Michael Crichton - Pirate Latitudes.azw

Author:Pirate Latitudes
Format: azw

Chapter 25

T HAT NIGHT, ANCHORED in Constantina Bay, in the shadow of a low and scrubby island, the crew voted six of their company to join Hunter and Sanson in the counting of the treasure. This was a serious and solemn business. Although the rest of the crew took the opportunity to become roaring drunk on Spanish rum, the eight men remained sober until accounting was completed.

There were two treasure vaults on Hunter’s ship; the first was opened, and found to contain five chests. The first chest contained pearls, of uneven quality but still extremely valuable. The second chest was heaped with gold escudos, which gleamed dully in the lantern light. The escudos were painstakingly counted, and counted again, before being replaced in the chest. Gold in those days was extremely rare — only one Spanish ship in a hundred carried any — and the privateers were elated. The remaining three chests were filled with silver bars from Mexico. Hunter estimated that the total value of the five chests was more than ten thousand pounds sterling.

In a state of great excitement, the accounting party broke open the second treasure vault. Here they found ten chests, and enthusiasm ran high until the first was opened, to reveal gleaming silver bars with the crown-and-anchor stamp of Peru. But the surface of the bars was multicolored and uneven.

“I don’t like the look of this,” Sanson said.

The other chests were hastily opened. They were all the same, all multicolored silver ingots.

Hunter said, “Call for the Jew.”

Don Diego, squinting in the dark light belowdecks, hiccoughing from Spanish kill-devil, frowned at the silver bars. “This is not good news,” he said slowly. He called for a set of scales, and a cask of water, and for a silver bar from the first treasure vault.

When it was all assembled, the accounting group watched as the Jew placed the Mexican silver bar on one side of the scales and tested various bars of Peruvian silver on the other side until he found one that balanced exactly.

“These will do,” he said, and set the bars of equal weight to one side. He drew the water cask in front of him and submerged the Mexican silver bar first. The water level inside the cask rose. The Jew marked the new level with his dagger blade, cutting a line in the wood.

He removed the Mexican bar and dropped in the Peruvian silver. The water level went higher than his cut mark.

“What does this mean, Don Diego? Is it silver?”

“In part,” the Jew said. “But not entirely. There is some impurity, some other metal, heavier than silver, but of the same color.”

“Is it plumbum ?”

“Perhaps. But lead is dull on the surface, and this is not. I warrant that this silver is mixed with platina .”

This news was greeted with groans. Platinum was a worthless metal.

“How much of it is platina , Don Diego?”

“I cannot say. To know exactly I need better measures. I guess as much as half.”

“The damned Dons,” Sanson said.

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