says marine engineer Mr. Chriss Addams who has been focusing some very practical attention on this legacy as it pertains to Bermuda's early history.

Together with fellow divers and beachcombers Mike Davis and Alex Davidson, he has been studying the exploits of Governor Nathaniel Butler, who ruled the Colony from 1619 to 1622 and whom Mr. Davis, with a grin, describes as "a gentleman pirate'' -- which, he says, is a less polite, but perhaps more accurate title for "privateers'', those authorised with Letters of Marque from the Crown to seize "hostile'' vessels.

Since they began their investigations (backed up by hours of historical research conducted through overseas as well as local sources), the trio has found that one of the richest hunting grounds is in the Southampton area, just east of Whale Bay.

"We started looking around there because we got so many calls from people who have found things in that area.'' This can range from broken pieces of slipware (pottery) which has proved to be Elizabethan in origin and coins (which the trio, so far, have not found). One thing that can be seen is blackened rock, the tell-tale sign of ancient fires that were lit, hundreds of years ago, by Bermuda's smugglers and salvagers.

These were used to cook food and also as signal fires.

The most dramatic evidence, however, that tends to confirm this area (now mostly on private property) as a perfect place for smuggling, is the series of boat slips carved out of solid rock in the cliffs that sweep down to that deserted stretch of the south shore. These are not to be confused with the slip at Whale Bay itself, which, in any case, appears to be of a later date.

Living made a slightly hair-raising expedition to the area, pushing through thick bushes, slithering and sliding down rocky cliffs -- and can attest that these perfectly formed slips are invisible, even when you are standing right above them. Mr. Addams also says they cannot be seen from the seaward side.

Furthermore, at the most secretly sited of these slips there is a look-out, quite hidden, that provides a clear view across the water to the very spot where the bones of a legendary Spanish galleon still lie.

This area off Whale Bay is notorious for the large number of wrecks, the circle of treacherous reefs providing a natural cemetery for hundreds of early sailing ships.

Sir George Somers and the party aboard the Sea Venture were not the first to be shipwrecked off Bermuda -- nor were they to be the last. Mr. Addams' recent research has centred around Governor Nathaniel Butler who, as Mr. Addams points out, was not only a very able and dynamic leader, who called together Bermuda's first Parliament, but also a keen salvager of wrecks -- especially those Spanish vessels that sailed, laden with silver from South America, right past Bermuda on their way home.

Butler had already carried out salvage operations on the Warwick , the very ship that had brought him to Bermuda, only to flounder later off Frick's Point. He also went in person to the shipwrecked Sea Venture and supervised the removal of the last useful items still to be found on board, including the sheet anchor and some iron and lead, probably used as ballast.

In 1621, says Mr. Addams, a Spanish half-galleon, the San Antonio , floundered on the south shore reefs, and on this occasion, at least, all the passengers were saved. According to official documentation, Governor Butler had the survivors searched for valuables, some of which were retained by Butler himself "to pay for board and keep''. He forbade the luckless Spaniards to return to the wreck, declaring in despatches that they had "gifted him the wreck'', a claim later hotly denied by the Spanish Ambassador to England. In addition, this gentleman accused Butler and his aides of plundering the wreck of a "huge treasure'' that had been on board.

Mr. Addams says the Governor did employ a certain William Elie to work out of the area now known as Ely's Harbour, where he and his work gang made more than 23 trips to and stayed around 12 days on the wreck of the San Antonio .

"I think this is a lot of time to collect a few cannons and bits and pieces,'' laughs Mr. Addams.

But if treasure was retrieved, how was it hidden from prying eyes? Mr. Addams believes that some was hastily stashed away in the mangrove jungles (far more profuse than they are today, as the name Mangrove Bay suggests), as Spanish artifacts have been found in mangrove stands. But he also advances the theory that the sophisticated arrangement of secret landings, in areas of the south shore that, even today, are isolated and "off the beaten track'', were devised and situated in such a way that made them safe from discovery.

Although it cannot be proved, as legend has it, these slips were made specifically by Governor Butler for recovering the reputed treasure from the San Antonio , they were almost certainly used by wreckers in later years who salvaged the many other vessels that also came to grief in the vicinity.

"And I'm sure there were many private pilots who knew the rewards of flotsam and jetsam, and the safe pilotage up Hogfish Channel to Ely's Harbour,'' he says.

Mr. Addams admits that when he was told about Moneypiece Rock, which has been referred to in several documents, it took him about a year to find its exact location. It turned out to be close by one of the secret boat slips and apparently acquired its name because of coins found there over the years.

It was in Bermuda, says Mr. Addams, that Governor Butler realised the possibilities of the diving bell. Originally invented by the ancient Greeks and later re-invented by Richard Norwood, it consisted of an oversized wooden barrel, well weighted with lead and supposedly effective to 11 fathoms. In shallower waters, it could sustain two divers for up to three-quarters of an hour.

According to Mr. Addams, the erudite and multi-gifted Richard Norwood, who gained enduring fame as Bermuda's first land surveyor, was also "a former pirate'' -- hence his interest and proficiency in developing the diving bell.

"We can be certain,'' says Mr. Addams, "that Governor Butler's divers were well versed in the possibilities of Norwood's bell when they spent all that time on the wreck of the San Antonio !'' He feels that Governor Butler's departure from Bermuda, "very abrupt'', in 1622, ties in with the fact that when he went straight on to become Governor of New England, he promptly set up various shipping voyages of discovery and salvage "down to the Islands to the south, to see what Spanish shipping and ports had to offer''.

WRECK AHOY! This is the hidden look-out used by wreckers and smugglers hundreds of years ago. It is estimated hundreds of wrecks lie in these waters and on the horizon, to the right of the picture, lies the wrecked San Antonio .

WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD ... Bermuda's smugglers cut through the rock to make this secret boat-slip off Southampton's south shore. Mr. Chriss Addams.