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Hawaiian king's artifacts, lost in royal yacht's shipwreck 191 years ago, returned home

Associated Press
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This photo provided by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History on April 8, 2015 in conjunction with the upcoming book "Shipwrecked in Paradise: Cleopatra's Barge in Hawaii," shows a vegetal ivory finger ring found in the wreckage of a ship belonging to King Kamehameha II, aka Liholiho, the second king of Hawaii, which sunk off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii in 1824. (AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Hugh Talman) (The Associated Press)

This image provided by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History on April 8, 2015 in conjunction with the upcoming book "Shipwrecked in Paradise: Cleopatra's Barge in Hawaii," shows a watercolor painting by Capt. Richard W. Rogers which contains historical and archaeological information on the ship belonging to King Kamehameha II, aka Liholiho, the second king of Hawaii, which sunk off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii in 1824. (AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Richard W. Rogers) (The Associated Press)

This image provided by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History on April 8, 2015, in conjunction with the upcoming book "Shipwrecked in Paradise: Cleopatra's Barge in Hawaii," shows a diagram of the wreckage of the stern of the ship belonging to King Kamehameha II, aka Liholiho, the second king of Hawaii, which sunk off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii in 1824. (AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Thomas Ormsby) (The Associated Press)

A museum in Hawaii is opening a treasure-trove of artifacts from the shipwreck of a royal yacht sunk off the coast of Kauai 191 years ago.

Richard Rogers, a Hawaii shipwreck chaser, has been working with scientists from the Smithsonian Institution to dredge up the findings from the ship owned by King Kamehameha II, aka Liholiho, the second king of Hawaii.

Rogers volunteered his time aboard his research vessel, the Pilialoha, over a five year period in four-week intervals from 1995 to 2001 to pull up the treasures.

Rogers says the king's belongings, including gold, silver, Hawaiian poi pounders, gemstones, knives, and other artifacts, were buried in 10 feet of water and 10 feet of sand.