Intended to be part of the Spanish “South Seas Fleet” of 1681, which left Lima’s port of Callao in April, the Consolación apparently was delayed and ended up traveling alone. At the Gulf of Guayaquil, off modern-day Ecuador, English pirates led by Bartholomew Sharpe gave chase to the Consolación, which forced the Spanish galleon to sink on a reef off Santa Clara Island (nicknamed “Isla El Muerto,” or Dead Man Island, due to the fact that its profile resembles a corpse in repose). The Spanish crew set fire to the ship and escaped to the nearby island. All attempts to recover the treasure soon after were fruitless, so the treasure of the Consolación sat undisturbed until our time.