The Pepper Wreck, an Early 17Th-Century Portuguese Indiaman at the Mouth of the Tagus River, Portugal

The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (2003) 32.1: 6–23 doi:10.1006/ijna.2003.1067 The Pepper Wreck, an early 17th-century Portuguese Indiaman at the mouth of the Tagus River, Portugal Filipe Castro Nautical Archaeology Program, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4352 USA Found in 1993 off the rocks of the fortress Saõ Juliaõ da Barra, at the mouth of the Tagus River, the SJB2 shipwreck—or Pepper Wreck—was tentatively identified as the Portuguese Indiaman Nossa Senhora dos Ma´rtires, lost at this location on its return voyage from Cochin, in India, on 14 September 1606. Its archaeological excavation disclosed a collection of artefacts from the late 16th and the early 17th centuries and allowed the study of the surviving hull structure. The evidence suggests that the Pepper Wreck was a typical Portuguese Indiaman, similar to those described in Portuguese 16th century ship treatises, with a keel of around 27·7 m and an overall length of nearly 40 m. 2003 The Nautical Archaeology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Key words: Pepper Wreck, Nossa Senhora dos Ma´rtires, Portugal, 17th-century shipbuilding, India Route, Portuguese Nau. History of the project uring a survey at the mouth of the Tagus River, near Lisbon, Portugal, in 1994, a D team lead by Francisco Alves (then direc- tor of the National Museum of Archaeology) found the remains of a wooden ship, wrecked some time in the early 17th century near the fortress of Saõ Juliaõ da Barra, covering an area of roughly 200100 m. Subsequent excavation uncovered part of the bottom of the ship, iron and bronze guns, pottery, lead straps, and many small artefacts, all contained within a dark, muddy layer incorporating many peppercorns. This site was given the name SJB2, since another shipwreck site, of the late 17th century, had already been found nearby (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Location of the SJB2 site. (Drawing: Filipe Castro) A search in the database of the National Museum showed the nau Nossa Senhora dos Ma´rtires as the most probable identification of Nossa Senhora dos Ma´rtires arrived in sight of this shipwreck. She was lost in front of the fortress Lisbon on 13 September 1606. However, a storm of Saõ Juliaõ da Barra on 15 September 1606, forced her captain Manuel Barreto Rolim to returning from India with a cargo of peppercorns. anchor off Cascais, a small village a few miles Documents pertaining to her loss and to the from the Tagus River mouth. Here the nau Salva- salvage operations that followed provided a çaõ, returning from India in the same fleet, was number of clues which led to its probable also struggling with the southerly gale. Dragging identification.[1] her anchors in the direction of the beach, the After a 9-month voyage from Cochin, India, Salvaçaõ was too heavy to be towed against the which included a 3-month stop in the Azores, the wind by the galley Santiago that was sent to help, 1057–2414/03/010006+18 $30.00/0 2003 The Nautical Archaeology Society F. CASTRO: THE PEPPER WRECK Figure 2. Plan of the SJB2 site. (Drawing: Filipe Castro) and was beached in Cascais Bay. Aboard the to be a consequence of the construction of Ma´rtires Captain Rolim decided to head for the the new fortress of Saõ Lourenço da Cabeça Seca, mouth of the Tagus River, hoping to escape made the northern channel too narrow and the storm in the calmer waters of the estuary. shallow to shelter in, and too crooked for any To get past the Tagus sandbar in a storm was a galley to tow a large vessel out of (Vasconceles, difficult task, and the falling tide made waters run 1960: 89). dangerously fast between the shores and the two In the middle of the passage, the Ma´rtires lost large sandbanks that constricted the entrance of her headway and dragged onto a submerged rock. the Tagus mouth. Captain Rolim headed for the She sank in front of the Saõ Juliaõ da Barra northern channel, the best entrance for those fortress in a matter of hours, and broke up into coming from the north. However, a silting such small pieces so quickly that witnesses com- process which became evident in the last two mented it looked as if she had sunk long ago. Her decades of the 16th century, at the time thought main cargo of pepper, which had been stored 7 NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.1 Figure 3. The three astrolabes found on the SJB2 site. Diameters 167 mm, 175 mm, and 174 mm respectively. The right hand one has the date 1605 and is marked ‘G’. (Photos: Pedro Goncalves, CNANS) Figure 5. The Pepper Wreck’s hull in 1997. (Photo: Fran- Figure 4. Japanese tsuba from the Momoyama period (1573– cisco Alves, CNANS) 1603), 5754 mm. (Photo: Pedro Goncalves, CNANS) they certainly rescued cables, anchors and guns.