ts
and triumphed by sheer strength of body and will. A second mutiny he
also quelled, and then took his ship to Jamaica where he got rid of its
worthless crew. His enterprise had apparently failed; but the second
Duke of Albemarle and other powerful men believed in him and helped him
to make another trial. This time he succeeded in finding the wreck on
the coast of Hispaniola, and took possession of its cargo of precious
metals and jewels--treasure to the value of three hundred thousand
pounds sterling. Of the spoil Phips himself received sixteen thousand
pounds, a great fortune for a New Englander in those days. He was also
knighted for his services and, in the end, was named by William and Mary
the first royal Governor of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts, whose people had been thoroughly aroused by the French
incursions, resolved to retaliate by striking at the heart of Canada by
sea and to take Quebec. Sir William Phips, though not yet made Governor,
would lead the expedition. The first blow fell in Acadia. Phips sailed
up the Bay of Fundy and on May 11, 1690, landed a force before Port
Royal. The French Governor surrendered on terms. The conquest was
intended to be final, and the people were offered their lives and
property on the condition of taking, the oath to be loyal subjects of
William and Mary. This many of them did and were left unmolested. It was
a bloodless victory. But Phips, the Puritan crusader, was something of a
pirate. He plundered private property and was himself accused of taking
not merely the silver forks and spoons of the captive Governor but even
his wigs, shirts, garters, and night caps. The Boston Puritans joyfully
pillaged the church at Port Royal, and overturned the high altar and
the images. The booty was considerable and by the end of May Phips, a
prosperous hero, was back in Boston.

Boston was aflame with zeal to go on and conquer Canada. By the middle
of August Phips had set out on the long sea voyage to Quebec, with
twenty-two hundred men, a great force for a colonial enterprise of that
time, and in all some forty ships. The voyage occupied more than two
months. Apparently the hardy carpenter-sailor, able enough to carry
through a difficult undertaking with a single ship, lacked the
organizing skill to manage a great expedition. He performed, however,
the feat of navigating safely with his fleet the treacherous waters of
the lower St. Lawrence. On the morning of October 16, 1690, watche