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.”
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.”
After such a long and perilous voyage the crew were naturally overjoyed at being in port. To them Batavia was a perfect paradise. They hugged each other, and thanked their lucky stars that they had found “such a glorious place for Punch, where they could have Arrack for 8d. per gallon, and sugar for 1 penny a pound.” In spite of the humours of his ship’s company Rogers was still very ill, the doctor having recently cut a large musket shot out of his mouth, and while at Batavia several pieces of his heel bone were also removed. As the Marquis was found unfit to proceed to Europe, she was sold for 575 Dutch dollars, “an extraordinary bargain,” remarks Rogers.
On October the 12th, after a stay of nearly four months, they sailed from Batavia and proceeded direct to the Cape of Good Hope. The Duke was in such a leaky condition that she was kept afloat with the greatest difficulty. By the end of October she had 3 feet of water in the hold, “and our pumps being choaked,” says Rogers, “we were in such danger, that we made signals, and fired guns for our consorts to come to our relief, but had just sucked her (i.e. pumped her dry) as the Dutchess came up.” On the 28th of December the three ships arrived at the Cape, and 16 sick men were sent ashore. Several days were now spent in watering and re-fitting, and on the 18th of January, 1711, it was agreed that some of the plate and gold from the ships should be sold to buy “several necessaries and provisions.”
On account of his valuable cargo Rogers deferred his departure until a number of homeward-bound ships collected, and it was not before April the 6th that the combined fleet, numbering 16 Dutch and 9 English ships, sailed for Europe. On the 14th of May the Duke and Dutchess crossed the line for the eighth time. A course was now steered to the westward of the Azores, and from thence north-eastward round the Shetlands to the Texel, where the whole fleet anchored on the 23rd of July. Here Rogers remained some little while, having received orders from the owners that the East India Company resolved to trouble us, “on pretence we had encroached upon their liberties in India.” Finally all difficulties were amicably settled, and at the end of September the Duke, Dutchess, and Marquis sailed from Holland, convoyed by four English men-of-war. On the 1st of October they arrived in the Downs, and on the 14th came to an anchor at Erith, which finished their “long and fatiguing voyage” of over three years.
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.[19] 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.[20]
A rousing welcome must have been accorded Rogers and his plucky crew when they arrived home in Bristol. By their daring and skill they had ranged the seas in defiance of the enemy, and by their superb seamanship and courage they had added a brilliant page to our naval history. Their voyage was epoch making. In the words of a contemporary writer “there never was any voyage of this nature so happily adjusted.” Once and for all it stripped distant and tedious navigations of those terrors which haunted them through the incapacity of their commanders, and it opened a door to the great South Sea which was never to be closed again.[21] Rogers was a born leader, besides being a magnificent seaman. He had a way of maintaining authority over his men, which Dampier and others before him sadly lacked, and whenever the occasion arose he had a happy knack of ingratiating himself with the various authorities ashore. Whether friend or foe he invariably parted with them cheerfully.