1 V '^'^ v^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lit 128 itt m 25 2.2 2.0 IL25 ■ 1.4 I 1.6 6" ^ ^/ ^^ // y Hiobgraiidc Sdmces CorporaaQn 13 WIST MAM STRHT WnSTM,N.Y. MStO (716)l7a-4S03 4^ "k^ t1^ ^ .^ c^ .^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. Collection de microfiches. Canadian Inttituta for Historical IMicroraproductiont / institut Canadian da microraproductions liiatoriquas Taehnlcal and BIblloflraphIc NotM/NotM taehnlquM 9t bibliographiquM Th* InstituM hM attmnptMl to obtain tiia boat original copy avallaWa for fUming. Faaturaa of thia eofiy wMoh may ba bibliographleally iinlqua, which may altar any of tha Imagaa In tha raproductlon, or wMch may algnlflcantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara ehaekad balow. □ Colourad covara/ Couvartura da coulaur I — I Covara damagad/ D D D D Couvartura andommagia Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raataurAa at/ou palHcuMa □ Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua Colourad mapa/ CartM gAographiquat an coulaur □ Colourad ink (i.a. othar than blua or black)/ Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noira) I — I Colourad plataa and/or illuatrationa/ Planchaa at/ou illuatrationa an coulaur Bound with othar matarial/ Rali* avac d'autraa documanta Tight binding may cauaa ahadowa or diatortlon atong intarlor margin/ Laraliura aarrAa paut cetiaar da L'ombra ou da la diatortlon la long da la marga IntAriaura Blank laavaa addad during raatoration may appaar vvithin tha taxt. Whanavar poaaibia, thaaa hava baan omittad from filming/ II aa paut qua cartainaa pagaa blanchaa ajoutiaa lora d'una raatauratton apparaiaaant dana la taxta, maia. loraqua cala Atait poaaibia. caa pagaa n'ont paa it* f limAaa. Additional commanta:/ Commantairaa tupplAmantairaa: L'Inatltut a microfilm* la malllaur axamplaira qu'il lui a *t* poaaibia da aa proeurar. Laa ditaiis da cat axamplaira qui aont paut-Atra uniquaa du pelm da vua bibliographiqua. qui pauvant modifiar una imaga raproduita. ou qui pauvant axigar una modifleatton dana la mithoda normala da f ilmaga aont indlquAa ci-daaaoua. r~~1 Colourad pagaa/ Thia itam la filmad at tha raduction ratio checked balow/ Ca document aat film* au taux da rMuction indlqu* ci-daaaoua. 10X MX 18X 22X Pagaa da coulaur Pagaa damaged/ Pagaa andommag*ea ofl fHn Ori □ Pagea raatorad and/or laminated/ Pagaa reatauriaa et/ou pelliculAea Pagaa diacolourad. atained or foxed/ Pagaa dAcolorAaa, tachatAea ou piquAea I I Pagea detached/ Pagea dAtachAea Showthroughy Tranaparence Quality of prif Quality inAgale de I'impreaaion includea aupplamentary matarii Comprend du materiel auppMmentaira Only edition available/ Sauie Mitton diaponibia r~y| Showthrough/ F^ Quality of print variea/ I I Includea aupplamentary material/ I — I Only edition available/ tha aior oth fira •Ion or Tha •hal TINi whi Map diffi antii bagii righl raqu Pagaa wholly or partially obacurad by errata •iipi, tiaauaa. etc., have been ref limed to enaura tha beat poaaibia image/ Lea pagaa totalement ou partialiement obacurcies par un fauillet d'erreta. una pelure, etc., ont AtA filmAea A nouveau de fapon h obtenir la meilleure image poaaible. 26X 30X • 12X ItX »X a4x 28X 32X Th« copy fumed her* hat baan to th« ganarotlty of : ropcoouooQ thMiks UnivwfaHyof Alterta Tho imagoa i p p— ring horo aro tha poaaibia eonaidaring tha eondMon of ttio oriflinal copy and in kaaping quality lagiMllty Original eopiaa in printad papar oovara aia fHmad baglnning with tha ffont covaf and andbig on tha laat paga with a printad or iHuatratad i n np r a a •ion. or tho baeic covor vwhon appropriato. AH othor original eopiaa ara fllmad baglnning on tho f irat paga with a printad or ilhiatraiad impraa- •ion. and andlng on tho laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaian. Tha laat racordod frama on oaah mierofloho •haN eontain tha aymbal "^( m aa nl ng "CON> TINUID"). or tha aymboi ▼ (moaning "END"), whiehovor appliaa. IMapa. plataa. eharta. ate., may ba fUmad at diffarant raduotion ratioa. Thoaa too larga to bo antiraly ineludad in ona axpoaura ara fHmad baglnning in tha uppar laft hand eomor, loft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha method: 1 2 3 i 1 32X L'axemplaira film4 fut raproduit griea k la g4n4roaitA da: UnivMiityof ANMTta Edmonton Lao imagoa ouivamaa ont 4t4 raproduitea avae la plus grend soin. compte tenu do le eondition et do la nottot* do I'eiiompialre film*, et en eonformM avae lee eondMone du contrat da filmaga. Lee exompiairae originewx dont le eouverture en pepler eet imprimte sent fllm4e en commenpent per le premier plot et en terminant salt per le demlAre pego qui eomporte une empreinte d'Impreasion ou dllluatretion. soit per le second plot, selon le eee. Toue lee eutree exempleiree origineux sent film4e en eommen^em per le premMre pege qui eomporte une empreinte dimpreeeion ou d'Wuetratlan et en fermlnent per le demlAre pege qui eomporte une teMe Un dee symbolee suivents appereltre sur le demi^re imege do eheque microfiehe. selon ie ees: le symbdie ^-^ signifie "A SUIVRE". le symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". Les esrtee, pienehee. tableeux. etc.. peuvent Atre filmis A dee taux da rAduction diff Arente. Lorsque le document eet trop grend pour Atre reproduit en un soul clichA. il eet f ilmA A pertir do I'engie supArieur geuche. do geuehe A droite. et do haut en bee. en prenent le nombre d'Imegee nAceeeeire. Lee diegremmes suivants iilustrent le mAthode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 k OUAPIri COllUlJ iSOCIETl NO] /4? ►3 VOYAGE Rl- \D THE WORLD IS TEARH xi / rr \*^m. B i, 1743, 1744, ; V \NS01Sr, Esq. APTERWABm LORD A>;>ON, COMM&KUXB-IK-CSlZI^ OF .» S^UADKON ■ HIS MAJESTT'S SHITS, SIS VPOJf A3.- £XPK»irtOfl TO •■■-A SOUTH SEAS, ^ COMP«,«a FUCMKI HIS PAMi'J4 AND MATERIALS. By tl€HAfctD WALTER, M.A., OUATLAIV 0» IB* 4M*ltmx't t*** T»» tiUJf.TBtllOW IH THAT £Kr£DITlOir, - % 46i';, "ffKk of iki t>j?» ' AVKKJI-Sff. \ ; • NG tjaOSS, W.C.} £0, 1ST. . ■ 'I?- . ■ ! tAC», w.,va :»,af roiiir)>a, s.w, JSi'-^ ' k 4.% VOUNG * Co, I I l> » SOCI] NO] /v^ VOYAGE ROUND THE WOEU) IK TBB TEABS x/./ ry 1740, 1741, 1742, 1743, 1744^ By GEORGE ANSON, Esq. AFTERWARDS LORD ANSON, CO]|MAin>BB>IK*OHnV of' A SQVASBOir OV HIS VAJSSTT'S 8BI?B, 8BHT VrOK AH XXFXOXIIOH XO THB SOUTH SBA8. COMPILED FROM HIS PAPERS AND MATERIALS. By RICHARD WALTER, M.A., OBAPIiAIK OV BIB MUBBn'S BHIV THB CBBTVBIOflT IK THAT SXrEDITIOZT. WITH A MAP Showing the Track of the CentwioH round tlie World. PVBUSHBD VHDBB THB SIBBCTIOB OB THB COmiTTBB OB OBNBBAL LITBBATUBB AND BBVCAXION AFTOINTED ET THB SOOIBTX BOB PROMOTING CBBISTIAK XJfOWUDOB. SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE^ NORTHUMBERLAND AYBNUB, OHARINQ CROSS. W.C; 43, QUBBir TIOTOBIA STBBBT, B.C. ; 20, S*. OBOBQB'S PKACB, HTOB PABK COBHBB, 8.V. BRIGHTON: 13S, xobth btbbbt. Nbw Yobx: E. & J. B. YOUNQ ft Co. i 1 f • 1 ■ » I i ^1 • S- DfTBODUOTION. 4)ettor to enable the French to prosecute their illicit trade, «r, on a rapture between them and the court of Spain, to form their enterprises in those seas with more readiness and certainty. Should we pursue this method, we might hope, that the emulation amongst those who were commis- sioned for these undertakings, and the experience which, even in the most peaceable intervals, they would hereby ^icquire, might at length procure us a proper number of able engineers, and might efface the national scandal, which our deficiency in that species of men has sometimes oiqposed us to ; and, surely, every step to encourage and improve them is of great moment to the public ; as no persons, when they are properly instructed, make better returns in war, for the distinctions and emoluments be- 43towed on them in time of peace. Of which the advan- tages the French have reaped from their dexterity (too numerous and recent to be soon forgot) are an ample con- firmation. And having mentioned engineers, or such as are skilled in drawing, and the other usual practices of that profession, as the properest persons to be employed in these foreign inquiries, I cannot, as it offers itself so naturally to the subject in hand, but lament how very imperfect many of our accounts of distant countries .are rendered, by the relators being unskilled in drawing, and in the general principles of surveying, even where other abilities have not been wanting. Had more of our travellers been initiated in these acquirements, and had there been added thereto some little skill in the common astronomical observations, all which a person of ordinary talents might 4ittain with a very moderate.share of application, we should by this time have seen the geography of the globe much INTBODUOTION. Si more correct than we now find it : the dangers of naviga- tion would have been considerably lessened, and the man- ners, arts, and produce of foreign countries would haye been better known to us than they are. Indeed, when I consider the strong incitements that all travellers have to pursue, some part at least of these qualifications, especially drawing ; when I consider how much it will fietcilitate their observations, assist and strengthen their memories, and of how tedious, and often imintelligible, a load of description it would rid them ; I cannot but wonder that any person who intends to visit distant countries, with a view of in- forming either himself or others, should be wanting in so necessary a piece of skill. And to enforce this argu- ment still further, I must add, that besides the uses of drawing already mentioned, there is one which, though not so obvious, is yet, perhaps, of more consequence than all that has been hitherto urged ; I mean the strength and distinguishing power it adds to some of our faculties. This appears from hence, that those who are used to draw objects, observe them with more accuracy than others who are not habituated to that practice. For we may «asily find, by a UtUe experience, than when we view any object, however simple, our attention, or memory, is ficarcely at any time so strong as to enable us, when we have turned our eyes away from it, to recollect exactly every part it consisted of, and to recall all the circumstances of its appearance ; since, on examination, it will be dis- covered, that in some we were mistaken, and others we had totally overlooked : but he that is accustomed to draw what he sees, is at the same time accustomed to rectify this inattention : for, by confronting hi^ ideas copied on the paper with the object he intends to represent, he finds h {'A -1 xu IKTBODUOTION. ^t what oiromuBtance has deceived him in its appearaaoe ^ and hence, he at length acquires the habit of observing', much more at one view, and retains what he sees with more correctness than he ever could have done without his practice and proficiency in drawing. If what has been said merits the attention of travellers of all sorts, it is, I think, more particularly applicable to the gentlemen of the navy ; since without drawing and planning, neither charts, nor views of land, can be taken ; and without these it is sufficiently evident that navigation is at a full stand. It is doubtless from a persuasion of the utility of these qualifications, that His Majesty has established a drawing-master at Portsmouth, for the in- struction of those who are presumed to be hereafter intrusted with the command of his royal navy ; and though some have been so far misled as to suppose, that the per- fection of sea-officers consisted in a turn of mind and temper resembling the boisterous element they had to deal with, and have condemned all literature and science as effeminate, and derogatory to that ferocity, which they would fS&lsely persuade us was the most unerring charac- teristic of courage ; yet it is to be hoped, that such, ab- surdities as these have at no time been authorized by the public opinion, and that the belief of them daily diminishes. If those who adhere to these mischievous positions, were capable of being influenced by reason, or swayed by example, I should think it sufficient for their conviction to observe, that some most valuable drawings were taken by Mr. Piercy Brett, one of Mr. Anson's lieutenants, and after* wards captain of the Lion man-of-war ; who, in his memo- rable engagement with the Elizabeth, for the importance of the service, or the resolution with which it was co»- IMTBODUOnON. xiii IS 3rs to id an; ion of lias Quoted, inferior to none this age has seen, has giyen ainple proof that a proficiency in the arts I have been here reoom- mending is extremely consistent with the most exemplary bravery, and the most distinguished skill, in every ftmc- tion belonging to the duty of a sea-officer. Indeed, when the many branches of science are attended to, of which even the common practice of navigation is composed, and the many improvements which men of skill have added to this practice within these few years, it wotdd induce one to believe, that the advantages of reflection and specu- lative knowledge were in no profession more eminent than in that of a sea-officer ; for, not to mention some expert- ness in geography, geometry, and astronomy, which it wonid be dishonourable for him to be without, as his jd^pial, and his estimate of the daily position of the ship, are bounded on particular branches of these arts, it maybe well supposed that the management and working of a ship, the discovery of her most eligible position in the water, usually styled her trim, and the dispositions of her sails in the most advantageous manner, are articles wherein the knowledge of mechanics cannot but be greatly assist- ant. And, perhaps, the application of this kind of know- ledge to naval subjects, may produce as great improve- ments in sailing and working a ship, as it has already done in many other matters conducive to the ease and con- venience of human life : since, when the fabric of a ship, and the variety of her sails, are considered together with the artificial contrivances for adapting them to her different motions, as it cannot be doubted but these things have been brought about by more than ordinary sagacity and invention ; so neither can it be doubted but that in some conjectures, a speculative and scientific turn of mind, sb ihtboduotion. may fbid ont the means of directixig and disposing this complicated mechanism, much more advantageously than can be done by mere habit, or by a servile copying of what others may, perhaps, have erroneously practised in similar emergencies. But it is time to finish this digres- sion, and to leave the reader to the pemsal of the ensuing V7ork, which, with how little art soever it may be executed, will yet, from the importance of the subject, and the utility and excellence of the materials, merit some share of ihe public attention. i! or tbe Eq droD t thereto, ; meat to I Helen's . The Possag tbe IslaiK •borl acoc of our Sta Tbe Historj dron, com Pizarro From Made! lYooeedlngBl AnrlTal of I Island of I Descriptif The ArriT^ tbe AnnJ Juan Pel actions Interval I A short nJ Anna with an I CONTENTS. BOOK THE FIRST. CHAPTER L FAOB or the Equipment of the Squa- dron the Incidents relating thereto, Arom its first Appoint* ment to Its setting sail liom St. Helen's 1 CHAFrER n. The Pssaage tmm St. Helen's to the Island of Madeira; with a short acooant of that Island, and of our Stay there 13 CHAPTER III. The History of the Spanish Squa« dron, commanded by Don Joseph Pizarro 19 CHAFFER IV. From Madeira to St Catharine. . . . CHAPTER V. Frooeedings at St. Catharine, and 35 a Description of the place, with a short ojooout of firazil 49 CHAPTER VL The Ran iVom St. Catharine to Fort St. Julian, with some Ac- count of that Port, and of the Country to the southward of the River Plata 4» CHAPTER VU. Departure trom the Bay of St Ju- lian, and the passage from thence * to the Straite Le Biaire 63 CHAPTER Vm. Flrom Straits Le Maire to Cape Noir 69- CHAPTER IX. From Cape Noir to the Island of JuanFemandez IT ^\ i BOOK THE SECOND. CHAPTER I. ArrlTal of the Centurion at the Idand of Juan Fernandez, with a Description of that Island 88 CHAPTER II. The Arrival of the Gloncester and the Anna Pink at the island of Juan Fernandez, and the trans* actions at that Place during this Interval 105 CHAPTER III. A short Narrative of whathefel the Anna Pink before she Johied us, with an Account of the loM oi the Wager, and of the putting buclc of the Severn and Pearl, the two rcmainbig ships of the Squadron llff CHAFl'ER IV. Conclusion of our Proceedings at Juan Fernandez, from the Ar« rival of the Anna Pinic to our final Departure from thence 134 CHAPTER V. Our cruise from the time of our leaving Jam Fernandez, to the talcing of the Town of Pidta . . 14* n xii COMTKNTH. OUAFTER VI. PAOB The taUng of Fftita, and our *i«» oMdlngtthera ittS CHAPTER YII. From oar departure from Foita, to our arrival at Qolbo 181 CHAPTER VIIL Our Proceedings at Quibo, with an Account of the Place ....i 190 CHAPTER IX. From Quibo to the Coast of Mexico 198 CHAPTER X. An Account of the Commerce car* ried on between the City of Ma* PAOS nilla, on the Island of Looonla, MMl the Port of Aoapuloo, on the CoattofMesioo 206 CHAPTER XI. Our Cruise off the Port of Acapnico for the Manilla Ship 222 CHAFIERXII. Description of the Harbonr of Che- quetan. and of the adjacent Coast and Country 331 CHAPTER XUI. Our Proceedings at Chequetan and on the adjacent Coast, till our setting sail for Asia 241 BOOK THE THIRD. CHAPTER L Tlie Bun from the Coast of Mexico to the Ladrones, or Marian Islands 252 CHAPTER II. Our arrival at Tlnian, and an ac- count of the Island, and of our proceedings there, till the Centu- lion drove out to Sea 265 CHAPTER m. Transactions at Tinlan, after the Departure of the Centurion .... 282 CHAPTER IV. Proceedings on board the Centurion when driven out to Sea 292 CHAPTER V. Employment atTinian, till the final Dq^artore of the Centurion from ■ thence ; with a description of the Ladrones «.... 296 CHAPTER VI. From Thiian to Macao 305 CHAPTER VII. Proceedings at Macao 313 CHAPTER VIIL From Macao to Cape Spiritu Santo ; the taking of the Slanilla Oaleon, and retumtog buck again 330 CHAPIER DC Transactions in the River of Can* ton 316 CHAPTER X. Proceedings at the City of Canton, and the return of the Centurion toEngland , 363 VA f* 330 346 363 ■J ^^l'<'-^-*V' »^f If r. /i N >«•*«■■«« ilo ^4 It A CHART or THE "Tf :S 21* SB) Shewing; the Irack of the CENTURION . eSXSSS^^^^j^^^^^. r°^ ifH tto in> ifa tto ito no Wftufttari JkL.j!miX!- I'liNhhnl *» /*• Sodfi}! f/rl'rvm,^lnfl ChriMian fCni>wleil/if . MO l*o <«•• JN> .1!R.~iS!»{.%. :iM]« ^^ IV MtO ^1<0 -J JM> jn> <> ^0 llf>o f/rl'rtmMinp ChriMian Kiumledpr. K A N Sa^£ i^^;^^^^,^ a I Jl- '5 vol Of the Equl The sqi which I ceedinge tion, its between St. Hele a detail of those and for 1 vdth its the acci and whi< advanta^ owing t comman it exceec removed When 1739, it ^ VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. BOOK THE FIRST V CHAPTER I. or the Equipment of the Squadron ; the Tncidentf relating thereto^ firom ita flral Appointment to its setting sail from 8t mien's. The squadron under the command of Mr. Anson (of which I here propose to recite the most material pro- ceedings) having undergone many changes in its destina- tion, its force, and its equipment, during the ten months between its original appointment and its final sailing from St. Helen's, I conceive the history of these alterations is a detail necessary to be made public, both for the honour of those who first planned and promoted this enterprise, and for the justification of those who have been intnisted with its execution ; since it will from hence appear, that the accidents the expedition was afterwards exposed to, and which prevented it from producing all the national advantages which were expected from it, were principally owing to a series of interruptions, which delayed the commander in the course of his preparations, and which it exceeded his utmost industry either to avoid or to get removed. When, in the latter end of the summer of the year 1789, it was foreseen that a war with Spain was in«vi- K ^ VOYAOB BOUND TBI WORLD. [BnuBl. table, it was the opinion of some considerable persons then trnsted with the administration of affairs, that the most pinident step the nation couH take, on the breaking out of the war, was to attack that crown in her distant settle- ments ; for by this means (as at that time there was the greatest probability of success) it was supposed that we should cut off the principal resources of the enemy, and should reduce them to the nocoBsity of sincerely desiring a peace, as they would thereby be deprived of the returns of that treasure, by which alone they could be enabled to carry on a war. In consequence of this opinion, several projects were examined, and several resolutions were taken, by the council, and it was determined, that George Anson, Esq., then captain of the Centurion, should be employed as commander-in-chief of an expedition of this kind ; and he at that time being absent on a cruise, a vessel was despatched to his station so early as the beginning of September, to order him to return with his ship to Portsmouth. Soon after his return, that is, on the 10th of November following, he received a letter from Sir Charles Wager, directing him to repair to London, and to attend the Board of Admiralty; where, when he arrived, he was informed by Sir Charles that two squadrons would be immediately fitted out for two secret expeditions, which, however, would have some connection with each other ; that he, Mr. Anson, was intended to conmiand one of them, and Mr. Cornwall the other ; that the squadron under Mr. Anson was to take on board three independent companies of a hundred men each, and Bland's regiment of foot ; that Colonel Bland was likewise to embark with his regiment, and to command the land forces ; and that, as soon as this squadron could be fitted for the sea, they were to set sail, with express orders to touch at bo place till they came to Java Head, in the East Indies ; that there they were only to stop to take in water, and thence to proceed directly to the city of Manilla, situated on Luconia, one of the Philippine Islands; that the other CMaf. I.J ■QVimSMT or THl •QUAOHOM. equadron was to be of eqtiiU force with this oomroandod by Mr. Anson, and was intended to pass round Cape Horn into the South S<'fM, to range along that coast ; and, after cruising upon the e»^niy in thofie parts, and attempting their settlements, was to n^ndezvous at ManiUa, there to join the squadron under Mr. Anson, where thoj were to refresh their men and refit their ships, and, perliaps, receive orders for other considerable enterprises. This scheme was doubtless extremely well projected, and could not but greatly advance the public service and the reputation and fortune of those concerned in its exe- cution ; for, had Mr. Anson proceeded for Manilla at the time and in the manner proposed by Sir Charles Wager, he would in all probability Imve arrived there before they had received any advice of the war between us and Spain, and, consequently, before they had been in the least pre- pared for the reception of an enemy, or had any appre- hensions of their danger. The city of Manilla might be well supposed to have been at that time in the same de- fenceless condition with all the other Spanish settlements, just at the breaking out of the war : that is to say, their fortifications neglected, and in many places decayed ; their cannon dismounted, or rendered useless by the mouldering of their caiTiages; their magazines, whether of military stores or provision, all empty; their garrisons unpaid, and consequently thin, ill-affected, and dispirited; and the royal chests in Peru, whence alone all these disorders could be remedied, drained of specie. This, from the intercepted letters of their viceroys and governors, is well known to have been the defenceless state of Panama, and the other Spanish places on the coast of the South Sea, for near a twelvemonth after our declaration of war. And it cannot be supposed that the city of Manilla, removed still farther by almost half the circumference of the globe, should have experienced from the Spanish government a greater share of attention and concern for its security than Panama, and the other important ports in Peru and Chili, on which their possession of that immense empire VOYAGE ROUND THK WOBLD. [Boo»». depends. Indeed, it is well known that Manilla was at that time incapable of making any considerable defence, and in all probability would have surrendered on the ap- pearance of our squadron before it. The importance of this city, and the island it stands on, may be in some measure estimated from the known healthiness of its air, the excellency of its port and bay, the number ard wealth of its inhabitants, and the extensive and profitable com- merce which it carries on to the principal ports in the East Indies and China, and its exclusive trade to Acapulco, the returns for which, being made in silver, are, upon the lowest valuation, not less than three millions of dollars per annum. On this scheme Sir Charles Wager was so intent, that in a few days after this first conference, that is, on Novem- ber 18, Mr. Anson received an order to take under his command the Argyle, Severn, Pearl, "Wager, and Tryal sloop ; and other orders were issued to him in the same month, and in the December following, relating to the victualling of this squadron. But Mr. Anson attending the Admiralty in the beginning of January, he was informed by Sir Charles Wager, that, for reasons with which he. Sir Charles, was not acquainted, the expedition to Manilla was laid aside. It may be conceived that Mr. Anson was extremely chagrined at losing the com- mand of so honourable, and in every respect so desirable an enterprise, especially, too, as he had already, at a very great expense, made the necessary provision for his own accommodation in this voyage, which, he had reason to expect, would prove a very long one. How- ever, Sir Charles, to render this disappointment in some degree more tolerable, informed him that the expedition to the South Seas was still intended ; and that he, Mr. Anson, and his squadron, as their first destination was now countermanded, should be employed in that service ; and on the 10th of January he received his commission, appointing him commander-in-chief of the fore-men- uoned squadron, which (the Argyle being, in the course CHAP. I.] EQUIPMENT OF THE SQUADRON. of their preparations, changed for the Gloucester) was the same he sailed with above eight months after from St. Helen's. On this change of destination, the equip- ment of the squadron was still prosecuted with as much vigour as ever; and the victualling, and whatever de- pended on the Commodore, was soon so far advanced, that he conceived the ships might be capable of putting to sea the instant he should receive his final orders, of which he was in daily expectation. And at last, on the 28th of June, 1740, the Duke of Newcastle, Principal Secretary of State, delivered to him his Majesty's in- structions, dated January 31, 1739, with an additional instruction from the Lords Justices, dated June 19, 1740. On the receipt of these, Mr. Anson immediately repaired to Spithead, with a resolution to sail with the first fair wind, flattering himself that all his difficulties were now at an end. For though he knew by the musters that his squadron wanted three hundred seamen of their complement (a deficiency which, with all his assiduity, he had not been able to get supplied), yet, as Sir Charles Wager infoiTQed him that an order from the Board of Admiralty was despatched to Sir John Norris to spare him the numbers which he wanted, he doubted not of its being complied with. But, on his arrival at Ports- mouth, he found himself greatly mistaken and disap- pointed in this persuasion; for, on his application. Sir John Norris told him he could spare him none, for he wanted men for his own fleet. This occasioned an in- evitable and a very considerable delay, for it was the end of July before this deficiency was by any means supplied ; and all that was then done was extremely short of his necessities and expectation. For Admiral Balchen, who succeeded to the command at Spithead, after Sir John Norris had sailed to the westward, instead of three himdred able sailors, which Mr. Anson wanted of his complement, ordered on board the squadron a hundred and seventy men only, of which thirty-two were from the hospital and sick quarter, thirty-seven t YOTAGE ROUND THE WOBLD. llMOK I. from the Salisbury, with three officers of Colonel Low- ther's regiment, and ninety-eight marines; and these were all that were ever granted to make up the fore- mentioned deficiency. But the Commodore's mortification did not end here It has been already observed, that it was at first intended that Colonel Bland's regiment, and three independent companies of a hundred men each, should embark as land forces on board the squadron. But this disposition was now changed, and all the land forces that were to be allowed were five hundred invalids, to be collected from the out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital. As these out- pensioners consist of soldiers who, from their age, wounds, or other infirmities, are incapable of service in marching regiments, Mr. Anson was greatly chagrined at having such a decrepit detachment allotted to him, for he was fully persuaded that the greatest part of them would perish long before they arrived at the scene of action, since the delays he had already encountered necessarily confined his passage round Cape Horn to the most rigorous season of the year. Sir Charles Wager, too, joined in opinion with the Commodore, that invalids were no ways proper for this service, and solicited strenuously to have them exchanged; but he was told that persons who were supposed to be better judges of soldiers than he or Mr. Anson, thought them the properest men that could be employed on this occasion. And upon this de- termination they were ordered on board the squadron on the 5th of August ; but, instead of five hundred, there came on board no more than two hundred and fifty-nine, for all those who had limbs and strength to walk out of Portsmouth deserted, leaving behind them only such as were literally invalids, most of them being sixty years of age, and some of them upwards of seventy. