The following sunrise found us once more _en route_ for the shore, this time provided with a couple of spare studding-sail booms to act as sheers for the more convenient hoisting out of the chests, together with such rope, blocks, etcetera, as we should require for the purpose. The size of the chests, however, was such as would probably tax the strength of the entire party to handle them, and I was therefore reluctantly compelled to call in the assistance of Rogers and his party. Even thus reinforced, it soon became apparent that a heavy task lay before us, and it was not until the boatswain was piping to breakfast that the first chest was successfully broken out and raised to the surface. Breakfast was soon over that morning, and then the question arose, how were such ponderous chests to be conveyed to the ship? They measured, roughly, about two and a half feet square, and were so heavy that eight men--all who could conveniently get round one of them--could not raise the weight from the ground, much less carry it along a narrow path cumbered with stumps and prostrate trunks of trees. Greatly as I disliked such a proceeding, it seemed that there was no alternative but to break open each chest, and convey its contents piecemeal to the boats; and this course was therefore perforce adopted. The task of merely breaking open the chests proved to be one of no ordinary difficulty; for they were constructed of solid oak, nearly three inches thick, so well made, and so strongly bound with iron, that I could not help surmising that they must have been the chests in which the Spaniards had originally stowed the treasure, and specially made for the purpose. They were black with age; but the timber was perfectly sound, while the iron bands, though more than half eaten away with rust, were still stout enough to give us an immense amount of trouble. At length, however, the first chest was broken open, and was found to contain sixty-four bricks or ingots of solid silver! They were arranged in four tiers of sixteen bricks each, exactly fitting the chest, and each brick weighed about a quarter of a hundredweight. Each chest, therefore, if all contained the same precious metal, would represent the value of sixteen hundredweight of silver. How many chests there were we did not yet know; but it was evident that there were several. Some said there were eight or nine, but I thought there must be more, judging by the way in which they were arranged in the ground.