Archaeologists have recovered six cannons from the ships of
Welsh privateer Henry Morgan, the first artifacts found in
Panama to be linked to the man who remains a legend there, the
team said Monday. In the late 1600s, Morgan sent three ships and
a crew of 470 men to capture the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real
de Chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to Panama City, the
capital. Morgan and his men were sailing up the Chagres River to
join them when his flagship, the Satisfaction, and at least
three other vessels crashed on Lajas Reef, sinking in shallow
water. Members of Morgan's force paddled upriver and traveled
overland to reach Panama City, which they successfully sacked.
But their wrecked ships were abandoned and left to amateur
archaeologists and looters. "Every school kid learns about
Morgan's activities, but we have never seen any of his
materials," said archaeologist Tomas Mendizibal, a research
associate at Patronato Panama Viejo, a government agency that is
overseeing excavation of the original