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive a more moving scene than the embarkation of these imhappy veterans ; they were them- selves extremely averse to the service they were engaged in, and fully apprised of all the disasters they were after- VHAP. l.J EQUIPMENT OF THE 8QUADB0N. wards exposed to, the apprehensions of which were strongly marked by the concern that appeared in their countenances ; which was mixed with no small degree of indignation, to be thus hurried from their repose into a fatiguing employ, to which neither the strength of their bodies nor the vigour of their minds was any ways proportioned, and where, without seeing the face of an enemy, or in tho least promoting the success of the enterprise, they would, in all probability, uselessly perish by lingering and pain- ful diseases ; and this, too, after they had spent the activity and strength of their youth in their country's service. I cannot but observe on this melancholy incident, how extremely imfortunate it was, both to this aged and diseased detachment, and to the expedition they were employed in, that, amongst all the out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital, which were supposed to amount to two thousand men, the most crazy and infirm only should be called out for so laborious and perilous an undertaking; for it was well known that, however unfit invalids in general might be for this service, yet, by a prudent choice, there might have been found amongst them five hundred men who had some remains of vigour left; and Mr. Anson fully expected that the best of them would have been allotted him; whereas the whole detachment that was sent to him seemed to be made up of the most decrepit and miserable objects that could be collected out of the whole body; and, by the desertion above mentioned, these were a second time cleared of that little health and strength which were to be found amongst them, iuid he was to ta^e up with such as were much fitter for an infirmary than for any military duty. And here it is necessary to mention another material particular in the equipment of this squadron. It was proposed to Mr. Anson, after it was resolved that he should be sent to the South Seas, to take with him two persons under the denomination of agent-victuallers. Those who were mentioned for this employment had for- merly been in the Spanish West Indies, in the South Sea 'a 8 VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. [Book I. Uur. Company's service ; and it was supposed that, by their knowledge and intelligence on that coast, they might often procure provisions for him by compact with the inhabitants, when they wore not to be got by force of arms. These agent-victuallers were, for this purpose, to be allowed to carry to the value of 15,000/. in merchan- dize on board the squadron ; for they had represented that it would be much easier for them to procure provi- sions with goods than with the value of the same goods in money. Whatever colours were given to this scheme, it was difficult to persuade the generality of mankind that it was not principally intended for the enrichment of the agents, by the beneficial commerce they proposed to carry on upon that coast. Mr. Anson, from the be- ginning, objected both to the appointment of agent- victuallers, and the allowing them to caiTy a cargo on board the squadron ; for he conceived that, in those few amicable ports where the squadron might touch, he needed not their assistance to contract for any provisions the place afforded ; and, on the enemy's coast, he did not imagine that they could ever procure him the neces- saries he should want, unless (which he was resolved not to comply with) the military operations of his squadron were to be regulated by the ridiculous views of their trading projects. All that he thought the government ought to have done on this occasion was to put on board to the value of 2,000Z. or 3,000Z. only of such goods as the Indians, or the Spanish planters in the less-cultivated part of the coast might be tempted with ; since it was in such places only that he imagined it would be worth while to truck with the enemy for provisions ; and in these places it was sufficiently evident a very small cargo would suffice. But though the Commodore objected both to the ap- pointment of these officers and to their project, of the success of which he had no opinion, yet as they had insinuated that their scheme, besides victualling the squadron, might contribute to settling a trade upon that coast, which might be afterwards carried on without Chap. I.] EQUIPMENT OF THE SQUADRON. 1 difficulty, and might thereby prove a very considerable national advantage, they were much lifitened to by some considerable persons ; and of tho 15,O00Z. which was to be the amount of their cargo, the government agreed to advance them 10,000Z. upon interest, and the remaining 5000Z. they raised on bottomry bonds; and the goods purchased with this sum were all that were taken to sea by the squadron, hovsr much soever tho amount of them might be afterwards magnified by common report. This cargo was at first shipped on board the Wager store slup, and one of the victuallers, no part of it being admitted on board the men-of-war. But when the Com- modore was at St. Catharine, he considered that, in case the squadron should be separated, it might bo pretended that some of the ships were disappointed of provisions, for want of a cargo to truck with ; and therefore he dis- tributed some of the least bulky commodities on board the men-of-war, leaving the remainder principally on board the Wager, where it was lost ; and more of the goods perishing by various accidents, to be recited here- after, and no part of them being disposed of upon the coast, the few that came home to England did not pro- duce, when sold, above a fourth part of the original price. So true was the Commodore's judgment of the event of this project, which had been by many considered as infal- libly productive of immense gains. — But to return to the transactions at Portsmouth. To supply the place of the two hundred and forty in- valids \ihich had deserted, as is mentioned above, there were ordered on board two hundred and ten marines, detached from different regiments. These were raw and undisciplined men, for they were just raised, and had scarcely anything more of the soldier than their regi- mentals, none of them having been so far trained as to be permitted to fire. The last detachment of these marines came on board the 8th of August, and on the 10th the squadron sailed from Spithead to St. Helen's, there to wait for a wind to proceed on the expedition. >' 10 YOTAOX BOUND THE WORLD. [BouK I. Bufc the delays we had already suffered had not yet spent all their influence ; for we were now advanced into a season of the year when the westerly winds are usually very constant, and very violent ; and it was thought proper that we should put to sea in company with the fleet commanded by Admiral Balchen, and the expedition under Lord Cathcart. As we made up, in all twenty- one men-of-war, and a hundred and twenty-four sail of merchantmen and transports, we had no hopes of getting out of the Channel with so large a number of ships, without the continuance of a fair wind, for some con- siderable time. This was what we had every day less and less reason to expect, as the time of the equinox drew near ; so that our golden dreams, and our ideal possession of the Peruvian treasures, grew each day more faint; and the difficulties and dangers of the passage round Cape Horn in the winter season, filled our ima- ginations in their room. For it was forty days from our arrival at St. Helen's to our final departure from thence ; and even then (having orders to proceed without Lord Cathcart) we tided it down the Channel with a contrary wind. But this interval of forty days was not free from the displeasing fatigue of often setting sail, and being as often obliged to return : not exempt from dangers, greater than have been sometimes undergone in circumnavigating the globe. For the wind coming fair for the first time on the 23rd of August, we got under sail, and Mr. Balchen showed himself truly solicitous to proceed to sea; but the wind, soon returning to its old quarter, obliged us to put back to St. Helen's, not without considerable hazard, and some damage received by two of the trans- ports, who, in tacking, ran foul of each other. Besides this, we made two or three more attempts to sail, but without any better success ; and on the 6th of Septem- ber, being returned to an anchor at St. Helen's after one of these fruitless efforts, the wind blew so fre^l> tliat the whole fleet struck their yards and topmasts, to prevent driving ; yet, notwithstanding this precaution, the Centu- CHAP. I.] DBPABTUBS FROM 8T. HXLBN'8. 11 rion drove the next evening, and brought both cables ahead ; and we were in no small danger of driving foul of the Prince Frederick, a seventy-gun ship, moored at a small distance under our stern, though we happily escaped by her driving at the same time, and so pre- serving her distance; but we did not think ourselves secure till we at last let go the sheet anchor, which for- tunately brought us up. However, on the 9th of Sep- tember, we were in some degree relieved from this lin- gering vexatious situation, by an order which Mr. Anson received from the Lords Justices, to put to sea the first opportunity, with his own squadron only, if Lord Cath- cart should not be ready. Being thus freed from the troublesome company of so large a fleet, our Commodore resolved to weigh, and tide it down the Channel, as soon as the weather should become sufficiently moderate : and this might easily have been done with our own squadron alone, full two months sooner, had the orders of the Admiralty for supplying us with seamen been punctually complied with, and had we met with none of those other delays already mentioned. It is true, our hopes of a speedy departure were even now somewhat damped, by a subsequent order, which Mr. Anson re- ceived on the 12th of September; for by that he was required to take under his convoy the St. Alban's, with the Turkey fleet, and to join the Dragon and the Win- chester with the Straits and the American trade, at Torbay, or Plymouth, and to proceed with them to sea as far as their way and ours lay together. This incum- brance of a convoy gave us some imeasiness, as we feared it might prove the means of lengthening our passage to the Madeiras. However, Mr. Anson, now having the command himself, resolved to adhere to his former deter- mination, and to tide it down the Channel with the first moderate weather ; and, that the junction of his convoy might occasion as little loss of time as possible, he imme- diately sent directions to Torbay, that the fleets he was there to take under his care might be in readiness to join ^ ■'.X* 12 VOTAOB ROUND THB WORLD. [UOOKI. him instantly on his approach. At last, on the 18th of September, he weighed from St. Helen's, and though the wind was at first contrary, got clear of the Channel in four days, as will be more particularly related in the en- suing chapter. Having thus gone through the respective steps taken in the equipment of this squadron, it is sufficiently ob- vious how different an aspect this expedition bore at its first appointment in the beginning of January, from what it had in the latter end of September, when it left the Channel ; and how much its numbers, its strength, and the probability of its success were diminished by the various incidents which took place in that interval. For, instead of having all our old and ordinary seamen ex- changed for such as were young and able (which the Commodore was at first promised), and having our num- bers completed to their full complement, we were obliged to retain our first crews, which were very indifferent ; and a deficiency of three hundred men in our numbers was no otherwise made up to us, than by sending us on board a hundred and seventy men, the greatest part composed of such as were discharged from hospitals, or new-raised marines, who had never been at sea before. And, in the land forces allotted us, the change was still more disadvantageous ; for there, instead of three inde- pendent companies of a hundred men each, and Bland's regiment of foot, which was an old one, we had only four hundred and seventy invalids and marines, one part of them incapable of action by their age and infirmities, and the other part useless by their ignorance of their duty. But the diminishing the strength of the squadron was not the greatest inconvenience which attended these alterations ; for the contests, representations, and diffi- culties which they continually produced, occasioned a delay and waste of time, which, in its consequences, was the source of all the disasters to which this enterprise was afterwards exposed ; for, by this means, we were obliged to make our passage round Cape Horn in the CwAr. IL] DEPARTUBS FKOM 8T. HBLKN 8. 13 moBt tempestuous season of the year ; whence proceeded the separation of our squadron, the lues of numbers of our men, and the imminent hazard of our total destruc- tion. By this delay, too, the enemy had been so well informed of our designs, that a person who had been employed in the South-Sea Company's service, and ar- rived from Panama three or four days before we left Portsmouth, was able to relate to Mr. Anson most of the particulars of the destination and strength of our squadron, from what he had learnt amongst the Spaniards before we left them. And this was afterwards coniirmed by a more extraordinary circumstance ; for we shall find, that when the Spaniards (fully satisfied that our expe- dition was intended for the South Seas) had fitted out a squadron to oppose us, which had so far got the start of us as to arrive before us off the island of Madeira, the commander of this squadron was so well instructed in the form and make of Mr. Anson's broad pendant, and had imitated it so exactly, that he thereby decoyed the Pearl, one of our squadron, within gun-shot of him, before the captain of the Pearl was able to discover his mistake. CHAPTER II. The Passage firom St. Helen's to the Island of Madeira ; with a short AcoolUit of thut Island, and of our Stay there. On the 18th of September, 1740, the squadron, as we have observed in the preceding chapter, weighed from St. Helen's \vith a contrary wind, the Commodore pro- posing to tide it down the Channel ; as he dreaded less the inconveniences he should thereby have to struggle with, than the risk he should run of ruining the enter- prise by an imcertain, and, in all probability, a tedious attendance for a fair wind. , The squadron allotted to this service consisted of five men-of-war, a sloop of war, and two victualling ships. 14 TOTAOI BOUND TES WORLD. [Boor 1. They wore the Centurion, of sixty guns, four hundred mou, George Anson, Esq., commander; the Gloucester^ of fifty guns, three hundred men, Bichard Norris, com- mander ; the Severn, of fifty guns, three hundred men, the Honourable Edward Legg, Commander; the Pearl, of forty guns, two hundred and fifty men, Matthew Mitchell, commander ; the Wager, of twenty-eight guns, one hundred and sixty men, Daniel Eidd, commander; and the Tryal sloop, of eight guns, one hundred men, the Honourable John Murray, commander; the two victuallers were 'pinks, the largest of about four hun- dred, and the other of about two hundred tons burthen. Thefie were to attend us till the provisions wtt had taken on board were so far consumed as to make room for the additional quantity they carried with them, vhich, when we had taken into our ships, they were to be discharged. Besides the complement of men borne by the above- mentioned ships as their crews, there were embarked on board the squadron about four hundred and seventy invalids and marines, under the denomination of land- forces (as has been particularly mentcned in the pre- ceding chapter), which were commanded by Lieutenant- Colonel Cracherode. With this squadron, together with the St. Alban's and the Lark, and the trade under their convoy, Mr. Anson, after weighing from St. Helen's, tided it down the Channel for the first forty-eight hours ; and on the 20th, in the morning, we discovered ofiT the Bam-head, the Dragon, Winchester, South-sea Castle, and Bye, with a number of merchantmen under their con- • voy ; these we joined about noon the same day, our Com- modore having orders to see them (together with the St. Alban's and Lark) as far out to the sea as their course and ours lay together. When we came in sight of this last-mentioned fleet, Mr. Anson first hoisted his broad pen- dant, and was saluted by all the men-of-war in company. Wiieu i»e had joined this last convoy, we made up eleven men-of-war, and about one hundred and fifty sail of merchantmen, consisting of the Turkey, the Straifl^ Ciur.ll.] PASSAGE TO THB ISLAND OF MADURA. 16 and the American trade. Mr. Anson, the same day made a signal for all the captains of the men-of-war to come on buard him, where he delivered them their fight- ing and sailing instructions, and then, with a fair wind, we all stood towards the south-west ; and the next day at noon, being the 2l8t, we had run forty leagues from the Bam-head. Being now clear of the land, our Com- modore, to render our view more extensive, ordered Captain Mitchell,- in the Pearl, to make sail two leagues ahead of the fleet every morning, and to repair to his station every evening. Thus we proceeded till the 25th, when the Winchester and the American convoy made the concerted signal for leave to separate, which being answered by the Commodore, they left us; as the St. Alban's and the Dragonjj^with the Turkey and Straits convoy, did on the 29th ; after which separation, there remained in company only our own squadron, and our two victuallers, with which we kept in our course for the island of Madeira. But the winds were so contrary, that we had the mortification to be forty days in our passage thither from St. Helen's, though it is known to be often done in ten or twelve. This delay was a most unpleasing circumstance, productive of much discont,ent and ill-humour amongst our people, of which those only can have a tolerable idea who have had the experience of a like situation. For, besides the peevishness and despondency which foul and contrary winds, and a lin- gering voyage, never fail to create on all occasions, we, in particular, had very substantial reasons to be greatly alamied at this unexpected impediment ; since, as we had departed from England much later than we ought to have done, we had placed almost all our hopes of success in the chance of retrieving in some measure at sea, the time we had so unhappily wasted at Spithead and St. Helen's. However, at last, on Monday, October the 25th, at five in the morning, we, to our great joy, made the land, and in the afternoon came to an anchor in Madeira road, in forty-fathom water; the Brazen-head bearing IG VOYAGE HOUND TUfi WOBLD. CnwBi 11 from us E. by S., the Loo N.N.W., and the gi'eat cbui-cii N.N.E. We had hardly let go our anchor when an English privateer sloop ran under our stem, and saluted the Commodore with nine guns, which we returned with five ; and, the next day, the Consul of the island visiting the Commodore, we saluted him with nine guns on his coming on board. This island of Madeira, where we are now arrived, is famous for its excellent wines, which seem to be designed by Providence for the refreshment of the inhabitants of the torrid zone. It is situated in a fine climate, in the latitude of 32° 27' north, and in the longitude &om London (by our different reckonings) of 18^° to 19^° west, though laid down in the charts 17°. It is composed of one continued hill, of a confli^rable height, extending itself from east to west ; the oeclivity of which, on the south side, is cultivated and interspersed with vineyards ; and in the midst of this slope the merchants have fixed their country seats, which helped to form a very agreeable prospect. There is but one considerable town in the whole island — it is named Funchal, and is seated on the south part of the island, at the bottom of a large bay. Towards the sea it is defended by a high wall, with a battery of cannon, besides a castle on the Loo, which is a rock standing in the water at a small distance from the shore. Funchal is the only place of trade, and, indeed, the only place where it is possible for a boat to land ; and even here the beach is covered with large stones, and a violent surf continually beats upon it ; so that the Com- modore did not care to venture the ships' long-boats to fetch the water off, there was so much danger of their being lost; and, therefore, ordered the captains of the squadron to employ Portuguese boats on that service. We continued about a week at this island, watering our ships, and providing the squadron with wine and other refreshments. Here, on the 3rd of November, Captain Eichard Norris signified, by a letter to the Commodore, his desire to quit his command on board the Gloucester, in C>A#. II.] THE SQUADRON OFF UADKJKA. 17 ordor to rettim to England for tho recovery of his Lealtb. This requuHt the Conmiudore complied with, and there- upon yvHtf ploaBt«d to appoint Captain Matthew Mitchell to command the Gloucester in his room, and to remove Cap- tain Kidd from the Wager to the Pearl, and Captain Murray from the Tryal sloop to the Wager, giving the command of the Tryal to Lieutenant Cheap. These pro- motions being settled, with other changes in the lieuten- ancies, the Commodore, on the following day, gave to the captains their orders, appointing St. Jago, one of the Cape de Yerd islands, to be the first place of rendezvous in case of separation ; and directing them, if they did not meet the Centurion there, to make the best of their way to tho island of St. Catherine, on the coast of Brazil. The water from the squadron being the same day completed, and each ship supplied with as much wine and other refreshments as they could take in, we weighed anchor in o 18 TOYAOK BOUND THE WOBLD. [Book I. !