From his first voyage thither in a small vessel he escaped with his life and barely enough treasure to pay the cost of the expedition.
In no wise daunted he laid his plans to search for a richly ladened galleon which was said to have been wrecked half a century before off the coast of Hispaniola.

Since his own funds were not sufficient for this exploit, he betook himself to England to enlist the aid of the Government.

With bulldog persistence he besieged the court of James II for a whole year, this rough-and-ready New England shipmaster, until he was given a royal frigate for his purpose.

He failed to fish up more silver from the sands but, nothing daunted, he persuaded other patrons to outfit him with a small merchantman, the James and Mary, in which he sailed for the coast of Hispaniola.

This time he found his galleon and thirty-two tons of silver.