[2] Then, just as many other wrecks that occurred in loose in small holds, spilled out upon wrecking this dangerous channel, the Nossa Senhora dos and formed a black tide that extended for several Ma´rtires was forgotten. The three large tidal kilometres along the coast and into the Tagus waves that followed the earthquake of 1755— estuary. A large amount of pepper was saved and which levelled Lisbon—rolled heavy rocks over its laid out to dry by the king’s officers. The popula- remains, and in 1966 a codfish trawler was tion also salvaged a considerable quantity, in spite wrecked near the site, covering a large area with of the efforts of the soldiers to stop them. Despite debris. the dreadful weather conditions many went to the Stories of treasure trove around the fortress of sea at night in small craft to salvage what they Saõ Juliaõ da Barra were transmitted through could. generations, and the spread of scuba diving, from During the subsequent summers, the officers of the early 1950s on, heightened interest in the area. Philip III of Spain (1598–1621)—who was also In the late 1970s two surveys were carried out by Philip II of Portugal—may have salvaged a great sport divers who produced a map of the site and part of the cargo from the shallow waters, and many artefacts, but no government action was 8 F. CASTRO: THE PEPPER WRECK Figure 6. Hull plan. (Drawing: Filipe Castro) 9 NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.1 Table 1. Units in use in Portuguese shipyards on the 16th and 17th centuries Unit 16th/17th c. equivalent Metric equivalent Palmo de vara 1/7 of a rumo 220 mm Palmo de goa 1/6 of a rumo 256·7 mm Vara 5 palmos de vara 1·10 m Goa 3 palmos de goa 770 mm Rumo 2 goas,6palmos de goa,or7palmos de vara 1·54 m Polegada comum 1/8 of a palmo de vara 27·5 mm Polegada de goa 1 palmo de goa—1 palmo de vara 36·7 mm Table 2. Scantlings of the Pepper Wreck Timber Wood species Horizontal dimensions Vertical dimensions Keel Cork oak 250 mm Not preserved Floors Cork oak 230–250 mm 230–240 mm Futtocks Cork oak 210–250 mm 230–240 mm Planking Stone pine 200–350 mm 110 mm Apron Cork oak 380 mm 250 mm Room-and-space 462 mm on average taken to protect the wreck site. As a result it was pewter, silver and gold objects. One of the three heavily looted by sports divers during the 1980s. astrolabes bore the date 1605, the year of depar- In 1996 and 1997 excavations were conducted ture of the Nossa Senhora dos Ma´rtires to India on the SJB2 site under the direction of Dr Alves (Fig. 3). Among the organic materials many peach and the writer (Fig. 2). An area of approximately pits were recovered along with ropes, fabrics, 100 square meters was excavated and the wooden leather and straw, the latter found between seven hull was recorded. Many artifacts were recovered stacked porcelain dishes. from directly below a blanketing layer of pepper- Several of these artefacts were exhibited in the corns. These included three nautical astrolabes Portuguese pavilion at EXPO’98, the World and two pairs of dividers, several sounding leads, Exposition held in Lisbon during the summer of as well as Chinese porcelain, Burmese stoneware, 1998 (Afonso, 1998). A historical investigation led Chinese and Japanese earthenware, brass, copper, by the team of the Portuguese Pavilion at EXPO’98 brought to light information about the lives of some of Ma´rtires’ crew and passengers. Among them were Aires de Saldanha, 17th vice- roy in India (1600–1605), who died just before reaching the Azores on his return trip to the kingdom; Manuel Barreto Rolim, the ship’s captain who was trying to make a fortune in the India trade after being disinherited by his father in consequence of a controversial marriage;[3] the cabin boy Cristo´vaõ de Abreu, who survived this shipwreck and the wrecks of the naus Nossa Senhora da Oliveira in 1610, Nossa Senhora de Bele´m in 1635 and S. Bento in 1642, and died at sea in 1645, returning from India as boatswain of the nau S. Lourenço.[4] No less interesting is the Figure 7. The bolt that connected the keel to the keelson story of Father Francisco Rodrigues, a Jesuit through floor timber C7. (Drawing: Filipe Castro) priest who lost his life in the wreck, coming from 10 F.

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