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A CRUISING VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD

A CRUISING VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD

With Introduction and Notes by G.E.MANWARING, F.R.Hist.S.

WITH 8 HALF-TONE PLATES

FACE PAGE

Crossing the Tropic; sailors being ducked at the yard-arm 7

The Island of Juan Fernandez, where Alexander Selkirk was found 96

Searching the ladies of Guiaquil 128

Captain Woodes Rogers, with his son and daughter, 1729 160

Woodes Rogers landing on the coast of California 208

Capture of the Acapulco Galleon off the coast of California 240

INTRODUCTION

The sea has always been the cradle of the English race, and over six hundred years ago an old chronicler wrote of our great sea tradition that "English ships visited every coast," and that "English sailors excelled all others both in the arts of navigation and in fighting." In this respect, the west of England has probably played a greater part in our maritime development than any other portion of the United Kingdom, and the names of her most famous seamen--Drake, Raleigh, and Hawkins among others--are now almost household words. There are, however, many other nautical celebrities among her sons, whose names deserve a more prominent place in our naval annals, and such an one is Captain Woodes Rogers. Not only does he rank as a splendid navigator and magnificent seaman, but he also filled an important r?le as a colonial administrator and governor, and was one of the pioneers in the development of our colonial empire. He is, indeed, one of the most picturesque and romantic figures of the first half of the eighteenth century, and his rescue and account of Alexander Selkirk's privations on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez undoubtedly provided Defoe with materials for "Robinson Crusoe." It is not too much to assume that had there been no Woodes Rogers, Defoe's charming and immortal romance, which has delighted millions of readers, might never have been written.

It is evident that at this period the Rogers family occupied a prominent position both in the industrial and social life of Bristol, and in January, 1705, the marriage of Woodes Rogers to the daughter of Admiral Sir William Whetstone, of Bristol, the Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, took place at St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street, London. This marriage proved a stepping stone to Rogers's future career, and in consequence of the union between these two old families Rogers was made a freeman of his native place, as the following entry from the city records, under the date of 16th March, 1704/5, shows:--"Woodes Rogers junior, Mariner, is admitted to the liberties of this city for that he married Sarah, daughter of Sir William Whettstone, knight."

This war, known as the War of the Spanish Succession, in which the forces of Great Britain, Austria, and Holland were allied against those of France and Spain, lasted from 1702 till 1713, and Rogers, as befitted a seaman of sound knowledge and wisdom, realised the truth of the old saying that he who commands the sea commands the trade. Not only did he wish to see the English take a share in this vast trade of the South Sea, but he realised that it would be a fitting opportunity to attack the enemies' commerce there, and so by cutting off her resources it would help to shorten the war, and enrich his own country. To quote his own words "necessity has frequently put private men on noble takings." This was indeed a noble undertaking, and in the belief that it was both necessary and profitable to undertake such an expedition, he drew up a scheme which he presented to his friends, the merchants of his native Bristol. The time was particularly opportune for such a venture, for an Act had recently been passed by Parliament which marks a crucial and important point in the history of privateering. In this Act an effort was made to restore to privateering all the old spirit of adventure which permeated our sea story in the reign of Elizabeth. Previously the Crown had reserved to itself one fifth of all prizes taken by privateers; now the whole interest was transferred to the owner and crew. This Act marks the close of the period of decline, and the opening of a period of great activity. The Crown now sanctioned privateering solely for the benefit which it was hoped to derive from injury inflicted on the enemy.

Under these circumstances it was only natural that the scheme which Rogers propounded should have been looked on in a most favourable light, and the expedition was duly financed and fitted out. Rogers dedicates his book to his "surviving owners," and among them it is of particular interest to note the following:

Sir John Hawkins, Mayor of Bristol in 1701; Christopher Shuter, Mayor in 1711; James Hollidge, Mayor in 1709; Captain Freake and Thomas Clements, Sheriffs of Bristol; John Romsey, Town Clerk of Bristol, and Thomas Goldney, a leading Quaker of Bristol. It will be seen from this that during the voyage the whole of the Corporation at one time or another were interested in the venture.

The most noteworthy was undoubtedly Captain William Dampier, then in his fifty-sixth year, who sailed under Rogers as "Pilot for the South Seas." The choice was a wise one, for probably no man living had a wider experience in those waters, having been there three times before, and twice round the world. To the Spaniards his name was second only to that of Drake, a formidable asset in a voyage of this kind. That he should have consented to serve under a much younger man is sufficient testimony of the regard and esteem in which he held Woodes Rogers.

