Volume 11 / Part 2 — CHAPTER XIV. VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY CAPTAIN GEORGE ANSON, IN THE YEARS 1740-1744.1 (continued 7)

The turbulent weather which forced us from Tinian, did not begin to abate till three days after; and then we swayed up the fore-yard, and began to heave up the main-yard, but the jeers broke and killed one of our men, and prevented us at that time from proceeding. The next day, being the 26th of September, was a day of most severe fatigue to us all; for it must be remembered, that in these exigences no rank or office exempted any person from the manual application and bodily labour of a common sailor. The business of this day was no less than an attempt to heave up the sheet-anchor, which we had hitherto dragged at our bows with two cables an end. This was a work of great importance to our future preservation: For, not to mention the impediment to our navigation, and the hazard it would be to our ship, if we attempted to make sail with the anchor in its present situation, we had this most interesting consideration to animate us, that it was the only anchor we had left; and, without securing it, we should be under the utmost difficulties and hazards, whenever we made the land again; and therefore, being all of us fully apprized of the consequence of this enterprize, we laboured at it with the severest application for full twelve hours, when we had indeed made a considerable progress, having brought the anchor in sight; but, it then growing dark, and we being excessively fatigued, we were obliged to desist, and to leave our work unfinished till the next morning, when, by the benefit of a night's rest, we completed it, and hung the anchor at our bow.

It was the 27th of September in the morning, that is, five days after our departure, when we thus secured our anchor; And the same day we got up our main-yard: And having now conquered in some degree the distress and disorder which we were necessarily involved in at our first driving out to sea, and being enabled to make use of our canvass, we set our courses, and for the first time stood to the eastward, in hopes of regaining the island of Tinian, and joining our commodore in a few days: For we were then, by our accounts, only forty-seven leagues to the south-west of Tinian; so that on the first day of October, having then run the distance necessary for making the island according to our reckoning, we were in full expectation of seeing it; but we were unhappily disappointed, and were thereby convinced that a current had driven us to the westward. And as we could not judge how much we might hereby have deviated, and consequently how long we might still expect to be at sea, we had great apprehensions that our stock of water might prove deficient; for we were doubtful about the quantity we had on board, and found many of our casks so decayed, as to be half leaked out. However, we were delivered from our uncertainty the next day by having a sight of the island of Guam, by which we discovered that the currents had driven us forty-four leagues to the westward of our accounts. This sight of land having satisfied us of our situation, we kept plying to the eastward, though with excessive labour, for the wind continuing fixed in the eastern board, we were obliged to tack often, and our crew were so weak, that, without the assistance of every man on board, it was not in our power to put the ship about: This severe employment lasted till the 11th of October, being the nineteenth day from our departure; when, arriving in the offing of Tinian, we were reinforced from the shore, as hath been already mentioned; and on the evening of the same day, to our inexpressible joy, came to an anchor in the road, thereby procuring to our shipmates on shore, as well as to ourselves, a cessation from the fatigues and apprehensions which this disastrous incident had given rise to.

SECTION XXVIII.

Of our Employment at Tinian, till the final Departure of the Centurion, and of the Voyage to Macao.¹

The commodore resolved to stay no longer at the island than was absolutely necessary to complete our stock of water, a work which we immediately set ourselves about. But the loss of our long-boat, which was staved against our poop when we were driven out to sea, put us to great inconveniences in getting our water on board: For we were obliged to raft off all our cask, and the tide ran so strong, that, besides the frequent delays and difficulties it occasioned, we more than once lost the whole raft. Nor was this our only misfortune; for, on the third day after our arrival, a sudden gust of wind brought home our anchor, forced us off the bank, and drove the ship out to sea a second time. The commodore, it is true, and the principal officers, were now on board; but we had near seventy men on shore, who had been employed in filling our water, and procuring provisions: These had with them our two cutters; but as they were too many for the cutters to bring off at once, we sent the eighteen-oared barge to assist them; and at the same time made a signal for all that could to embark. The two cutters soon came off to us full of men; but forty of the company, who were employed in killing cattle in the wood, and in bringing them down to the landing-place, were left behind; and though the eighteen-oared barge was left for their conveyance, yet, as the ship soon drove to a considerable distance, it was not in their power to join us. However, as the weather was favourable, and our crew was now stronger than when we were first driven out, we, in about five days time, returned again to an anchor at Tinian, and relieved those we had left behind us from their second fears of being deserted by their ship.

On our arrival, we found that the Spanish bark, the old object of their hopes, had undergone a new metamorphosis: For those we had left onshore began to despair of our return, and conceiving that the lengthening the bark, as formerly proposed, was both a toilsome and unnecessary measure, considering the small number they consisted of, they had resolved to join her again, and to restore her to her first state; and in this scheme they had made some progress; for they had brought the two parts together, and would have soon completed her, had not our coming back put a period to their labours and disquietudes.

These people we had left behind informed us, that, just before we were seen in the offing, two proas had stood in very near the shore, and had continued there for some time; but, on the appearance of our ship, they crowded away, and were presently out of sight. And, on this occasion, I must mention an incident, which, though it happened during the first absence of the ship, was then omitted, to avoid interrupting the course of the narration.

It hath been already observed, that a part of the detachment, sent to this island under the command of the Spanish Serjeant, lay concealed in the woods; and we were the less solicitous to find them out, as our prisoners all assured us, that it was impossible for them to get off, and consequently that it was impossible for them to send any intelligence about us to Guam. But when the Centurion drove out to sea, and left the commodore on shore, he one day, attended by some of his officers, endeavoured to make the tour of the island: In this expedition, being on a rising ground, they perceived in the valley beneath them the appearance of a small thicket, which, by observing more nicely, they found had a progressive motion: This at first surprised them; but they soon discovered, that it was no more than several large cocoa bushes, which were dragged along the ground, by persons concealed beneath them. They immediately concluded that these were some of the Serjeant's party (which, was indeed true); and therefore the commodore and his people made after them, in hopes of finding out their retreat. The Indians soon perceived they were discovered, and hurried away with precipitation; but Mr Anson was so near them, that he did not lose sight of them till they arrived at their cell, which he and his officers entering found to be abandoned, there being a passage from it down a precipice contrived for the conveniency of flight. They found here an old firelock or two, but no other arms. However, there was a great quantity of provisions, particularly salted spare-ribs of pork, which were excellent; and from what our people saw here, they concluded, that the extraordinary appetite, which they had found at this island, was not confined to themselves; for, it being about noon, the Indians had laid out a very plentiful repast considering their numbers, and had their bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts prepared ready for eating, and in a manner which plainly evinced, that, with them too, a good meal was neither an uncommon nor an unheeded article. The commodore having in vain endeavoured to discover the path by which the Indians had escaped, he and his officers contented themselves with sitting down to the dinner, which was thus luckily filled to their present appetites; after which, they returned back to their old habitation, displeased at missing the Indians, as they hoped to have engaged them in our service, if they could have had any conference with them. But, notwithstanding what our prisoners had asserted, we were afterwards assured, that these Indians were carried off to Guam long before we left the place.

On our coming to an anchor again; after our second driving off to sea; we laboured indefatigably in getting in our water; and having, by the 20th of October, completed it to fifty tun, which we supposed would be sufficient for our passage to Macao, we, on the next day, sent one of each mess on shore, to gather as large a quantity of oranges, lemons, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits of the island, as they possibly could, for the use of themselves and mess-mates, when at sea. And, these purveyors returning on board us on the evening of the same day, we then set fire to the bark and proa, hoisted in our boats, and got under sail, steering away for the south-end of the island of Formosa, and taking our leaves, for the third and last time, of the island of Tinian: An island, which, whether we consider the excellence of its productions, the beauty of its appearance, the elegance of its woods and lawns, the healthiness of its air or the adventures it gave rise to, may in all these views be truly styled romantic.

[After the description, certainly a very imperfect one, of the Ladrones, which now follows, the author gives a curious account of the proas or prows so much used among them. This is extracted, as likely to interest the reader, and as more satisfactory, than the brief notice already given in the history of Magellan's voyage. This account is more deserving of regard, as being drawn up from very particular examination of one of the vessels taken, as has been mentioned, at Tinian.]

The Indians that inhabit the Ladrones, of which Tinian (formerly well peopled) is one, are a bold, well-limbed people; and it should seem from some of their practices, that they are no ways defective in understanding; for their flying proa in particular, which has been for ages the only vessel used by them, is so singular and extraordinary an invention, that it would do honour to any nation, however dexterous and acute. Whether we consider its aptitude to the particular navigation of these islands, or the uncommon simplicity and ingenuity of its fabric and contrivance, or the extraordinary velocity with which it moves, we shall find it worthy of our admiration, and meriting a place amongst the mechanical productions of the most civilized nations, where arts and sciences have most eminently flourished.

