NOSY BORAHA, MADAGASCAR—According to a Live Science report, archaeologists from the Center for Historic Shipwreck Preservation believe they have identified the wreck of a treasure-laden eighteenth-century Portuguese ship that was famously attacked by pirates off the coast of Madagascar. In 1721, the Nossa Senhora do Cabo departed India en route to Portugal with a cargo of gold, silver, and precious gems. It was also transporting the outgoing Portuguese viceroy and the Archbishop of Goa when it was captured by a group of pirates that included Olivier Levasseur (La Buse) and John Taylor. Divers located the ship’s remains on the seafloor near the island of Nosy Boraha, which was historically known as Île Sainte-Marie during the “Golden Age of Piracy.” Divers have retrieved more than 3,300 artifacts from the wreckage. According to research center director Brandon Clifford, the ship’s identification as the Nossa Senhora do Cabo is supported by several key pieces of evidence, including religious items and objects that were made in Goa, a Portuguese colony on India’s west coast. To read about the search for evidence of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City, go to "Pirates of the Original Panama Canal."
