Several years passed away; and William Phips had not yet gained the riches which he promised to himself.  During this time he had begun to follow the sea for a living.  In the year 1684, he happened to hear of a Spanish ship, which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and which was supposed to contain a great deal of gold and silver.  Phips went to the place in a small vessel, hoping that he should be able to recover some of the treasure from the wreck.  He did not succeed, however, in fishing up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of his voyage.

But, before he returned, he was told of another Spanish ship or galleon, which had been cast away near Porto de la Plata.  She had now lain as much as fifty years beneath the waves.  This old ship had been laden with immense wealth; and, hitherto, nobody had thought of the possibility of recovering any part of it from the deep sea, which was rolling and tossing it about.  But though it was now an old story, and the most aged people had almost forgotten that such a vessel had been wrecked.  William Phips resolved that the sunken treasure should again be brought to light.

He went to London, and obtained admittance to King James, who had not yet been driven from his throne.  He told the king of the vast wealth that was lying at the bottom of the sea.  King James listened with attention, and thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury with Spanish gold.  He appointed William Phips to be captain of a vessel, called the Rose Algier, carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men.  So now he was Captain Phips of the English navy.

Captain Phips sailed from England in the Rose Algier, and cruised for nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of the Spanish ship.  But the sea is so wide and deep, that it is no easy matter to discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies.  The prospect of success seemed very small; and most people would have thought that Captain Phips was as far from having money enough to build a “fair brick house,” as he was while he tended sheep.

The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, and gave up all hope of making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck.  They wanted to compel Captain Phips to turn pirate.  There was a much better prospect, they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels, which still sailed the sea, than by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath the waves full half a century.  They broke out in open mutiny, but were finally mastered by Phips, and compelled to obey his orders.  It would have been dangerous, however, to continue much longer at sea with such a crew of mutinous sailors; and, besides, the Rose Algier was leaky and unseaworthy.  So Captain Phips judged it best to return to England.

Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to find the very spot.  It was on a reef of rocks a few leagues from Porto de la Plata.