The name of flying proa given to these vessels, is owing to the swiftness with which they sail. Of this the Spaniards assert such stories, as appear altogether incredible to those who have never seen these vessels move; nor are the Spaniards the only people who relate these extraordinary tales of their celerity. For those who shall have the curiosity to enquire at the dock at Portsmouth, about a trial made there some years since, with a very imperfect one built at that place, will meet with accounts not less wonderful than any the Spaniards have given. However, from some rude estimations made, by our people, of the velocity with which they crossed the horizon at a distance, whilst we lay at Tinian, I cannot help believing that with a brisk trade-wind they will run near twenty miles an hour: Which, though greatly short of what the Spaniards report of them, is yet a prodigious degree of swiftness.

The proa generally carries six or seven Indians; two of which are placed in the head and stem, who steer the vessel alternately with a paddle, according to the tack she goes on, be in the stern being the steersman; the other Indians are employed either in baling out the water which she accidentally ships, or in setting and trimming the sail. From the description of these vessels it is sufficiently obvious, how dexterously they are fitted for ranging this collection of islands called the Ladrones: For as these islands lie nearly N. and S. of each other, and are all within the limits of the trade-wind, the proas, by sailing most excellently on a wind, and with either end foremost, can ran from one of these islands to the other and back again, only by shifting the sail, without ever putting about; and, by the flatness of their lee-side, and their small breadth, they are capable of lying much nearer the wind than any other vessel hitherto known.

The eastern monsoon was now, we reckoned, fairly settled; and we had a constant gale blowing right upon our stern: So that we generally ran from forty to fifty leagues a-day. But we had a large hollow sea pursuing us, which occasioned the ship to labour much; whence we received great damage in our rigging, which was grown very rotten, and our leak was augmented: But, happily for us, our people were now in full health; so that there were no complaints of fatigue, but all went through their attendance on the pumps, and every other duty of the ship, with ease and cheerfulness.

Having no other but our sheet-anchor left, except our prize-anchors, which were stowed in the hold, and were too light to be depended on, we were under great concern how we should manage on, the coast of China, where we were all entire strangers, and where we should doubtless be frequently under the necessity of coming to an anchor. Our sheet-anchor being much too heavy for a coasting anchor, it was at length resolved to fix two of our largest prize-anchors into one stock, and to place between their shanks two guns, four pounders, which was accordingly executed, and it was to serve as a best bower: And a third prize-anchor being ill like manner joined with our stream-anchor, with guns between them, we thereby made a small bower; so that, besides our sheet-anchor, we had again two others at our bows, one of which weighed 3900, and the other 2900 pounds.

When we got sight of the island of Formosa, we steered W. by S. in order to double its extremity, and kept a good look-out for the rocks of Vele Rete, which we did not see till two in the afternoon. They then bore from us W.N.W. three miles distant, the south end of Formosa at the same time bearing N. by W. 1/2 W. about five leagues distant. To give these rocks a good birth, we immediately haled up S. by W. and so left them between us and the land. Indeed we had reason to be careful of them; for though they appeared as high out of the water as a ship's hull, yet they are environed with breakers on all sides, and there is a shoal stretching from them at least a mile and a half to the southward, whence they may be truly called dangerous. The course from Botel Tobago Xima to these rocks is S.W. by W. and the distance about twelve or thirteen leagues: And the south end of Formosa, off which they lie, is in the latitude of 21° 50' north, and in 23° 50' west longitude from Tinian, according to our most approved reckonings, though by some of our accounts above a degree more.

Not being able to procure any information from the Chinese fishermen about our proper course to Macao, it was necessary for us to rely entirety on our own judgment; and concluding from our latitude, which was 22° 42' north, and from our soundings, which were only seventeen or eighteen fathoms, that we were yet to the eastward of Pedro Blanco, we stood to the westward: And, for the assistance of future navigators, who may hereafter doubt about the parts of the coast they are upon, I must observe, that, besides the latitude of Pedro Blanco, which is 22° 18', and the depth of water, which to the westward of that rock is almost every where twenty fathoms, there is another circumstance which will give great assistance in judging of the position of the ship: This is, the kind of ground; for, till we came within thirty miles of Pedro Blanco, we had constantly a sandy bottom; but there the bottom changed to soft and muddy, and continued so quite to the island of Macao; only while we were in sight of Pedro Blanco, and very near it, we had for a short space a bottom of greenish mud, intermixed with sand.

On the 9th at four in the morning, we sent our cutter to sound the channel, where we proposed to pass; but before the return of the cutter, a Chinese pilot put on board us, and told us, in broken Portuguese, he would carry us to Macao for thirty dollars: These were immediately paid him, and we then weighed and made sail; and soon after, several other pilots came on board us, who, to recommend themselves, produced certificates from the captains of several ships they had piloted in, but we continued the ship under the management of the Chinese who came first on board. By this time we learnt, that we were not far distant from Macao, and that there were in the river of Canton, at the mouth of which Macao lies, eleven European ships, of which four were English. Our pilot carried us between the islands of Bamboo and Cabouce, but the winds hanging in the northern board, and the tides often setting strongly against us, we were obliged to come frequently to an anchor, so that we did not get through between the two islands till the 12th of November, at two in the morning. In passing through, our depth of water was from twelve to fourteen fathom; and as we still steered on N.W. 1/2 W. between a number of other islands, our soundings underwent little or no variation till towards the evening, when they increased to seventeen fathom; in which depth (the wind dying away) we anchored not far from the island of Lantoon, which is the largest of all this range of islands. At seven in the morning we weighed again, and steering W.S.W. and S.W. by W., we at ten o'clock happily anchored in Macao road, in five fathom water, the city of Macao bearing W. by N., three leagues distant; the peak of Lantoon E. by N., and the grand Ladrone S. by E. each of them about five leagues distant. Thus, after a fatiguing cruise of above two years continuance, we once more arrived in an amicable port, in a civilized country; where the conveniences of life were in great plenty; where the naval stores, which we now extremely wanted, could be in some degree procured; where we expected the inexpressible satisfaction of receiving letters from our relations and friends; and where our countrymen, who were lately arrived from England, would be capable of answering the numerous enquiries we were prepared to make, both about public and private occurrences, and to relate to us many particulars, which, whether of importance or not, would be listened to by us with the utmost attention, after the long suspension of our correspondence with our country, to which the nature of our undertaking had hitherto subjected us.

SECTION XXIX.

Proceedings at Macao.

The commodore, not to depart from his usual prudence, no sooner came to an anchor in Macao road, than he dispatched an officer with his compliments to the Portuguese governor of Macao, requesting his excellency, by the same officer, to advise him in what manner it would be proper to act, to avoid offending the Chinese, which, as there were then four of our ships in their power at Canton, was a matter worthy of attention. The difficulty, which the commodore principally apprehended, related to the duty usually paid by all ships in the river of Canton, according to their tunnage. For as men of war are exempted in every foreign harbour from all manner of port charges, the commodore thought it would be derogatory to the honour of his country to submit to this duty in China: And therefore he desired the advice of the governor of Macao, who, being an European, could not be ignorant of the privileges claimed by a British man of war, and consequently might be expected to give us the best lights for avoiding this perplexity. Our boat returned in the evening with two officers sent by the governor, who informed the commodore, that it was the governor's opinion, that if the Centurion ventured into the river of Canton, the duty would certainly be demanded; and therefore, if the commodore approved of it, he would send him a pilot, who should conduct us into another safe harbour, called the Typa, which was every way commodious for careening the ship, (an operation we were resolved to begin upon as soon as possible) and where the above-mentioned duty would, in all probability, be never asked for.

This proposal the commodore agreed to, and in the morning we weighed anchor, and, under the direction of the Portuguese pilot, steered for the intended harbour. As we entered two islands, which form the eastern passage to it, we found our soundings decreased to three fathom and a half: But the pilot assuring us that this was the least depth we should meet with, we continued our course, till at length the ship stuck fast in the mud, with only eighteen feet water abaft; and, the tide of ebb making, the water sewed to sixteen feet, but the ship remained perfectly upright; we then sounded all round us, and finding the water deepened to the northward, we carried out our small bower with two hawsers an end, and at the return of the tide of flood, hove the ship afloat, and a small breeze springing up at the same instant, we set the fore top-sail, and, slipping the hawser, ran into the harbour, where we moored in about five fathom water. This harbour of the Typa is formed by a number of islands, and is about six miles distant from Macao. Here we saluted the castle of Macao with eleven guns, which were returned by an equal number.

The next day the commodore paid a visit in person to the governor, and was saluted at his landing by eleven guns, which were returned by the Centurion. Mr Anson's business in this visit was to solicit the governor to grant us a supply of provisions, and to furnish us with such stores as were necessary to refit the ship The governor seemed really inclined to do us all the service he could, and assured the commodore, in a friendly manner, that he would privately give us all the assistance in his power; but, at the same time, frankly owned that he dared not openly furnish us with any thing we demanded, unless we first procured an order for it from the viceroy of Canton, for that he neither received provisions for his garrison, nor any other necessaries, but by permission from the Chinese government; and as they took care only to furnish him from day to day, he was indeed no other than their vassal, whom they could at all times compel to submit to their own terms, only by laying an embargo on his provisions.