■ I tlie afternoon, and took our leave of the island of Madeira. — But, before I go on with the narration of our trans- actions, I think it necessary to give some account of the proceedings of the enemy, and of the measures they had taken to render all our designs abortive. When Mr. Anson visited the Governor of Madeira, he received information from him that, for three or four days in the latter end of October, there had appeared to the westward of the island seven or eight ships of the line, and a patache, which last was sent every day close in to make the land. The Governor assured the Commodore, upon his honour, that none upon the island had either given them intelligence, or had in any sort conmiuni- cated with them ; but that he believed them to be either French or Spanish, but was rather inclined to think them Spanish. On this intelligence, Mr. Anson sent an officer in a clean sloop eight leagues to the westward, to recon- noitre them, and, if possible, to discover what they were ; but the officer returned without being able to get a sight of them, so that we still remained in uncertainty. How- ever, we could not but conjecture that this fleet was intended to put a stop to our expedition, which had they cruised to the eastward of the island instead of the west- ward, they could not but have executed with great facility ; for as, in that case, they must have certainly fallen in with us, we should have been obliged to throw overboard vast quantities of provision to clear our ships for an engagement ; and this alone, without any regard to the event of the action, would have effectually pre- vented our progress. This was so obvious a measure, that we could not help imagining reasons which might have prevented them from pursuing it ; and we, therefore, supposed that this French or Spanish squadron was sent out upon advice of our sailing in company with Admiral Balchen and Lord Oathcart's expedition ; and thence, from an apprehension of being overmatched, they might not think it advisable to meet with us till we had parted company, which they might judge would not happen n Chap. III.] HISTOST OF THB SPANISH SQUADRON. ||l before our arrival at this island. These were our specu- lations at that time, and hence we had reason to suppose that we might still fall in with them in our way to the Cape de Verd islands. We afterwards, in the course of our expedition, were persuaded that this was the Spanish squadron, commanded by Don Joseph Pizarro, which was sent out purposely to trayerse the yiews and enterprises of our squadron, to which in strength they were greatly superior. As this Spanish armament, then, was so nearly connected with our expedition, and as the catastrophe it imderwent, though not effected by our force, was yet a considerable advantage to this nation, produced in conse- quence of our equipment, I have in the following chapter given a summary account of their proceedings, from their first setting out from Spain, in the year 1740, till the Asia, the only ship cf the whole squadron which returned to Europe, arrived at the Groyne, in the beginning of the year 1746. r CHAPTER III. The History of the Spanish Squadron, commanded by Don Joseph Pizarrow ;' The squadron fitted out by the Court of Spain to attend our motions and traverse our projects, we supposed to have been the ships seen off Madeira, as mentioned in the preceding chapter. As this force was sent out particu- larly against our expedition, I cannot but imagine that the following history of the casualties it met with, as far as by intercepted letters and oth^r information the same has come to my knowledge, is a very essential part of the present work ; for hence it will appear, that we were the occasion that a considerable part of the naval power of Spain was diverted from the prosecution of the am- bitious views of that court in Europe. And whatever men and ships were lost by the enemy in this under- ■X !..•'■■ -r'*'iii-±i-i'S m VOYAGE HOUND THB WORLD. [Book I. IF f ' i taking, were losl; in consequence of the precautions they took to secure themselves against our enterprises. This squadron (besides two ships intended for the West Indies, which did not part company till after they had left the Madeiras) was composed of the following men-of-war, commanded by Don Joseph Pizarro : — The Asia, of sixty-six guns, an^ seven hundred men; this was the Admiral's ship. The Guipuscoa, of seventy-four guns, and seven himdred men. The Hermiona, of fifty-four guns, and five hundred men. The Esperanza, of fifty guns, and four hundred and fifty men. The St. Estevan, of forty gims, and three hundred and fifty men. And a Patache, of twenty guns. These ships, over and above their complement of Sailors and marines, had on board an old Spanish regi- ment of foot, intended to reinforce the garrisons on the coast of the South Seas. When this fleet had cruised for some days to the leeward of the Madeiras, as is men- tioned in the preceding chapter, they left that station in the beginning of November, and steered for the river of Plata, where they arrived the 5th of January, 0. S., and coming to an anchor in the bay of Maldonado, at the mo^th of that river, their admiral, Pizarro, sent imme- diately to Buenos Ayres for a supply of provisions ; for they had departed from Spain with only four months' provisions on board. While they lay here expecting this supply, they received intelligence, by the treachery of the Portuguese governor of St. Catherine, of Mr. Anson's having arrived at that island on the 21st of December preceding, and of his preparing to put to sea again with the utmost expedition. Pizarro, notwithstanding his su- perior force, had his reasons (and, as some say, his orders likewise) for avoiding our squadron anywhere short of the South Seas ; he was, besides, extremely desirous of Cup. 111.] HISTORY OF THE SPANISH SQUADBON. 21 getting round Cape Horn before us, as he imagined tliut step alone would effectually bafile all our designs : and, therefore, on hearing that we were in his neighbourhood, and that we should soon be ready to proceed for Cape Horn, he weighed anchor with the five large ships (the Patache being disabled and condemned, and the men taken out of her), after a stay of seventeen days only ; and got under sail without his provisions, which arrived at Maldonado within a day or two after his departure. But, notwithstanding the precipitation with which he departed, we put to sea from St. Catherine four days before him ; and in some part of our passage to Cape Horn, the two squadrons were so near together, that the Pearl, one of our ships, being separated from the rest, fell in with the Spanish fleet, and, mistaking the Asia for the Centurion, had got within gun-shot of Pizarro before she discovered her error, and narrowly escaped being taken. It being the 22nd of January when the Spaniards weighed from Maldonado (as has been already men- tioned), they could not expect to get into the latitude of Cape Horn before the equinox ; and, as they had reason to apprehend very tempestuous weather in doubling it at that season, ai)'^. as the Spanish sailors, being for the most part accustomed to a fair-weather country, might be ex- pected to be very averse to so dangerous and fatiguing a navigation, the better to encourage them, some part of their pay was advanced to them in European goods, which they were to be permitted to 'dispose of in the South Seas ; that so the hopes of the great profit each man was to make on his venture might animate him in his duty, and render him less disposed to repine at the labour, the hardships, and the perils he would in all pro- bability meet with before his arrival on the coast of Peru. Pizarro, with his squadron, having towards the latter end of February, run the length of Cape Horn, he then stood to the westward, in order to double it ; but in the night of the last day of February, 0. S., while with this 22 YOTAGB BOUND THE WOBLD. [BookL i ' t-;l yiew they were turning to windward, the Guipuscoa, the Hermiona, and the Esperanza, were separated from the Admiral ; and on the 6th of March following, the Gui- puscoa was separated from the other two ; and on the 7th (being the daj after we had passed Straits le Maire), there came on a most furious storm at N.W., which, in spite of all their efforts, drove the whole squadron to the eastward, and, after several fruitless attempts, obliged them to bear away for the river Plata, where Pizarro, in the Asia, arrived about the middle of May, and a few days after him the Esperanza and the Estevan. The Hermiona was supposed to have foundered at sea, for she was never heard of more ; and the Guipuscoa was run ashore and sunk on the coast of Brazil. The calamities of all kinds which this squadron underwent in this unsuccessful navigation, can only be paraUeled by what we ourselves experienced in the same climate, when buffeted by the same storms. There was, indeed, some diversity in our distresses, which rendered it difficult to decide whose situation was most worthy of commiseration ; for, to all the misfortunes we had in common with each otiier, as shattered rigging, leaky ships, and the fatigues and de- spondency which necessarily attend these disasters, there was superadded, on board our squadron, the ravage of a most destructive and incurable disease, and on board the Spanish squadron, the devastation of famine. For this squadron, either from the hurry of their out- set, their presumption of a supply at Buenos Ayres, or from other less obvious motives, departed from Spain, as has been abeady observed, with no more than four months' provision on board, and even that, as it is sai !, at short allowance only: so that when, by the storms they met with off Cape Horn, their continuance at sea was prolonged a month or more beyond their expectation, they were reduced to such infinite distress, that rats, when they could be caught, were sold for four dollars apiece; and a sailor who died on board, had his death concealed for some days by his brother, who, during that V Chap. ni.J HI8T0BT OF THE SPANISH SQUADRON. 23 time, lay in the same hammock with the corpse, only to receive the dead man's allowance of provisions. In this dreadful situation they were alarmed (if their horrors were capable of augmentation) by the discovery of a conspiracy among the marines on board the Asia, the Admiral's ship. This had taken its rise chiefly from the miseries they endured ; for, though no less was proposed by the conspirators than the massacring the officers and the whole crew, yet their motives for this bloody resolu- tion seemed to be no more than their desire of relieving their hunger, by appropriating the whole ship's provisions to themselves; but their designs were prevented when just upon the point of execution, by means of one of their confessors ; and three of their ringleaders were immediately put to death. However, though the con- spiracy was suppressed, their other calamities admitted of no alleviation, but grew each day more and more destructive; so that, by the complicated distress of fatigue, sickness, and hunger, the three ships which escaped lost the greatest part of their men: the Asia, their Admiral's ship, arrived at Monte Video, in the river Plata, with half her crew only ; the St. Estevan had lost, in like manner, half her hands when she anchored in the bay of Barragan; the Esperanza, a fifty-gun ship, was still more unfortunate, for, of four hundi'ed and 'fifty hands, which she brought from Spain, only fifty-eight remained alive, and the whole regiment of foot perished, except sixty men. But to give the reader a more distinct and particular idea of what they underwent upon this occasion, I shall lay before him a short account of the fate of the Guipuscoa, extracted from a letter written l)y Don Joseph Mindinuetta, her captain, to a person of distinction at Lima, a copy of which fell into our hands afterwards, in the South Seas. He mentions, that he separated from the Hermiona and the Esperanza, in a fog, on the 6th of March, being then, as I suppose, to the S.E. of Staten Land, and plying to the westward ; that in the night after it blew 2i VOYAOK ROUND THE WOULD. [DooK 1. {Vi; a furious storm at N.W., which, at half an hour after ten, split his main-sail, and obliged him to bear away with his fore-sail ; that the ship went ten knots an hour with a prodigious sea, and often ran her gangway under water ; that he likewise sprung his main-mast, and the ship made so much water, that with four pumps and baling, ho could not free her ; that on the 9th it was calm, but the sea continued so high that the ship, in rolling, opened all her upper works and seams, and started the butt-ends of her planking and the greatest part of her top timbers, the bolts being drawn by the violence of her roll ; that in this condition, with other additional disasters to the hull and rigging, they continued beating to the westward till the 12th ; that they were then in sixty degrees of south latitude, in great want of provisions, numbers every day perishing by the fatigue of pumping, and those who survived being quite dispirited by labour, hunger, and the severity of the weather, they having two spans of snow upon the decks ; that then, finding the wind fixed in the western quarter and blowing sti'ong, and conse- quently their passage to the westward impossible, they resolved to bear away for the river Plata ; that on the 22nd they were obliged to throw overboard all the upper- deck guns and an anchor, and to take six turns of the cable round the ship to prevent her opening ; that on the 4th of April, it being calm, but a very high sea, the ship rolled so much that the main-mast came by the board, and in a few hours after she lost, in like manner, her fore-mast and her mizen-mast ; and that, to accumulate their misfortunes, they were soon obliged to cut away their bowsprit, to diminish, if possible, the leakage at her head; that by this time, he had lost two hundred and fifty men by hunger and fatigue, for those who wero capable of working at the pumps (at which every officer, without exception, took his turn) were allowed only an ounce and a half of biscuit per diem, and those who were so sick or so weak that they could not assist in this ne- cessary labour, had no more than an ounce of wheat ; so .liil.ii i, -■"■<1! CBiP. 111.] HI8T0BT OF THU SPANISH SQUADUON. U tbat it was common for the men to fall down dead at the pumps; that, including the officers, they could only muster &om eighty to a hundred persons capable of duty; that the south-west winds blew so fresh, after they had lost their masts, that they could not imme- diately set up jury-masts, but were obliged to drive like a wreck, between the latitudes of 32° and 28°, till the 24th of April, when they made the coast of Brazil, at Bio de Plata, ten leagues to the southward of the island of St. Catherine ; that here they came to an anchor, and that the captain was very desirous of proceeding to 8t. Catherine, if possible, in order to save the hull of the ship, and the guns and stores on board her ; but the crew instantly left oiS pmuping, and, being enraged at the hardships they had suifered and the numbers they had lost (there being at that time no less than thirty dead bodies lying on the deck), they all, with one voice, cried out, " On Shore I On Shore I" and obliged the captain to run the ship in directly for the land, where, the fifth day after, she sunk, with her stores and all her furniture on board her, but the remainder of the crew, whom hunger and fatigue had spared, to the number of four hundred, got save on shore. From this account of the adventures and catastrophe of the Guipuscoa, we may form some conjeciore of the manner in which the Hermiona was lost, and of the dis- tresses endured by the three remaining ships of the squadron, which got into the river Plata. These last being in great want of masts, yards, rigging, and all kind of naval stores, and having no supply at Buenos Ayres, nor in any of their neighbouring settlements, Pizarro despatched an advice-boat with a letter of credit to Eio Janeiro, to purchase what was wanting from the Portu- guese. He, at the same time, sent an express across the continent to St. Jago, in Chili, to be thence forwarded to the viceroy of Peru, informing him of the disasters that had befallen his squadron, and desiring a remittance of 200,000 dollars from the royal chests at Lima, to enable f . ^ \. 26 TOTAOE ROUND THE WORLD. [BooxL Cnki ill '!! iji!! him to victual and refit his remaining ships, that he might be again in a condition to attempt the passage to the South Seas, as soon as the season of the year should be more favourable. It is mentioned by the Spaniards, as a most extraordinary circumstance, that the Indian charged with this express (though it was then the depth of winter, when the Cordilleras are esteemed impassable on account of the snow) was only thirteen days in his journey from Buenos Ayres to St. Jago, in Chili, though these places are distant three hundred Spanish leagues, near forty of which are amongst the snows and precipices of the Cordilleras. The return to this despatch of Pizarro's, from the viceroy of Peru, was no ways favourable ; instead of 200,000 dollars, the sum demanded, the viceroy remitted him only 100,000, telling him that it was with great difficulty he was able to procure him even that ; though the inhabitants at Lima, who considered the presence of Pizarro as absolutely necessary to their security, were much discontented at this procedure, and did not fail to assert that it was not the want of money, but the in- terested views of some of the viceroy's confidants that prevented Pizarro from having the whole sum he had asked for. ■ The advice-boat Beat to Bio Janeiro also executed her commission but imperfectly ; for though she brought back a considerable quantity of pitch, tar, and cordage, yet she could not procure either masts or yards ; and, as an additional misfortune, Pizarro was disappointed of some masts he expected from Paraguay ; for a carpenter, whom he intrusted with a large -sum of money, and had sent there to cut masts, instead of prosecuting the busi- ness he was employed in, had married in the country, and refused to return. However, by removing the masts of the Esperanza into the Asia, and making use of what spare masts and yards they had on board, they made a shift to refit the Asia and the St. Estevan ; and in the October following, Pizarro was prepared to put to sea iliii.!.' Cbap.III.] history OV THE SPANISH 8QUADB0N. 27 with those two ships, in order to attempt the passage round Cape Horn & second time ; but the St. Estevan, in coming down the river Plata, ran on a shoal and beat o£f her rudder, on which, and other damages she received, she was condemned and broke up, and Pizarro, in the Asia, proceeded to sea without her. Having now the summer before him, and the winds favourable, no doubt was made of his having a fortunate and speedy passage ; but, being off Oape Horn, and going right before the wind in very moderate weather, though in a swelling sea, by some misconduct of the ofiScer of the watch, the ship rolled away her masts, and was a second time obliged to put back to the river Plata in great distress. The Asia, having considerably suffered in this second unfortunate expedition, the Esperanza, which had been left behind at Monte Video, was ordered to be refitted, the command of her being given to Mindinuetta, who was captain of the Guipuscoa when she was lost. He, in the November of the succeeding year, that is, in November, 1742, sailed from the river Plata for the South Seas, and arrived safe on the coast of Chili, where his Commodore, Pizarro, passing overland from Buenos Ayres, met him. There were great animosities and con- tests between these two gentlemen at their meeting, occa- sioned, principally, by the claim of Pizarro to command the Esperanza, which Mindinuetta had brought round ; for Mindinuetta refused to deliver her up to him, insist- ing, that as he came into the South Seas alone, and under no superior, it was not now in the power of Pizarro to resume that authority which he had once parted with. However, the President of Chili interposing and declar- ing for Pizarro, Mindinuetta, after a long and obstinate struggle, was obliged to submit. But Pizarro had not yet completed the series of his adventures; for when he and Mindinuetta came back by land from Chili to Buenos Ayres, in the year 1745, hey found at Monte Video the Asia, which, near three years before, they had left there. This ship they re- VOTAGB ROUND THE WORLD. [Book 1, I 111. 'II !| I li'i i; iiji I II i liiiiM solvod, if poBsiblo, to carry to Europe ; and with this view they refitted hor in the best manner they could. But their great difficulty was to procure a sufficient number of hands to navigate her ; for all the remaining sailors of the squadron to be met with in the neighbour- hood of Buenos Ayres did not amount to a hundred men. They endeavoured to supply this defect by pressing many of the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, and putting on board besides, all the English prisoners then in their custody, together with a number of Portuguese smugglers, which they had taken at different times, and some of the Indians of the country. Among these last, there was a chief, and ten of his followers, who had been surprised by a party of Spanish soldiers about three months before. The name of this chief was Orellana ; he belonged to a very power- ful tribe, which had committed great ravages in the neigh- bourhood of Buenos Ayres. With this motley crew (all of them, except the European Spaniards, extremely averse to 'i X Cair. III.] BIBTOBT OF TITB 8PAMIBH SQUADBON. the voyage), Pizarro set nail from Monte Video, in the river Plata, about the beginning of November, 1745 ; and the native Spaniards, being no strangers to the dissatis- faction of their forced men, treated both these, the English prisoners and the Indians, with great insolence and bar- bai'ity ; but more particularly the Indians, for it was common for the meanest officers in the ship to beat them most cruelly on the slightest pretences, and oftentimes only to exert their superiority. Orellana and his fol- lowers, though in appearance sufficiently patient and sub- missive, meditated a severe revenge for all these inhuma- nities. As he conversed very well in Spanish (these Indians having in time of peace a great intercourse with Buenos Ayres), he affected to talk with such of the English as understood that language, and seemed veiy desirous of being informed how many Englishmen there was on board, and which they were. As he knew that the English were as much enemies to the Spaniards as himself, he had, doubtless, an intention of disclosing his purposes to them, and making them partners in the scheme he had j>rojected for revenging his wrongs, and recovering his liberty ; but, having sounded them at a distance, and not finding them so precipitate and vindictive as he expected, he proceeded no further with them, but resolved to trust alone to the resolution of his ten faithful followers. These, it should seem, readily engaged to observe his directions, and to execute whatever commands he gave them ; and having agreed on the measures necessary to be taken, they first furnished themselves with Dutch knives, sharp at the point, which being the common knives used in the ship, they found no difficulty in procuring. Besides this, they employed their leisure in secretly cutting out thongs from raw hides, of which there were great numbers on board, and in fixing to each end of these thongs the double- headed shot of the small quarter-deck guns ; this, when swung round their heads, according to the practice of their country, was a most mischievous weapon, in the use of which the Indians about Buenos Ayres are trained &om \' >• m VOTAGB BOUND THI WORLD. [BooiL :':l tbeir infancy, and consequently are very expert. Being thus prepared, the execution of their scheme was, purhaps, precipitated by a particular outrage committed on Orellana himself. For one of the officers, who was a very brutal fellow, ordered Orellana aloft, which being what he was incapable of performing, the officer, under pretence of his disobedience, beat him with such violence that he left him bleeding on the deck, and stupefied for some time with his bruises and wounds. This usage undoubtedly heightened his thirst for revenge, and made him eager and impatient till the means of executing it were in his power ; and within a day or two after this incident on opportunity presented itself. , It was about nine in the evening, when many of the principal officers were on the quarter-deck indulging in the freshness of the night air ; the waste of the ship was filled with live cattle, and the forecastle was manned with its customary watch. Orellana and his companions, under cover of the night, having prepared their weapons and thrown o£f their trousers and the more cumbrous part of their dress, came all together on the quarter-deck, and drew towards the door of the great cabin. The boatswain immediately reprimanded them, and ordered them to be gone. On this, Orellana spoke to his fol- lowers in his native language, when four of them drew off, two towards each gangway, and the chief and the six remaining Indians seemed to be slowly quitting the quarter-deck. When the detached Indians had taken possession of the gangway, Orellana placed his hands hollow to his mouth, and bellowed out the war-cry used by those savages, which is said to be the harshest and most terrifying sound known in nature. This hideous yell was the signal for beginning the massacre ; for, on this, they all drew their knives, and brandished their prepared double-headed shot; and the six, with their chief, which remained on the quarter-deck, immediately fell on the Spaniards, who were intermingled with them, and laid nearly forty of them at their feet, of which -til CBAr. III.] UI8T0RY OF TUX BPAlilSH BQUADBOM. above twenty were killed on the spot, and the rest dis- abled. Many of the officers, in the beginning of the tumult, pushed into the great cabin, where they put out the lights, and barricaded the door ; whilst of the others who had avoided the first fury of the Indians, some en- deavoured to escape along the gangways into the fore- castle, where the Indians, placed on purpose, stabbed the greatest part of them as they attempted to pass by, or forced them off the gangways into the waste. Some threw themselves voluntarily over the barricades into the waste, and thought themselves fortunate to lie concealed i 82 VOTAOE BOUND THE WORLD. [Uooi 1. amongst the cattle ; but the greatest part escaped np the main shrouds, and sheltered themselves either in the topn or rigging. And though the Indians attacked only the quarter-ddck, yet the watch in the forecastle, finding their commubication cut off, and being terrified by the woimds of the few who, not being killed on the spot, had strength sufficient to force their passage, and not knowing, either, who their enemies were, or what were their numbers, they likewise gave all over for lost, and in great confusion ran up into the rigging of the foremast and bowsprit. Thus these eleyen Indians, with a resolution perhaps without example, possessed themselves, almost in an in- stant, of the quarter-deck of a ship mounting sixty-six guns, and manned with near five hundred hands, and continued in possession of this post a considerable time. For the officers in the great cabin (amongst whom were Pizarro and Mindinuetta), the crew between decks, and those who had escaped into the tops and rigging, were only anxious for their own safety, and were for a long time incapable of forming any project for suppressing the insurrection, and recovering possession of the ship. It is true, the yells of the Indians, the groans of the wounded, and the confused clamours of the crew, all heightened by the obscurity of the night, had at first greatly magnified their danger, and had filled them with imaginary terrors, which darkness, disorder, and the ignorance of the real strength of an enemy, never fail to produce. For, as the Spaniards, were sensible of the disaffection of their prest hands, and were also conscious of their barbarity to their prisoners, they imagined the conspiracy was general, and considered their own destruction as inevitable ; so that, it is said, some of them had once taken the resolution of leaping into the sea, but were prevented by their compa- nions. However, when the Indians had entirely cleared the quarter-deck, the tumult in a great measure subsided ; for those who had escaped were kept silent by their fears, and the Indians were incapable of pursuing them to renew the the slig day he for CliAi. III.J HI8T0BT OF THB SPANISH 8QDADH0N. 3tf the disorder. Orellaua, when he saw himself master of the quarter-deck, broke open the arm-chest, which, on a slight suspicion of mutiny, had beeu ordered there a few days before, as to a place of the greatest security. Here he took it for granted he should find cutlasses sufficient for himself and his companions, in the use of which weapon they were all extremely skilful, and with these it was imagined they proposed to have forced the great cabin ; but, on opening the chest, there appeared nothing but fire-arms, which to them were of no use. There were indeed cutlasses in the chest, but they were hid by the fire-arms being laid over them. This was a sensible dis- appointment to them ; and, by this time, Pizarro and his companions in the great cabin were capable of conversing aloud through the cabin-windows and port-holes with those in the gun-rooms and between decks, and from hence they learnt that the English (whom they princi- pally suspected) were all safe below, and had not inter- meddled in this mutiny ; and they at last discovered that none were concerned in it but Orellana and his people. On this, Pizarro and the officers resolved to attack them on the quai-ter-deck, before any of the discontented on board should so far recover their first surprise as to re- flect on the facility and certainty of seizing the ship by a junction with the Indians in the present emergency. With this view Pizarro got together what arms were in the cabin, and distributed them to those who were with him : but tiiere were no other fire-arms to be met with but pistols, and for these they had neither powder nor ball. However, having now settled a correspondence with the gun-room, they lowered down a bucket out of the cabin- >vindow, into which the gimner, out of one of the gun- room ports, put a quantity of pistol cartridges. When they had thus procured ammunition, and had loaded their pistols, they set the cabin-door partly open, and fired several shot amongst the Indians on the quarter-deck, though at first without effi3ct ; but, at last, Mindinuetta, whom we have often mentioned, had the good fortune to D Ik VOrAGB BOUND THB WOBLD. [BooKl. shout Orellana dead on the spot ; on which his faithful companions, abandoning all thoughts of further resist- ance, instantly leaped into the sea, where every man perished. Thus was this insurrection quelled, and the possession of the quarter-deck regained, after it had been full two hours in the power of this great and daring chief, and his gallant unhappy countrymen. Pizarro, having escaped this imminent peril, steered for Europe, and arrived safe on the coast of Galicia in the beginning of the year 1746, after having been ab- sent between four and five years, and having, by his attendance on our expedition, diminished the naval power of Spain by above three thousand hands (the flower of their sailors), and by four considerable ships of war and a patache. For we have seen that the Her- miona foundered at sea; the Guipuscoa was stranded, and sank on the coast of Brazil; the St. Estevan was condemned and broken up in the river Plata; and the Esperanza, was left in the South Seas, incapable of returning to Spain. So that the Asia only, with less than one hundred hands, may be regarded as all the remains of that squadron with which Pizarro first put to sea. And whoever considers the very large proportion which this squadron bore to the whole navy of Spain, will, I believe, confess that, had our undertaking been attended with no other advantages than that of ruining so great a part of the sea force of so dangerous an enemy, this alone would be a sufficient equivalent for our equip- ment, and an incontestable proof of the service which the nation has thence received. Having thus concluded this simimary of Pizarro's adventures, I shall now return to the narration of our own transactions. 