Part 2

A succession of gales now followed and on the 13th of December the _Dutchess_ was forced to reef her mainsail for the first time since leaving England. In spite of “strong gales, with squalls from the south to the west,” when nearing Cape Horn, the new year was fitly ushered in. According to the custom of the sea there was “a large tub of punch hot upon the Quarter Deck, where every man in the ship had above a pint to his share, and drank our owners and our friends healths in Great Britain.” After which, Rogers records, “we bore down to our Consort, and gave him three Huzza’s, wishing them the like.” In anticipation of the excessive cold in “going about Cape Horn” six tailors were hard at work for several weeks making warm clothing for the men, and every officer handed over such items as he could spare from his own kit. The actual passage of the Horn is vividly described by Rogers, and although the _Dutchess_ was for some hours in considerable danger, good seamanship brought her and her consort safely through. Having got as far south as latitude 61°53´, “the furthest for aught we know that anyone as yet has been to Southward, we now account ourselves in the South Sea,” says Rogers.

In fact Dampier as pilot had carried them so far south that many of the men in both ships were nearly frozen to death, and some were down with the scurvy. The pressing need was to find a harbour in order that the sick might be recruited ashore, and for this purpose the Island of Juan Fernandez was decided upon. Unfortunately all the charts differed, and for a time grave doubts were entertained of “striking it.” Thanks to the skill of Dampier, who had been there before, the island was sighted on the last day of January, but by that time they had slightly overshot it, for it bore “W.S.W. distant about 7 leagues.”[13] With this famous landfall lay not only the destinies of the crews of the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_, but also of the solitary inhabitant of the island who was anxiously scanning the horizon.

That same afternoon the pinnace was hoisted out and a boat’s crew under the command of Dover went in her to go ashore. When the pinnace was about a league from the island, it being then nightfall, Rogers, from the deck of the _Duke_, suddenly saw a light blaze up from the shore. The pinnace immediately made haste to return, and believing that a French squadron was lying at anchor, Rogers ordered the decks to be cleared for action. At daybreak on the following day the ships stood in to engage, but not a single sail was to be seen. A yawl, with two officers and six men all armed, was sent forward to reconnoitre, and as it neared the shore a man “clothed in goat-skins” was seen gesticulating wildly to them. This was Alexander Selkirk, late master of the _Cinque Ports_, who through some quarrel with his captain had been on the island four years and four months. This was the first time that an English ship had called at the island since, and his joy at seeing the English flag again and hearing the voices of his own countryman can better be imagined than described. Though his actions reflected his gratitude, his speech “for want of use” failed him, “he seemed to speak his words by halves.” His adventures and privations are vividly described by Rogers, and it is not proposed to dwell on them here. Suffice it to say that Selkirk’s story was first communicated to the world in the pages of Woodes Rogers’s “Cruising Voyage,” and that his adventures formed the basis of the romance of Robinson Crusoe.[14]

Two days after their arrival at the island all was bustle and excitement. A ship’s forge was set up ashore; sail-makers were busy repairing the sails; coopers were hard at work on the casks; and tents were pitched to receive the sick men. In the words of Rogers “we have a little town of our own here, and every body is employed.” The time was indeed precious, for while at the Canaries they had heard that five large French ships were coming to search for them, and Rogers was anxious to get away as soon as possible. Thanks to the “goodness of the air” and the “help of the greens,” and to the fact that the “Governour,” as Rogers dubbed Selkirk, caught two or three goats every day for them, the crew soon recovered from their distemper, and only two died. The ships were quickly wooded and watered, and about eighty gallons of sea-lions’ oil was boiled down to be used as oil for the lamps in order to save the candles. By the 12th of February the sick men were re-embarked, and two days later the little squadron weighed with “a fair pleasant gale,” with Selkirk duly installed as second mate of the _Duke_. The voyage was continued to the northward off the coasts of Chile and Peru with the intention of getting across the track of the great Spanish galleons from Manila to Acapulco. On the 16th of March they captured a little vessel of about 16 tons belonging to Payta, and on the following day arrived with their prize at the Island of Lobos. Here it was resolved to fit out the prize as a privateer, “she being well built for sailing.” This was carried out with the greatest expedition, and with a crew of 32 men and four swivel guns, she was renamed the _Beginning_ and placed under the command of Captain Cooke.