On this declaration of the governor, Mr Anson resolved himself to go to Canton to procure a license from the viceroy; and accordingly hired a Chinese boat for himself and his attendants; but just as he was ready to embark, the Hoppo, or Chinese custom-house officer at Macao, refused to grant a permit to the boat, and ordered the watermen not to proceed at their peril. The commodore at first endeavoured to prevail with the hoppo to withdraw his injunction, and to grant a permit; and the governor of Macao employed his interest with the hoppo to the same purpose. Mr Anson, finding the officer inflexible, told him the next day, that if he longer refused to grant the permit, he would man and arm his own boats to carry him thither; asking the hoppo, at the same time, who he imagined would dare to oppose him. This threat immediately brought about what his entreaties had laboured for in vain: The permit was granted, and Mr Anson went to Canton. On his arrival there he consulted with the supercargoes and officers of the English ships, how to procure an order from the viceroy for the necessaries he wanted; but in this he had reason to suppose, that the advice they gave him, though doubtless well intended, was yet not the most prudent; for as it is the custom with these gentlemen never to apply to the supreme magistrate himself, whatever difficulties they labour under, but to transact all matters relating to the government by the mediation of the principal Chinese merchants, Mr Anson was advised to follow the same method upon this occasion, the English promising (in which they were doubtless sincere) to exert all their interest to engage the merchants in his favour. And when the Chinese merchants were applied to, they readily undertook the management of it, and promised to answer for its success; but after near a month's delay, and reiterated excuses, during which interval they pretended to be often upon the point of completing the business, they at last (being pressed, and measures being taken for delivering a letter to the viceroy) threw off the mask, and declared they neither had applied to the viceroy nor could they; for he was too great a man, they said, for them to approach on any occasion. And, not contented with having themselves thus grossly deceived the commodore, they now used all their persuasion with the English at Canton, to prevent them from intermeddling with any thing that regarded him, representing to them; that it would in all probability embroil them with the government, and occasion them a great deal of unnecessary trouble; which groundless insinuations had indeed but too much weight with those they were applied to.

It may be difficult to assign a reason for this perfidious conduct of the Chinese merchants: Interest indeed is known to exert a boundless influence over the inhabitants of that empire; but how their interest could be affected in the present case is not easy to discover, unless they apprehended that the presence of a ship of force might damp their Manilla trade, and therefore acted in this manner with a view of forcing the commodore to Batavia: But it might be as natural in this light to suppose, that they would have been eager to have got him dispatched. I, therefore, rather impute their behaviour to the unparalleled pusillanimity of the nation, and to the awe they are under of the government; for as such a ship as the Centurion, fitted for war only, had never been seen in those parts before, she was the horror of these dastards, and the merchants were in some degree terrified even with the idea of her, and could not think of applying to the viceroy (who is doubtless fond of all opportunities of fleecing them) without representing to themselves the pretences which a hungry and tyrannical magistrate night possibly find, for censuring their intermeddling in so unusual a transaction, in which he might pretend the interest of the state was immediately concerned. However, be this as it may, the commodore was satisfied that nothing was to be done by the interposition of the merchants, as it was on his pressing them to deliver a letter to the viceroy that they had declared they durst not intermeddle, and had confessed, that, notwithstanding all their pretences of serving him, they had not yet taken one step towards it. Mr Anson therefore told them, that he would proceed to Batavia and refit his ship there; but informed them, at the same time, that this was impossible to be done, unless he was supplied with a stock of provisions sufficient for his passage. The merchants on this undertook to procure him provisions, but assured him that it was what they durst not engage in openly, but proposed to manage it in a clandestine manner, by putting a quantity of bread, flour, and other provision, on board the English ships, which were now ready to sail, and these were to stop at the mouth of the Typa, where the Centurion's boats were to receive it. This article, which the merchants represented as a matter of great favour, being settled, the commodore, on the 16th of December, returned from Canton to the ship, seemingly resolved to proceed to Batavia to refit, as soon as he should get his supplies of provision on board.

But Mr Anson (who never intended going to Batavia) found, on his return to the Centurion, that her main-mast was sprung in two places, and that the leak was considerably increased; so that, upon the whole, he was fully satisfied, that though he should lay in a sufficient stock of provisions, yet it would be impossible for him to put to sea without refitting: For, if he left the port with his ship in her present condition, she would be in the utmost danger of foundering, and therefore, notwithstanding the difficulties he had met with, he resolved at all events to have her hove down before he left Macao. He was fully convinced, by what he had observed at Canton, that his great caution not to injure the East India Company's affairs, and the regard he had shown to the advice of their officers, had occasioned all his embarrassments. For he now saw clearly, that if he had at first carried his ship into the river of Canton, and had immediately applied himself to the mandarines, who are the chief officers of state, instead of employing the merchants to apply for him, he would, in all probability, have had all his requests granted, and would have been soon dispatched. He had already lost a month by the wrong measures he had been put upon, but he resolved to lose as little more time as possible; and, therefore, the 17th of December, being the next day after his return from Canton, he wrote a letter to the viceroy of that place, acquainting him that he was commander-in-chief of a squadron of his Britannic majesty's ships of war which had been cruising for two years past in the South Seas against the Spaniards, who were at war with the king his master; that, in his way back to England, he had put into the port of Macao, having a considerable leak in his ship, and being in great want of provisions, so that it was impossible for him to proceed on his voyage till his ship was repaired, and he was supplied with the necessaries he wanted; that he had been at Canton, in hopes of being admitted to a personal audience of his excellency, but being a stranger to the customs of the country, he had not been able to inform himself what steps were necessary to be taken to procure such an audience, and therefore was obliged to apply to him in this manner, to desire his excellency to give orders for his being permitted to employ carpenters and proper workmen to refit his ship, and to furnish himself with provisions and stores, thereby to enable him to pursue his voyage to Great Britain with this monsoon, hoping, at the same time, that these orders would be issued with as little delay as possible, lest it might occasion his loss of the season, and he might be prevented, from departing till the next winter.

This letter was translated into the Chinese language, and the commodore delivered it himself to the hoppo, or chief officer of the emperor's customs at Macao, desiring him to forward it to the viceroy of Canton with as much expedition as he could. The officer at first seemed unwilling to take charge of it, and raised many difficulties about it, so that Mr Anson suspected him of being in league with the merchants of Canton, who had always shown a great apprehension of the commodore's having any immediate intercourse with the viceroy or mandarines; and, therefore, the commodore, with some resentment, took back his letter from the hoppo, and told him he would immediately send, an officer with it to Canton in his own boat, and would give him positive orders not to return without an answer from the viceroy. The hoppo, perceiving the commodore to be in earnest, and fearing to be called to an account for his refusal, begged to be entrusted with the letter, and promised to deliver it, and to procure an answer as soon as possible. And now it was soon seen how justly Mr Anson had at last judged of the proper manner of dealing with the Chinese; for this letter was written but the 17th of December, as hath been already observed, and on the 19th in the morning, a mandarine of the first rank, who was governor of the city of Janson, together with two mandarines of an inferior class, and a great retinue of officers and servants, having with them eighteen half gallies, decorated with a great number of streamers, and furnished with music, and full of men, came to grapnel a-head of the Centurion; whence the mandarine sent a message to the commodore, telling him that he (the mandarine) was ordered by the viceroy of Canton to examine the condition of the ship, and desiring the ship's boat might be sent to fetch him on board. The Centurion's boat was immediately dispatched, and preparations were made for receiving him; for a hundred of the most sightly of the crew were uniformly drest in the regimentals of the marines, and were drawn up under arms on the main-deck on his arrival. When he entered the ship he was saluted by the drums, and what other military music there was on board; and, passing by the new-formed guard, he was met by the commodore on the quarter-deck, who conducted him to the great cabin. Here the mandarine explained his commission, declaring, that his business was to examine all the particulars mentioned in the commodore's letter to the viceroy, and to confront them with the representation that had been given of them; that he was particularly instructed to inspect the leak, and had for that purpose brought with him two Chinese carpenters; and that, for the greater regularity and dispatch or his business, he had every head of enquiry separately wrote down on a sheet of paper, with a void space opposite to it, where he was to insert such information and remarks thereon as he could procure by his own observation.

