The Delfe Treasure

14. Of Maps and Plots

Elizabeth nodded. "And freed if it is proven?"

"That was the bargain."

"They would be fools to give anything misleading. So, how does their information help us?"

"Allow us to finish here, and I will lay out the maps, sketches and plots."

A while later, Aldrick led Elizabeth to the library where he unfolded Moll's latest published map on the table. Then pointing to Nassow Town on Providence Island, he said, "You can see why the pirates chose this for their new haven. Midway between the two passages."

Elizabeth examined the map, then asked, "It is written here that this is the best passage. Why did Grandfather instead choose the Windward?"

"It may be best when coming from the west. But from Port Royal..." He tapped his finger on Jamaica." Windward is shorter and more direct."

"So, the Jumettas along the edge of the shoald are the new islets you were excited to show Grandfather?"

"Exactly. And previous maps had shown nothing but blank paper there. The new information offered by Bolton and Black confirms their existence, but in a different configuration. Also, Mister Casteby mentions in his notes many small islets rimming the eastern edge of the shallows."

"Why would you have not seen them in your searches?"

"We did see them, as had Grandpa long before us." He ran his finger along the line of islets. "But their entire eastern side is steep-to."

"Steep to?"

"Sorry. The bottom of the sea falls deep very quickly. Imagine an abrupt scarp, a steep mountainside. Beneath the water, the land has similar forms, and here..." He ran his finger along the edge of the bank. "Here, the bottom drops away so suddenly that there is nowhere to place an anchor."

"But you said Bolton and Black had found anchorages."

"Yes, on the other side of the islets. Approaching across the shallows of the shoald."

"So, why had you had not found them? Seventeen voyages without." 

"We were never able to find a way through the shallows to anchor on their lee side, so we were forced to anchor in the protection on the west side of Long Island, far to the north." He indicated on the map. "From there, we rowed the longboats to search the islets." 

"What are the distances here? I see no measures."

"The scales are in the bottom margin, but quicker, this broad line is the Tropic of Cancer, twenty-three and a half degrees north of the equator. This line above it is twenty-five degrees, and the one below it is twenty. A degree of latitude is sixty nautical miles, so on this map, the islets are shown as about ninety miles in extent — that would be about a hundred land miles."

"A lot of area to explore."

"And to not run out of food. And water with the sun directly overhead."

Elizabeth nodded as she correlated the information. "Why do you now state you know where the ships are?"

"Among the sketches Moll received from Bolton and Black, one fits closely with the plots we have drawn of the wreck site."

Elizabeth looked askance. "Plots of the wreck site?"

"Drawn from Grandpa's sketches and sights of the islets. He and his First Officer spent three days making a detailed survey of the ships' locations and their surroundings." 

Aldrick pulled a sheet of yellowed parchment from a bundle and laid it on the map. "This is the plot he drew upon return to Port Royal. They had been unable to recover any instruments from the ships, save two boat's compasses, so he assembled three sticks into a right triangle and hinged a fourth with a pin."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "Like a crude theodolite."

"Exactly. Sequential subdivision of the opposite leg gave a graduation of thirty-two points, and he used the hinged leg to sight edges of land and note their angles. Then he added the landforms from his sketches." 

He pulled more sheets from the bundle. "These are plots we made from the figures; this one was an exercise when Father taught me navigation. Our plots all give the same configuration."

She pointed to the three small dark circles. "And these are the ships?" 

"They are, and this is the sketch of the anchorage from Jack Bolton." Aldrick laid sheet beside the plot. "Look at the similarities between these. This long narrow bay, the shapes and placements of the islets. Even the small rainwater pond Grandpa had described."

Elizabeth looked back and forth between the two maps, placing her fingers on each pair of similar features. "There can be no doubt this is it. What are these numbers?"

"Those are called soundings, and they show the depth of water at low tide. They are measured with a line with a lead weight on its end and knotted at each fathom. The big numbers indicate whole fathoms, and the small numbers next to them are the feet." He pointed. "Here, by the anchor, the depth is two fathoms and five feet, so seventeen feet of water."

"How much depth does a ship need?"

"It depends on the ship. Elizabeth will draw about thirteen feet laden, so she will be comfortable laying to anchor there."

"With the pirates spending enough time to survey this place, and then using it to wait for ships, surely they would have seen the wrecks."

"My hope is not. They lie half a mile to the northwest in an area fouled with rocks, both hidden and exposed. After they had taken sights from them, Grandpa had the masts toppled to make the wrecks less visible." Aldrick shrugged. "And two of the three hulls were awash, showing only at lowest tide."

"And the third?"

"That is Delfe. She shows two feet at high water, drying to four at low."

Elizabeth nodded. "So, showing at all times."

"Yes, but looking much like the scattered rocks and islets surrounding all three. She had capsized and settled on beam ends, and Grandpa said she would appear as a large, smooth rock from a distance."

"But always visible."

"We must hope the pirates were so satisfied with their anchorage that the foul ground to the northwest offered no reason for them to explore."