While the _Duke_ was being cleaned and tallowed, the _Beginning_ in company with the _Dutchess_ was sent a-cruising, and on the morning of the 26th they captured another Spanish vessel. Among other things they found a store of tobacco on board, a very welcome article which was distributed among the men. After being cleaned and refitted she was christened the _Increase_ and Selkirk was appointed to command her. The ships continued cruising on this station till the 5th of April, and among other prizes they took the Spanish galleon _Ascension_ of 500 tons, bound from Panama to Lima.

So far the financial results of the expedition had been disappointing, but spurred on by the glowing accounts given by their prisoners of richly laden ships that were expected with the “widow of the Viceroy of Peru with her family and riches,” and the wealth of the Spanish South American cities, they resolved to attack the city of Guiaquil, and exact a ransom. This resolution was arrived at on the morning of April 12th and a council was held on board the _Duke_ to discuss the project, when regulations were drawn up regarding the landing parties and other details. In order that his “mixed gang of most European nations,” should have “good discipline” and “needful encouragement,” minute regulations were drawn up by Rogers and his officers concerning what was to be termed plunder. Although everything portable seems to have been considered as such, it is amusing to learn that Rogers with his customary civility to the fair sex, resolved “that money and women’s ear-rings, with loose diamonds, pearls, and precious stones” should “be excepted.” The plunder of Guiaquil being thus comfortably and amicably arranged beforehand, the ships headed for the Island of Puna, at the entrance to Guiaquil River.

On the 15th of April, when nearing their intended anchorage, an unfortunate incident occurred. In an attack on a French-built ship belonging to Lima, Rogers’s younger brother John was killed in attempting to board her. Though we must sympathise with Rogers when he speaks of his “unspeakable sorrow” on this occasion, we cannot but admire his pluck when he philosophically adds that “the greatest misfortune or obstacle shall not deter” him from the object that he had in view. Within twenty-four hours Rogers had captured the ship, eventually naming her the _Marquis_, and increasing her armament from 12 to 20 guns.

On the 19th a landing was effected on the Island of Puna, and at midnight on the 22nd, the ships’ boats with 110 men arrived in sight of the town of Guiaquil. On the top of an adjoining hill a blazing beacon showed that an alarum had been raised. Bells were violently rung, and muskets and guns were discharged to awake the inhabitants. A hurried consultation was now held between Rogers and his chief officers, and both Dampier and Dover were against proceeding with the attack. Cautious counsels prevailed, and the plan for taking the town by surprise having failed, negotiations were opened with the governor for its ransom. A sum of 50,000 pieces-of-eight[15] was demanded, but the town could only raise 30,000. Rogers thereupon broke off the negotiations and while the ships bombarded the town he landed a force of 70 men and guns. Rogers has minutely described the attack, and space forbids dwelling on it here; suffice it to say that within an hour the enemy were in full retreat and the English were masters of the city. Other reinforcements were now landed and strategic points in the city occupied, while parties were told off to plunder. An agreement was eventually drawn up for the payment of 30,000 pieces-of-eight as ransom, to be paid within six days. On the 27th of April Rogers and his men marched down to the boats with colours flying, and the plunder was safely stowed aboard. At 8 o’clock the next morning they sailed with “drums beating, trumpets sounding, and guns booming,” and thus took leave of the Spaniards “very cheerfully.”

It was now decided to make the “utmost despatch” for the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Peru. In the passage there a malignant fever contracted at Guiaquil, broke out among the crews of both ships, and on the morning of the 17th when in sight of the Galapagos no less than 60 were down on the _Duke_, and upwards of 80 on the _Dutchess_.