When this weighty affair was thus in some degree regulated, the commodore invited him and his two attendant mandarines to dinner, telling them at the same time, that if his provisions, either in kind or quantity, were not what they might expect, they must thank themselves for having confined him to so hard an allowance. One of his dishes was beef, which the Chinese all dislike, though Mr Anson was not apprized of it; this seems to be derived from the India superstition, which for some ages past has made a great progress in China. However, his guests did not entirely fast; for the three mandarines completely finished the white part of four large fowls. But they were extremely embarrassed with their knives and forks, and were quite incapable of making use of them: So that, after some fruitless attempts to help themselves, which were sufficiently awkward, one of the attendants was obliged to cut their meat in small pieces for them. But whatever difficulty they might have in complying with the European manner of eating, they seemed not to be novices in drinking. The commodore excused himself in this part of the entertainment, under the pretence of illness; but there being another gentleman present, of a florid and jovial complexion, the chief mandarine clapped him on the shoulder, and told him by the interpreter, that certainly he could not plead sickness, and therefore insisted on his bearing him company; and that gentleman perceiving, that after they had dispatched four or five bottles of Frontiniac, the mandarine still continued unruffled, he ordered a bottle of citron-water to be brought up, which the Chinese seemed much to relish; and this being near finished, they arose from table in appearance cool and uninfluenced by what they had drank, and the commodore having, according to custom, made the mandarine a present, they all departed in the same vessels that brought them.

After their departure, the commodore with great impatience expected the resolution of the council, and the necessary licences for his refitment. For it must be observed, as hath already appeared from the preceding narration, that he could neither purchase stores nor necessaries with his money, nor did any kind of workmen dare to engage themselves to work for him, without the permission of the government first obtained. And in the execution of these particular injunctions, the magistrates never fail of exercising great severity, they, notwithstanding the fustian eulogiums bestowed on them by the catholic missionaries and their European copiers, being composed of the same fragile materials with the rest of mankind, and often making use of the authority of the law, not to suppress crimes, but to enrich themselves by the pillage of those who commit them; for capital punishments are rare in China, the effeminate genius of the nation, and their strong attachment to lucre, disposing them rather to make use of fines; and hence arises no inconsiderable profit to those who compose their tribunals: Consequently prohibitions of all kinds, particularly such as the alluring prospect of great profit may often tempt the subject to infringe, cannot but be favourite institutions in such a government. But to return:

Some time before this, Captain Saunders took his passage to England on board a Swedish ship, and was charged with dispatches from the commodore; and soon after, in the month of December, Captain Mitchel, Colonel Cracherode, and Mr Tassel, one of the agent-victuallers, with his nephew Mr Charles Harriot, embarked on board some of our company's ships; and I, having obtained, the commodore's leave to return home, embarked with them.

Whilst we lay here at Macao, we were informed by some of the officers of our Indiamen, that the Severn and Pearl, the two ships of our squadron, which had separated from us off Cape Noir, were safely arrived at Rio Janeiro on the coast of Brazil. I have formerly taken notice, that at the time of their separation, we apprehended them to be lost. And there were many reasons which greatly favoured this suspicion: For we knew that the Severn in particular was extremely sickly; and this was the more obvious to the rest of the ships, as, in the preceding part of the voyage, her commander, Captain Legg, had been remarkable for his exemplary punctuality in keeping his station, till, for the last ten days before his separation, his crew was so diminished and enfeebled, that with his utmost efforts it was not possible for him to maintain it. Whatever was the cause of it, the Severn was by much the most sickly of the squadron: For before her departure from St Catharines, she buried more men than any of them, insomuch that the commodore was obliged to recruit her with a number of fresh hands; and the mortality still continuing, she was supplied with men a second time at sea, after our setting sail from St Julians; and, notwithstanding these different reinforcements, she was at last reduced to the distressed condition I have already mentioned.

This being regulated, the commodore exerted himself to get this most important business completed; I mean the heaving down the Centurion, and examining the state of her bottom: For this purpose the first lieutenant was dispatched to Canton to hire two country vessels, called in their language junks, one of them being intended to heave down by, and the other to serve as a magazine for the powder and ammunition: At the same time the ground was smoothed on one of the neighbouring islands, and a large tent was pitched for lodging the lumber and provisions, and near a hundred Chinese caulkers were soon set to work on the decks and sides of the ship. But all these preparations, and the getting ready the careening gear, took up a great deal of time; for the Chinese caulkers, though they worked very well, were far from being expeditions; and it was the 26th of January before the junks arrived; and the necessary materials, which were to be purchased at Canton, came down very slowly, partly from the distance of the place, and partly from the delays and backwardness of the Chinese merchants. And in this interval Mr Anson had the additional perplexity to discover that his fore-mast was broken asunder above the upper deck partners, and was only kept together by the fishes which had been formerly clapt upon it.

However, the Centurion's people made the most of their time, and exerted themselves the best they could; and as, by clearing the ship, the carpenters were enabled to come at the leak, they took care to secure that effectually, whilst the other preparations were going forwards. The leak was found to be below the fifteen-foot mark, and was principally occasioned by one of the bolts being wore away and loose in the joining of the stem where it was scarfed.

At last all things being prepared, they, on the 22d of February, in the morning, hove out the first course of the Centurion's starboard side, and had the satisfaction to find that her bottom appeared sound and good; and, the next day (having by that time completed the new sheathing of the first course) they righted her again, to set up anew the careening rigging which stretched much. Thus they continued heaving down, and often righting the ship from a suspicion of their careening tackle, till the 3d of March; when, having completed the paying and sheathing the bottom, which proved to be every where very sound, they for the last time righted the ship to their great joy, for not only the fatigue of careening had been considerable, but they had been apprehensive of being attacked by the Spaniards, whilst the ship was thus incapacitated for defence. Nor were their fears altogether groundless; for they learnt afterwards by a Portuguese vessel, that the Spaniards at Manilla had been informed that the Centurion was in the Typa, and intended to careen there; and that thereupon the governor had summoned his council, and had proposed to them to endeavour to burn her whilst she was careening, which was an enterprise, which, if properly conducted, might have put them in great danger: They were farther told that this scheme was not only proposed, but resolved on; and that a captain of a vessel had actually undertaken to perform the business for forty thousand dollars, which he was not to receive unless he succeeded; but the governor pretending that there was no treasure in the royal chest, and insisting that the merchants should advance the money, and they refusing to comply with the demand, the affair was dropped: Perhaps the merchants suspected that the whole was only a pretext to get forty thousand dollars from them; and indeed this was affirmed by some who bore the governor no good will, but with what truth it is difficult to ascertain.

As soon as the Centurion was righted, they took in her powder and gunner's stores, and proceeded in getting in their guns as fast as possible, and then used their utmost; expedition in repairing the fore-mast, and in completing the other articles of her refitment. And being thus employed, they were alarmed on the 10th of March, by a Chinese fisherman, who brought them intelligence that he had been on board a large Spanish ship off the grand Ladrone, and that there were two more in company with her: He added several particulars to his relation, as that he had brought one of their officers to Macao; and that, on this, boats went off early in the morning from Macao to them: And the better to establish the belief of his veracity, he said he desired no money if his information should not prove true. This was presently believed to be the fore-mentioned expedition from Manilla, and the commodore immediately fitted his cannon and small arms in the best manner he could for defence; and having; then his pinnace and cutter in the offing, who had been ordered to examine a Portuguese vessel which was getting under sail, he sent them the advice he had received, and directed them to look out strictly: But no such ships ever appeared, and they were soon satisfied the whole of the story was a fiction; though it was difficult to conceive what reason could induce the fellow to be at such extraordinary pains to impose on them.

It was the beginning of April before they had new-rigged the ship, stowed their provisions and water on board, and had fitted her for the sea; and before this time the Chinese grew very uneasy, and extremely desirous that she should be gone; either not knowing, or pretending not to believe, that this was a point the commodore was as eagerly set on as they could be. On the 3d of April, two mandarine boats came on board from Macao to urge his departure; and this having been often done before, though there had been no pretence to suspect Mr Anson of any affected delays, he at this last message answered them in a determined tone, desiring them to give him no further trouble, for he would go when he thought proper, and not before. On this rebuke the Chinese (though it was not in their power to compel him to be gone) immediately prohibited all provisions from being carried on board him, and took such care that their injunctions should be complied with, that from that time forwards nothing could be purchased at any rate whatever.

On the 6th of April, the Centurion weighed from the Typa, and warped to the southward; and by the 15th, she was got into Macao road, completing her water as she passed along, so that there remained now very few articles more to attend to, and her whole business being finished by the 19th, she, at three in the afternoon of that day, weighed and made sail, and stood to sea.

SECTION XXX.

From Macao to Cape Espiritu Santo; the taking of the Manilla Galleon, and returning back again.

The commodore was now got to sea, with his ship very well refitted, his stores replenished, and an additional stock of provisions on board: His crew too was somewhat reinforced; for he had entered twenty-three men during his stay at Macao, the greatest part of which were Lascars or Indian sailors, and some few Dutch. He gave out at Macao that he was bound to Batavia, and thence to England; and though the westerly monsoon was now set in, when that passage is considered as impracticable, yet, by the confidence he had expressed in the strength of his ship, and the dexterity of his people, he had persuaded not only his own crew, but the people at Macao likewise, that he proposed to try this unusual experiment; so that there were many letters put on board him by the inhabitants of Canton and Macao for their friends at Batavia.

