Book Description

A Cruising Voyage Around the World by Woodes Rogers. With Introduction and Notes by G.E.Manwaring, F.R.Hist.S. Woodes Rogers (ca. 1679 - 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain and privateer and, later, the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of the vessel that rescued marooned Alexander Selkirk, whose plight is generally believed to have inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Rogers came from an affluent seafaring family, grew up in Poole and Bristol, and served a marine apprenticeship to a Bristol sea captain. His father held shares in many ships, but he died when Rogers was in his mid-twenties, leaving Rogers in control of the family shipping business. In 1707, Rogers was approached by Captain William Dampier, who sought support for a privateering voyage against the Spanish, with whom the British were at war. 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.