A GOOD mystery is the Major Irritant of the week.

I read with interest a story in The Royal Gazette about the newly discovered shipwreck that is thought to be either what was known as the Porcelain Wreck or the Christmas Wreck. It gave me hope, because it put me in mind of another, more recent wreck that has not yet been found.

Not long ago, I read an online genealogy posting by a girl named Danielle whose family were from the island of Brava in Cape Verde. Danielle is looking for information about the 1943 wreck of the Mathilde.

Her grandfather, Manuel Domingos da Silva, his brothers, his father Ramos, and his brother-in-law were among 20 crewmen who perished. It is thought that the Mathilde was wrecked off Bermuda during a storm. Surfing the web, I found mention of the Mathilde at http://home.no.net/oaa/cape%20verde%20packet%20trade.htm

This is a series of excerpts from a book called Cape Verdeans in America: Our Story, edited by Raymond A. Almeida.

ALMEIDA recounts that a group of men in Brava in Cape Verde bought a 55-foot sloop, the Mathilde, to sail to New England. They hoped to escape the famine raging in the islands and send relief to those left behind as well as to volunteer for military service in the war. By this time World War Two had suspended the packet trade, given the danger of encountering German submarines on the high seas.

Apparently, the Mathilde was less than seaworthy. It was so bad that a 12-year-old boy saw that the boat was leaking and jumped ship before the boat had even left the harbour. He stood on a hill and watched the ship sail away with tears in eyes, because he knew he would never see the crew members again. (So there is the possibility the Mathilde never even made it to Bermuda, or that it sank on a calm, sunny afternoon).

"Their voyage was 'unofficial', technically a clandestine one, because of wartime restrictions on maritime travel," wrote Almeida. "The ship was also in substandard condition. To make matters worse, the voyage coincided with the beginning of the hurricane season in September."

Almeida went on to write: "It is believed that the Mathilde, with her 20 brave crewmen, went down in rough weather near Bermuda."

With the sad deaths that Bermuda experienced during Fabian, it is easy to commiserate with the da Silva family and the other family members left behind. The story is still so painful to Danielle's grandmother and aunts that the subject is taboo. They prefer not to talk about it, but Danielle wants to know what happened.

Almeida's naming of Bermuda is the only proof that the Mathilde even sank off Bermuda and it is unclear where his information came from. It is doubtful that anyone saw the Mathilde go down. There was no official record of the Mathilde's passing, and it was several years before they could be officially declared sunk.

In fact, there is no record of it ever having been in Bermuda waters. Local divers have not heard of this wreck. I could not find any mention of it in old newspapers.

This is sad because the da Silva family have been waiting 60 years for closure. The whole situation sounds impossible to solve. That is why the discovery of a new wreck gives hope that maybe some day a diver will come across the remains of the Mathilde.

For more facts about the Mathilde see Danielle's posting at http: //www.dholmes.com/master-list/caboverde/brava.html