But his real design was of a very different nature: For he knew, that instead of one annual ship from Acapulco to Manilla, there would be this year in all probability two; since, by being before Acapulco, he had prevented one of them from putting to sea the preceding season. He therefore resolved to cruise for these returning vessels off Cape Espiritu Santo, on the island of Samal, which is the first land they always make in the Philippine Islands. And as June is generally the month in which they arrive there, he doubted not but he should get to his intended station time enough to intercept them. It is true, they were said to be stout vessels, mounting forty-four guns a-piece, and carrying above five hundred hands, and might be expected to return in company; and he himself had but two hundred and twenty-seven hands on board, of which near thirty were boys: But this disproportion of strength did not deter him, as he knew his ship to be much better fitted for a sea-engagement than theirs, and as he had reason to expect that his men would exert themselves in the most extraordinary manner, when they had in view the immense wealth of these Manilla galleons.

This project the commodore had resolved on in his own thoughts, ever since his leaving the coast of Mexico. And the greatest mortification which he received, from the various delays he had met with in China, was his apprehension, lest he might be thereby so long retarded as to let the galleons escape him. Indeed, at Macao it was incumbent on him to keep these views extremely secret; for there being a great intercourse and a mutual connection of interests between that port and Manilla, he had reason to fear, that if his designs were discovered, intelligence would be immediately sent to Manilla, and measures taken to prevent the galleons from falling into his hands: But being now at sea, and entirely clear of the coast, he summoned all his people on the quarter-deck, and informed them of his resolution to cruise for the two Manilla ships, of whose wealth they were not ignorant. He told them he should chuse a station, where he could not fail of meeting with them; and though they were stout ships, and full manned, yet, if his own people behaved with their accustomed spirit, he was certain he should prove too hard for them both, and that one of them at least could not fail of becoming his prize: He further added, that many ridiculous tales had been propagated about the strength of the sides of these ships, and their being impenetrable to cannon-shot; that these fictions had been principally invented to palliate the cowardice of those who had formerly engaged them; but he hoped there were none of those present weak enough to give credit to so absurd a story: For his own part, he did assure them upon his word, that, whenever he met with them, he would fight them so near, that they should find, his bullets, instead of being stopped by one of their sides, should go through them both.

This speech of the commodore's was received by his people with great joy: For no sooner had he ended, than they expressed their approbation, according to naval custom, by three strenuous cheers, and all declared their determination to succeed or perish, whenever the opportunity presented itself. And now their hopes, which, since their departure from the coast of Mexico, had entirely subsided, were again revived; and they all persuaded themselves, that, notwithstanding the various casualties and disappointments they had hitherto met with, they should yet be repaid the price of their fatigues, and should at last return home enriched with the spoils of the enemy: For, firmly relying on the assurances of the commodore, that they should certainly meet with the vessels, they were all of them too sanguine to doubt a moment of mastering them; so that they considered themselves as having them already in their possession. And this confidence was so universally spread through the whole ship's company, that, the commodore having taken some Chinese sheep to sea with him for his own provision, and one day enquiring of his butcher, why, for some time past, he had seen no mutton at his table, asking him if all the sheep were killed, the butcher very seriously replied, that there were indeed two sheep left, but that, if his honour would give him leave, he proposed to keep those for the entertainment of the general of the galleons.

After getting a sight of the Bashee islands, they stood between the S. and S.W. for Cape Espiritu Santo; and, the 20th of May at noon, they first discovered that cape, which about four o'clock they brought to bear S.S.W. about eleven leagues distant. It appeared to be of a moderate height, with several round hummocks on it. As it was known that there were centinels placed upon this cape to make signals to the Acapulco ship, when she first falls in with the land, the commodore immediately tacked, and ordered the top-gallant sails to be taken in, to prevent being discovered; and, this being the station in which it was resolved to cruise for the galleons, they kept the cape between the south and the west, and endeavoured to confine themselves between the latitude of 12° 50', and 13° 5', the cape itself lying, by their observations, in 12° 40' north, and 4° of east longitude from Botel Tobago Xima.

The galleons being now expected, the commodore made all necessary preparations for receiving them, having hoisted out his long-boat, and lashed her alongside, that the ship might be ready for engaging, if they fell in with the galleons in the night. All this time too he was very solicitous to keep at such a distance from the cape, as not to be discovered: But it hath been since learnt, that notwithstanding his care, he was seen from the land; and advice of him was sent to Manilla, where it was at first disbelieved, but on reiterated intelligence (for it seems he was seen more than once) their merchants were alarmed, and the governor was applied to, who undertook (the commerce supplying the necessary sums) to fit out a force consisting of two ships of thirty-two guns, one of twenty guns, and two sloops of ten guns each, to attack the Centurion on her station: And some of these vessels did actually weigh with this view; but the principal ship not being ready, and the monsoon being against then, the commerce and the governor disagreed, and the enterprize was laid aside. This frequent discovery of the Centurion from the shore was somewhat extraordinary; for the pitch of the cape is not high, and she usually kept from ten to fifteen leagues distant; though once indeed, by an indraught of the tide, as was supposed, they found themselves in the morning within seven leagues of the land.

As the month of June advanced, the expectancy and impatience of the commodore's people each day increased. And I think no better idea can be given of their great eagerness on this occasion, than by copying a few paragraphs from the journal of an officer, who was then on board, as it will, I presume, be a more natural picture of the full attachment of their thoughts to the business of their cruise, than can be given by any other means. The paragraphs I have selected, as they occur in order of time, are as follow:

"May 31. Exercising our men at their quarters, in great expectation of meeting with the galleons very soon; this being the eleventh of June their stile."

"June 3. Keeping in our stations, and looking out for the galleons."

"June 5. Begin now to be in great expectation, this being the middle of June their stile."

"June 11. Begin to grow impatient at not seeing the galleons."

"June 13. The wind having blown fresh easterly for the forty-eight hours past, gives us great expectations of seeing the galleons soon."

"June 15. Cruising on and off, and looking out strictly."

"June 19. This being the last day of June, N.S. the galleons, if they arrive at all, must appear soon."

From these samples it is sufficiently evident, how completely the treasure of the galleons had engrossed their imagination, and how anxiously they passed the latter part of their cruise, when the certainty of the arrival of these vessels was dwindled down to probability only, and that probability became each hour more and more doubtful. However, on the 20th of June, O.S. being just a month from their arrival on their station, they were relieved from this state of uncertainty; when, at sun-rise, they discovered a sail from the mast-head, in the S.E. quarter. On this, a general joy spread through the whole ship; for they had no doubt but this was one of the galleons, and they expected soon to see the other. The commodore instantly stood towards her, and at half an hour after seven they were near enough to see her from the Centurion's deck; at which time the galleon fired a gun, and took in her top-gallant sails, which was supposed to be a signal to her consort, to hasten her up; and therefore the Centurion fired a gun to leeward, to amuse her. The commodore was surprised to find, that in all this time the galleon did not change her course, but continued to bear down upon him; for he hardly believed, what afterwards appeared to be the case, that she knew his ship to be the Centurion, and resolved to fight him.

About noon the commodore was little more than a league distant from the galleon, and could fetch her wake, so that she could not now escape; and, no second ship appearing, it was concluded that she had been separated from her consort. Soon after, the galleon haled up her fore-sail, and brought-to under top-sails, with her head to the northward, hoisting Spanish colours, and having the standard of Spain flying at the top-gallant-mast-head. Mr Anson, in the mean time, had prepared all things for an engagement on board the Centurion, and had taken all possible care, both for the most effectual exertion of his small strength, and for the avoiding the confusion and tumult too frequent in actions of this kind. He picked out about thirty of his choicest hands and best marksmen, whom he distributed into his tops, and who fully answered his expectation, by the signal services they performed. As he had not hands enough remaining to quarter a sufficient number to each great gun, in the customary manner, he therefore, on his lower tire, fixed only two men to each gun, who were to be solely employed in loading it, whilst the rest of his people were divided into different gangs of ten or twelve men each, who were constantly moving about the decks, to ran out and fire such guns as were loaded. By this management he was enabled to make use of all his guns; and, instead of firing broad-sides with intervals between them, he kept up a constant fire without intermission, whence he doubted not to procure very signal advantages; for it is common with the Spaniards to fall down upon the decks when they see a broadside preparing, and to continue in that posture till it is given; after which they rise again, and, presuming the danger to be for some time over, work their guns, and fire with great briskness, till another broad-side is ready: But the firing gun by gun, in the manner directed by the commodore, rendered this practice of theirs impossible.