1 1 V ; w i .' ! f l^i ClUP.iV.J TBOH MADBIBA TO 8T. OATHABIMS. 85 CHAPTER IV. From Madeira to St. Catharine. I HAYX already mentioned that on the 3rd of November we weighed from Madeira, after orders had been given to the captains to rendezvous at St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd islands, in case the squadron was separated. But the next day, when we got to sea, the Commodore considering that the seacon was far advanced, and that touching at St. Jago would create a new delay, he, for this reason, thought proper to alter his rendezvous, and to appoint the island of St. Catharine, on the coast of Brazil, to be the first place to which the ships of the squadron were to repair, in case of separation. In our passage to the island of St. Catharine, we ffivnd the direction of the trade-winds to differ consider- y from what we had reason to expect, both from the general histories given of these winds, and the experience of former navigators. For the learned Dr. HaQey, in his account of the trade winds, which take place in the tropical seas, tells us that, from the latitude of 28° N., to the latitude of 10° N., there is generally a fresh gale of N.E. wind, which, towards the African side, rarely comes to the eastward of E.N.E., or passes to the north- ward of N.N.E. ; but, on the American side, the wind is somewhat more easterly, though most commonly, even there, it is a point or two to the northward of the east : that from 10° N. to 4° N. the calms and tornadoes take place ; and from 4° N. to 30° S. the winds are generally and perpetually between the south and the east. This account we expected to have verified by our own experi- ence ; but we found considerable variations from it, both in respect to the steadiness of the winds and the quarter from whence they blew : for, though we met with a N.E. wind about the latitude of 28° N., yet, from the latitude of 25° to the latitude of 18° N., the wind was never once 86 YOTAOB BOUND THB WORLD. [Book I. M Hi & 1 to the northward of the east, but, on the contrary, almost constantly to the southward of it. However, &om thence to the latitude of 6° 20' N. we had it usually to the north- ward of the east, though not entirely, it having for a short time changed to E.S.E. From hence to about 4° 46' N. the weather was very unsettled : sometimes the Mrind was N.E., then changed to S.E., and sometimes wo had a dead calm, attended with small rain and lightning. After this the wind continued almost invariably between the S. and E. to the latitude of 7° 30' S. ; and then, again, as invariably between the N. and E., to the latitude of 15° 30' S. ; then E. and S.E., to 21° 37' S. But, after this, even to the-latitude of 27° 44' S., the wind was never once between the S. and the E., though we had it at times in all the other quarters of the compass. But this last circumstance may be in some measure accounted for from our approach to the main continent of the Brazils. I mention not these particulars with a view of cavilling at the received accounts of these trade-winds, which, I doubt not, are in general su£&ciently accurate ; but I thought it a matter worthy of public notice, that such deviations from the established rules do sometimes take place. Besides, this observation may not only be of service to navigators, by putting them on their guard against these hitherto unexpected irregularities, but is a circumstance necessary to be attended to in the solution of that great question about the causes of trade-winds and monsoons ; a question which, in my opinion, has not been hitherto discussed with that clearness and accuracy which its importance (whether it be considered as a naval or philosophical inquiry) seems to demand. . On the 16th of November one of our victuallers made a signal to speak with the Commodore, and we shortened sail for her to como up with us. The master came on board, and acquainted Mr. Anson that he had complied with the terms of his charter-party, and desired to be unloaded and dismissed. Mr. Anson, on consulting the captains of the squadron, found all the ships had still Chap. IV.] FROM MADEIBA TO ST. CATHARINE. S7 guch quantities of provision between their decks, and were withal so deep, that they could not without great difficulty take in their several proportions of brandy from the Industry Pink, one of the victuallers only; conse- quently, he was obliged to continue the other of them, tiie Anna Pink, in the service of attending the squadron. This being resolved on, the Commodore the next day made a signal for the ships to bring to, and to take on board their shares of the brandy from the Industry Pink ; and in this the long-boats of the squadron were employed the three following days, that is, till the 19th, in the evening, when the Pink being unloaded, she parted com- pany with us, being bound for Barbadoes, there to take in a freight for England. Most of the officers of the squadron took the opportimity of writing to their friends at home by this ship ; but she was afterwards unhappily taken by the Spaniards. On the 20th of November the captaips of the squadron represented to the Commodore that their ships' compa- nies were very sickly, and that it was their own opinion as well as their surgeon's, that it would tend to the pre- servation of the men to let in more air between decks ; but that their ships were so deep, they could not possibly op^m their lower ports. On this representation the Com- modore ordered six air-scuttles to be cut in such places where they would least weaken it. And, on this occasion, I cannot but observe how much it is the duty of all those who, either by office or authority, have K<2*y influence in the direction of our naval affairs, to attend to this important article, the preservation of the lives and health of our seamen. If it could be supposed that the motives of hmnanity are insufficient for this purpose, yet policy, and a regard to the success of our arms, and the interest and honour of each particular commander, should naturally lead us to a careful and impartial examination of every probable method proposed for maintaining a ship's crew in health and vigour. But has this been always done ? Have the plain and obvious 38 TOTAGB BOUND THB WOBLD. [MbOKL >Wm "I 'I mm methods of keeping our ships sweet and clean, by a con- stant supply of fresh air, been considered with that can- dour and temper which the great benefits promised hereby ought naturally to have inspired ? On the contrary, have not these salutary schemes been often treated with neglect and contempt ? And have not some of those who have been intrusted with experimenting their effects been guilty of the most indefensible partiality in the accounts they have given of these trials ? Indeed, it must be confessed that many distinguished persons, both in the direction and conmiand of our fleets, have exerted themselves on these occasions with a judicious and dispassionate exami- nation, becoming the interesting nature of the inquiry ; but the wonder is, that any could be found irrational enough to act a contrary part, in spite of the strongest dictates oi prudence and humanity. I must, however, own, that I do not believe this conduct to have arisen from motives so savage as the first reflection thereon does naturally suggest ; but I rather impute it to an obstinate and, in some degree, superstitious attachment to such practices as have been long established, and to a settled contempt and hatred of all kinds of innovations, especially such as are projected by landmen and persons residing on shore. But let us return from this, I hope not imper- tinent digression. We crossed the equinoctial line with a fine fr«sh gale at S.E., on Friday, the 28th of November, at four in the morning, being then in the longitude of 27° 59' west from London ; and on the 2nd of December, in the morn- ing, we saw a sail in the N.W. quarter, and made the Gloucester's and Tryal's signals to chase ; and half an hour after we let out our reefs and chased with the squadron; and about noon a signal was made for the Wager to take our remaining victualler, the Anna Pink, in tow. But at seven in the evening, finding we did not wear the chase, and that the Wager was very far astern, he shortened sail, :«nd made a signal for the cruisers to '^ join the squadron. The next day but one we again dis- Qur. IV.J TBOM MAPSIBA TO ST. OATHABINJC. coyered a sail, which, on a nearer approach, we jndged to be the same vessel. We chased her the whole day, and, though we rather gained upon her, yet night came on before we could overtake her, which obliged us to give over the chase, to collect our scattered squadron. We were much chagrined at the escape of this vessel, as we then apprehended her to be an advice-boat from Old Spain to Buenos Ayres with notice of our expedition. But we have since learnt that we were deceived in this conjecture, and that it was our East India Company's packet bound to St. Helena. On the 10th of December, being, by our accounts, in the latitude of 20° S. and 36° 30' longitude west from London, the Tryal fired a gim to denote soundings. We immediately sounded, and found sixty fathom water, the bottom coarse ground with broken shells. The Tryal, being ahead of us, had at one time thirty-seven fathom, which afterwards increased to ninety ; and then she found no bottom, which happened to us, too, on our second trial, though we soimded with a hundred and fifty fathom of line. This is the shoal which is laid down in most charts by the name of the Abrollos ; and it appeared we were upon the very edge of it : perhaps farther in it may be extremely dangerous. We were then, by our difierent accoimts, from ninety to sixty leagues east of the coast of Brazil. The next day but one we spoke with a Por- tuguese brigantine, from Rio Janeiro, bound to Bahia del todos Santos, who informed us that we were thirty-four leagues from Cape St. Thomas, and forty leagues from Cape Frio ; which last bore from us W.S.W. By our accounts we were near eighty leagues from Cape Frio ; and though, on the information of this brigantine, we altered our course, and stood more to the southward, yet by our coming in with the land afterwards, we were fidly convinced that our reckoning was much more correct than our Portuguese intelligence. We found a considerable current setting to the southward after we had passed the latitude of 16° S. ; and the same took place all alon^ the 40 VOTAOB BOUND THB WORLD. [B(Ji»l. ill: coast of Brazil, and even to the southward of the rivor Plato, it amounting sometimes to thirty miles in twenty- four hours, and once to above forty miles. If this current is occasioned (as is most probable) by the running off of the water accumulated on the coast of Brazil by the constant sweeping of the eastern trade-wind over the South Atlantic Ocean, then it is most natural to suppose that its general course is determined by the bearings of the adjacent shore. Perhaps, too, in almost' every other instance of currents, the same may hold true, as I believe no examples occur of considerable currents being observed at any great distance from land. If this, then, could be laid down for a great principle, it would be always easy to correct the reckoning by the observed latitude. But it were much to be wished, for the general interest of navigation, that the actual settings of the different currents, which are known to take place in various parts of the world, were examined more fre- quently and accurately than appears hitherto to have been done. We now began to grow impatient for a sight of land, both for the recovery of our sick and for the refreshment and security of those who, as yet, continued healthy. When we departed j&om St. Helen's we were in so good a condition that we lost but two men on board the Cen- turion in our long passage to Madeira ; but in this pre- sent run between Madeira and St. Catharine, we were remarkably sickly, so that many died, and great numbers were confined to their hammocks, both in our own ship and in the rest of the squadron, and several of these past all hopes of recovery. The disorders they in general laboured under were such as are common to hot climates, and what most ships bound to the southward experience in a greater or less degree. These are those kinds of fevers which they usually call calentures, a disease which was not only terrible in its first instance, but even the remains of it often proved fatal to those who considered themselves as recovered from it ; for it always left them 1 1 . ',- I ChAPTER V. PrtHModinftB at St. Catharine, and a Description of the Place, with a ihort Account of Brazil. OuB first care, after having moored our ships, was to get our sick men on shore, preparatoiy to which, each ship was ordered by the Commodore to erect two tente ; C2se of Chap. V.] DI80BIPTI0N OF ST. OATHABINl. 48 them for the reception of the diseased, and the other for e v.oncinued in forty fathoms for about half a degree, naving a bottom of coarse sand and broken shells, at which time we were in sight of land, and not above seven leagues from it. As we edged from the land we met with a variety of soundings — first black sand, then muddy, and soon after, rough ground, with stones ; but, when we had increased our water to forty-eight fathoms, we had a muddy bottom to the latitude of 46° 10'. Hence, drawing towards the shore, we had first thirty- six fathoms, and still kept shoaling our water, till at length we came into twelve fathoms, having constantly small stones and pebbles at the bottom. Part of this time we had a view of Cape Blanco, which lies in about the lati- tude of 47° 10', and longitude west from London 69°. This is the most remarkable land upon the coast. Steer- ing from hence, S. by E. nearly, we, in a run of about thirty leagues, deepened our water to fifty fathoms, with- out once altering the bottom ; and then, drawing towards the shore with a S.W. course, varying rather to the west- ward, we had ponstantly a sandy bottom, till our coming Chap. VI.] RUN TO POBT ST. JULIAN. into thirty fiithoms, where we had again a sight of land, distant &om us about eight leagues, lying in the latitude of 48° 31'. We made this land on the 17th of February, and at five, that afternoon, we came to an anchor, having the same soundings as before, in the latitude of 48° 58', the southernmost land then in view bearing S.S.W., the northernmost N. J E., a small island, N.W., and the westernmost hummock, W.S.W. In this station we found the tide to set S. by W. ; and weighing again at five the next morning, we, an hour afterwards, discovered a sail, upon which the Severn and Gloucester were both directed to give chase ; but we soon perceived it to be the Pearl, which separated from us a few days after we left St. Catharine ; and, on this, we made a signal for the Severn to rejoin the squadron, leaving the Glou- cester alone in the pursuit. And now we were surprised to see that, on the Gloucester's approach, the people on board the Pearl increased their sail, and stood from her. However, the Gloucester came up with them, but found them with their hammocks in their nettings, and everything ready for an engagement. At two in the afternoon the Pearl joined us, and, running up under our stern. Lieutenant Salt hailed the Commodore, and acquainted him that Captain Kidd died on the 31st of January. He likewise informed us that he had seen five large ships on the 10th instant, which he for some time imagined to be our squadron; so that he suifered the commanding ship, which wore a red broad pendant, exactly resembling that of the Commodore, at the main topmast-head, to come within gun-shot of him, before he discovered his mistake ; but then, finding it not to be the Centurion, he hauled close upon the wind, and crowded from them with all his sail, and standing across a rippling where they hesitated to follow him, he happily escaped. He made them to be five Spanish men-of-war, one of them exceedingly like the Gloucester, which was the occasion of his apprehensions when the Gloucester chased him. By their appearance he thought they consisted of two 64 VOTAOB BOUND THE WOBLD. [Buuvl. ehips of BOTonty, two of fifty, and one of forty guns. It seems the whole squadron continued in chase of him all that day, but at night, finding they could not get near him, they gave over the chase, and directed their course to the southward. Had it not been for the necessity we were under of refitting the Tryal, this piece of intelligence would have prevented our making any stay at St. Julian's ; but as it was impossible for that sloop to proceed round the Cape in her present condition, some stay there was inevitable ; and therefore, the same evening, we came to an anchor again in twenty-five fathom water, the bottom a mixture of mud and sand, and the high hummock bearing S.W. by W. ; and weighing at nine in the morning, we sent the two cutters belonging to the Centurion and Severn in shore, to discover the harbour of St. Julian, while the ships kept standing along the coast, about the distance of a league from the land. At six o'clock we anchored in the bay of St. Julian, in nineteen fathoms, the bottom muddy ground with sand, the northernmost land in sight bearing N. and by E., the southernmost S. ^ E., and the high himmiook, to which Sir John Narborough formerly gave the name of Wood's Mount, W.S.W. Soon after, the cutter returned on board, having discovered the har- bour, which did not appear to us in our situation, the northernmost point shutting in upon the southernmost, and, in appearance, closing the entrance. Being come to an anchor in this bay of St. Julian, principally with a view of refitting the Tryal, the car- penters were immediately employed in that business, and continued so during our whole stay at the place. The Tryal's main-mast having been carried away about twelve feet below the cap, they contrived to make the remain- ing part of the mast serve again ; and the Wager was ordered to supply her with a spare main top-mast, which the carpenters converted into a new fore-mast. And I cannot help observing, that this accident to the Tryal's mast, which gave us so much uneasiness at that time, ■t3 '1 Oujf. Vl.] rOTlT ST. JULIAN. on accotmt of the delay it occasioned, was, in all pro- bability, the moans of preserving the sloop and all her crew. For, before this, her masts, how well soever pro- portioned to a better climate, were much too lofty for these high southern latitudes ; so that, had they weathered the preceding storm, it would have been impossible for them to have stood against those seas and tempests we afterwards encountered in passing round Cape Horn ; and the loss of masts in that boisterous climate would scarcely have been attended with less than the loss of the vessel, and of every man on board her : since it would have been impracticable for the other ships to have given them any relief during the continuance of those impetuous storms. Whilst we stayed at this place the Commodore ap- pointed the Honourable Captain Murray to succeed to the Pearl, and Captain Cheap to the Wager ; and he promoted Mr. Charles Saunders, his first-lieutenant, to the command of the Tryal sloop. But Captain Saunders lying dangerously ill of a fever on board the Centurion, and it being the opinion of the surgeons that the removing him on board his own ship, in his present condition, might tend to the hazard of his life, Mr. Anson gave an order to Mr. Saumarez, first-lieutenant of the Centurion, to act as master and commander of the Tryal during the illness of Captain Saunders. Here the Commodore, too, in order to case the expedi- tion of all unnecessary expense, held a further consultation with his captains about unloading and discharging the Anna Pink ; but they represented to him that they were so far from being in a condition of taking any part of her loading on board, that they had still great quantities of provisions in the way of their guns between decks, and that their ships were withal so very deep, that they were not fit for acting without being cleared. This put the Commodore under a necessity of retaining the Pink in the service ; and as it was apprehended we should cer- tainly meet with the Spanish squadron in passing the I i 56 \ YOTAOB BOUND THE WOBLD. fBnoKL Oape, Mr. Anson, thought it advisable to give ordors to the captains to put all their provisions which were in the way of their guns on board the Anna Fink, and to re- mount such of their guns as had formerly, for the ease of their ships, been ordered into the hold. This bay of St. Julian being a convenient rendezvous, in case of separation, for all cruisers bound to the south- ward, and the whole coast of Patagonia, from the river Plata to the Straits of Magellan, lying nearly parallel to their usual route, a short account of the singularity of this country, with a particular description of Port St. Julian, may, perhaps, be neither unacceptable to the curious, nor unworthy the attention of future navigators, as some of them, by unforeseen accidents, may be obliged to run in with the land, and to make some stay on this coast; in which case the knowledge of the country, its produce, and inhabitants, cannot but be of the utmost consequence to them. To begin, then, with the tract of country usually styled Patagonia. This is the name often given to the south- ernmost part of South America, which is unpossessed by the Spaniards, extending from their settlements to the Straits of Magellciii. This country on the east side is extremely remarkable for a peculiarity not to be paral- leled in any other known part of the globe ; for, though the whole territory to the northward of the river Plata is full of wood, and stored with immense quantities of large timber-trees, yet, to the southward of the river no trees of any kind are to be met with, except a few peach-trees, first planted and cultivated by the Spaniards in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres ; so that, on the whole eastern coast of Patagonia, extending near four hundred leagues in length, and reaching as far back as any discoveries have yet been made, no other wood has lieen found than a few insignificant shrubs. Sir John Narborough, in particular, who was sent out by King Charles the Second expressly to examine this country and the Straits of Magellan, and who, in pursuance of n CnAF VI.l MODI or OATOHIKG WILD OATTLl. 