| Had Edmund Heathcote or other
of the officers and crew known, they might not have been too pleased to
read another letter from the Admiralty dated 15th of March 1849 - ADM 2
1606 page 392 - which said in effect " send the 'Constance' and
'Calypso' back immediately, their replacements have long been available on
station". Having begun this latest cycle of movements between San
Blas and Mazatlan, 'Constance' was going to complete her task - the
captain wanted it, as did the flag officer - but she would be in the area for
more than 3 months.
From the 21st of March the Master's Log was littered with entries about
receiving bags and boxes said to contain silver, gold or some other
treasure. This was happening despite the peace treaty to end the conflict
being signed in February 1848. We do not have a record book of these 1849
collections such as the one used during the previous activity in San Blas.
As a consequence, accurate valuation of the total specie and treasure
gathered is not possible. However, in this last tour of duty the logs note
that 'Constance' took on 74 shipments from the local merchants. If the
activity was similar to the previous tour in the area -1847 - there would
have been many more shipments gathered that were not recorded in the
Master's Logs. In total this third collection of treasure was probably a
larger amount than the first or second collections of two years before:
perhaps 2.5 million dollars. 'Constance' took mostly silver on board.
There was little sign that the "Gold Rush" - in full swing in early 1849 -
was having any effect on the type of metal being loaded, but the total
value may have increased if gold was being traded into dollars. Since it
is likely that specie collection did not stop when 'Constance' was away on
her Pacific tour, the total value of treasure moved out of Mexico by the
Royal Navy - 1846 to 1849 - was certainly 5 million dollars and could
possibly be twice as much.
Given that the captain and admiral were likely to benefit financially from collecting and transporting specie back to England it seems likely that they 'accidentally' found the need to keep 'Constance' and 'Calypso' available in the Pacific station. The interests of the remainder of the ship's complement would not have been considered. |
|
Newspapers of the time were also taking considerable interest in the "Gold Rush". The 'ROMAN CITIZEN' of New York reported; 4th April 1849 'The British ship of war Calypso was at Mazatlan, to leave soon for England with over $2,000,000 in specie! Gold at Mazatland was $15 per ounce. From good and careful calculation Mr. S. says about $4,000,000 had been obtained from the mines.' From ROMAN CITIZEN (New York) 15 Aug 1849 'Her Britanic Majesty's steamship Constance, sailed from San Blas on the 5th of July, for Valparaiso and England, with $2,000,000.' The calculations were probably wrong and 'Constance' was not a steamship, but we can hear the excitement of the newsmedia message even now. |