the Rose Algier, a small ship of eighteen guns and ninety- 

 five men, on a voyage to the West Indies to look for the 

 treasure. 



He was gone almost two years, during which time he 

 scoured the Ambrosian banks and the waters north of 

 Hispaniola in vain. The rough, unsavory characters who 

 first comprised his crew soon became discouraged with this 

 unrewarding search for treasure and demanded that Phips 

 turn pirate with the Rose Algier. He refused, outwitting 

 them in two separate attempts at mutiny. He then hastened 

 to Jamaica, where he discharged the dissenters and signed 

 on new hands to continue his search. 



This time he headed for Puerto Plata, the port on the 

 north shore of Hispaniola nearest the banks on which the 

 wreck was said to be. After scouting about the town for 

 several days, he had the good fortune to strike up an ac- 

 quaintance with an old sailor who was a survivor from the 

 shipwrecked galleon. He is said to have given Phips very 

 careful directions as to the location of the wreck. Phips 

 headed back to the Ambrosian banks and continued the 

 search, but was finally forced to give up, as his supplies 

 were running low. He returned to England without success. 



Although Phips still felt sure that he could locate the 

 wreck, he found that the Crown was no longer interested 

 to the extent of paying the cost of a freshly equipped ex- 

 pedition. But again fortune was with him. He succeeded 

 in enlisting the interest and financial support of the Duke 

 of Albemarle and a few wealthy friends who were willing 

 to speculate on the venture. They obtained a patent from 

 the Crown, granting them an exclusive right to the wrecks 

 that might be discovered, provided the king received a 

 tenth of their gain. 



Some time later Phips set sail for his old hunting 

 grounds on the Ambrosian banks, this time with two ships: 

 the James and Mary, a two-hundred-ton ship carrying 



240 Sea Diver 