57 his orders wintered upon this coast in Port St. Julian and Port Desire, in the year 1670 ; Sir John Narborough, I say, tells- us tiiat he never saw a stick of wood in the country largo enough to make the handle of a hatchet. But though the country be so destitute of wood, it abounds wiUi< pa^ure ; for the land appears in general to be madb up of downs of a light, dry, gravelly soil, and produces great quantities of long coarse gross, which grows in tufts, interspersed with largo bairen spoti^ of gravel between them. This grass, in many places, feeds immense herds of catde: for the Spaniards at Buenos Ayres having, soon after their first settlement there, brought: over a few black cattle from Europe, they have thriven pro^giously by the plenty of herbage which they everywhere met with ; and are now increased to that degree, and' are extended so far into different parts of Patagonia, that they are not; considered as private pro- perty, but many thousands at a time are slaughtered every year by the hunters, only for their hides and tal- low. The manner of killing these cattle, being a prac- tice peculiar to thai? part of the world, merits a more circumstantial description. The hunters employed on this occasion- being all of idiem mounted on horseback (and both Spaniard's and Indians in that part of the world are usually most excellent horsemen), they arm themselves with a kind of spear, which, at its end, in- stead of a bladb fixed in the same line with the wood in the usual manner, has its blade fixed across ; with this instrument they ridia at a beast and surround him, when the hunter that comes behind him ham-strings him ; and as, after tikis- op^sationi, the beast soon tumbles without being able to raise himself again, they leave him on the ground and< pursue others, whom they serve in the same manner. Sometimes there is a second party, who attend the hunters to Gkldn the cattle as they fall ; but it is said that, at other times, the hunters choose to let them lan- guish in torment till the next day. Besides the numbers of cattle which are every year ti TOTAQE BOUND TBI WORLD. rikMBl. filaughtored for thoir hides and tallow in the manner already described, it is often necessary, for the use of agriculturo and for other purposes, to take them alive without wounding them : this is performed with a most wonderful, and almost incredible dexterity, and princi- {)ally by the use of a machine, which the English who lave resided at Buenos Ayres generally donuminate a lash. It is made of a thong of several fathoms in length, and very strong, with a running noose at one end of it; this the hunters (who in this case are also moimted on horseback) take in their right hands, it being first properly coiled up, and having its end opposed to the noose fastened to the saddle ; and, thus prepared, they ride at a herd of cattle. When they arrive within a certain distance of a beast, they throw their thong at him with such exactness, that they never fail of fixing the noose about his horns. The beast, when he finds CitAP. Vl] MODE or OATOHIMG WILD 0ATTL1. 69 himself entangled, generally rune ; bnt the horse, being swifter, attends him, and prevents the thong from being too much strained ; till a second hmiter, who follows the game, throws another noose about one of his hind logs ; and this being done, both horses (for they are trained to this practice) instantly turn different ways in order to strain the two thongs in contrary directions, on which the beast, by their opposite pulls, is presently overthrown ; and then the horses stop, keeping the thong still upon tho stretch. Being thus on the ground, and incapable of re- sistance (for he is extended between the two horses), the hunters alight, and secure him in such a manner that they afterwards easily convey him to whatever place they please. They in like manner noose horses, and, as it is said, even tigers ; and however strange this last circum- stance may appear, there are not wanting persons of credit who assert it. Indeed, it must be owned that the address both of the Spaniards and Indians in that part of the world in use of this lash, or noose, and the certainty with which they throw it, and fix it on any intended part of the beast at a considerable distance, are matters only to be believed from the repeated and concurrent testi- mony of all who have frequented that country, and might reasonably be questioned, did it rely on a single report, or had it been ever contradicted or denied by any one who had resided at Buenos Ayres. The cattle which are killed in this manner, I have already observed, are slaughtered only for their hides and tallow, to which sometimes are added their tongues ; but the rest of their flesh is left to putrefy, or to be de- voured by the birds and wild beasts. The greater part of this carrion falls to the share of the wild dogs, of which there are immense numbers to be found in that country. These are supposed to have been originally produced by Spanish dogs from Buenos Ayres, who, allured by the great quantity of carrion, and the facility they had by that means of subsisting, left their masters and ran wild amongst the cattle ; for they are plainly of the breed 60 VOTAOE BOUND THE WORLD. '1o»K L of the European dogs, an animal not originally found in America. But though these dogs are said to be some thousands in a company, they, hitherto, neither diminish nor prevent the increase of the cattle; not daring to attack the herds, by reason of the numbers which con- stantly feed together, but contenting themselves with the carrion left them by the hunters, and perhaps, now and then, by a few stragglers, who, by accident, are separated from the main body they belong to. Besides the wild cattle which have spread themselves in such vast herda from Buenos Ayres towards the south- ward, the same country is in like manner furnished with horses. These, too, were first brought from Spain, and are also prodigiously increased, and run wild to a much greater distance than the black cattle ; and though many of them are excellent, yet their number makes them of little value, the best of them being often sold in the neighbour lig settlements, where money is plenty and commodities very dear, for not more than a dollar a-piece. It is not, as yet, certain how far to the south- ward these herds cf wild cattle and horses have extended themselves ; but there is some reason to conjecture that stragglers, of both kinds, are to be met with very near the Straits of Magellan ; and they will in time, doubt- less, fill all the southern part of this continent with their breed, which cannot fail of proving of considerable ad* vantage to such ships as may touch upon the coast ; for the horses themselves are said to be very good eating, and as such are preferred, by some of the Indians, even before the black cattle. But whatever plenty of flesh provisions may be Ijreafter found here, there is one material refreshment which this eastern side of Pata- gonia seems to be very defective in, and that is fresh water; for the land being generally of a nitrous and saline nature, the pools and streams are frequently brackish. However, as good water has been found there, though in small quantities, it is not improbable but, on a further search, this inconvenience may be removed. . Gxat. 7I.J WILD OATTL^fi— lENGCINS. 61 To the account already giyen, I must add that there are, in all parts of this country, a good number of vicunas, or Peruvian sheep; but these, by reason of their shyness and swiftness, are killed with difficulty. On the eastern coast, too, there are found immense quan- tities of seals, and a vast variety of sea-fowl, amongst which the most remarkable are the penguins ; they are in size and shape like a goose, but instead of wings they have short stumps like fins, which are of no use to them, except in the water ; their bills are nan'ow, like that of an albatross, and they stand and walk in an erect posture. From this, and their white bellies. Sir John Narborough has, whimsically, likened them to little children standing up in white aprons. The inhabitants of this eastern coast (to which I have all along hitherto confined my relation) appear to be but few, and have rarely been seen more than two or three at a time, by any ships that have touched here. We, during our stay at the port of St. Julian, saw iionc. However, towards Buenos Ayres they are sufficiently numerous, and oftentimes very troublesome to the Spa- niards ; but there the greater breadth and variety of the country, and a milder climate, yield them a better protec- tion ; for, in that place, the continent is between three and four hundred leagues in breadth, whereas at Port St. Julian it is little more than a hundred : so that I conceive the same Indians who frequent the western coast of Patagonia and the Straits of Magellan, often ramble to this side. As the Indians near Buenos Ayres exceed these southern Indians in number, so they greatly surpass them in activity and spirit ; and seem, in their manners, to be nearly allied to those gallant Chilian Indians, who have long set the whole Spanish power at defiance, have often ravaged their country, and remain to this hour independent. For the Indians about Buenos Ayres have learnt to be excellent horsemen, and are extremely expert in the management of all cuitiug wea- pons, though ignorant of the use of fire-arms, which the 62 TOTAGS BOUND THE WOBLD. CBooV^ |vj Spaniards are very solicitous to keep out of their hands. And of the vigour and resolution of these Indians, the behaviour of Orellana and his followers, whom we have formerly mentioned, is a memorable instance. Indeed, were we disposed to aim at the utter subversion of the Spanish power in America, no means seem more proba- ble to effect it, than due encouragement and assistance given to these Indians and those of Chili. Thus much may suffice in relation to the eastern coast of Patagonia. The western coast is of less extent ; and by reason of the Andes, which skirt it and stretch quite down to the water, is a very rocky and dangerous shore. However, I shall be hereafter necessitated to make further mention of it, and therefore shall not enlarge thereon at this time. But it must be remembered that the bar, which is at the entrance of the harbour of St. Julian, is often shifting, and has many holes in it. The tide flows nere north and south, and at full and change rises foui' fathoms. We, on our first arrival here, sent an officer on shore to the salt-pond, in order to procure a quantity of salt for the use of the squadron; Sir John Narborough having observed, when he was here, that the salt pro- duced in that place was very white and good ; and that, in February, there was enough of it to fill a thousand ships : but our officer returned with a sample which was very bad, and he told us, that even of this there was but little to be got ; I suppose the weather had been more rainy than ordinary, and had destroyed it. OUF. VII.^ OBPABTUBE FBOM ST. JULIAN. < f\9 .^:J-r CHAPTER VII. Departure from the Bay of St. Julian, and the passage from thaioe 1.* fir Straits Le Maire. The Tryal being nearly refitted, which was our princi- pal occupation at this bay of St. Julian, and the sole occasion of our stay, the Commodore thought it neces- sary, as we were now directly bound for the South Seas, and the enemy's coasts, to fix the plan of his first opera* tion; and therefore, on the 24th of February, a signal was made for all captains, and a council of war was held on board the Centurion, at which were present the Ho- nourable Edward Legg, Captain Matthew Mitchell, the Honourable George Murray, Captain David Cheap, to- gether with Colonel Mordaunt Cracherode, commander of the land forces. At this council, Mr. Anson proposed that their first attempt, after their arrival in the South Seas, should be the attack of the town and harbour of Baldivia, the principal frontier of the district of Chili ; Mr. Anson informing them, at the same time, that it was an article contained in his Majesty's instructions to him, to endeavour to secure some port in the South Seas, where the ships of the squadron might be careened and refitted. To this proposition made by the Commodore, the council unanimously and readily agreed ; and, in consequence of this resolution, new instructions were given to the cap- tains of the squadron, by which, though they were still directed, in case of separation, to make the best of their way to the island of Nuestra Senora del Socoro, yet (notwithstanding the orders they had formerly given them at St. Catherine) they were to cruise off that island only ten days ; from whence, if not joined by the Commodo- 3, they were to proceed and cruise off the haibour of Baldivia, making the land between the lati- tudes of 40°, and 40° 30', and taking care to keep to the southward of the poi*t ; and if in fourteen days they were 6i VOTAOB BOUND THE WOBLD. ^Bookmi I ■ ■ i? I ■- ■■ I not joined by the rest of the Bquadron, they were then to quit this station, and to direct their course to the island of Juan Fernandez ; after which they were to regidate their further proceedings by their former orders. The same directions were also given to the master of the Anna Pink, who was not to fail in answering the signals made by any ship of the squadron, and was to be yery care- ful to destroy his papers and orders, if he should be so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the enemy. And, as the separation of the squadron might prove of the utmost prejudice to his Majesty's service, each captain was ordered to give it in charge to the respective officers of the watch, not to keep their ship at a greater distance from the Centurion than two miles, as they would answer it at their peril ; and if any captain should find his ship beyond the distance specified, he was to acquaint the Commodore with the name of the officer who had thus neglected his duty. ' These necessary regulations being established, and the Tyral sloop completed, the squadron weighed on Friday, the 27th of February, at seven in the morning, and stood to sea ; the Gloucester, indeed, found a difficulty in pur- chasing her anchor, and was left a considerable way astern, so that in the night we fired several guns as a signal to her captain to make sail ; bu^< he did not come up to us till the next morning, when we found that they had been obliged to cut their cable, and leave their best bower behind them. At ten in the morning, the day after our departiu-e. Wood's Mount, the high land over St. Julian, bore from us N. by W., dist'^nt ten leagues, and we had fifty-two fathoms of water ; and now standing to the southward, we had great expectation of falling in with Pizarro's squadron ; for diuing our stay at Port St. Julian, there had generally been hard gales between the W.N.W. and S.W., so that we had reason to con- clude the Spaniards had gained no ground upon us in that interval. Indeed, it was the prospect of meeting with them that had occasioned our Commodore to be so Qur.VU.J PASBAGl TO BTBAIT8 LB MAHH. 66 n- in »g BO very solicitous to prevent the separation of our ships ; for had we ' been solely intent upon getting round Cape Uom in the shortest time, the properest method for this purpose would have been to order each ship to make the best of her way to the rendezvous, without waiting for the rest. From our departure from St. Julian to the 4th of March, we had little wind, with thick hazy weather, and some rain ; and our soundings were generally from forty to fifty fathoms, with a bottom of black and gray sand, sometimes intermixed with pebble-stones. On the 4th of March we were in sight of Cape Virgin Mary, and not more than six or seven leagues distant from it. This Cape is the northern boundary of the entrance of the Straits of Magellan: it lies in the latitude of 52° 21' south, and longitude from London 71° 44' west, and seems to be a low flat land, ending in a point. Off this Cape our depth of water was from thirty-five to forty- eight fathoms. The afternoon oi this day was very bright and clear, with small breezes of wind, inclinable to a calm; and most of the cr.ptains took the oppor- timity ?f this favourable weather to pay a visit to the Commodore : but while they were in company together, they were all greatly alarmed by a sudden flame, which burst out on board the Gloucester, and which was suc- ceeded by a cloud of smoke. However, they were soon relieved from their apprehensions, by receiving informa- tion that the blast was occasioned by a spark of fire from the forge, lighting on some gunpowder, and other com- bustibles, which an of&cer on board was preparing for use, in case we should fall in with the Spanish fleet ; and that it had been extinguished, without any damage to the ship. We here found, what was constantly verified by aD our observations in these high latitudes, that fair weather was always of an exceedmg short duration; and that when it was remarkably fine, it was a certain presage of a succeeding storm; fjc the calm and sunshine of our 66 TOTAOX BOUND THB WOBLD. nuOK 1. afternoon ended in a most turbulent night, the wind freshening from the S.W. as the night came on, and increasing its violence continuaUy till nine in the morn- ing the next day, when it blew so hard that we were obliged to bring to with the squadron, and to continue under a reefed mizen till eleven at night, having in that time from forty-three to fifty-seven fathoms water, with block sand and gravel ; and by an observation we had at noon, we concluded a current had set us twelve miles to the southward of our reckoning. Towards midnight, the wind abating, we made sail again ; and steering south, we discovered in the morning, for the first time, the land called Tierra del Fuego, stretching from the S. by W. to the S.E. ^ E. This, indeed, aflfordod us but a very uncomfortable prospect, it appearing of a stupendous height, covered everywhere with snow. We steered along this shore all day, having soundings from forty to fifty fathoms, with stunes and gravel. And as we intended to pass through Straits Le Maire next day, we lay to at night, that we might not overshoot them, and took this opportunity to prepare ourselves for the tempestuous climate we were soon to be engaged in : with which view, we employed ourselves good part of the night in bending an entire new suit of sails to the yards. At four the next morning, being the 7th of March, we made sail, and at eight saw the land ; and soon after we began to open the Straits, at which time Cape St. James bore from us E.S.E., Cape St. Vincent S.E. ^ E., the middlemost of the Three Brothers S. and W., Montgordo S., and Cape St. Bartholomew, which is the southernmost point of Staten-land, E.S.E. We found it difficult to determine exactly where the Straits lay, till they began to open to our view ; and for want of this, if we had not happened to have coasted a consideral le way tdong shore, we might have missed the Straits, and have got to the eastward of Staten-land before we knew it. This is an accident that has happened to many ships, particularly to the Incarnation and Concord ; who, intend- ClIAl'. VII.J TIKBBA DKL FUEOO. 67 iug to pass through Straits Le Maire, were deceived by three hills on Staten-land like the Three Brothers, and some creeks resembling those of Tierra del Fuego, and thereby oveishot the Straits. Though Tierra del Fuego had an aspect extremely barren and desolate, yet this iBland of Staten-land far surpasses it in the wildness and horror of its appearance ; it seeming to be entirely composed of inaccessible rocks, without the least mixture of earth or mould between them. These rocks terminate in a vast number of ragged points, which spire up to a prodigious height, and are all of them covered with everlasting snow : the points themselves are, on every side, surroimded with frightful precipices, and often overhang in a most astonishing manner ; and the hills which bear them are generally separated from each other by narrow clefts, which appeal as if the country had been frequently rent by earth- 68 TOTAOl BOITND THS WOULD. fltoOKl. quakus; for these chasms are nearly perpendicular, and extend through the substance of the main rocks almost to their very bottoms ; so that nothing can be imagined more savage and gloomy than the whole aspect of this coast. But to proceed: I have above mentioned, that on the 7th of March, in the morning, we opened Straits Lo Maire, and soon after, or about ten o'clock, the Pearl and the Tryal being ordered to keep a-head of the squadron, we entered them with fair weather and a brisk gale, and were hurried through by the rapidity of the tide in about two hours, though they are between seven and eight leagues in length. As these Straits are often esteemed to be the boundary between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and as we presumed we had nothing before us from hence but an open sea, till we arrived on those opulent coasts where idl our hopes and wishes centred, we could not help persuading ourselves that the greatest difficulty of our voyage was now at an end, and that our most sanguine dreams were upon the point of being realized ; and hence we indulged our imagina- tions in those romantic schemes which the fancied pos- session of the Chilian gold and Peruvian silver might be conceived to inspire. These joyous ideas were consider- ably heightened by the brightness of the sky and serenity of the weather, which was, indeed, most remarkably pleasing; for though the winter was now advancing apace, yet the morning of this day, in its brilliancy and mildness, gave place to none we had seen since our de- parture from England. Thus animated by these flatter- ing delusions, we passed those memorable Straits, ignorant of the dreadful calamities which were then impending, and just ready to break upon us ; ignorant that the time drew near, when the squadron would be separated never to unite again ; and that this day of our passage was the last cheerful day that the greatest part of us would live to enjoy. CBAT. VUtj DBEADTUL BTOBMft. 69 CHAPTEK VIII. From Straits Le Maire to Cape Noir. W> had scarcely reached the southern extremity of the Straits Le Maire, when our flattering hopes were instantly lost in the apprehensions of immediate destruction ; for, before the stemmcst ships of the squadron were clear of the Straits, the Rerenity of the sky was suddenly obscured, and we observed all the presages of an impending storm ; and presently the wind shifted to the southward, and blew in such violent squalls, that we were obliged to hand our top-sails and reef our main-sail — whilst the tide, too, which had hitherto favoured us, at once turned furiously against us, and drove us to the eastward with prodigious rapidity, so that we were in great anxiety for the Wager and the Anna Pink, the two stemmost vessels, fearing they would be dashed to pieces against the shore of Staten-land : nor were our apprehensions without foun- dation, for it was with the utmost dif&culty they escaped. And now the whole squadron, instead of pursuing their intended course to the S.W., were driven to the eastward by the united force of the storm and of the currents ; so that the next day, in the morning, we found ourselves near seven leagues to the eastward of Straits Le Maire, which then bore from us N.W. The violence of the current, which had sent us with so much precipitation to the eastward, together with the fierceness and constancy of the westerly winds, soon taught us to consider the doubling of Cape Horn as an enterprise that might prove too mighty for our efforts ; though some amongst us had lately treated the difl&culties which former voyagers were said to have met with, in this undertaking, as little better than chimerical, and had supposed them to arise rather from timidity and unskilfulness than from the real em- barrassments of the winds and seas. But we were now severely convinced that these censures were rash and ill- 70 TOTAOX BOUND THE WORLD. [BookL grounded; for the distreBses with which we struggled during the tliree succeeding months will not easily be paralleled in the relation of any former naval expedition. This will, I doubt not, be readily allowed by those who shall carefully peruse the ensuing narration. From the storm which came on before we had well got clear of Straits Le Maire, we had a continual succession of such tempestuous vveather as surprised the oldest and most experienced mariners on board, and obliged them to confess that what they had hitherto called storms were inconsiderable gales, compared with the violence of these winds, which raised such short, and at the same time such mountainous waves, as greatly surpassed in danger all seas known in any other part of the globe. And it was not without great reason that this unusual appear- ance filled us with continued terror ; for had any one of these waves broke fairly over us, it must, in all proba- bility, have sent us to the bottom. Nor did we escape with terror only ; for the ship, rolling incessantly gun- wale-to, gave us such quick and violent motions, that the men were in perpetual danger of being dashed to pieces against her decks or sides. And, though we were ex- tremely careful to secure ourselves from these shocke», by grasping some fixed body, yet many of our people were forced from their hold, some of whom were killed, and others greatly injured : in particular, one of our best sea- men was canted overboard and drowned, another dislocated his neck, a third was thrown into the main hold and broke his thigh, and one of our boatswain's mates broke his collar-bone twice ; not to mention many other accidents of the same kind. These tempests, so dreadful in them- selves, though unattended by any other unfavourable circumstances, were yet rendered more mischievous to us by their inequality, and the deceitful intervals which they sometimes afforded ; for though we were oftentimes obliged to lie to for days together under a reefed mizen, and were frequently reduced to lie at the mercy of the waves under our bare poles, yet now and then we ventured to make Ill Cuir. V1II.J DREADFUL STORMS. 