from the _Arrow_, Captain
Portlock, which was in company, or from the shore, from whence several
showts were in readiness to go to her. When the dawn broke, _La
Lutine_ was in vain looked for; she had gone to pieces, and all on
board unfortunately perished, except two men who were picked up, and
one of whom has since died from the fatigue he has encountered. The
survivor is Mr. Shabrack, a notary public. In the annals of our naval
history there has scarcely ever happened a loss attended with so much
calamity, both of a public as well as a private nature."

In almost all the accounts of the wreck of the _Lutine_ it is stated as
a fact that the frigate was bound to the Texel, and that the bullion
and treasure she carried, and which was lost in her, was designed for
the payment of the British forces in the Netherlands. Both statements
are without foundation, as proved by a careful search in the archives
of the Admiralty. These official records show that the _Lutine_ was
under orders to sail, not to the Texel, but to the river Elbe, her
destination being Hamburg, and that the treasure on board was not the
property of the British government, but of a number of London merchants
connected with Lloyd's, and that the business of sending the coin and
bullion was purely commercial.

The records wholly fail to explain how it happened that,