On arrival at the island it was agreed to separate in order to search for fresh water, but none was discovered. Finding that punch preserved his own health, Rogers records that he “prescribed it freely among such of the ship’s company as were well.” Though it was thought when setting out from Bristol that they had sufficient medicines aboard, Rogers now laments that with so many sick in both ships the supplies were inadequate.

Owing to the absence of water it was decided to steer for the island of Gorgona, near the mainland. Here a supply of fresh water was available, and the sick were brought ashore and placed in tents to recruit their health. The opportunity was now taken to caulk and careen the ships and examine the prizes. In discharging the cargo of the galleon, which Rogers had named the _Marquis_, he found in her, to his amazement, “500 Bales of Pope’s Bulls, 16 reams in a Bale,” and a quantity of bones in small boxes “ticketed with the names of Romish Saints, some of which had been dead 7 or 800 years.” A more inconvenient cargo for a privateer would be difficult to imagine, and as they took up such a lot of room in the ship, Rogers records that he threw most of them overboard “to make room for better goods,” except some of the Papal Bulls which he used “to burn the pitch off our ships’ bottoms when we careened them.” In extenuation for what may seem an impious act, Rogers states that it was impossible to read them as the print “looked worse than any of our old ballads.”

After two months’ stay at Gorgona the crew had sufficiently recuperated to continue the cruise, and on the 7th of August the ships sailed from the island, bound southward. On board the _Duke_ were 35 negroes, “lusty fellows,” selected from some of the Spanish prizes. Rogers called them together, and explained his plan of campaign, telling them that if they fought and behaved themselves well in the face of an enemy they should be free men, upon which “32 of them immediately promised to stand to it as long as the best Englishman, and desired they might be improved in the use of arms.” To confirm the contract, Rogers gave them a suit of “Bays,” and “made them drink a dram all round” to the success of the voyage. In order that nothing should be wanting he staged a sham fight to exercise them “in the use of our great guns and small arms,” and in the heat of the engagement “to imitate business,” red-lead mixed with water, was liberally sprinkled over them; “a very agreeable diversion,” comments Rogers.

And so for the real business, the capture of the Manila ship. All the romance of buccaneering and privateering hangs round these great treasure galleons, the annual ships from Manila to Acapulco, and the sister ships from Acapulco to Manila. It was the golden dream of every sailor who sailed these seas to capture one of them, but although many had made the attempt, only one prior to this, that famous Elizabethan seaman Thomas Cavendish, had actually done so, in 1587.[16] Here was a feat worthy of emulation, and so, in the November of 1709, we find Rogers and his little squadron cruising off Cape St. Lucas waiting and watching in the “very place” and in the same month where Cavendish “took the Manila ship” one hundred and twenty-two years earlier. It was a long and weary watch which tested both the temper and the mettle of the men to the extreme. Through the whole of November no sign of the treasure ship was to be seen; several of the men mutinied and were confined in irons, and two others broke open the store room and stole from the fast diminishing stock of victuals. By the 20th of December provisions were at such a low ebb that Rogers records “we all looked very melancholy and dispirited,” and after consultation with his officers it was agreed to make for the Island of Guam “with the utmost dispatch” in order to revictual. All hope of falling in with the Manila ship had been practically abandoned, when at 9 o’clock on the following morning a man at the masthead of the _Duke_ cried out that he saw a sail distant about 7 leagues “bearing West half south of us.”

At this “great and joyful surprize” the English ensign was immediately hoisted, and both the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_ “bore away after her.” The weather had now “fallen calm,” and all through that day and the next Rogers hung on to his prey, with his two pinnaces tending her “all night,” and showing “false fires” that they might keep in touch. Before nightfall on the 22nd, both the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_ cleared for action, and everything was made ready to engage the ship at daybreak. As day dawned the chase was observed upon the _Duke’s_ weather bow, about a league away, while the _Dutchess_ was ahead of her “to leeward near about half as far.” The ships were now becalmed, and Rogers was forced to get “out 8 of our ships oars, and rowed above an hour.” A light breeze then sprang up and carried them gently towards the enemy. There was no time to be lost; not a dram of liquor was in the ship to fortify the spirits of the men, so a large kettle of chocolate was boiled and served out to the crew, who when they had emptied their pannikins, went to prayers like true British sailors. Ere long their devotions were disturbed by the enemy’s gunfire, and about eight o’clock the _Duke_ began to engage the Spaniard single-handed; the _Dutchess_ “being to leeward, and having little wind, could not get up in time.” The enemy presented a most formidable aspect with powder barrels hanging at each yard-arm, “to deter us from boarding.”

