Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Spanish treasure fleets (or West Indies Fleet from Spanish Flota de Indias) was a convoy system adopted by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790. The convoys were general purpose fleets used for transporting a wide variety of items, including agricultural goods and sometimes even lumber, manufactures and various metal resources and luxuries, most famously silver and gold, but also gems, pearls, spices, sugar, tobacco, silk, and other exotic goods from the Spanish colonies to Spain. Manufactures such as tools and other everyday items as well as Spanish emmigrants were transported in the opposite direction.