71 ■ail with our courses double reefed; and the weather, proving more tolerable, would, perhaps, encourage us to set our top-sails ; after which, the wind, without any previous notice, would return upon us with redoubled force, and would in an instant tear our sails from the yards. And, that no circumstance might be wanting which could aggravate our distress, those blasts generally brought witli them a great quantity of snow and sleet, which cased our rigging, and froze our sails, thereby rendering them and our cordage brittle, and apt to snap upon the slightest strain ; adding great difficulty and labour to the working of the ship, benumbing the limbs of our people, and making them incapable of exerting themselves with their usual activity, and even disabling many of them, by mortifying their toes and fingers. It were, indeed, endless to enumerate the various disasters of different kinds which befel us ; and I shall only mention the most material, which will sufficiently evince the calamitous condition of the whole squadron during the coui-so of this navigation. It was on the 7th of March, as has been already ob- served, that we passed Straits Le Maire, and were, imme- diately afterwards, driven to the eastward by a violent storm, and the force of the current which set that way. For the four or five succeeding days we had hard gales of wind from the same quarter, with a most prodigious swell; so that, though we stood during all that time towards the S.W., yet we had no reason to imagine we had made any way to the westward. In this interval we had frequent squalls of rain and snow, and shipped great quantities of water ; after which, fur three or four days, though the seas ran mountains high, yet the weather was rather more moderate: but on the 18th we had again strong gales of wind, with extreme cold, and at midnight the main-top-«ail split, and one of the straps of the main dead-eyes broke From hence to the 23rd the weather was more favourable, though often inter- mixed with rain and sleet, and some hard gales ; but as IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^^ m "> Bi 112 El -^ Sciences Carporation 23 VmST MAIN STRHT «nUTn,N.Y. 14SM (716)873-4S03 A*% K<^ ^4^ rove an hindrance to onr sailing, and would detain us the longer in these inhospitable latitudes. But onr future success and safety were not to be promoted by repining, but l.y resolution and activity ; and therefore, that this unhappy incident might delay us as little as possible, the Commodore ordered several carpenters to be put on board the Gloncester from the other ships of the squadron, in order to repair her damage with the utmost expedi- tion. And the captain of the Tryal complaining, at the same time, that lus pumps were so bad, and the sloop made so great a quantity of water, that he was scarcely able to keep her free, the Commodore ordered him a pump ready fitted from his own ship. It was very fortunate for the Gloucester and the Tryal, that the weather proved more favourable this day than for many days, botii before and after; since, by this means, they were enabled to receive the assistance which seemed essential to their preservation, and which they could scarcely have had at any other time, as it woidd have liH )•>; lu. li i m 74 YOTAOB BOUND THK WOBLD. riiooKl. |i '/ been extremely hazardoiis to have yentured a boat on board. The next day, that is, on the 1st of April, the weather returned again to its costumary bias, the sl^ looked dark and gloomy, and the wind began to freshen and to blow in squalls : however, it was not yet so boisterous as to prevent our carrying our top-sails close reefed ; but its appearance was such, as plainly prognosticated that a still severer tempest was at hand : and, accordingly, on the 8rd of April, there came on a storm, which, both in its violence and continuation (for it lasted three days), exceeded aU that we had hitherto encountered. In its first onset, we received a furious shock from a sea which broke upon our larboard quarter, where it stove in the quarter gallery and rushed into the ship like a deluge ; our rigging, too, suffered extremely from the blow;\ amongst the rest, one of the straps of the main dead-eyes was broke, as was also a main-shroud and puttock- shroud ; so that to ease the stress upon the masts and shrouds, we lowered both our poain and fore yards, and furled all our sails, and in this posture we lay to for three days, when, the storm somewhat abating, we ventured to make sail under our courses only ; but even this we could not do long, for the next day, which was the 7th, we had another hard gale of wind, with lightning and rain, which obliged US to lie to again till night. It was wonderful that, not- withstanding the hard weather we had endured, no ex- traordinary accident had happened to any of the squadron since the breaking of the Gloucester's main-yard: but at three the next morning, several guns were fired to leeward, as signals of distress; and the Colnmodore making a signal for the squadron to bring to, we, at daybreak, saw the Wager a considerable way to leeward of any of the other ships; and we soon perceived that she had lost her mizen-mast and main-top-sail-yard. We immediately bore down to hor, and found this disaster had arisen from the badness of her iron-work; for all the chain-plates to windward had given way, Chap. Vm., DBSADFUL gTOBMt. 71 apon the ship's fetching a deep roll. This proved the more unfortunate to the Wager, as her carpenter had boon on board the Gloucester ever since the Slst of March, and the weather was now too severe to permit him to return. Nor was the Wager the only ship of the squadron that suffered in this tempest ; for the next day a signal of distress was made by the Anna Pink, and upon speaking with the master, we learnt that they had broke their fore stay and the ganmion of the bowsprit, and were in no small danger of having all their masts come by the board ; so that we were obliged to bear away, until they had made all fast, after which we hauled upon a wind again. And now, after all our solicitude, and the numerous ills of every kind to which we had been incessantly exposed for near forty days, we had great consolation in the flattering hopes we entertained that our fatigues were drawing to a period, and that we should soon arrive in a more hospitable climate, where we should be amply repaid for all our past sufferings. For, towards the latter end of March, we were advanced, by our reckon- ing, near 10° to the westward of the westernmost point of Tierra del Fuego: and this allowance being double what former navigators have thought necessary to be taken in order to compensate the drift of the western current, we esteemed ourselves to be well advanced within the limits of the Southern Ocean, and had, there- fore, been ever since standing to the northward, with as much expedition as the turbulence of the weather, and our frequent disasters permitted. And on the 13th of April, we were but a degree in latitude to the southward of the west entrance of the Straits of Magellan ; so that we fully expected, in a very few days, to have experienced the celebrated tranquillity of the Pacific Ocean. But these were delusions which only served to render our disappointment more terrible ; for the next morning, between one and two, as we were standing to the north- ward, and the weather, which had till tiben been hazy, 1 ' t ill IB TOTAei BOUND THI WOULD. [Book I. aooidentally cleared up, the Pick made a signal for seeing land right a-head; and it being but two miles distant, we were all under the most dreadful apprehensions of running on shore ; which, had either the wind blown from its usual quarter with its wonted vigour, or had not the moon suddenly shone out, not a ship amongst us could possibly have avoided : but the wind which, some few hours before, blew in squalls from the S.W., having shifted to W.N.W., we were enabled to stand to the southward, and to clear ourselves of this unexpected danger; and were fortunate enough, by noon, to have gained an offing of near twenty leagues. By the latitude of this land we fell in with, it was agreed to be a part of Tierra del Fuego, near the southern outlet described in Frezier's chart of the Straits of Magellan, and was supposed to be that point called by. him Cape Noir. It was, indeed, most wonderful that^ the currents should have driven us to the eastward with such strength; for the whole squadron esteemed them- selves upwards of ten degrees more westerly than this land; so that in running down, by our account, about nineteen degrees of longitude, we had not really ad- vanced half that distance. Aiid now, instead of having our labours and anxieties relieved by approaching a warmer climate and more tranquil seas, we were to steer again to the southward, and were again to combat those western blasts which had so often terrified us ; and this, too, when we were greatly enfeebled by our men falling sick, and dying apace ; and when our spirits, dejected by a long continuance at sea, and by our kte disappoint- ment, were much less capable of supporting us in the various difficulties which we could not but expect in this new undertaking. Add to all this, too, the discourage- ment we received by the diminution of the strength of the squadron : for, three days before this, we lost sight of the Severn and the Pearl in the morning ; and though we spread our ships, and beat about for them some time, yet we never saw tiiem more : whence we had apprehen- Cbap.IX.: bun to THl ISLAND OT JUAM fBUrAMDIZ. 77 ■ioni that they, too, might have fallen in with this land in the night ; and, by being less fietyoured by the wind and the moon than we were, might have nm on ishore and have perished. Full of these desponding thoughts and gloomy presages, we stood away to the S.W., pre- pared by our late disaster to suspect, that how large soever an allowance was made in our westing for the drift of the western current, we might still, upon a second trial, perhaps find it insufficient. , t-,«i itjfi OHAPTEB IX. From Gape Noir to the Island of Joan Fenumdez. ArrxB the mortifying disappointment of ftJling in with the coast of Tierra del Fuego, when we esteemed our- selves 10° to the westward of it, as hath been at large recited in the preceding chapter, we stood away to tiSie S.W. till the 22nd of April, when we were in upwards of 60° of south latitude, and, by our account, near 6° to the westward of Gape Noir. In this run we had a series of as favourable weather as could well be expected in that part of the world, even in a better season ; so that this interval, setting the inquietude of our thoughts aside, was by feur the most eligible of any we enjoyed from Straits Le Maire to the west coast of America. This moderate weather continued, with little variation, till the 24th; but in the evening of that day the wind began to blow fresh, and soon increased to a prodigious storm ; and the weadier being extremely thick about midnight, we lost sight of the other four ships of the squadron, which, notwithstanding the violence of the preceding storms, had hitherto kept in company with us. Nor was this our sole misfortune ; for the next morning, endea- vouring to hand the top-sails, the clue-lines and blunt- lines broke, and the sheets being half flown, every seam "•34 CI f * •- < 1 78 TOTAOl BOUMD THB WOBLD. [Boob I, in the top-sailB was soon split from top to bottom, and the main top-sail shook so strongly in the wind, that it carried away the top lanthom, and endangered the head of the mast. However, at length, some of the most daring of our men ventured upon the yard, and cut the sail away close to the reefs, though with the utmost hazard of their lives ; whilst, at the same time, the fore-top-sail beat about the yard with so much fury, that it was so6n blown to pieces. Nor was our attention to our top-sails our sole employment, for the main-sail blew loose, which obliged us to lower down the yard to secure the sail : and the fore-yard being likewise lowered, we lay to under a mizen. In this storm, besides the loss of our top-sails, we hud much of our rigging broke, and lost a main studding-sail-boom out of the chains. On the 25th, about noon, the weather became more\ moderate, which enabled us to sway up our yards, and to repair, in the best manner we could, our shattered rig- ging ; ' but still we had no sight of the rest of our squadron, nor, indeed, were we joined by any of them again, till after our arrival at Juan Fernandez ; nor did any two of them, as we have since learned, continue in company to- gether. This total and almost instantaneous separation was the more wonderful, as we had hitherto kept toge- ther for seven weeks, through all the reiterated tempests of this turbulent climate. It must, indeed, be owned that we had hence room to expect that we might make our passage in a shorter time than if we had continued togeUier, because we could now make the best of our way without being retarded by the misfortmies of the other ships : but ti^en, we had the melancholy reflection, iih^t we ourselves were hereby deprived of tiie assistance of others, and our safety would depend upon our single ship. So that, if a plank started, or any other accident of the same nature should take place, we must all irrecoverably perish ; or, should we be driven on shore, we had the uncomfortable prospect of ending our days on some deso- late coast, without any reasonable hope of ever getting Ouv;lZ.3 DBIADFUL KTFIOTB OV IBM BOUBVT. 79 off again: whereas, with another ship in company, all thoM calamities are much less formidable, since, in eyery kind of danger, there would be some probability that one ship at least might escape, and might be capaUe of pre- serving or relieving the crew of the other. The remaining part of this month of April we had generally hard ^es, although we had been every day, since the 22nd, edging to the northward: however, on the last day of the month we flattered ourselves with the expectation of soon terminating all our sufferings, for we that day found ourselves in the latitude of 52° 18', which being to the northward of the Straits of Magellan, we were assured that we had completed our passage, and had arrived in the confines of the Southern Ocean ; and this ocean being denominated Pacific, from the equability of the seasons which are said to prevail there, and the faci- lity and security with which navigation is there carried on, we doubted not but we should be speedily cheered with the moderate gales, the smooth water, and the tem- perate air, for which that tract of the globe has been so renowned. And, under the influence of these pleasing circumstances, we hoped to experience some kind (xp compensation for the complicated miseries which had so constantly attended us for the last eight weeks. But here we were again disappointed ; for, in the succeeding month of May, our sufferings rose to a much higher pitch than they had ever yet done, whether we consider the violence of the storms, 'the shattering of our srils and rigging, or the diminishing and weakening of o\a' crew by deaths and sickness, and the probable prospect of our total destruction. All this will be sufficiently evident, from the following circumstantial account of our diver- sified misfortunes. Soon after our passing Straits Le Maire, the scurvy began to make its appearance amongst us ; and our long continuance at sea, the fatigue we underwent, and the various disappointments we met with, had occasioned its spreading to such a degree, that, at the latter end of m 4i 41 'km '} ■'",} 80 ▼OTAGI BOUND TBI WOULD. IBooit. April there were but few on board who were Dot iu some degree afflicted with it ; and, in that month, no less than forty-three died of it on board the Centurion. But, though we thought that the distemper had then rinen to an extraordinary height, and were willing to hope that, as we advanced to the northward its malignity would abate ; yet we found, on the contrary, that in the month of May we lost near double that number ; and, as we did not got to land till the middle of June, the mortality went on increasing, and the disease extended itself so prodigiously, that, after the loss of above two hundred men, we covid not, at last, muster more than six fore- mast men in a watch capable of duty. This disease, so frequently attending long voyages, and so particularly destructive to us, is surely tlie most sin- gular and unaccountable of any that affects the human body : its symptoms are inconstant and innumerable, and its progress and effects extremely irregular ; for scarcely any two persons have complaints exactly resembling each other; and where there has been found some con- formity in the symptoms, the order of their appearance has been totally different. However, though it fre- quently puts on the form of many other diseases, and is, therefore, not to be described by any exclusive and infallible criterions, yet there are some symptoms, which are more general than the rest, and, occurring the oftenest, deserve a more particular enumeration. These common appearances are,- large discoloured spots dispersed over the whole surface of the body, swelled legs, putrid gums, and, above all, an extraordinary lass'tude of the whole body, especially after any exer- cise, however inconsiderable; and this lassitude at last degenerates into a proneness to swoon, and even die, on the least exertion of strength, or even on the least motion. This disease is likewise usually attended with a strange dejection of the spirits, and with shiverings, tremblings, and a disposition to be seized with the most dreodfol OUP.1Z.] DiuuDFUL mnoTS or thi soubyt. 81 teirora on the slightest accident. Indeed, it WM most remarkable, in all our reiterated experience of this nudady, that whatever discouraged our people, or at any time damped their hopes, never failed to add new vigour to the distemper ; for it usually killed those who were in the last stages of it, and confined those to their ham- mocks who were before capable of some kind of duty ; 80 that it seemed as if alacrity of mind and sangiiine thoughts were no contemptible preservatives from its feital malignity. But it is not easy to complete the long roll of the various concomitants of this disease; for it often pro- duced putrid fevers, pleurisies, the jaundice, and violent rheumatic pains, and sometimes it occasioned an obstinate costiveness, which was generally attended with a difficulty of breathing; and this was esteemed the most deadly of all the scorbutic symptoms : at other times, the whole body, but more especially the legs, were sulgeot to ulcers of tiie worst kind, attended with rotten bones, and such a Inxuriancy of fmigous flesh, as yielded to no remedy. But a most extraordinary circumstance, and what would be scarcely credible upon any single evidence, is, that the scars of wounds, which had been for many years healed, were forced open again by this virulent distemper. Of this, there was a remarhEtble instance of one of the invalids on board the Centurion, who had been wounded above fifty years before at the battle of the Boyne ; for though he was cured soon after, and had continued well for a great number of years past, yet, on his being attacked by the scurvy, his wounds, in the progress of his disease, broke out afresh, and appeared as if they had never been healed : nay, what is still more astonishing, the callus of a broken bone, which had been completely formed for a long time, was found to be hereby dissolved, and the fracture seemed as if it had never been consolidated. Indeed, the effects of this disease were, in almost every instance, wonderful ; for many of our people, though confined to their hammocks, appeared to have no inconsi- ^ I .it-i 81 TOTAOl BOUND TBI WOBLD. [RookL derable sliare of health, for they ate and drank heartily, were cheerful, and talked with much seeming vigour, and with a loud, strong tone of voice ; and yet, on their being the least moved, though it was oxdy from one part of the ship to the other, and that, too, in their hammocks, they have immediately expired ; and others, who have confided in their seeming strength, and have resolved to get out of their hammocks, have died before they could weU reach the deck ; nor was it an uncommon wing for those who were able to walk the deck, and to do some kind of duty, to drop down dead in an instant, on any endeavours to act witn their utmost effort ; many of our people having perished in this manner during the course of tlus voyage. With this terrible disease we struggled the greatest part of the time of our beating round Gape Horn ; and, though it did not then rage with this utmost violence, yet we buried no less than forty-three men on bourd the Centurion, in the month of April, as hath been already observed ; however, we still entertoined hopes, that when we should have once secured our passage round the Gape, We should put a period to this, and all the other evils which had so constantly pursued us. But it was our misfortune to find that the Pacific Ocean was to us less hospitable than the turbulent neighbourhood of Tierra del Fuego and Gape Horn: for being arrived, on the 8th of May, off the island of Socoro, which was the first rendezvous appointed for the squadron, and where we hoped to have met with some of our companions, we cruised for them in that station several days. But here we were not only disappointed in our expectations of being joined by our friends, and were thereby induced to favour the gloomy suggestions of their having all perished ; but we were likewise perpetually alarmed with the fears of being driven on shore upon this coast, which appeared too craggy and irregular to give us the least prospect that in such a case any of us could possibly escape im- mediate destruction : for the land had, indeed, a most tremendous aspect ; the most distant part of it, and which \ f- OMAf. U.] BQUALLi; TBUNDIR AND LIQHTNINO. 88 WO yre lere of to |ed; 38X8 red )ect appeared far within the oonntrj, being the mountains usually called the Andes, or OoidiUoras, was extremely high and coTored with snow ; and the coast itself seemed quite rocky and barren, and the water's edge skirted with precipices. In some places, indeed, we discerned soYoral deep bays running into the land, but the entrance into them was generaUy blocked up by numbers of little islands; and though it was not improbable that there might be convenient shelter in some of those bays, and proper channels leading thereto, yet, as we were utterly ignorant of the coast, had we been driven ashore by the western winds which blew almost constantly thore, we did not expect to have avoided the loss of our ship and of our lives. This continued peril, which lasted for above a fortnight, was greatly aggravated by the difficulties we found in wor^g the ship ; as the scurvy had by this time de- stroyed so great a part of our hands, and had, in some degree, affected almost the whole crew. Nor did we, as we hoped, find the winds less violent as we advanced to the northward; for we had often prodigious squalls which split our sails, greatly damaged our rigging, and endangered our masts. Indeed, during the greatest part of the time we were upon this coast, the wind blew so hard, that in another situation, where we had sufficient sea-room, we should certainly have lain to ; but, in the present exigency, we were necessitated to carry both our courses and top-sails, in order to keep clear of this lee- shore. In one of these squalls, which was attended by several violent claps of thunder, a sudden flash of fire darted along our decks, and, dividing, exploded with a report like that of several pistols, and wounded many of our men and officers as it passed, marking them in different parts of the body : this flame was attended with a strong sulphureous stench, and was doubtless of the same nature with the larger and more violent blasts of lightning which then filled the air. It were endless to recite minutely the various dis- rA -> I] I ^' ' I , n ■iisiiii 84 TOTAOX BOUND THB WOBLD. [BoOKL asters, fatignes, and terrors whicli we encountered on this coast : all these went on increasing till the 22nd of May, at which time the fiiry of all the storms which we had hitherto encountered seemed to be combined, and to have conspired our destruction. In this hurricane, almost all our sails were split, and great part of our standing rigging broken; and, abont eight in the evening, a mountainous overgrown sea took us upon our starboajrd- quarter, and gave us so prodigious a shock, that several of our shrouds broke with the jerk, by which our masta were greatly endangered; our ballast and stores, too, were so strangely slufted, that the ship heeled afterwards two streaks to port. Indeed, it was a most tremendous blow, and we were thrown into the utmost consternation from the apprehension of instantly foundering; and, though the wind abated in a few hours, yet, as we had no more sails left in a condition to bend to our yards, the ship laboured very much in a hollow sea, rolling gunwale to, for want of sail to steady her ; so that we expected our masts, which were now very slenderly supported, to come by the board every moment. How- ever, we exerted ourselves the best we could to stirrup our shrouds, to reeve new lanyards, and to mend our sails ; but while these necessary operations were carrying . on, we ran great risk of being driven on shore on the island of Chiloe, which was not tax distant from us ; but, in the midst of our peril, the wind happily shifted to the southward, and we steered off the land with the main-sail only, the master and myself undertaking the management of the helm, while every one else on board was busied in securing the masts, and bending the sails as fast as tksy could be repaired. This was the last effort of that stormy climate : for, in a day or two after, we got clear of the land, and found the weather more moderate than we had yet experienced since our passing Straits Le Maire. And now, having cruised in vain, for more than a fortnight, in quest of the other ships of tibe squadron, it was resolved to take the advantage of Chip.DL] run to the island of JUAN FERNANDEZ. 