The Centurion being thus prepared, and nearing the galleon apace, there happened, a little after noon, several squalls of wind and rain, which often obscured the galleon from their sight; but whenever it cleared up, they observed her resolutely lying-to; and, towards one o'clock, the Centurion hoisted her broad pendant and colours, she being then within gun-shot of the enemy. And the commodore observing the Spaniards to have neglected clearing their ship till that time, as he then saw them throwing overboard cattle and lumber, he gave orders to fire upon them with the chace-guns, to embarrass them in their work, and prevent them from completing it, though his general directions had been not to engage till they were within pistol-shot. The galleon returned the fire with two of her stern-chacers; and, the Centurion getting her sprit-sail-yard fore and aft, that if necessary she might be ready for boarding, the Spaniards in a bravado rigged their sprit-sail-yard fore and aft likewise. Soon after, the Centurion came a-breast of the enemy within pistol-shot, keeping to the leeward with a view of preventing them from putting before the wind, and gaining the port of Jalapay, from which they were about seven leagues distant. And now the engagement began in earnest, and, for the first half hour, Mr Anson over-reached the galleon, and lay on her bow; where, by the great wideness of his ports, he could traverse almost all his guns upon the enemy, whilst the galleon could only bring a part of hers to bear. Immediately on the commencement of the action, the mats, with which the galleon had stuffed her netting, took fire, and burnt violently, blazing up half as high as the mizen-top. This accident (supposed to be caused by the Centurion's wads) threw the enemy into great confusion, and at the same time alarmed the commodore, for he feared least the galleon should be burnt, and least he himself too might suffer by her driving on board him: But the Spaniards at last freed themselves from the fire, by cutting away the netting, and tumbling the whole mass, which was in flames, into the sea. But still the Centurion kept her first advantageous position, firing her cannon with great regularity and briskness, whilst at the same time the galleon's decks lay open to her top-men, who, having at their first volley driven the Spaniards from their tops, made prodigious havock with their small-arms, killing or wounding every officer but one that ever appeared on the quarter-deck, and wounding in particular the general of the galleon himself. And though the Centurion, after the first half hour, lost her original situation, and was close alongside the galleon, and the enemy continued to fire briskly for near an hour longer, yet at last the commodore's grape-shot swept their decks so effectually, and the number of their slain and wounded was so considerable, that they began to fall into great disorder, especially as the general, who was the life of the action, was no longer capable of exerting himself. Their embarrassment was visible from on board the commodore. For the ships were so near, that some of the Spanish officers were seen running about with great assiduity, to prevent the desertion of their men from their quarters: But all their endeavours were in vain; for after having, as a last effort, fired five or six guns with more judgment than usual, they gave up the contest; and, the galleon's colours being singed off the ensign-staff in the beginning of the engagement, she struck the standard at her main-top-gallant-mast-head, the person who was employed to do it, having been in imminent peril of being killed, had not the commodore, who perceived what he was about, given express orders to his people to desist from firing.

Thus was the Centurion possessed of this rich prize, amounting in value to near a million and a half of dollars. She was called the Nostra Signora de Cabadonga, and was commanded by the general Don Jeronimo de Montero, a Portuguese by birth, and the most approved officer for skill and courage of any employed in that service. The galleon, was much larger than the Centurion, had five hundred and fifty men and thirty-six guns mounted for action, besides twenty-eight pidreroes in her gunwale, quarters and tops, each of which carried a four-pound ball. She was very well furnished with small arms, and was particularly provided against boarding, both by her close quarters, and by a strong net-work of two-inch rope, which was laced over her waist, and was defended by half pikes. She had sixty-seven killed in the action, and eighty-four wounded, whilst the Centurion had only two killed, and a lieutenant and sixteen wounded, all of whom, but one, recovered: Of so little consequence are the most destructive arms in untutored and unpractised hands.

The treasure thus taken by the Centurion having been for at least eighteen months the great object of their hopes, it is impossible to describe the transport on board, when, after all their reiterated disappointments, they at last saw their wishes accomplished. But their joy was near being suddenly damped by a most tremendous incident: For no sooner had the galleon struck, than one of the lieutenants coming to Mr Anson to congratulate him on his prize, whispered him at the same time, that the Centurion was dangerously on fire near the powder-room. The commodore received this dreadful news without any apparent emotion, and, taking care not to alarm his people, gave the necessary orders for extinguishing it, which was happily done in a short time, though its appearance at first was extremely terrible. It seems some cartridges had been blown up by accident between decks, by which a quantity of oakum in the after-hatch-way, near the after-powder-room, was set on fire; and the great smother and smoke of the oakum occasioned the apprehension of a more extended and mischievous fire. At the same instant, too, the galleon fell on board the Centurion on the starboard quarter, but she was cleared without doing or receiving any considerable damage.

The commodore made his first lieutenant, Mr Saumarez, captain of this prize, appointing her a post-ship in his majesty's service. Captain Saumarez, before night, sent on board the Centurion all the Spanish prisoners, but such as were thought the most proper to be retained to assist in navigating the galleon. And now the commodore learnt, from some of the prisoners, that the other ship, which he had kept in the port of Acapulco the preceding year, instead of returning in company with the present prize, as was expected, had set sail from Acapulco alone much sooner than usual, and had, in all probability, got into the port of Manilla long before the Centurion arrived off Espiritu Santo; so that Mr Anson, notwithstanding his present success, had great reason to regret his loss of time at Macao, which prevented him from taking two rich prizes instead of one.

The commodore, when the action was ended, resolved to make the best of his way with his prize for the river of Canton, being in the mean time fully employed in securing his prisoners, and in removing the treasure from on board the galleon into the Centurion. The last of these operations was too important to be postponed; for as the navigation to Canton was through seas but little known, and where, from the season of the year, much bad weather might be expected, it was of great consequence that the treasure should be sent on board the Centurion, which ship, by the presence of the commander in chief, the greater number of her hands, and her other advantages, was doubtless much safer against all the casualties of winds and seas than the galleon; and the securing the prisoners was a matter of still more consequence, as not only the possession of the treasure, but the lives of the captors, depended thereon. This was indeed an article which gave the commodore much trouble and disquietude; for they were above double the number of his own people; and some of them, when they were brought on board the Centurion, and had observed how slenderly she was manned, and the large proportion which the striplings bore to the rest, could not help expressing themselves with great indignation to be thus beaten by a handful of boys. The method, which was taken to hinder them from rising, was by placing all but the officers and the wounded in the hold, where, to give them as much air as possible, two hatch-ways were left open; but then (to avoid all danger, whilst the Centurion's people should be employed upon the deck) there was a square partition of thick planks, made in the shape of a funnel, which enclosed each hatch-way on the lower deck, and reached to that directly over it on the upper deck; these funnels served to communicate the air to the hold better than could have been done without them; and, at the same time, added greatly to the security of the ship; for they being seven or eight feet high, it would have been extremely difficult for the Spaniards to have clambered up; and still to augment that difficulty, four swivel-guns loaded with musquet-bullets were planted at the mouth of each funnel, and a centinel with lighted match constantly attended, prepared to fire into the hold amongst them, in case of any disturbance. Their officers, who amounted to seventeen or eighteen, were all lodged in the first lieutenant's cabin, under a constant guard of six men; and the general, as he was wounded, lay in the commodore's cabin with a centinel always with him; and they were all informed, that any violence or disturbance would be punished with instant death. And that the Centurion's people might be at all times prepared, if, notwithstanding these regulations, any tumult should arise, the small arms were constantly kept loaded in a proper place, whilst all the men went armed with cutlasses and pistols; and no officer ever pulled off his cloaths, and when he slept had always his arms lying ready by him.

These measures were obviously necessary, considering the hazards to which the commodore and his people would have been exposed, had they been less careful. Indeed, the sufferings of the poor prisoners, though impossible to be alleviated, were much to be commiserated; for the weather was extremely hot, the stench of the hold loathsome beyond all conception, and their allowance of water but just sufficient to keep them alive, it not being practicable to spare them more than at the rate of a pint a-day for each, the crew themselves having only an allowance of a pint and a half. All this considered, it was wonderful that not a man of them died during their long confinement, except three of the wounded, who died the same night they were taken; though it must be confessed, that the greatest part of them were strangely metamorphosed by the heat of the hold; for when they were first taken, they were sightly, robust fellows; but when, after above a month's imprisonment, they were discharged in the river of Canton, they were reduced to mere skeletons; and their air and looks corresponded much more to the conception formed of ghosts and spectres, than to the figure and appearance of real men.

