Gallows on the Sand by Morris West

[covediver]

For a number of years, I have enjoyed reading ocean and underwater themed adventure fiction. As one who haunts used book stores (Acre of Books in Long Beach, Powells in Portland, Title Wave in Anchorage) every so often I come across one that escaped my attention. I recently discovered a little gem entitled "Gallows on the Sand" by Morris West from the 1950s with an early 1980s reissue.

The story is basically simple, an cashiered Australlian history lecturer, Renn Lundigan, on the down and out who embarks on a quest to find a Spanish treasure ship wrecked on the barrier reef outbound from Acupulco for Manila. His talisman is a gold coin discovered on the inaccessible island when he discoverd a passage through the reef while sailing with his wife, who passes on a short time later. Along the way, he encounters a real villian, Manny Mannix, and a couple of salt of the earth types, a commercial diver ex-frogman, Nino, and native of the islands, Johnny and a love interest, Pat, that aid him in the quest to find the ship before Mannix moves into to take it. When he shows up all hell breaks loose!

Yeah, it sounds like a real melodrama, but as a relaxing sea-themed adventure story it was an easy read, moved fast, and was very entertaining. The writing of Morris West, who died in 1999, is quite good with the right balance of underwater and island action, great dialog, and reflection.

I could relate a little bit to the story. I too have a talisman from the Atocha given to me by someone special who knew what that ship meant to me. I have never gone yondering for it, but did end up doing shipwreck surveys for a while and have followed the story of the Manila galleons in the Channel Islands.

It might be hard to find, the local library might have a copy, but at the low price that most used paperback booksellers would charge make it a real gem if you should come across it.

[JohnPeters]

Read this one a while back, great read.