85 the present &yourable season, and the offing we had made £rom this terrible coast, and to make the best of our way for the island of Juan Fernandez. For though our next rendezvous was appointed off the harbour ol Baldiyia, yet, as we had hitiierto seen none of our com- panions at this first rendezvous, it was not to be supposed that any of them would be found at the second : indeed, we had the greatest reason to suspect that all but our- selves had perished. Besides, we were by this time re- duced to so low a condition, that instead of attempting to attack the places of the enemy, our utmost hopes could only suggest to us the possibility of saving the ship, and some part of the remaining enfeebled crew, by our speedy arrival at Juan Fernandez ; for this was the only road, in that part of the world, where there was any probability of our recovering our sick, or refitting our vessel; and, consequently, our getting thither was the only seeming chance we had left to avoid perishing at sea. Our deplorable situation, then, allowing no room for deliberation, we stood for the island of Juan Fernandez ; and to save time, which was now extremely precious (our men dying four, five, and six in a day), and like- wise to avoid being engaged again with a lee-shore, we resolved, if possible, to hit the island upon a meridian. And, on the 28th of May, being nearly in the parallel upon which it is laid down, we had great expectations of seeing it ; but not finding it in the position in which the charts had taught us to expect it, we began to fear that we had gone too far to the westward; and there- fore, though the Commodore himself was strongly per- suaded that he saw it on the morning of the 28th, yet his officers believing it to be only a cloud, to which opinion the haziness of the weather gave some kind of countenance, it was, on a consultation, resol . ed to stand to the eastward, in the parallel of the island ; as it was certain that by this course we should either fall in with the island, if we were already to the westward of it, or m m m ''I 3'K 86 TOTAOB BOUND TEX WOBLD. rBooiL should at least make the mainland of Chili, from whence we might take a new departure, and assure ourselves, by running to the westward afterwards, of not missing the island a second time. On the 80th of May we had a view of the continent of Chili, distant about twelve or thirteen leagues : the land made exceeding high and uneven, and appeai'ed quite white, what we saw being doubtless a part of the Cordilleras, which are always covered with snow. Though by this view of the land we ascertained our position, yet it gave us great uneasiness to find that we had so needlessly altered our course, when we were, in all probability, just upon the point of making the island ; for the mortality amongst us was now increased to a most dreadful degree, and those who remained alive were utterly dispirited by this new disappointment, and the prospect of their longer continuance at sea. Our water, too, began to grow scarce; so that a general dejoction ■f^-^ Cbat. IX.3 ABBIYAL AT JUAN FIBNANDIZ. (fr prevailed amongst us, which added much to the virulence of the disease, and destroyed numbers of our best men ; and, to all these calamities, there was added this vexa- tious circumstance, that when, after having got a sight of the main, we tacked, and stood to the westward in quest of the island, we were so much delayed by calms and con- trary winds, that it cost us nine days to regain the west- ing, which, when we stood to the eastward, we ran down in two. Li this desponding condition, with a crazy ship, a great scarcity of £resh water, and a crew so universally diseased that there were not above ten fore-mast men in a watch capable of doing duty, and even some of these lame and unable to go aloft ; under these disheartening circiUDstances we stood to the westward, and on the 9th of June, at daybreak, we at last discovered the long- wished-for island of Juan Fernandez. With this dis- covery I shall close this chapter, and the First Book, after observing (which shall furnish a very strong image of our unpanJleled distresses) that, by our suspecting ourselves to be to the westward of the island on the 28^ of May, and, in consequence of this, standing in for the main, we lost between seventy and eighty of our men whom we should doubtless have saved, had we made the island that day ; which, had we kept on our course for a few hours longer, we could not have failed to do. ^41 «8 VOTAGB BOUND THB WOULD. rUoonU, BOOK THE SECOND. CHAPTER L Arrival of the Centurion at the Island of Joan Femande1^ and a Description of that Island. On the 9tli of June, at daybreak, as is mentioned in the preceding chapter, we first descried the island of Ju»n Fernandez, bearing N. by E. j^ E., at eleven or twelve leagues; distance. And though, on this first view, it appeared to be a very mountainous place, extremely ragged and irregular, yet, as it was land, and the land we sought for, it was to us a most agreeable sight ; be- cause at this place only we could hope to put a period to those terrible calamities we had so long struggled with, which had already swept away above half our crew, and which, had we continued a few days longer at sea, would inevitably have completed our destruction. For we were by this time reduced to so helpless a condition, that out of two hundred and odd men, which remained alive, we could not, taking all our watches together, muster hands enough to work the ship on an emergency, though we included the officers, their servants, and the boys. The wind being northerly when we first made the island, we kept plying all that day and the next night, in order to get in with the land ; and, wearing the ship in the middle watch, we had a melancholy instance of the almost incredible debility of our people; for the lieutenant could muster no more than two quarter- masters, and six fore-mast men capable of working ; so that, without the assistance of the officers, servants, and the boys, it might have proved impossible for us to havo Chaf. L] TRAN8A0TI0N8 AT JUAN FXBMANDKZ. 89 reached the island after we had got sight of it, and even with this assistance, they were two hours in trimming the sails: to so wretched a condition was a sixty-gun ship reduced, which had passed Straits Le Maire but three months before with between four and five hundred men, almost all of them in health and vigour. However, on the 10th, in the afternoon, we got under the lee of the island, and kept ranging along it, at about two miles distance, in order to look out for the proper anchorage, which was described to be in a bay on the north side. Being now nearer in with the shore, we could discover that the broken craggy precipices, which had appeared so unpromising at a distance, were far from barren, being in most places covered with woods; and that, between them, there were everywhere interspersed the finest valleys, clothed with a most beautiful verdure, and watered with numerous streams and cascades, no valley of any extent being unprovided with its proper rill. The water, too, as we afterwards found, was not inferior to any we had ever tasted, and was constantly clear. The aspect of this country, thus diversified, would at all times have been extremely delightful; but, in our dis- tressed situation, languii^ng as we were for the land and its vegetable productions (an inclination constantly attending every stage of the sea-scurvy), it is scarcely credible with what eagerness and transport we viewed the shore, and with how much impatience we longed for the greens and other refreshments which were then in sight, and particularly the water, for of this we had been confined to a very sparing allowance, a considerable time, and had then but five tons remaining on board. Those only who have endured a long series of thirst, and who can readily recall the desire and agitation which the ideas alone of springs and brooks have at that time raised in them, can judge of the emotion with which we eyed a large cascade of the most transparent water, which poured itself from a rock near a hundred feet high into the sea, at a small distance from the ship. Even those k t''' I ■ m k 4" {I J 90 TOTAOI BOUND THB WOBLD. [Book If. amongst the diseased, wHo were not in the very last stages of the distemper, though they had been long con- fined to their hammocks, exerted the small remains of strength that were left them, and crawled np to the deck to feast themselves with this reviving prospect. Thus we coasted the shore, folly employed in the contemplation of this enchanting landscape, which stiU improved npon us the &rther we advanced. But, at last, the night closed upon us before we had satisfied ourselves which was the proper bay to anchor in ; and therefore we re- solved to keep in soundings all night (we having then from sixty-four to seventy &thoms), and to send our boat next morning to discover the road : however, the current shifted in the night, and set us so near the land, that we were obliged to let go the best bower in fifiy-six fathom, not half a mile from the shore. At four in the morning the cutter was despatched, with our third lieutenant, to find out the bay we were in search of, who returned again at noon, with the boat laden with seals and grass; for though the island abounded with better vegetables, yet the boat's-crew, in their short stay, had not met with them ; and they well knew that even grass would prove a dainty, as, indeed, it was all soon and eagerly devoured. The seials, too, were considered as fresh provision, but, .as yet, were not much admired, though they grew after* wards into more repute; for what rendered them less valuable at this juncture, was the prodigious quantity of excellent fiish which the people on board had taken during the absence of the boat. The cutter, in this expedition, had discovered the bay where we intended to anchor, which we found was to the westward of our present station ; and, the next morning, the weather proving favourable, we endeavoured to weigh, in order to proceed thither : but though on this occasion we mustered all the strength we could, obliging even the sick, who were scarce able to keep on their legs, to assist us, yet the capstan was so weakly manned, tiiat it was near four hours before we hove tiie cable right up and CHAf. I.] TBANSAOnONS AT JUAN riBNANDXZ. 91 of mg down: after which, with our utmost efforts, and with many surges and some purchases we made use of to increase our power, we found ourselves incapable of starting the anchor from the ground. However, at noon, a fresh gale blowing towards the bay, we were induced to set the sails, which happily tripped Ihe anchor, and then we steered along shore, till we came abreast of the point that forms the eastern part of the bay. On the opening of the bay, the wind, that had befriended us thus far, shifted, and blew from thence in squalls ; but, by means of the head-way we had got, we loofed close in, till the anchor brought us up in fifty-six &thoms. Soon after we had thus got to our new berth, we discovered a sail, which we made no doubt was one of our squadron, and on its nearer approach, we found it to be the Tryal sloop. We immediately sent some of our hands on board her, by whose assistance she was brought to an anchor between us and the land. We soon found that the sloop had not been exempted from the same calamities which we had so severely felt; for her commander. Captain Saunders, waiting on the Commodore, informed him that, out of his small complement, he had buried thirty- four of his men : and those that remained were so uni- versally a£9ieted with the scurvy, that only himself, his lieutenant, and three of his men, were able to stand by the sails. The Tryal came to an anchor within us, on the 12th, about noon, and we carried our hawsers on board her, in order to moor ourselves nearer in shore ; but the wind coming off the land in violent gusts, prevented our mooring in the berth we intended. Indeed our princi- pal attention was employed on business of rather more importance ; for we were, now, extremely occupied in sending on shore materials to raise tents for the reception of the sick who died apace on board, and, doubtless, the distemper was considerably augmented by the stench and filthiness in which they lay ; for the number of the diseased was so great, and so few could be spared from the necessary duty of the sails to look aiter them, that «t^ I t] II ;;■.■■ ■ • ' i 92 TOTAGK BOUND THB WOBLD. [BuoxU it was impoisible to avoid a great relaxation in the article of cleanliness, which had rendered the ship extremely loathsome between decks. Notwithstanding our desire of freeing the sick from their hateful situation, and their own extreme impatience to get on shore, we had not hands enough to prepare the tents for their reception before the 16th ; but on that and the two following days, we sent them aU on shore, amounting to a hundred and sixty-seven persons, besides twelve or fourteen who died in the boats, on their being exposed to the fresh air. The greatest part of our sick 'were so infirm, that wo were obliged to carry them out of the ship in their hammocks, and to convey them afterwards in the same mftnner, from the water-side to their tents, over a stony beach. This was a work of considerable fatigue to the few who were healthy ; and^ therefore, the Commodore, according to his accustomed humanity, not only assisted herein with his own labour, but obliged his officers, without distinction, to give their helping hand. The extreme weakness of our sick may, in some measure, be collected from the numbers who died after they had got on shore ; for it had generally been found that the land, and the refreshments it produces^ very soon recover most stages of the sea-scurvy ; and we flattered ourselves, that those who had not perished on this first exposure to the open air, but had lived to be placed in their tents, would have been speedily restored to their health and vigour: yet, to our great mortification, it was near twenty days after their landing before the mortality was tolerably ceased ; and, tot the first ten or twelve days, we buried rarely less than six each day, and many of those who survived, recovered by very slow and insensible degrees. Indeed, those who were well enough, at their getting on shore, to creep out of their tents and crawl about, were soon relieved, and recovered their health and strength in a very short time ; but, in the rest, the disease seemed to have acquired a degree of inveteracy !nrhich was altogether without example. Omap. I.J DUOBi^noN or juak febnandiz. 98 Haying proceeded thtui &r, and got our sick on shore, I think it necessary, before I enter into any longer detail of onr transactions, to give a distinct account of this island of Jnan Fernandez, its situation, productions, and all its conveniences. These particulars we were well enabled to be minutely instructed in during our three months' stay there; and, as it is the only commodious place in those seas where British cruisers can refresh and recover their men after their passage round Cape Horn, and where they may remain for some time without alarming the Spanish coast, these, its advantages, will merit a circumstantial description. Indeed, Mr. Anson was particularly industrious in directing the roads and coast to bo surveyed, and other observations to be made, knowing, from his own experience, of how great conse- quence these materials might prove to any British vessels hereafter employed in these seas. For the uncertainty we were in of ite position, and our standing in for the Main, on the 28th of May, in order to secure a sufficient casting, when we were, indeed, extremely near it, cost us the lives of between seventy and eighty of our men, by our longer continuance at sea ; from which fatal accident we might have been exempted, had we been furnished with such an account of its situation as we could fully have depended on. The island of Juan Fernandez lies in the latitude of 83° 40' soutii, and is a hundred and ten leagues distant from the continent of Chili. It is said to have received its name from a Spaniard, who formerly procured a grant of it, and resided there some time, with a view of settling on it, but afterwards abandoned it. On approaching it, on its east side, is a small island, called Goat Island, and to the S.W. of it a rock, called Monkey Key, almost conti- guous to it. The island itself is of an irregular figure. Its greatest extent is between four and five leagues, and its greatest breadth somewhat short of two leagues. The only safe anchoring at this island is on the north side, where there are three bays ; but the middlemost, known 94 VOTAOl ROUND TBI WOULD. CBdokU by tho name of Cumberland Bay, is the widest and deep- est, and in all respects much the best ; for the other two, denominated the East and West Bays, are scarcely more than good landing-places, where boats may conveniently put their casks on shore. As the bay last described, or Oumberlond Bay, is by far the most commodious road in the island, so it is ad- visable for all ships to anchor on the western side of this l)ay, within little more than two cables' length of the beach. Here they may ride in forty fathoms of water, and be in a great measure sheltered from a large heavy sea, which comes rolling in whenever an eastern or a western wind blows. It is, however, expedient, in this case, to cackle or arm the cables with an iron chain, or good rounding, for five or six fathoms from the anchor, to secure them from being rubbed by the foulness of the ground. I have before observed, that a northerly wind, to which alone this bay is exposed, very rarely blew during our stay here ; and, as it was then winter, it may be sup- posed in other seasons to be less frequent. Indeed, in those few instances when it was in that quarter, it did not blow with any great force: but this, perhaps, might be owing to the high lands on the southward of the bay, which checked its current, and thereby abated its vio- lence ; for we had reason to suppose that, a few leagues ofif, it blew with considerable strength, since it sometimes drove before it a prodigious sea, in which we rode fore- castle in. But, though the northern winds are never to be apprehended, yet the southern winds, which generally prevail here, frequently blow off the land in violent gusts and squalls, which, however, rarely last longer than two or three minutes. This seems to be owing to the ob- struction of the southern gale by the hills in the neigh- bourhood of the bay ; for the wind, being collected by this means, at last forces its passage, through the narrow valleys, which, like so many funnels, both facilitate its escape and increase its violence. These frequent and Ckur. I.] DBsoBiFrxoir Of JVAif rauTAirDiz. sudden gnsts made it difficult for sbipd to vfxjxk in with the wind off ghore, or to keep a dear hawse when anchored. The northern part of this island is composed of hiah craggy hills, many of them inaccessible, though generaUy ooyered with trees. The soil of this part is loose and shallow, so that very large trees on the hills soon perish for want of root, and are then easily overturned : which occasioned the unfortunate death of one of our sailors, who, being in the hills in search of goats, caught hold of a tree, upon a declivity, to assist him in his ascent, and this giving way, he immediately rolled down the hill ; and though in his fall he fastened on another tree of consi- derable bulk, yet that, too, gave way, and he fell amongst the rocks, and was dashed to pieces. Mr. Brett, like- wise, met with an accident, only by resting his back against a tree, near as large about as himself, which stood on a slope ; for, the tree giving way, he fell to a consi- derable distance, though without receiving any injury. Our prisoners (whom, as will be related in tiie sequel, we afterwards brought in here) remarked that the appearance of the hills, in some part of the island, resembled that of the mountains of Chili, where the gold is found : so that it is not impossible but mines might be discovered here. We observed in some places several hills of a peculiar sort of rod earth, exceeding vermilion in colour, which, perhaps, on examination, might prove useful for many purposes. The southern, or rather the S.W. part of the island, is widely different from the rest, being dry, stony, and destitute of trees, and very flat and low, compared with the hills on the northern part. This part of the island is never frequented by ships, being surrounded by a deep shore, and having little or no freA water ; and, besides, it is exposed to the southerly wind, which gene- rally blows here the whole year round, and, in the winter solstice, very hard. The trees, of which the woods on the northern side of the island are composed, are most of them aromatics, and \^^:M -.ViP 96 TOTAOl BOUND TBI WOBLO. [Boob a wi of nianv different Borts : there ure none of them of * fize to yield any considerable timber, except the myrtle-treea, which are the largest on the island, and supplied us with all the timber we made use of; but even these would not work to a greater length than forty feet. The top of the myrtle-tree is circular, and appears as uniform and regu- lar as if it had been clipped by art. It bears on its bark an excrescence like moss, which in taste and smell re- sembles garlic, and was used by our people instead of it. We found here, too, the pimento-tree, and likewise the cabbage-tree, though in no great plenty. And, besides a groat number of plants of various kinds, which we were not botanists enough either to describe or attend to, we found here almost all the vegetables which are usually esteemed to be particularly adapted to the cure of those scorbutic disorders which are contracted by salt diet and long voyages. For here wo had great quantities of water- cresses and purslain, with excellent wild sorrel, and a vast profusion of turnips and Sicilian radishes : these two last, having some resemblance to each other, were confounded by our people under the general name of turnips. We usually preferred the tops of the turnips to the roots, which were often stringy ; though some of them were free from that exception, and remarkably good. These vege- tables, with the fish and flesh we got here, and which I shall more particularly describe hereafter, were not only extremely grateful to our palates, after the long course of salt diet which we had been confined to, but were, likewise, of the most salutary consequence to our sick, in recover- ing and invigorating them, and of no mean service to us who were well, in destrojring the lurking seeds of the scurvy, from which,, perhaps, none of us were totally exempt, and in refreshing and restoring us to our wonted strength and activity. To the vegetables I have already mentioned, of which we made perpetual use, I must add, that we found many acres of groimd covered with oats and clover. There were, also, some few cabbage-trees upon the island, as our. I.] DIMKIPTION or JUAX riftNANDIZ. 97 was observed before ; but m they generally orew on the precipices and in dangerous situations, and as it was nocesHory to cut down a large trt)« for evefjr single cab- bage, this was a dainty thi# we were ftble but rarely to indulge in. The excellence of the climate and the looseness of the soil render this place extremely proper for all kinds of vegetation ; for, if the ground be anywhere accidentally turned up, it is immediately overgrown with turnips and Sicilian radishes. Mr. Anson, therefore, having with him garden seeds of all kinds, and stones of difTerent sorts of fruits, he, for the better accommodation of his countr3rmen who should hereafter touch here, sowed both lettuces, carrots, and other garden plants, and set in the woods a great variety of plum, apricot, and peach stones ; and these last, he has been iiibrmed, have since thriven to a very remarkable degree ; for some gentlemen, who, in their passage from Lima to Old Spain, were taken and brought to England, having procured leave to wait upon Mr. Anson, to thank him for his generosity and humanity to his prisoners, some of whom were their relations, they in casual discourse with him about his transactions in the South Seas, particularly asked him if ho had not planted a great number of fruit stones on the island of Juan Fernandez ; for they told him their late navigators had discovered there numbers of peach-trees and apricot-trees, which being fruits before unobserved in that place, they concluded them to have been produced from kernels set by him* This may, in general, suffice as to the soil and vege- table productions of this place; but the face of the country, at least at the north part of the island, is so ex- tremely singular, that I cannot avoid giving it a particular consideration. I have already taken notice of the wild, inhospitable air with which it first appeared to us, and the gradual improvement of this uncouth landscape, as we drew nearer, till we were at last captivated by the nume- rous beauties we discovered on the shore. And I must if 98 VOTAQB BOUND THE WOBLD. [Book II .III now add, that we found, during the time of our x^sidence there, that the inland parts of the island did no ways fall short of the sanguine prepossessions which we first enter- tained in their favour ; for the woods, which covered most of the steepest hills, were free from all bushes and under- wood, and afforded an easy passage through every part of them i and the irregularities of the hills and precipices, in the northern part of the island, necessarily traced out by their various combinations a great number of romantic valleys, most of which had a stream of the cleai'est water running through them, that tumbled in cascades from rock to rock, as the bottom of the valley, by the course of the neighbouring hills, was, at any time, broken into a sudden sharp descent. Some particular spots occurred in these valleys, where the shade and fragrance of the con- tiguous woods, the loftiness of the overhanging rocks, and the transparency and frequent falls of the neighbouring streams, presented scenes of such elegance and dignity, as would with difficulty be rivalled in any other part of the globe. It is in this place, perhaps, that the simple pro- ductions of unassisted nature may be said to excel all the fictitious descriptions of the most animated imagination. I shall finish this article with a short account of tiiat spot where the Commodore pitched his tent, and which he made choice of for his own residence, though I despair of conveying an adequate idea of its beauly. The piece of ground which he chose was a small lawn, that kty on a little ascent, at the distance of about half a mile from the sea. In the front of his tent there was a large avenue cut through the woods to the sea^^side, which, sloping to the water with a gentle descent, opened a prospect of the bay and the ships at anchor. This lawn was screened behind by a tall wood of myrtle sweeping round it, in the form of a theatre, the slope on which the wood stood rising with a much sharper ascent than the lawn itself, though not so much but that the hills and precipices within land towered up considerably above the tops of the trees, and added to the grandeur of the view. There were, besides, two streams Chap. 1.] DESCRIPTION OF JUAN FERNANDEZ. 