argosy

laivasto A merchant ship.
A merchant flotilla, fleet.
1594, Shakespeare, s:http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_ShrewSCENE_I._Padua._A_public_place. The Taming of the Shrew:

Gremio, 'tis known my father hath no less Than three great argosies, besides two galliasses, And twelve tight galleys; these I will assure her, And twice as much, whate'er thou offer'st next.

Yet we may be grateful to him for saving for us from the wreck of ancient literature some waifs and strays which, but for his humble labours, might have sunk irretrievably with so many golden argosies in the fathomless ocean of the past.