Thus employed in securing the treasure and the prisoners, the commodore stood for the river of Canton; and, on the 30th of June, at six in the evening, got sight of Cape Delangano, which then bore west ten leagues distant; and, the next day, he made the Bashee islands, and the wind being so far to the northward, that it was difficult to weather them, it was resolved to stand through between Grafton and Monmouth islands, where the passage seemed to be clear; but in getting through, the sea had a very dangerous aspect, for it rippled and foamed, as if it had been full of breakers, which was still more terrible, as it was then night. But the ships got through very safe, (the prize always keeping a-head) and it was found that the appearance which had alarmed them had been occasioned only by a strong tide. I must here observe, that though the Bashee islands are usually reckoned to be no more than five, yet there are many more lying about them to the westward, which, as the channels amongst them are not at all known, makes it advisable for ships, rather to pass to the northward or southward, than through them; and indeed the commodore proposed to have gone to the northward, between them and Formosa, had it been possible for him to have weathered them. From hence the Centurion steering the proper course for the river of Canton, she, on the 8th of July, discovered the island of Supata, the westermost of the Lema islands. This island they made to be an hundred and thirty-nine leagues distant from Grafton's island, and to bear from it north 82°, 37° west: And, on the 11th, having taken on board two Chinese pilots, one for the Centurion, and the other for the prize, they came to an anchor off the city of Macao.

By this time the particulars of the cargo of the galleon were well ascertained, and it was found that she had on board 1,313,843 pieces of eight, and 35,682 oz. of virgin silver, besides some cochineal, and a few other commodities, which, however, were but of small account, in comparison of the specie. And this being the commodore's last prize, it hence appears, that all the treasure taken by the Centurion was not much short of 400,000l. independent of the ships and merchandise, which she either burnt or destroyed, and which, by the most reasonable estimation, could not amount to so little as 600,000l. more; so that the whole loss of the enemy, by our squadron, did doubtless exceed a million sterling. To which, if there be added the great expence of the court of Spain, in fitting out Pizarro, and in paying the additional charges in America, incurred on our account, together with the loss of their men of war, the total of all these articles will be a most exorbitant sum, and is the strongest conviction of the utility of this expedition, which, with all its numerous disadvantages, did yet prove so extremely prejudicial to the enemy.

SECTION XXXI.

Transactions in the River of Canton.

The commodore, having taken pilots on board, proceeded with his prize for the river of Canton; and on the 14th of July, came to an anchor short of the Bocca Tigris, which is a narrow passage forming the mouth of that river: This entrance he proposed to stand through the next day, and to run up as far as Tiger island, which is a very safe road, secured from all winds. But whilst the Centurion and her prize were thus at anchor, a boat with an officer came off from the mandarine, commanding the forts at Bocca Tigris, to examine what the ships were, and whence they came. Mr Anson informed the officer, that his ship was a ship of war, belonging to the king of Great Britain; and that the other in company with him was a prize he had taken; that he was going into Canton river to shelter himself against the hurricanes which were then coming on; and that as soon as the monsoon shifted, he should proceed for England. The officer then desired an account of what men, guns, and ammunition were on board, a list of all which he said was to be sent to the government of Canton. But when these articles were repeated to him, particularly when he was told that there were in the Centurion four hundred firelocks, and between three and four hundred barrels of powder, he shrugged up his shoulders, and seemed to be terrified with the bare recital, saying, that no ships ever came into Canton river armed in that manner; adding, that he durst not set down the whole of this force, lest it should too much alarm the regency. After he had finished his enquiries, and was preparing to depart, he desired to leave the two custom-house officers behind him; on which the commodore told him, that though as a man of war he was prohibited from trading, and had nothing to do with customs or duties of any kind, yet, for the satisfaction of the Chinese, he would permit two of their people to be left on board, who might themselves be witnesses how punctually he should comply with his instructions. The officer seemed amazed when Mr Anson mentioned being exempted from all duties, and told him, that the emperor's duty must be paid by all ships that came into his ports: And it is supposed, that on this occasion, private directions were given by him to the Chinese pilot, not to carry the commodore through the Bocca Tigris; which makes it necessary more particularly to describe that entrance.

The Bocca Tigris is a narrow passage, little more than musquet-shot over, formed by two points of land, on each of which there is a fort, that on the starboard-side being a battery on the water's edge, with eighteen embrasures, but where there were no more than twelve iron cannon mounted, seeming to be four or six pounders; the fort on the larboard-side is a large castle, resembling those old buildings which here in England we often find distinguished by that name; it is situated on a high rock, and did not appear to be furnished with more than eight or ten cannon, none of which were supposed to exceed six pounders. These are the defences which secure the river of Canton; and which the Chinese (extremely defective in all military skill) have imagined were sufficient to prevent any enemy from forcing his way through.

But it is obvious, from the description of these forts, that they could have given no obstruction to Mr Anson's passage, even if they had been well supplied with gunners and stores; and therefore, though the pilot, after the Chinese officer had been on board, refused at first to take charge of the ship, till he had leave from the forts, yet as it was necessary to get through without any delay, for fear of the bad weather which was hourly expected, the commodore weighed on the 15th, and ordered the pilot to carry him by the forts, threatening him that, if the ship ran aground, he would instantly hang him up at the yard-arm. The pilot, awed by these threats, carried the ship through safely, the forts not attempting to dispute the passage. Indeed the poor pilot did not escape the resentment of his countrymen, for when he came on shore, he was seized and sent to prison, and was rigorously disciplined with the bamboo. However, he found means to get at Mr Anson afterwards, to desire of him some recompence for the chastisement he had undergone, and of which he then carried very significant marks about him; and Mr Anson, in commiseration of his sufferings, gave him such a sum of money, as would at any time have enticed a Chinese to have undergone a dozen bastinadings.

Nor was the pilot the only person that suffered on this occasion; for the commodore soon after seeing some royal junks pass by him from Bocca Tigris towards Canton, he learnt, on enquiry, that the mandarine commanding the forts was a prisoner on board them; that he was already turned out, and was now carrying to Canton, where it was expected he would be severely punished for having permitted the ships to pass; and the commodore urging the unreasonableness of this procedure, from the inability of the forts to have done otherwise, explaining to the Chinese the great superiority his ships would have had over the forts, by the number and size of their guns, the Chinese seemed to acquiesce in his reasoning, and allowed that their forts could not have stopped him; but they still asserted, that the mandarine would infallibly suffer, for not having done what all his judges were convinced was impossible. To such indefensible absurdities are those obliged to submit who think themselves concerned to support their authority, when the necessary force is wanting.

On the 16th of July the commodore sent his second lieutenant to Canton, with a letter to the viceroy, informing him of the reason of the Centurion's putting into that port; and that the commodore himself soon proposed to repair to Canton, to pay a visit to the viceroy. The lieutenant was very civilly received, and was promised that an answer should be sent to the commodore the next day. In the mean time Mr Anson gave leave to several of the officers of the galleon to go to Canton, they engaging their parole to return in two days. When these prisoners got to Canton, the regency sent for them, and examined them, enquiring particularly by what means they had fallen into Mr Anson's power. And on this occasion the prisoners were honest enough to declare, that as the kings of Great Britain and of Spain were at war, they had proposed to themselves the taking of the Centurion, and had bore down upon her with that view, but that the event had been contrary to their hopes: However, they acknowledged that they had been treated by the commodore, much better than they believed they should have treated him, had he fallen into their hands. This confession from an enemy had great weight with the Chinese, who, till then, though they had revered the commodore's power, had yet suspected his morals, and had considered him rather as a lawless freebooter, than as one commissioned by the state for the revenge of public injuries. But they now changed their opinion, and regarded him as a more important person; to which perhaps the vast treasure of his prize might not a little contribute; the acquisition of wealth being a matter greatly adapted to the estimation and reverence of the Chinese nation.

In this examination of the Spanish prisoners, though the Chinese had no reason in the main to doubt of the account which was given them, yet there were two circumstances which appeared to them so singular, as to deserve a more ample explanation; one of them was the great disproportion of men between the Centurion and the galleon; the other was the humanity with which the people of the galleon were treated after they were taken. The mandarines therefore asked the Spaniards, how they came to be overpowered by so inferior a force; and how it happened, since the two nations were at war, that they were not put to death when they came into the hands of the English. To the first of these enquiries the Spaniards replied, that though they had more hands than the Centurion, yet she being intended solely for war, had a great superiority in the size of her guns, and in many other articles, over the galleon, which was a vessel fitted out principally for traffic: And as to the second question, they told the Chinese, that amongst the nations of Europe, it was not customary to put to death those who submitted; though they readily owned, that the commodore, from the natural bias of his temper, had treated both them and their countrymen, who had formerly been in his power, with very unusual courtesy, much beyond what they could have expected, or than was required by the customs established between nations at war with each other. These replies fully satisfied the Chinese, and at the same time wrought very powerfully in the commodore's favour.