The instructions given by the owners were embodied in a document, which Rogers solemnly calls the "Constitution," which was signed and sealed at Bristol on the 14th of July, 1708. This document not only stipulated the exact powers of the various officers, but laid down a definite rule that "all attempts, attacks, and designs upon the enemy" should at first be debated by a general council of the officers, and the same applied to all "discontents, differences, or misbehaviour." The wisdom of this procedure was apparent from the first, and Rogers states that without this method "we could never have performed the voyage."

And so, within three weeks of the signing of the Constitution, Rogers and his merry men sailed from the King Road, near Bristol, on August the 2nd, on what proved to be one of the most successful voyages that ever left the shores of Great Britain. His crew consisted for the most part of "Tinkers, Taylors, Hay-makers, Pedlers, Fiddlers, etc.," not forgetting John Finch "late wholesale oilman of London," as ship's steward, and the ship's mascot, a fine specimen of an English bull-dog. Though the composition of the crew was Gilbertian in the extreme, its spirit, as we shall see, was in the main, Elizabethan.

The prize was carried into Oratava, where after some delay, and a threatened bombardment of the town, the Spaniards eventually ransomed her. The transaction, however, seemed to have ended to Rogers's satisfaction, and his ships sailed away "well stocked with liquor, the better able to endure the cold when we get the length of Cape Horn." On the 25th of September the ships passed the "tropick," when according to the ritual of the sea, the fresh-water sailors were ducked from the yard-arm, or forced to pay a fine of half a crown.

The spiritual needs of the men were not neglected, and it is pleasing to note that from the 28th of October, when the ships crossed the line, "prayers were read in both ships, morning or evening, as opportunity would permit, according to the Church of England. On the 19th of November they made the coast of Brazil, anchoring off the Island of Grande. The opportunity was now taken to replenish the water casks, and careen the ships. The depredations of the French corsairs had made the Brazilians suspicious of strangers, and Rogers states that his boat was fired on several times when trying to land "with a present for the Governor of Angre de Reys." On learning that they were English, Rogers and his men were welcomed by the Friars and the Governor, who treated them "very handsomely." Rogers's account of a religious procession in which he and his men, assisted by the ships' band, took part, is one of the most amusing episodes in his book. Another amusing incident was an attempt by two Irish sailors to desert, but they were so frightened by the monkeys and baboons in the woods, that they were glad to return to the ship. In the afternoon of December 3rd, the ships bade adieu to the hospitalities of the island of Grande, and commenced their long and arduous voyage to Juan Fernandez, a distance of nearly 6,000 miles.

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 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."

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.

On the 17th, near the north coast of Java, they met a Dutch ship of 600 tons--the first eastward-bound merchantman they had seen for nearly two years. From her they had their first items of home news, the death of Prince George of Denmark, the Consort of Queen Anne, and the continuation of the wars in Europe. Three days later they anchored safely in the roadstead of Batavia "betwixt 30 and 40 sail, great and small."

Thus ended one of the most remarkable expeditions that ever left the shores of Great Britain. The cost of fitting it out was less than ?14,000 and the net profits amounted to at least ?170,000. Of this sum, two-thirds went to the owners, and the other third was divided, according to their rating, among the officers and men. The prizes taken, including the ships and barks ransomed at Guiaquil, amounted to twenty sail.

The success of the expedition naturally stimulated public interest, and at the request of his many friends, Rogers agreed to publish his "journal," which appeared in the following year under the title of "A Cruising Voyage round the World." It is written, as its author informs us, in "the language of the sea," and as such it is a picturesque human document, enlivened with a quaint humour which makes it delightful reading. During the eighteenth century the book was widely read; three editions appeared within the space of fourteen years, and it was also translated into French and German. It was used as a model by later voyagers, and it is interesting to note that when Anson sailed on a similar expedition thirty years later a copy of the "Cruising Voyage," found a prominent place in his cabin.

To a man of Rogers's disposition an inactive life must have been particularly irksome, and his ever restless nature was continually looking for some outlet where the spirit of adventure was combined with service to the state. In the years following his expedition round the world the Government had under consideration various schemes for the settlements of Madagascar and the Bahama Islands, both of which had become strongholds for the pirates and were a dangerous menace to the trade and navigation in those waters. That Rogers had his own ideas on the matter is shown in the following letter to Sir Hans Sloane, dated 7th May, 1716, which in its way is a model of brevity:--

SIR,

I being ambitious to promote a settlement on Madagascar, beg you'll pleased to send me what accounts you have of that island, which will be a particular favour done

Your most obliged humble servant, WOODES ROGERS.

