WOODES ROGERS--_continued_
Rogers and his companions made no long stay at Juan Fernandez. Having
now arrived upon their cruising ground, all were eager to be at work,
and on February 14th they were once more under way, the banished
Vanbrugh being received on board the _Duke_ again. "I hope for the
best," says Captain Rogers doubtfully.
On the 17th a committee-meeting was held at sea, in order to appoint
responsible persons for the custody of "plunder." There was evidently
considerable anxiety among the superior officers on this head. Rogers
and Courtney, and probably most of the officers, were perfectly straight
and aboveboard; but no certainty could be felt about any one else, so
the following plan was adopted: Four persons were selected by the
officers and men of the _Duke_, two of whom were to act on board the
_Duchess_; similarly, four were selected on board the latter, two of
whom were to go on board the _Duke_; thus the interests of each ship's
company were equally safeguarded; and to these "plunder guardians" the
council addressed a letter containing detailed instructions for their
guidance. Every probable contingency was provided for, and the letter
concluded: "You are by no means to be rude in your office, but to do
everything as quiet and easy as possible; and to demean yourselves so
towards those employed by Captain Courtney (or Captain Rogers) that we
may have no manner of disturbance or complaint; still observing that you
be not over-awed, nor deceived of what is your due, in the behalf of the
officers and men."
A difficult and thankless office, one would say; nor did this device
avail to prevent discord later on.
They were now bound for the small island of Lobos, off the coast of
Peru, which was to be their starting-point for the conquest of
Guayaquil; and on March 16th they captured a small Spanish vessel, which
they took with them into Lobos on the following day. From the crew of
this vessel they heard some news about Captain Stradling, who, it
appears, lost the _Cinque Ports_ on the Peruvian coast, and with half a
dozen men, the only survivors, had been for upwards of four years in
prison at Lima, "where they lived much worse than our Governor Selkirk,
whom they left on the island Juan Fernandez."
This little bark Rogers resolved to convert into a privateer, as she
seemed to be a fast sailer; and the business was accomplished with
remarkable celerity. On March 18th she was hauled up dry, cleaned,
launched, and named the _Beginning_, Captain Edward Cooke being
appointed to command her. A spare topmast of the _Duke_ was fitted as a
mast, and a spare mizzen-topsail altered as a sail for her. By the
evening of the 19th she was rigged, had four swivel-guns mounted, and a
deck nearly completed; on the 20th she was manned and victualled, and
sailed out of the harbour, exchanging cheers with the _Duke_, to join
the _Duchess_ cruising outside: a very smart piece of work.
Another small prize was renamed the _Increase_, and converted into a
hospital-ship, all the sick, with a doctor from each ship, being sent on
board her; Alexander Selkirk in command.
Rogers makes merry over the exploit of one of his officers who,
mistaking turkey buzzards--the "John Crow" bird of the West Indies--for
turkeys, landed in great haste with his gun, jumping into the water
before the boat touched ground in his eagerness, and let drive,
"browning" a group of them; but he was grievously disappointed when he
came to pick up his "bag"--the "John Crow" is not a sweet-smelling bird.
This impetuous sportsman was, perhaps, that difficult person Mr.
Carleton Vanbrugh: for we learn later that, having threatened to shoot
one of the men for refusing to carry some carrion crows he had shot, and
having abused Captain Dover, his name was struck off the committee.
The Spanish prisoners had some attractive stories to tell of possible
prizes--it appears somewhat unsportsmanlike on their part, and one is
disposed to wonder whether Rogers or his men put any pressure on
them--particularly of a stout ship from Lima, and a French-built ship
from Panama, richly laden, with a bishop on board.
These two vessels were captured, also a smaller one; but the Panama ship
was not taken without some misadventure, for the two ships' pinnaces
attacking her insufficiently armed--despising the foe, a common British
failing, for which we have often paid dearly--were repulsed with loss;
and John Rogers, a fine young fellow of one-and-twenty, was killed. He
had no business there, as a matter of fact; but, happening to be on
board his brother's ship to assist in preparations for the land
expedition, he jumped into the boat--and so perished.[6]
However, the ship was taken next day, without resistance; but the bishop
had been put ashore: a disappointment, no doubt, as he would probably
represent a round sum for his ransom--the only use a privateer could
find for a prelate!
And now for Guayaquil, from the capture and ransom of which great gains
were expected; but further disappointment was in store for Captain
Rogers and his companions.
In the first place, upon landing at Puna, a small town upon an island at
the entrance of the Gulf of Guayaquil, an Indian contrived to elude them
and give the alarm, so that the surprise was not complete. They captured
the Lieutenant-Governor, however, who cunningly assured them that,
having caught him, there would be nobody who could give the alarm at
Guayaquil: surely an obviously futile deduction. They destroyed all the
canoes, etc., which they could find; but, by the time they had made
their prisoners, we may be sure that one or two had already made good
their escape to the mainland; and later developments proved that this
must have occurred.
