Greatly to Rogers' admiration, the Dutchmen, being good ship's husbands, spent most of this time in scraping and cleaning their ships, bending new sails, &c., "so that they look as if newly come out of Holland;" and as they drew nearer home, and the chance of meeting an enemy increased, "the three admirals hal'd down their flags, and to appear more like men of war hoist'd pennants at their maintop mastheads."
Evidently men like these three Dutch admirals were as much at home, if not as happy, afloat as ashore, if indeed a change from floating securely a few feet above the sea level to land many feet below it, could be called being ashore.
How many of those who to-day rattle about Holland by rail, and admire the stately well-to-do look of old Dutch cities and towns, give a thought to these sedate fleets of sailing Indiamen, in which the wealth that built and kept the sea from swallowing them every higher tide than usual was slowly but surely carried two hundred years ago; or know that shipping, moving then some five miles an hour under sail, actually paid its owners better than now, though driven by the feverish beat of steam round the world at fifteen knots. Soon after making Fair Island, near the Shetlands, on the 16th of July, Rogers says, "We fell in with the Dutch _men of war_, with the exception of one or two that remained cruising with the fishing doggers off the north-east of Shetland, where having little wind we lay by, the boats from the land coming to and fro all night and supplied us with what they had, being poor people who live by fishing."
[Sidenote: _Arrive at the Texel in Holland._]
The whole squadron, now in convoy of the men-of-war, with a small breeze, turned south again down the North Sea, and after seven days "crossed the bar, and anchored at 5 p.m. of the 23rd of July at the Texel in Holland, the Dutchmen," says Rogers, "firing all their guns for joy at their arrival in their own country, which they very affectionately call Fatherland."
The cruise of the "Duke" and "Dutchess" was virtually ended when they anchored in the Texel Roads, where they were met by some of the owners from England. But many delays occurred before they were ready to sail again, with some East India ships for London, in convoy of the "Essex," "Canterbury," "Meday," and "Dunwich" men-of-war; so that it was October 14th before the last entry in Woodes Rogers' log was made, "that this day, at 11 of the clock, we and our Consort and prize got up to Eriff, where we came to an anchor, which ends our long and fatiguing voyage."