For some reason or other the proposed settlement never matured, and nothing further is heard of it. There remained, however, the question of the Bahamas, and it was not long before Rogers was called from the seclusion of his Bristol home to take command of an important expedition against the pirates of New Providence in the Bahamas, in which he was to become a pioneer in the settlement and administration of our West Indian Empire.

The story of this expedition, and Rogers's subsequent career as Governor of the Bahama Islands, the most northerly of our West Indian possessions, has never been told in full before. It may be taken as a typical example of the pluck and enterprise shown by our early colonial governors against overwhelming odds and difficulties, and as such it fills an important chapter in colonial history. Although the islands had nominally belonged to Great Britain since 1670, they had been left without any systematic government or settlement for over half a century, and in consequence the House of Lords in an address to the Queen during the early part of 1716, set forth the desirability of placing the Bahamas under the Crown, for the better security and advantage of the trade of this kingdom. They pointed out that twice within living memory the French and Spaniards had plundered the colony, and driven out the few English settlers, and that it was now necessary to establish a stable form of government there. Owing to their geographical position, the Bahamas were a favourite haunt of the pirates, whose headquarters were at New Providence, the principal island. Nothing however was done in the matter until the following year, when Rogers submitted a careful and considered proposal for their settlement to the Lords Commissioners of Trade, in the summer of 1717. He emphasised the importance of those islands to British trade and navigation, and the necessity of driving out the pirates and fortifying and settling the islands for the better protection of that trade. His endeavours were stoutly supported by some of the "most considerable merchants of London and Bristol," who declared that Rogers was in "every way qualified for such an undertaking." In the meantime the Lords Proprietors of the Bahamas surrendered the civil and military government of the islands to the Crown with the reservation of quit rents and royalties. These they leased under an agreement dated 28th of October, 1717, to Rogers, who is described in the original lease as "of London, Mariner," for a term of twenty-one years. For the first seven years Rogers was to pay fifty pounds a year; for the second seven years one hundred pounds a year; and for the remaining period two hundred pounds a year.

On the 6th of November Rogers duly received his commission as "Captain of that Independent Company of Foot which we have appointed to do duty in our Bahama Islands in America."

While in London Rogers had an opportunity of renewing his friendship with Steele, whom he met in the Tennis Coffee House in the Cockpit, Whitehall, on which occasions we are told the conversation "turned upon the subject of trade and navigation," a subject which we may be sure was eagerly discussed, for Steele at the time was full of his idea for the "Fish Pool," a scheme for bringing fish alive to London.

On Friday the 11th of April, Rogers sailed from England to take up his appointment. His commission gave him full power to employ whatever means he thought fit for the suppression of piracy, and he also carried with him the royal proclamation of pardon, dated 5th of September, 1717, to any pirates who surrendered before the 5th of September, 1718. At the same time a determined effort was made by the Government to stamp out piracy in the whole of the West Indian Islands, and several ships were despatched to Jamaica, Barbadoes, and the Leeward Islands for that purpose.

Whenever the occasion offered, Rogers tempered justice with mercy, and the human side of his character comes out well in the case of the man who was pardoned. His name, Rogers informs us, was George Rounsivell, and "I reprieved him under the gallows," he wrote in a letter to the Secretary of State, "through a desire to respite him for his future repentance. He is the son of loyal and good parents at Weymouth in Dorsetshire. I hope this unhappy young man will deserve his life, and I beg the honour of your intercession with his Majesty for me on his behalf."

One of the greatest difficulties which Rogers had to encounter was the smallness of the force at his disposal for the preservation of law and order. The discovery of a conspiracy among the settlers to desert the island, and their friendship with the pirates, were matters of urgent importance which he brought to the notice of the home Government. From first to last his great ambition was to make the colony worthy in all respects of the British Empire, and amidst frequent disorders we find him busy about this time with plans for the development of the whale fishery, and for supplying Newfoundland and North America with salt.

The failure of the Admiralty to send out ships for the protection of the colony against the swarms of pirates who still infested the West Indian seas caused Rogers to complain bitterly, and in a very interesting letter to his friend Sir Richard Steele, he regrets that several of his letters have fallen into the hands of the pirates. In it he also gives an amusing account of a lady whose fluency of speech caused him considerable annoyance.

"To the Hon. Sir Richard Steele; to be left at Bartram's Coffee-House in Church Court, opposite Hungerford Market in the Strand, London. Via Carolina.

SIR,--

Having writ to you by several former opportunities, and not hearing from you, I have the greater cause to inveigh against the malice of the pirates who took Captain Smyter, lately come from London, from whom I have since heard that there were several letters directed to me and Mr. Beauchamp, which the pirates after reading tore.

