Five and a half years after sailing, Cheap, Byron, and Hamilton reappear in England and describe how, after returning to Wager Island, Chono guides led them north toward Chiloé. Deserters stole the barge, forcing the group into canoes. Surgeon Elliot weakened, gifted his watch to Campbell, and died. Cheap’s body and mind deteriorated as the Chono orchestrated a portage that bypassed lethal seas, then helped the survivors cross to Chiloé.

Upon nearing Chiloé, the party split for the final passage; Byron, Cheap, and Martin survived a perilous crossing and reached an indigenous village, where Cheap was nursed from the brink. Soon after, Spanish soldiers seized the castaways. Transported to Valparaíso, they were confined in the “condemned hole,” paraded for paying onlookers, then moved to Santiago, where the governor granted parole.

Amid parole, the men dined with Admiral Don José Pizarro, whose squadron had also been devastated rounding Cape Horn. After two and a half years, a prisoner exchange allowed Cheap, Byron, and Hamilton to sail home; Campbell remained, later accused of converting and shifting allegiance. Byron rushed to London and reunited with his sister Isabella.

In England, Cheap learned Bulkeley’s published accusations and resolved to answer them in court, not print. He prepared a sworn deposition, vowing to vindicate his conduct. Meanwhile, Grub Street swarmed: Campbell published a defense then fled to Spanish service; Byron held back; and hack pamphlets, including a plagiarized pro-Cheap booklet, recast Bulkeley’s journal to opposing ends.

With competing narratives multiplying, the Admiralty summoned all Wager survivors to Portsmouth for a court-martial. The hearing promised to cut through contradictory accounts and decide culpability, even at the risk of exposing imperial discipline’s collapse and overshadowing Anson’s celebrated victory.