As the _Duke_ approached she received the fire of the enemy’s stern-chasers, to which she was only able to reply with her fore-chasers. Holding on her course she soon ranged alongside the great galleon, and gave her several broadsides. The precision and rapidity of the English gunners was apparent from the first, and after a little while the _Duke_ “shot a little ahead” and placing herself across the bows of the galleon, plied her guns with such good effect that the Spaniard hauled her colours “two thirds down” and surrendered.[17] The fight, which was hotly contested, according to Rogers, lasted “about three glasses,” and on board the Spaniard 9 men were killed and several wounded. On the English side only two were wounded, Rogers and an Irish landsman. Rogers’s wound was a serious one; he was shot in the left cheek, the bullet carrying away part of his upper jaw. As he lay on the deck writhing in agony, he pluckily delivered his orders in writing.

Two days later, although he had “much ado to swallow any sort of liquids,” and was obviously very ill, it was decided to cruise for a larger ship which the prisoners stated had sailed from Manila at the same time. On Christmas eve the _Dutchess_ and the _Marquis_ sailed out of the harbour of Port Segura to search for the larger ship. The inability of the former to engage the other Spanish ship in time had caused “some reflections amongst the sailors,” and it was decided by a majority of the Council that Rogers with the _Duke_ and the prize should wait in harbour to refit--much “against our will.” However, Rogers was not to be put aside. He placed two men on an adjoining hilltop to signal as soon as the Spanish ship was sighted, and on the 26th he stood out to sea to join his consorts. By 9 o’clock in the morning the _Dutchess_ was observed engaging the Spaniard, and the _Marquis_ “standing to them with all the sail she could crowd.” Unfortunately at this moment the _Duke_ was some twelve miles to leeward, and as the wind was light she made little way. By the afternoon the _Dutchess_ was joined in the attack by the _Marquis_, but the latter soon fell to leeward out of cannon shot, being apparently temporarily disabled. Fortunately she soon recovered, and renewed the attack with great vigour “for 4 glasses and upwards.” The brunt of the fighting having fallen on the _Dutchess_ she now “stretched ahead to windward” of the enemy, to repair her rigging and stop a leak. In the meantime the _Marquis_ kept firing several broadsides until the _Dutchess_ “bore down again,” when the fight was renewed until nightfall. All this time Rogers in the _Duke_ was crowding on all sail to come to his consorts’ assistance. At daybreak the wind shifted, and Rogers was able to bring his guns to bear. The _Dutchess_ being now “thwart the Spaniards hawse,” and plying her guns very fast, those that missed their target, exposed the _Duke_ to a serious risk “if we had lain on her quarters and across her stem, as I had designed.” Rogers now ranged his ship alongside the Spaniard, and for 4 glasses continued pouring broadsides into her. The _Duke_ now received two shots in her mainmast, which disabled her, and a fire ball lighting on her quarter-deck blew up a chest of gunpowder, and nearly fired the ship. The _Dutchess_ was in much the same plight, and “having our rigging shattered very much,” Rogers records, “we sheered off, and brought to.”

