Francisco Nuñez Melian

 - King of Spain's Official Salvager -
 


* List of the stories he appears in :
- D 90227 : "Treasure Under Glass", from 1991, by Don Rosa ;
- D 96066 : "The Last Lord of Eldorado", from 1997, by Don Rosa (by name only).

 

* His biography :
     Francisco Nuñez Melian was King Philip IV of Spain's official ship salvager since the early 1620's, which means he had in charge to recover treasures in lost sunk galleons belonging to the Armada. Melian and the King would each receive a third of whatever was recovered. Salvage expenses would be paid out of the remaining third.
   Thanks to his ship, the "Candelaria", and a new invention, a 680-pound bronze diving bell with seats and windows, he recovered several ships, the most famous ones being the "Nuestra Señora de Atocha", and the "Santa Margarita" in 1625 (in this one he recovered 392 silver bars, 68 622 silver coins, eight of the eighteen bronze cannons, and many copper ingots), both sunk in the Florida keys.
   Archival records document show that on one of Melian’s many return trips to the Margarita wreck site, he could no longer find the chained marker buoy he had placed.
   He died in 1655 when his ship was sunk by dutch pirates.
 

* His place in the Barks/Rosa stories universe :
    First, in "Treasure Under Glass", Scrooge speaks about Melian's deal with King Philip IV of Spain to find the treasure of the Armada lost in 1622 (he must evocate the "Santa Margarita), about the modern equipments they had, and also about the maps they made and that all had been lost in 1655, when the Candelaria was sunk. Then, the Ducks go undersea and discover the Candelaria, a diving bell, and above all Melian's famous map of all sunk galleons...
   Then, in "The Last Lord of Eldorado", they use the map of Melian they found in "Treasure Under Glass" to recover lost galleons, and another ship, the Dukatenesel, a ship with a German name which was sailing to Venezuela, and in which Donald discovers a golden plate that will lead the Ducks to the legendary treasure of El Dorado...
 

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