Every capture made by the pirates aggravates the apparent inclinations of the Commanders of our men-of-war; who having openly avowed that the greater number of pirates makes their suitable advantage in trade; for the Merchants of necessity are forced to send their effects in the King's bottoms, when they from every part hear of the ravages committed by the pirates.

There is no Governor in these American parts who has not justly complained of this grand negligence; and I am in hopes the several representations will induce the Board of Admiralty to be more strict in their orders. There has not been one here almost these five months past; and, as if they wished us offered as a sacrifice both to the threatening Spaniards and Pirates, I have not had influence enough to make our danger prevail with any of them to come to our assistance because of their greater occupations in trade. I, however, expect to be sufficiently provided, if the Spaniards, as believed, defer their coming till April.

At my first arrival I received a formal visit from a woman called Pritchard, who by her voluble tongue, and mentioning some of our first quality with some freedom, and, withal, saying that she was known to you, Mr. Cardonnel, and Sir William Scawen, next to whom she lived, near the Storey's Westminster, that I gave her a patient hearing. She dressed well, and had charms enough to tempt the pirates; and, when she pleased, could assume an air of haughtiness which indeed she showed to me, when I misdoubted her birth, education, or acquaintance with those Noblemen and others, whom she could without hesitation call over, and indeed some very particular private passages. She had often a loose way of speaking, which made me conjecture she endeavoured to win the hearts of her admirers to the Pretender's interest, and made me grow weary of seeing her.

This my indifference, and a little confinement, provoked her to depart hence for Jamaica, saying that she would take passage for England to do herself justice, and did not come abroad without money to support her. She talked much of Sir Ambrose Crawley and his son, from whom she intends to provide a good quantity of iron-work; and, with a suitable cargo of other goods, she says she will soon make another turn this way; and seldom serious in her talk. I thought fit to say thus much of a woman who pretends to such a general knowledge of men, particularly of you and Mr. Addison. If our carpenters had not otherwise been employed, and I could have spared them, I should have been glad to have made her first Lady of the Stool. She went hence, as I thought, with resentments enough; but I have heard since from Jamaica, that she has not only forgot her passion, but sent her friendly service to me; and, as I expect, she now is on her way home, designs to do me all the good offices that she can with all the numerous gentlemen of her acquaintance. But I can't believe it; and I beg if you see her soliciting in my behalf, be pleased to let her know I don't expect her company here, and she can't oblige me more than to let me and my character alone.

I hope Mrs. Ker and Roach who I sent hence has been often with you, and that this will keep your hands in perfect health and that you have thrown away your great cane, and can dance a minuet, and will honour me with the continuance of your friendship, for I am, good Sir,

Your most sincere humble servant, WOODES ROGERS.

Be pleased to excuse my writing to you in such a hurry, as obliged me to write this letter in two different hands. My humble service to Mr. Addison and to Mr. Sansom. This comes enclosed to Mr. G. with whom I hope you will be acquainted.

W. R.

In a subsequent letter he writes regretting that his Majesty's ships of war have "so little regard for this infant colony," and he certainly had just cause to complain. His statement about the Admiralty, and the representations of other colonial governors, is borne out by the following letter from the Governor of South Carolina, written on the 4th of November, 1718:--"'Tis not long since I did myself the honour to write to you from this place which I hope you'll receive, but having fresh occasion grounded upon advice received by a Brig; since that arrived from Providence I thought it my duty, after having so far engaged myself in that settlement once more to offer you my opinion concerning it. My last, if I forget not, gave you account of the mortality that had been amongst the Soldiers and others that came over with Governor Rogers and the ill state of that place both in regard to Pirates and Spaniards, unless speedily supported by a greater force than are yet upon the place; and especially the necessity that there is of cruising ships and Snows and Sloops of war to be stationed there, without which I do assure you it will at any time be in the power of either Pirates or Spaniards at their pleasure to make 'emselves masters of the Island, or at least to prevent provisions or other necessaries being carried to it from the Main, and without that it's not possible for the King's garrison or inhabitants to subsist. The Pirates yet accounted to be out are near 2,000 men and of those Vain, Thaitch, and others promise themselves to be repossessed of Providence in a short time. How the loss of that place may affect the Ministry, I cannot tell, but the consequence of it seems to be not only a general destruction of the trade to the West Indies, and the Main of America, but the settling and establishing a nest of Pirates who already esteem themselves a Community and to have one common interest; and indeed they may in time become so, and make that Island another Sally but much more formidable unless speedy care be taken to subdue them.... I should humbly propose that two ships of 24 or 30 guns and 2 sloops of 10 or 12 guns should be stationed there, one ship and sloop to be always in harbour as guard."

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