The last voyage of El Nuevo Constante

The Last Voyage of "El Nuevo Constante" is both a compelling historical account of an eighteenth-century Spanish merchantman's sinking and an intriguing archaeological report of its twentieth-century excavation. The historian Paul E. Hoffman and the archaeologist Charles E. Pearson, who participated in researching and salvaging El Nuevo Constante, bring their expertise to bear in relating the fascinating story of that vessel. El Nuevo Constante was part of a dangerously delayed convoy sailing from Veracruz to Cadiz by way of Havana, when, in September, 1766, a hurricane drove it aground on the Louisiana coast. The Spanish government, only recently established in Louisiana, immediately initiated salvage and rescue operations, which continued into November and succeeded in retrieving much cargo of value. For the next 213 years, only the names of some Louisiana topographical features, such as Constance Bayou, preserved the memory of El Nuevo Constante. But when a shrimper rediscovered the wreckage in 1980, after his nets hauled up three copper ingots, he entered into an agreement with the state of Louisiana for excavating the ship. The combined efforts of scholars, scientists, technicians, and many others dislodged such a wealth of information about the ships, shipping industry, and material culture of the eighteenth-century Spanish colonial empire that the loss of El Nuevo Constante seems from today's perspective of felicitous mishap. Hundreds of artifacts were recovered, including metal and wooden ship fittings and structural members, armaments and defense-related items, earthenware food containers, Mexican export ceramics, tortoiseshell, dyestuffs, and gold and silver bullion. Pearson provides a meticulous catalog of the articles, many of which are unique in the archaeological literature. Drawing on archival research in Spain, Louisiana, and Mexico, Hoffman traces the history of El Nuevo Constante from its purchase by a mercantile family in Cadiz from its owners in England to the final disposal of its 1766 salvage. He describes the ship's movements and cargoes, the reasons for its late sailing from Veracruz, and the circumstances of its loss.