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Treasures from the Orient

What was it that inspired sailors, captains, and queens to risk life limb and royal treasuries to send ships to the Orient ? The Manila Galleons carried back to Europe, by way of California’s coast, splendid treasures that were highly prized in Europe. The holds of the Manila galleons carried rare and beautiful goods :

Gold jewelry encrusted with precious stones and pearls
Chinese silks and rugs
Porcelain
Ivory from Cambodia
Cottons from India
Jade
Camphor from Borneo
Cinnamon, pepper and clove from the Spice Islands
Precious jewels from Burma, Ceylon and Siam.

Between 1565 and 1815, the Manila Galleon trade carried the treasures of the Orient to the west via Mexico, in exchange for New World silver and manufactured goods from Europe. At least one galleon a year embarked on the trip and more than 40 were lost in treacherous seas. Others were lost to pirates and privateers hired by foreign leaders to ravage the Spanish ships in an attempt to gain a foothold on the wealth being discovered in the New World and Asia.

Stories of sunken galleons and buried treasure have sparked the imagination since the 1500s … and have lead people on life long treasure hunts in the hopes of recovering the lost treasures of the Orient.