Salvaged from the depths

This cannon stands at the west end of our village, pointing in the direction where the Sacramento sailing ship was wrecked. The description that follows is from the internet....
The Sacramento was the pride of the Portuguese fighting fleet in the 17th Century. She ran aground just off Schoenmakerskop outside Port Elizabeth on 30 June 1647 in foul weather. By the time she hit the rocky coastline, she had a badly damaged rudder and her sails were in tatters.
The legend of the wreck of the Sacramento has many dramatic parts, one of which is the march of the 72 survivors up the coast towards a port in Mozambique, from where they hoped to be transported back to Portugal.
The distance from Algoa Bay (site of the modern-day Port Elizabeth) to the haven in Mozambique was nearly 1400km. The Sacramento survivors stayed on the beach near the wreck site for 11 days before beginning their pathetic trudge up the coast. Along the way, their numbers dwindled to nine souls.
As they walked, they came across two other wreck sites of ill-fated Portuguese vessels: the Nossa Senhora de Belem and the Atalaya. More than four weeks into their trek, they met up with a large contingent of survivors of the wreck of the Atalaya. Eventually, 127 people from the wrecks of the Sacramento and Atalaya made it to Lourenco Marques (now Maputo).
The Sacramento, a highly prized man o’ war with 60 fixed cannons, was heavily loaded with a cargo of brass cannons destined for the Portuguese-held districts of India. 
The many cannons of the Sacramento lay undisturbed on the ocean bed for 330 years until most of them were salvaged in 1977. One brass cannon had been totally submerged under the sea sands and was brought up in perfect condition.