On the 20th of July, in the morning, three mandarines, with a great number of boats, and a vast retinue, came on board the Centurion, and delivered to the commodore the viceroy of Canton's order for a daily supply of provisions, and for pilots lo carry the ships up the river as far as the second bar; and at the same time they delivered him a message from the viceroy, in answer to the letter sent to Canton. The substance of the message was, that the viceroy desired to be excused from receiving the commodore's visit, during the then excessive hot weather; because the assembling the mandarines and soldiers, necessary to that ceremony, would prove extremely inconvenient and fatiguing; but that in September, when the weather would be more temperate, he should be glad to see both the commodore himself, and the English captain of the other ship, that was with him. As Mr Anson knew that an express had been dispatched to the court at Pekin, with an account of the Centurion and her prize being arrived in the river of Canton, he had no doubt, but the principal motive for putting off this visit was, that the regency at Canton might gain time to receive the emperor's instructions, about their behaviour on this unusual affair.

When the mandarines had delivered their message, they began to talk to the commodore about the duties to be paid by his ships; but he immediately told them, that he would never submit to any demand of that kind; that as he neither brought any merchandise thither, nor intended to carry any away, he could not be reasonably deemed to be within the meaning of the emperor's orders, which were doubtless calculated for trading vessels only, adding, that no duties were ever demanded of men of war, by nations accustomed to their reception, and that his master's orders expressly forbad him from paying any acknowledgement for his ships anchoring in any port whatever.

The mandarines being thus cut short on the subject of the duty, they said they had another matter to mention, which was the only remaining one they had in charge; this was a request to the commodore, that he would release the prisoners he had taken on board the galleon; for that the viceroy of Canton apprehended the emperor, his master, might be displeased, if he should be informed, that persons, who were his allies, and carried on a great commerce with his subjects, were under confinement in his dominions. Mr Anson was himself extremely desirous to get rid of the Spaniards, having, on his first arrival, sent about an hundred of them to Macao, and those who remained, near four hundred more, were, on many accounts, a great incumbrance to him. However, to enhance the favour, he at first raised some difficulties; but permitting himself to be prevailed on, he at last told the mandarines, that to show his readiness to oblige the viceroy, he would release the prisoners, whenever they, the Chinese, would send boats to fetch them off. This matter being thus adjusted, the mandarines departed; and, on the 28th of July, two Chinese junks were sent from Canton, to take on board the prisoners, and to carry them to Macao. And the commodore, agreeable to his promise, dismissed them all, and ordered his purser to send with them eight days provision for their subsistence, during their sailing down the river; this being dispatched, the Centurion and her prize came to her moorings, above the second bar, where they proposed to continue till the monsoon shifted.

Though the ships, in consequence of the viceroy's permit, found no difficulty in purchasing provisions for their daily consumption, yet it was impossible for the commodore to proceed to England; without laying in a large quantity both of provisions and stores for his use, during the voyage: The procuring this supply was attended with much embarrassment; for there were people at Canton who had undertaken to furnish him with biscuit, and whatever else he wanted; and his linguist, towards the middle of September, had assured him, from day to day, that all was ready, and would be sent on board him immediately. But a fortnight being elapsed, and nothing being brought, the commodore sent to Canton to enquire more particularly into the reasons of this disappointment: And he had soon the vexation to be informed, that the whole was an illusion: that no order had been procured from the viceroy to furnish him with sea-stores, as had been pretended; that there was no biscuit baked, nor any one of the articles in readiness which had been promised him; nor did it appear, that the contractors had taken the least step to comply with their agreement. This was most disagreeable news, and made it suspected, that the furnishing the Centurion for her return to Great Britain might prove a more troublesome matter than had been hitherto imagined; especially too, as the month of September was nearly elapsed, without Mr Anson's having received any message from the viceroy of Canton.

And here perhaps it might be expected that some satisfactory account should be given of the motives of the Chinese for this faithless procedure. But as I have already, in a former chapter, made some kind of conjectures about a similar event, I shall not repeat them again in this place, but shall observe, that after all, it may perhaps be impossible for an European, ignorant of the customs and manners of that nation, to be fully apprised of the real incitements to this behaviour. Indeed, thus much may undoubtedly be asserted, that in artifice, falsehood, and an attachment to all kinds of lucre, many of the Chinese are difficult to be paralleled by any other people; but then the combination of these talents, and the manner in which they are applied in particular emergencies, are often beyond the reach of a foreigner's penetration: So that though it may be safely concluded, that the Chinese had some interest in thus amusing the commodore, yet it may not be easy to assign the individual views by which they were influenced. And that I may not be thought too severe in ascribing to this nation a fraudulent and selfish turn of temper, so contradictory to the character given of them in the legendary accounts of the Roman missionaries, I shall here mention an extraordinary transaction or two, which I hope will be some kind of confirmation of what I have advanced.

When the commodore lay first at Macao, one of his officers, who had been extremely ill, desired leave of him to go on shore every day on a neighbouring island, imagining that a walk upon the land would contribute greatly to the restoring of his health: The commodore would have dissuaded him, suspecting the tricks of the Chinese, but the officer continuing importunate, in the end the boat was ordered to carry him. The first day he was put on shore he took his exercise, and returned without receiving any molestation, or even seeing any of the inhabitants; but the second day, he was assaulted, soon after his arrival, by a great number of Chinese who had been hoeing rice in the neighbourhood, and who beat him so violently with the handles of their hoes, that they soon laid him on the ground incapable of resistance; after which they robbed him, taking from him his sword, the hilt of which was silver, his money, his watch, gold-headed cane, snuff box, sleeve-buttons, and hat, with several other trinkets: In the mean time the boat's crew, who were at some little distance, and had no arms of any kind with them, were incapable of giving him any assistance; till at last one of them flew on the fellow who had the sword in his possession, and wresting it out of his hands, drew it, and with it was preparing to fall on the Chinese, some of whom he could not have failed of killing; but the officer, perceiving what he was about, immediately ordered him to desist, thinking it more prudent to submit to the present violence, than to embroil his commodore in an inextricable squabble with the Chinese government by the death of their subjects; which calmness in this gentleman was the more meritorious, as he was known to be a person of an uncommon spirit, and of a somewhat hasty temper: By this means the Chinese recovered the possession of the sword, which they soon perceived was prohibited to be made use of against them, and carried off their whole booty unmolested. No sooner were they gone, than a Chinese on horseback, very well dressed, and who had the air and appearance of a gentleman, came down to the shore, and, as far as could be understood by his signs, seemed to censure the conduct of his countrymen, and to commiserate the officer, being wonderfully officious to assist in getting him on board the boat: But notwithstanding this behaviour, it was shrewdly suspected that he was an accomplice in the theft, and time fully evinced the justice of those suspicions.

When the boat returned on board, and reported what had passed to the commodore, he immediately complained of it to the mandarine, who attended to see his ship supplied; but the mandarine coolly replied, that the boat ought not to have gone on shore, promising, however, that if the thieves could be found out, they should be punished; though it appeared plain enough, by his manner of answering, that he would never give himself any trouble in searching them out. However, a considerable time afterwards, when some Chinese boats were selling provisions to the Centurion, the person who had wrested the sword from the Chinese came with great eagerness to the commodore, to assure him that one of the principal thieves was then in a provision-boat alongside the ship; and the officer, who had been robbed, viewing the fellow on this report, and well remembering his face, orders were immediately given to seize him; and he was accordingly secured on board the ship, where strange discoveries were now made.

This thief, on his being apprehended, expressed so much fright in his countenance, that it was feared he would have died upon the spot; the mandarine too, who attended the ship, had visibly no small share of concern on the occasion. Indeed he had reason enough to be alarmed, since it was soon evinced that he had been privy to the whole robbery, for the commodore, declaring that he would not deliver up the thief, but would himself order him to be shot, the mandarine immediately put off the magisterial air with which be had at first pretended to demand him, and begged his release in the most abject manner; and the commodore appearing inflexible, there came on board, in less than two hours time, five or six of the neighbouring mandarines, who all joined in the same entreaty, and, with a view of facilitating their suit, offered a large sum of money for the fellow's liberty. Whilst they were thus soliciting, it was discovered that the mandarine, who was the most active amongst them, and who seemed to be most interested in the event, was the very gentleman who came to the officer just after the robbery, and who pretended to be so much displeased with the villainy of his countrymen. And, on further enquiry, it was found that he was the mandarine of the island; and that he had, by the authority of his office, ordered the peasants to commit that infamous action: And it seemed, as far as could be collected from the broken hints which were casually thrown out, that he and his brethren, who were all privy to the transaction, were terrified with the fear of being called before the tribunal at Canton, where the first article of their punishment would be the stripping them of all they were worth; though their judges (however fond of inflicting a chastisement so lucrative to themselves) were perhaps of as tainted a complexion as the delinquents. Mr Anson was not displeased to have caught the Chinese in this dilemma; and he entertained himself for some time with their perplexity, rejecting their money with scorn, appearing inexorable to their prayers, and giving out that the thief should certainly be shot; but as he then foresaw that he should be forced to take shelter in their ports a second time, when the influence he might hereby acquire over the magistrates would be of great service to him, he at length permitted himself to be persuaded, and, as a favour, released his prisoner, but not till the mandarine had collected and returned all that had been stolen from the officer, even to the minutest trifle.