A Council was now held on board the _Duke_, and taking into consideration the damage that the ships had received, coupled with the fact that their ammunition was nearly exhausted, it was unanimously agreed “to forbear any further attempts” on the Spaniard. The loss of such a valuable prize caused great disappointment, and it was Rogers’s opinion, that had the _Duke_ been allowed to accompany the _Dutchess_ and _Marquis_ on their first setting out “we all believe we might then have carried this great ship.” However, Rogers had reason to be proud of the way in which his ships had acquitted themselves. The lofty Spaniard was the Admiral of Manila, named _Bigonia_, a new ship of 900 tons, with a crew of 450 and mounting 60 brass guns. It was estimated that the English fired no less than 500 shot (6 pounders) into her hull. From first to last the English had fought her for seven hours, and the casualties on the _Duke_ were 11 wounded, while the _Dutchess_ had about 20 killed and wounded, and the _Marquis_ 2 scorched with powder. Among the wounded was Rogers, who had part of his ankle carried away when the Spaniards’ fireball blew up on the quarter-deck. To the end of the action he lay on his back where he fell, encouraging the men, and refusing to be carried below.

It was now resolved to return to Port Segura on the Californian coast to look after the prize already taken, and on the 1st day of January they were again in harbour. The Acapulco galleon was now named the _Batchelor_ in honour of Alderman Batchelor of Bristol, one of the financiers of the expedition.[18] By a majority the Council decided to appoint Dover to command her, and Rogers, ill as he was, strongly protested against the appointment. Dover was not a seaman; he was absolutely incapable of commanding and navigating the prize to England. Moreover his temper was such that most of the seamen refused to serve under him. Finally a compromise was arrived at, and Captains Frye and Stretton were entrusted with the “navigation, sailing, and engaging” of the ship, and Selkirk was appointed Master. Dover, though nominally in command, was not to “molest, hinder, or contradict them in their business.”

During the evening of the 10th of January, 1710, the four ships _Duke_, _Dutchess_, _Marquis_ and _Batchelor_, all heavily laden, left the coast of California for the Island of Guam, one of the Ladrones, that being the first stage on their journey home to Great Britain. Provisions were now extremely short, and 5 men were forced to subsist on 1-1/2 lb. of flour, and 1 small piece of meat between them per day, with 3 pints of water each “for drink and dressing their victuals.” Stern measures were therefore necessary, and a seaman who stole several pieces of pork was punished with the cat-o’-nine tails by his mess-mates. During this extreme scarcity, Rogers was forced to adopt a measure which is perhaps rather a humiliating episode in his career. To his Negro sailors, whom he had promised to treat as Englishmen, and who had behaved themselves well, he could only allow 6 in a mess to have “the same allowance as 5 of our own men, which will but just keep those that are in health alive.”

The long voyage to Guam, a distance of over 6,000 miles, occupied two months, during which the best day’s run was 168 miles, and the worst 41. Nothing of importance occurred until the 14th of February, when “in commemoration of the ancient custom of chusing Valentines,” Rogers drew up a list of all “the fair ladies in Bristol” who were in any way related or known to them. Assembling his officers in the cabin of the _Duke_ “every one drew, and drank the lady’s health in a cup of Punch, and to a happy sight of them all.” Three days later Rogers was troubled with a swelling in his throat “which incommoded” him very much, and he succeeded in getting out a piece of his jaw-bone that had lodged there “since I was wounded.” On March the 11th they arrived at Guam, where Rogers after a little diplomatic dealing with the Spanish governor succeeded in getting such provisions as he wanted for his depleted stores. In return the governor and others were entertained on board the _Duke_, the crew “diverting them with musick, and our sailors dancing till night.” On the 21st of March they sailed from Guam for the Moluccas, encountering very stormy weather, and owing to the unseaworthy nature of the _Duke_, the crew were “wearied almost to death with continual pumping.” By the 15th of May provisions had again reached a low ebb, and “with the shortest allowance” it was estimated that they could only “subsist at sea 3 weeks longer.” A fortnight later the four ships were safely anchored at the island of Bouton, by which time the _Dutchess_ was using her last butt of water. Here the King of Bouton supplied them with various commodities, all of which “were very dear.” Nevertheless, as some return for the hospitality received Rogers made the King a present of a “Bishop’s Cap,” which it is of interest to note “he highly esteemed and gratefully accepted.” Being now “pretty well supplied” with provisions “for a fortnight or three weeks,” the ships left the island on the 8th of June _en route_ for Batavia, having taken on board a pilot who promised to carry them “through the Channel the great Dutch ships generally went.”