Moreover, they discovered among the papers of the Lieutenant-Governor a
disquieting document: no less than a warning against a squadron which
was said to be coming, under the pilotage of Captain Dampier--who, it
will be recollected, had plundered Puna some years previously. The force
of the squadron was greatly exaggerated; but there was the warning, a
copy of which had been sent from Lima to all the ports.
However, it was impossible to relinquish the attack, and accordingly,
after some delays, the boats, with 110 men, arrived off the town of
Guayaquil about midnight on April 22nd. As they approached they saw a
bonfire on an adjoining eminence, and lights in the town, and, rowing up
abreast of it, there was a sudden eruption of lights, and every
indication that the townspeople, instead of being quietly a-bed, were
very wide awake. The Indian pilot negatived the notion that this was
some saint's-day celebration, and thought that "it must be an alarm";
very possibly the wily pilot had something to do with it! While they lay
off they heard a Spaniard shouting that Puna was taken, and the enemy
was coming up the river. Then the bells commenced clanging, muskets and
guns were fired off, and it became obvious that, if they were to attack,
it must be in the face of the fullest resistance. What was to be done?
Rogers, not easily daunted, gave it as his opinion that the alarm was
only just given, and preparations would not be complete. He was all for
going on, but the others were not; and Captain Dampier being asked what
the buccaneers would do under such circumstances, replied at once that
"they never attacked any large place after it was alarmed." The
buccaneers were not such fire-eaters as their own accounts and boys'
books of adventure would have us believe: there was a strong spice of
prudence in their temperament.
Cautious counsels prevailing, the boats dropped down-stream again, about
three miles below the town, where the two small barks, prizes attached
to the _Duke_ and _Duchess_, arrived during the day, having apparently
been safely piloted up by Indians--with pistols at their heads possibly.
When the flood-tide made in the afternoon, Captain Rogers once more
ordered an advance on the town, but Dover again dissuaded him, and they
held a council of war in a boat made fast astern of one of the barks, so
as to avoid eavesdroppers.
Dover advised sending a trumpeter with a flag of truce, and certain
proposals as to trading, to be enforced by hostages. These half-hearted
measures found no favour with the majority, but Rogers gave way and
eventually they sent two of their prisoners--the lieutenant from Puna,
and the captain of the French-built ship--who presently came back, and
were followed by the Corregidor, to treat for the ransom of the town.
However, all the talk came to nothing. The Spaniards evidently imagined
that the English were a little bit shy about attacking, and so kept
shilly-shallying about the terms, perhaps hoping for reinforcements;
until at length Rogers lost patience, landed his men and guns, and drove
the enemy from the near houses, the barks firing over their heads. It
was a very spirited attack, and deserved success.
Opening up the streets, they found four guns facing them in front of the
church; but the supporting cavalry fled at sight of the English sailors,
and Rogers, calling upon his men, immediately took the guns, and turned
them on the retreating foe.
In little more than half an hour the town was their own; and, had it not
been for the cautious advice of Dover and others, they would have
achieved the same result on the first night, before the treasure was
carried away. As it was, though they broke open every church and
store-house, etc., they found but little of any value; jars of wine and
brandy were, however, very plentiful.
Two of the officers, Mr. Connely, and Mr. Selkirk, "the late Governor of
Juan Fernandez," with a party of men, paid a profitable visit to some
houses up the river, where they found "above a dozen handsome, genteel
young women, well dressed, where our men got several gold chains and
earrings, but were otherwise so civil to them that the ladies offered
to dress them victuals, and brought them a cask of good liquor." The
seamen, however, quickly suspected that the ladies had chains and other
trinkets disposed under their clothing, "and by their linguist modestly
desired the gentlewomen to take 'em off and surrender 'em. This I
mention as a proof of our sailors' modesty." Well, well; their "modesty"
was rewarded by plunder to the tune of about L1,000; but no doubt their
method of commandeering it was more polite than the frightened Spanish
ladies anticipated.
In the church Rogers himself picked up the Corregidor's gold-headed
cane, and also a captain's with a silver head; from which he concludes
that these gentlemen quitted the church in a hurry.
It would have been well if Rogers and his men had seen a little less of
the church, for buried under it, and immediately outside, were the
putrefying corpses of hundreds of the victims of a recent malignant
epidemic.
An agreement was drawn up by which the town was to be ransomed by the
payment of 30,000 pieces of eight within six days--equivalent to L6,750,
reckoning the piece of eight at four shillings and sixpence[7]--Rogers
holding two hostages meanwhile; but the Spaniards' _manana_ proved too
much for them, and the amount paid fell far short of this.
