English: Composite image from three photographs looking down at the excavated wooden hull remains of the Belle shipwreck, excavated by the Texas Historical Commission in 1995. The photos were taken from the roof of the cofferdam which surrounded the ship and kept it in a semi-dry environment. All artifacts had been recovered from inside the hull before these photographs were taken. La Belle was the ship of French explorer La Salle, lost at Matagorda Bay in 1686 and discovered and excavated by the Texas Historical Commission from 1995 to 1997. The photographer was an archaeologist working on the project.