On April 27th they marched down to the boats with colours flying.
Captain Rogers, bringing up the rear with a few men, "picked up pistols,
cutlasses, and pole-axes, which showed that our men were grown very
careless, weak, and weary of being soldiers, and that it was time to be
gone from hence."
John Gabriel, a Dutchman, was missing, but he returned on the following
day; it transpired that he had lain asleep, drunk, in a house, and the
"honest man," who was probably his involuntary host, called in some
neighbours, who removed the Dutchman's weapons before cautiously
arousing him; and, when he was sufficiently wide awake to comprehend the
situation, restored his arms and advised him to go on board his ship:
really, a very honest man, this Spanish American. Rogers declares that
this was the only case of drunkenness among his men after they took
possession: a fact which speaks volumes for the discipline.
And so, on the 28th, they weighed anchor and dropped down to Puna; "and
at parting made what noise we could with our drums, trumpets, and guns,
and thus took our leave of the Spaniards very cheerfully, but not half
so well pleased as we should have been had we taken 'em by surprise; for
I was well assured, from all hands, that at least we should then have
got above 200,000 pieces of eight in money (L45,000), wrought and
unwrought gold and silver, besides jewels, etc."
And now they were to experience some hard times. Sailing for the
Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Peru, they had not been many days
out when deadly sickness broke out among the men who had been on shore
at Guayaquil. On the two ships, near one hundred and fifty were down at
one time; there were a good many deaths, and the medicine-chests were
not adequate to this unexpected demand. Worse than all, when they
reached the Galapagos Islands they could find no water there. Again and
again they sent their boats in, for it was said that upon one island, at
least, there was abundance of excellent water--upon the authority of one
Davis, a buccaneer, who frequented it twenty years previously: which
induces Captain Rogers to discourse upon the unreliability of such
adventurers' reports; but that did not help the thirsty, fever-stricken
men.
Then one of the barks, in command of Mr. Hatley, was missing, which was
another source of anxiety. They were compelled at length to give him up
as lost, and sailed over to the island of Gorgona, where there was
abundance of water.
Here they refitted the _Havre de Grace_--the French-built prize, which
should have contained a bishop--and renamed her the _Marquis_; and here
also they careened and cleaned the ships, and sent away their prisoners,
landing them on the coast of Peru.
The crew were getting impatient about the plunder obtained at Guayaquil,
and on July 29th it was resolved to overhaul and value it for
distribution, sending all that was adjudged to be eligible on board the
prize galleon. And there was, of course, trouble over this business: a
plot was discovered, a number of the men having signed a paper to the
effect that they would not accept any booty, nor move from the upper
deck, until they obtained justice. Their notions of "justice" not
tallying with those of their superiors, pistols and handcuffs came again
to the front, and the ringleaders were seized; but Rogers found himself
compelled to compromise, for there were too many men involved, and he
did not know what the crews of the other ships might do; so he made a
conciliatory speech, and conceded a demand that the civilians, who were
not seamen, should have their shares cut down--by which Mr. Carleton
Vanbrugh and two others suffered. "So that we hoped," says Captain
Rogers, "this difficult work would, with less danger than we dreaded, be
brought to a good conclusion.... Sailors usually exceed all measures
when left to themselves, and account it a privilege in privateers to do
themselves justice on these occasions, though in everything else I must
own they have been more obedient than any ships' crews engaged in the
like undertaking that ever I heard of. Yet we have not wanted sufficient
trial of our patience and industry in other things; so that, if any
sea-officer thinks himself endowed with these two virtues, let him
command in a privateer, and discharge his office well in a distant
voyage, and I'll engage he shall not want opportunities to improve, if
not to exhaust all his stock."
Two or three small prizes had been taken during these few weeks; but
after waiting about a long while for a rich Manila ship, it was at
length decided that they must give her up, and sail for Guam, in the
Ladrone Islands, and thence for the East Indies.
The day after this decision was recorded the Manila ship hove in sight;
two boats kept in touch with her all night, and at daybreak, it being
still calm, they "got out eight of our ship's oars, and rowed above an
hour; then there sprung up a small breeze. I ordered a large kettle of
chocolate to be made for our ship's company (having no spirituous liquor
to give them); then we went to prayers, and before we had concluded,
were disturbed by the enemy's firing at us."
They got up off their knees, and fought to some purpose by the space of
an hour and a half, when, the _Duchess_ coming up, the Spaniard hauled
down his colours.
This was a splendid haul: and they speedily learned that there was a
second ship, of even greater value, in the vicinity. In due course they
encountered her, but she proved too strong for them, being a brand-new
vessel, very well built, with 40 guns and 450 men.
Captain Rogers, who had hitherto come off unscathed from all their
adventures, was very roughly handled in these two engagements, getting a
ball through his jaw in the first and a splinter in his left foot in the
second, both very serious wounds.
While he was laid on his back, unable to speak or walk, he had to suffer
a further trial of patience in a dispute which arose about the command
of their valuable prize on the voyage to the East Indies and homeward, a
majority of the council electing Dover to the post. Now Dover, as we
have seen, was a doctor, not a seaman, and was absolutely incapable of
commanding and navigating a ship upon such a voyage; but, having a large
stake in the original venture, he claimed and obtained more
consideration than was his due. Probably it was on this account that the
gentlemen in Bristol had made him president of the council.
Poor Captain Rogers, chafing on his sick-bed, could only protest
vigorously in writing against this proposed arrangement, which was
obviously fraught with peril, and his officers supported him; the thing
was, in fact, a job, the majority truckling to Dover as a part-owner.
The utmost concession Rogers could gain was that two capable
officers--Stretton and Frye--should be appointed to act under Dover as
navigators and practical seamen, and that he should not interfere with
them in their duties as such; and under these conditions the prize--her
name conveniently abbreviated from _Nostra Seniora de la Incarnacion
Disenganio_, to _Batchelor_--was safely conveyed to the East Indies, and
thence to England, the cruise terminating on October 14th, 1711.
Captain Rogers recovered from his wounds, and made a good thing out of
his cruise. He was subsequently Governor of the Bahamas, where he
displayed great moral courage and resource under difficult
circumstances; and there he died, on July 16th, 1732.
In a volume entitled "Life aboard a British Privateer in the Reign of
Queen Ann"--a sort of running commentary upon Woodes Rogers's account of
his cruise--the author, Mr. R.C. Leslie, remarks, after the capture of
Guayaquil: "Though Woodes Rogers himself would now rank little above a
pious sort of pirate, it is curious to note from what he says here
[about the buccaneers] and again after visiting the Galapagos Islands,
one of the chief haunts of buccaneers, that he looked upon them as much
below him socially."
This is not fair to Rogers; he was entirely within his rights in sacking
and ransoming Guayaquil, as a subject of a Power at war with Spain, and
armed with a commission from his sovereign. It may not appear to be a
very high-class sort of business, but it was conducted in this instance
with great humanity, though not probably without some of the
"regrettable incidents" which are inseparable from warfare--to adapt the
saying of the French general at Balaclava, "Ce n'est pas magnifique,
mais c'est la guerre." Rogers does not deserve to be dubbed "pirate," or
classed with a gang of cut-throat ruffians like the buccaneers.
William Dampier apparently had no more sea-adventures; he died in London
in March 1715.
Alexander Selkirk, returning to Scotland early in 1712, was received by
his people with affectionate enthusiasm; but, after a time, he took to
living entirely alone, and sometimes broke out in a passion of regret
over his island home: "Oh, my beloved island! I wish I had never left
thee! I never was before the man I was on thee! I have not been such
since I left thee! and, I fear, never can be again!"
One day, in his solitary wanderings, he came across a young girl, seated
alone, tending a single cow; their meetings became frequent, and
eventually he persuaded her--Sophia Bruce was her name--to elope with
him to London. In 1718 he made a will in her favour, under her maiden
name, and it is said that, after his death, Sophia Selcraig (for this
was the original form of Selkirk's name), represented herself as his
widow, but could produce no evidence of marriage; so it is to be feared
that she remained Sophia Bruce to the end, while Selkirk married a widow
named Candis, to whom he left everything by another will.
He died, a mate on board the _Weymouth_ man-of-war, in 1721. A monument
was erected to his memory on Juan Fernandez, in 1868, by Commodore
Powell and the officers of the _Topaze_.
Thus, by a pure accident, he becomes a well-known character and a sort
of hero; certainly, he displayed some heroic attributes during his
sojourn on Juan Fernandez.
[Footnote 6: Why this young man is alluded to in the "Dictionary of
National Biography" and elsewhere as Thomas Rogers, I am at a loss to
understand. Woodes Rogers alludes to him as "my brother John," and a
manuscript note in one edition of Rogers's cruise tells us that "John,
son of Woodes Rogers and Frances his wife, was baptized Nov. 28th, 1688;
_vide_ Register of Poole, Coun. Dorset."]
[Footnote 7: The piece of eight was of equal value to a dollar, and was
probably worth more than this; forty years later it was valued at 6_s._
Rogers, however, in distributing plunder, placed it at 4_s._ 6_d._, so
the ransom money was probably reckoned upon that basis.]