99 of crystal water, which 4an on the right and left of the tent, within a hundred yards' distance, and were shaded by the trees which skirted the lawn on • either bide, and completed the symmetry of the whole. It remains now, only, that we speak of the animals and provisions which we met with at this place. Former writers have related, that this island abounded with vast numbers of goats ; and their accounts are not to be ques- tioned, this place being the usual haunt of the buccaneers and privateers, who formerly frequented these seas. And there are two instances : one of a Musquito Indian, and tlie other of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who were left here by their respective ships, and lived alone upon this island for some years, and, consequently, were no strangers to its produce. Selkirk, who was the last, aftei a stay of between four and five years, was taken off the place by the Duke and Duchess privateers of Bristol, as may be seen at large in the journal of their voyage : his maimer of life during his solitude, was in most particulan 100 YOTAOB BOUND THE WORLD. fltoOKU. very remarkable ; but there is one ciroumBtance he relates, which was so strangely verified by our own observation, that I cannot help reciting it. He tells us, amongst other things, that as he often caught more goats than he wanted, he sometimes marked their ears and let them go. This was about thirty-two years before our arrival at the island. Now it happened, that the first goat that was killed by our people, at their landing,. had his ears slit, whence we con- cluded that he had doubtless been formerly under the power of Selkirk. This was, indeed, an animal of a most venerable aspect, dignified with an exceeding majestic beard, and with many other symptoms of antiquity. During our stay on the island, we met with others marked in the same manner, all the males being distinguished by an exuberance of beard, and every other characteristic of extreme age. But the great number of goats, which former writers describe to have been foimd upon this island, are at present very much diminished ; as the Spaniards, being informed of the advantages which the buccaneers and privateers drew from the provisions which goats' flesh here furnished them with, have endeavoured to extirpate the breed, thereby to deprive their enemies of this relief. For this purpose they have put on shore great numbers of large dogs, who have increased apace, and have destroyed all the goats in the accessible part of the country ; so that there now remain only a few amongst the crags and the precipices, where the dogs cannot follow them. These are divided into separate herds of twenty or thirty each, which inhabit distinct fastnesses, and never mingle with each other : by this means, we found it extremely difficult to kill them ; and yet we were so desirous of their flesh, which we all agreed much resembled venison, that we got knowledge, I believe, of all their herds ; and it was con- ceived, by comparing their numbers together, that they scarcely exceeded two hundred upon the whole island. I remember we had once an opportunity of observing a re- markable dispute betwixt a herd of these animals and a CUAT.L} DISPUTE BETWEEN 00AT8 AND DOGS. 101 re- id a number of dogs ; for going in our boat into the eastern bay, we perceived some dogs running very eagerly upon the foot, and being willing to discover what game they were after, we lay upon our oars some time to view them, and at last saw them take to a hill, where, looking a little further, we observed upon the ridge of it a herd of goats, which seemed drawn up for their reception. There was a very narrow path, skirted on each side by preci- pices, on which the master of the herd posted himself, fronting the enemy, the rest of the goats being all behind him, where the ground was more open : as this spot was inaccessible by any other path, excepting where this champion had placed himself, the dogs, though they nm up hill with great alacrity, yet, when they came within about twenty yards of him, they found they durst not encounter him (for he would infallibly have driven them down the precipice), but gave over the chase, and quietly laid themselves down, panting at a great rate. These dogs, who are masters of all the accessible parts of the island, are of various kinds, some of them very large, and are multiplied to a prodigious degree. They sometimes came do^vn to our habitations at night, and stole our pro- vision ; and once or twice they set upon single persons, but assistance being at hand, they were driven off without doing any mischief. As at present it is rare for goats to fall in their way, we conceived that they lived princi- pally upon young seals ; and, indeed, some of our people had the curiosity to kill dogs sometimes and dress them, and it seemed to be agreed that they had a fishy taste. Goats' flesh, as I have mentioned, being scarce, we rarely being able to kill above one a day, and our people growing tired of fish (which, as I shall hereafter observe, abound at this place), they at last condescended to cat seals, which by degrees they came to relish, and called it lamb. The seal, numbers of which haimt this island, hath been so often mentioned by former writers, that it is unnecessary to say anything particular about it in this place. But there is another amphibious creature to 102 TOTAGK BOUND THE WOBLD. rBooK IL I. I be met with here, called a sea-lion, that boars some resemblance to a seal, though it is much larger. This, too, we ate, under the denomination of beef ; and as it is so extraordinary an animal, I conceive it well merits a particular description. They are in size, when arrived at their full growth, from twelve to twenty feet in length, and from eight to fifteen in circumference : they are extremely fat, so that having cut through the skin, which is about an inch in thickness, there is at least a foot of fat before you can come at either lean or bones; and we experienced, more than once, that the fat of some of the largest afforded us a butt of oil. They are likewise very full of blood, for if they are deeply wounded in a dozen places, there will instantly gush out as many fountains of blood, spouting to a considerable distance; and to try what quantity of blood they con- tained, we shot one first, and then cut its throat, and measuring the blood that came from him, we found that, besides what remained in the vessels, which, to be sure was considerable, we got at least two hogsheads. Their skins are covered with short hair of light-dun colour; out their tails and their fins, which serve them for feet on shore, are almost black ; their fins, or feet, are divided at the ends like fingers, the web which joins them not reaching to the extremities, and each of these fingers is < furnished with a nail. They have a distant resemblance to an overgrown seal, though, in some particulars, there is a manifest difference between them, especially in the males. These have a large snout, or trunk, hanging down five or six inches below the end of the upper jaw ; which the females have not, and this renders the counte- nance of the male and female easy to be distinguished trom. each other, and, besides, the males are of a much larger size. These animals divide their time equally between the land and sea, continuing at sea all the smnmer, and coming on shore at the setting in of the winter, where they reside during that whole season. In this interval they engender and bring forth their young, Chat. I.j DEBOBIPTION OF THX 8BA-U0N. 108 and have generally two at a birth ; which they suckle with their milk, they being at first about the size of a full-grown seal. During the time these sea-lions con- tinue on shore, they feed on the grass and verdure which grows near the banks of the fresh-water streams ; and, when not employed in feeding, sleep in herds in the most miry places they can find out. As they seem to be of a very lethargic disposition, and are not easily awakened, each herd was observed bO place some of their males at a. distance, in the nature of sentinels, who never failed to alarm tiiem, whenever any one attempted to molest, or even to approach them ; and they were very capable of alarming, even at a considerable distance, for the noise they make is very loud, and of different kinds, sometimes grunting like hogs, and at other times snorting like horses in full vigour. They often, especially the males, have furious battles with each other, princi- pally about their females ; and we were one day extremely surprised by the sight of two animals, which, at first, appeared different from all we had ever observed, but on a nearer approach they proved to be two sea-lions, who had been goring each other with their teeth, and were covered over with blood ; and one, whom our men styled the Bashaw, generally lay surrounded with a seraglio of females, which no other male dared to approach, but had not acquired that envied pre-eminence without many bloody contests, of which the marks still remained in the numerous scars which were visible in every part of his body. We killed many of them for food, particularly for their hearts and tongues, which we esteemed exceed- ing good eating, and preferable even to those of bullocks : in general there was no difficulty in killing them, for they were incapable either of escaping or resisting ; as their motion is the most unwieldy that can be conceived, their blubber, all the time they are moving, being agitated in large waves imder their skins. However, a sailor one day being carelessly employed in skinning a young sea-lion, the female, from whence he had taken it, 104 TOTAOE BOUND THE WORLD. [Book II came upon him trnperceiyed, and getting his head in her mouth, she with her teeth scored his skull in notches in many places, and thereby wounded him so desperately that though all possible care was taken of him, he died in a few days. These are the principal animals which are found upon the island ; for we saw but few birds, and those chiefly hawks, blackbirds, owls, and humming-birds. We saw not the Fordela, which burrows in the ground, and which former writers have mentioned to be found here, but, as we often met with their holes, we supposed that the dogs had destroyed them ; as they have almost done the cats, for these were very numerous in Selkirk's time, but we saw not above one or two during our whole stay. How- ever, the rats still keep their ground, continue here in great numbers, and were very troublesome to us, by infesting our tents nightly. But that which fcmiished us with the most delicious repasts at this island, remains still to be described. This was the fish with which the whole bay was most plenti- fully stored, and with the greatest variety : for we found here cod of a prodigious size, and, by the report of some of our crew, who had been formerly employed in the Newfoundland fishery, not in less plenty than is to be met with on the banks of that island. We caught also, cavallies, gropers, large breams, maids, silver fish, con- gers of a peculiar kind, and, above all, a black fish which we most esteemed, called by some a chimney-sweeper, in shape resembling a carp. The beach, indeed, is everywhere so full of rocks and loose stones, that there is no possibility of hauling the seine ; but with hooks and lines we caught what numbers we pleased ; so that a boat with two or three lines would return loaded with fish in about two or three hours' time. The only interruption we ever met with, arose from great quantities of dog-fish and large sharks, which sometimes attended our boats, and prevented our sport. Besides the fish we have already mentioned, we found here one delicacy in gr&'.(;ef ftlAP. II.] ARBITAL OF THE GLOnOESTBB. 105 perfection, both as to size, flayour, and quantity, than is perhaps to be met with in any other part of the world — this was sea cray-iish ; they generally weighed eight or nine pounds a-piece, were of a most excellent taste, and lay in such abundance near the water's edge, that the boat-hooks often struck into them, in putting the boat to and from the shore. These are the most material articles relating to the accommodations, soil, vegetables, animals, and other pro- ductions of the island of Juan Fernandez ; by which it must appear, how properly that place was adapted for recovering us from the deplorable situation to which our tedious and unfortunate navigation round Cape Horn had reduced us. And, having thus given the reader some idea of the site and circiunstances of this place, which was to be our residence for three months, I shall now proceed, in the next chapter, to relate all that occurred to us in that interval, resuming my narration from the 18th day of June, being the day in which the Tryal sloop, having, by a squall, been driven out to sea three days before, came again to her moorings, the day in which we finished the sending our sick on shore, and about eight days after our first anchoring at this island. CHAPTEE II. The Anival of the Gloucester and the Anna Pink at the Island of Joan Fernandez, and the Transactions at that Place during this InterraL The arrival of the Tryal sloop at this island, so soon after we came there ourselves, gave us great hopes of being speedily joined by the rest of the squadron, and we were for some days continually looking out, in ex- pectation of their coming in sight. But near a fortnight being elapsed without any of them having appeared, we began to despair of ever meeting them again ; as we knew 106 YOTAOX BOUND TBI WORLD. [Boosn ,i that had our ship continued so much longer at sea, we should every man of us have perished, and the vessel, occupied bj dead bodies only, would have been left to the caprice of the winds and waves; and this we had great reason to fear was the fate of our consorts, at each hour added to the probability of these desponding suggestions. But on the 21st of June, some of our people, from an eminence on shore, discerned a ship to leewa^, with her courses even with the horizon; and they, at the same time, particularly observed, that she had no sail abroad except her courses and her main-top-sail. This circum- stance made them conclude that it was one of our squad- ron, which had probably suffered in her sails and rigging as severely as we had done; but they were prevented from forming more definitive conjectures about her, for, after viewing her for a short time, the weather grew thick and hazy, and they lost sight of her. On this report, and no ship appearing for some days, we were all under the greatest concern, suspecting that her people were in the utmost distress for want of water, and so diminished and weakened by sickness as not to be able to ply up to windward, so that we feared that, after having been in sight of the island, her whole crew would, notwithstanding, perish at sea. However, on the 26th, towards noon, we discerned a sail in the north-east quarter, which we conceived to be the very same ship that had been seen before, and our conjectures proved true ; and about one o'clock she approached so near that we could distinguish her to be the Gloucester. As we had no doubt of her being in great distress, the Commo- dore immediately ordered his boat to her assistance, laden with fresh water, fish, and vegetables, which was a very seasonable relief to them, for our apprehensions of their calamities appeared to be but too well-grounded, as, per- haps, there was never a crew in a more distressed situa- tion. They had already thrown overboard two-thirds of their complement, and of those which remained -alive, Cte4r.II.] DBEADFTL CONDITION OF THE GL0UCE8TSR. 107 we scarcely any were capable of doing duty, except the officers and their servants. They had been, a considur- able time, at the small allowance of a pint of fresh water to each man, for twenty-four hours, and yet they had so little left, that, had it not been for the supply we sent them, they must soon have died of thirst. The ship plied in within three miles of the bay, but the winds and currents being contrary, she could not reach the road. However, she continued in the offing the next day, but as she had no chanoe of coming to an anchor, unless the winds and currents shifted, the Commodore repeated his assistance, sending to her the Tryal's boat manned with the Centurion's people, and a further supply of water and other refreshments. Captain Mitchell, the captain of the Gloucester, was under a necessity of detaining both this boat and that sent the preceding day ; for without the help of their crews, he had no longer strength enough to navigate the ship. In this tanta- lizing situation the Gloucester continued for near a fort- night, without being able to fetch the road, though fre- quently attempting it, and at some times bidding very fair for it. On the 9th of July, we observed her stretch- ing away to the eastward, at a considerable distance, which we supposed was with a design to get to the south- ward of the island ; but as we soon lost sight of her, and she did not appear for near a week, we were prodigiously concerned, knowing that she must be again in extreme distress for want of water. After great impatience about her, we discovered her again on the 16th, endeavouring to come round the eastern point of the island ; but the wind still blowing directly from the bay, prevented her getting nearer than within four leagues of the land. On this Captain Mitchell made signals of distress, and our long-boat was sent to him with a store of water, and plenty of fish and other refreshments. And the long- boat being not to be spared, the cockswain had positive orders from the Commodore to return again immediately ; but the weather proving stormy the next day, and tibe 108 TUTAOE ROUND THX WORLD. [BomU II v|! boat not appearing, we much feared she was lost, which would have proved an irretrievable misfortune to us all ; however, the third day after, we were relieved from this anxiety by the joyful sight of the long-boat's sails upon the water ; on which we sent the cutter immediately to her assistance, who towed her alongside in a few hours ; when we found that the crew of our long-boat had taken in six of the Gloucester's sick men to bring them on shore, two of which had died in the boat. We now learnt that the Gloucester was in a most dreadful condi- tion, having scarcely a man in health on board, except those they received from us: and numbers of the sick dying daily, it appeared that, had it not been for the last supply sent by our long-boat, both the healthy and diseased must have all perished together for want of water. These calamities were the more terrifying, as they appeared t^> be without remedy ; for the Gloucester had already spent a month in her endeavoiu^ to fetch the bay, and she was now no farther advanced than at the first moment she made the island ; on the contrary, the people on board her had worn out all their hopes of ever succeeding in it, by the many experiments they had made of its 6if&- culty. Indeed, the same day her situation grew more desperate than ever, for, after she had recei '. d our last supply of i°e£reshments, we again lost sight of her; so that we in general despaired of her ever coming to an anchor. Thus was the unhappy vessel bandied about within a few leagues of her intended harbour, whilst the neigh- bourhood of that place and of those circumstances, which could alone put an end to the calamities they laboured under, served only to aggravate their distress, by tor- turing them with a view of the relief it was not in their power to reach. But she was at last delivered from this dreadful situation, at a time when we least expected it ; for after having lost sight of her for several days, we were pleasingly surprised, oh the morning of the 23i:t1 of July, to see her upon the N.W. point of the bay ynth a Chap. 11.] TSANSAOTIOMB AT JUAM FERNANDEZ. 109 BO flowing sail ; when we immediately despatched what boats we had to her assiBtunce, and in an hour's time from our first perceiving her, she anchored safe within us in the bay. And now we were more particularly convinced of the importance of the assistance and re- freshments we so often sent thom, and huw impossible it would have been for a man of them to have survived, had we given less attention to thuir wants ; for notwith- standing the water, tho greens, and fresh provisions which we supplied thom with, and the hands we sent them to navigate the ship, by which the fatigue of their own people was diminished, their sick relieved, and the mortality abated ; notwithstanding this indulgent care of the Commodore, they yet buried above three-fourths of their crew, and a very small portion of the remainder were capable of assisting in the duty of the ship. On their coming to an anchor, our first endeavours were to assist them in mooring, and our next to send their sick on shore ; these were now reduced by deaths to less than fourscore, of which we expected to lose the greatest part ; but whether it was that those farthest advanced in the distemper were all dead, or that the greens and fresh provisions we hud sent on board hod prepared those which remained for a more speedy recovery, it happened, contrary to our expectations, that their sick were in general relieved, and restored to their strength, in a much shorter time than our own had been when we first came to the island, and very few of them died on shore. I have thus given an account of the principal events, relating to the arrival of the Gloucester, in one continued narration. I shall only add, that we never were joined by any other of our ships, except our victualler, the Anna Pink, who came in about the middle of August, and whose history I shall defer for the present ; as it is now high time to return to the account of our own transactions on board and on shore, during the interval of the Gloucester's frequent and ineffectual attempts to reach the island. > no yCYAGK BnTTMD TBI WORLD. TBooKll ^1 Our next employment, after sending our sick on shore from the Centurion, was cleansing our ship and filling our water. The first of these measures was indispensably necessary to our future health ; as the numbers of sick, and the unavoidable negligence arising from our de- plorable situation at sea, had rendered the decks most intolerably loathsome : and the filling our water was a caution that appeared not less essential to our security, as we had reason to apprehend that accidents might in- tervene, which would oblige us to quit the island at a very short warning; for some appearances we had dis- covered on shore, upon our first landing, gave ug grounds to believe that there were Spanish cruisers in these seas, which had left the island but a short time before our arrival, and might possibly return thither again, either for a recruit of water, or in search of us ; since we could . not doubt but that the sole business they had at sea was \ to intercept us, and we knew that this island was the likeliest place, in their own opinion, to meet wdth us. The circumstances which gave rise to these reflections (in port of which we were not mistaken, as shall be ob- served more at large hereafter) were our finding on shore several pieces of earthen jars, made use of in those scaa for water and other liquids, which appeared to be fresh broken : we saw, too, many heaps of ashes, and near them fish-bones and pieces of fish, besides whole fish scattered here and there, which plainly appeared to have been but a short time out of the water, as they were but just beginning to decay. These were certain indications that there had been ships at this place but a short time before we came there ; and as all Spanish merchantmen are instructed to avoid the island, on account of its being the common rendezvous of their enemies, we concluded those who had touched here to be ships of force ; and not knowing that Pizarro was returned to Buenos Ayres, and ignorant what strength might have been fitted out at Oallao, we were under some concern for our safety, being in so wretched and enfeebled condition, that OaAP. II.] TftANSAOTIOIfB AT JUAM FmrAWDEZ. Ill 3mg ided and res, out fety, I thai notmthstanding the rank of our ship, and the sixty guns she carried om board, which would only have aggravated our dishonour, there was scarcely a privateer sent to sea that was nui an over-mutch for us. However, our fears on this head proved imaginary, and we were not exposed to the di8grac« : which might have been expected to befall us had we been necessitated (as we must have been had the enemy appeared) to fight our sixty-gun ship with no more than thirty hands. Whilst the cleaning our ship and the filling our water went on, we set up a large copper oven on shore near the lick tents, in which we baked bread every day for the ship's company ; for being extremely desirous of recover- ing our sick as soon as possible, we conceived that new bread, added to their greens and fresh fish, might prove a powerful article in their relief. Indeed, we had all imaginable reason to endeavour at the augmenting our present strength, as every little accident, which to a full crew would be insignificant, was extremely alarming in our present helpless situation : of this we had a trouble- some instance on the 30th of June ; for, at five in the morning, we were astonished by a violent gust of wind directly off shore, which instantly parted our small bower cable about ten fathoms from the ring of the anchor : the ship at once swung off to the best bower, which happily stood the violence of the jerk, and brought us up with two cables an end in eighty fathoms. All this time we had not above a dozen seamen in the ship, and we were apprehensive, if the squall continued, that we should be driven to sea in this wretched condition. However, we sent the boat on shore, to bring off all who were capable of acting ; and the wind soon abating of its fury, gave us an opportunity of receiving the boat back again with a reinforcement. With this additional strength we immediately went to work, to heave in what remained of the cable, which we suspected had received some damage from the foulness of the ground before it p&rUid ; and agreeable to our conjecture, we found that seven fathoms 112 VOTAGB BOUND THB WOULD. fBooxJl and a half of the outer end had been rubbed and rendered unserviceable. In the afternoon we bent the cable to the spare anchor, and got it over the ship's side; and the next morning, July 1st, being favoured with the wind in gentle breezes, we warped the ship in again, and let go the anchor in forty-one fathoms ; the easternmost point now bearing from us E. ^ S. ; the westernmost, N.W. by W. ; and the bay as before, S.S.W. ; a situation in which we remained secure for the future. However, we were much concerned for the loss of our anchor, and swept frequently for it, in hopes to have recovered it ; but the buoy having sunk at the very instant that the cable parted, we were never able to find it. And now as we advanced in July, some of our men oeing tolerably recovered, the strongest of them were put upon cutting down trees, and splitting them into billets ; while others, who were too weak for this employ, undertook to caxry the billets by one at a time to the water-side : this they performed, some of them with the help of crutches, and others supported by a single stick. We next sent the forge on shore, and employed our smiths, who were but just capable of working, in mend- ing our chain-plates, and our other broken and decayed iron-work. We began, too, the repairs of our rigging ; but as we had not junk enough to make spun-yam, we deferred the general overhale, in hopes of the daily arrival of the Gloucester, who we kiiew had a great quantity of junk on board. However, that we might despatch as fast as possible in our refitting, we set up a large tent on the beach for the sailmakers ; and they were immediately employed in repairing our old sails, and making us new ones. These occupations, with our cleans- ing and watering the ship (which was by this time pretty well completed), the attendance of our sick, and the fre- quent relief sent to the Gloucester, were the principal transactions of our infirm crew, till the arrival of the Glouces^ or at an anchor in the bay. And then Captain Mitchell, waiting on the Commodore, informed him that H OtoAP.U TBAN8A0TI0N8 AT JUAN FERNANDEZ. 118 rht he had been forced by the winds, in his last absence, as far as the small island called Masa Fuero, lying about twenty-two leagues to the westward of Juan Fernandez ; and that he endeavoured to send his boat on shore there for water, of which he could observe several streams, but the wind blew so strong upon the shore, and occasioned such a surf, that it was impossible for the boat to land ; though the attempt was not altogether useless, for his people returned with a boat-load of fish. This island had been represented, by former navigators, as a barren rock; but Captain Mitchell assured the Commodore, that it was ahuost everywhere covered with trees and verdure, and was near four miles in length ; and added, that it appeared to him far from impossible, but some small bay might be tbund on it, which might afford sufficient shelter for any ship desirous of refreshing there. As four ships of our squadron were missing, this description of the island of Masa Fuero gave rise to a conjecture, that some of them might possibly have fallen in with that island, and might have mistaken it for the true place of our rendezvous. This suspicion was the more plausible, as we had no drafi; of either island that could be relied on ; and therefore Mr. Anson determined to send the Tryal sloop thither, as soon as she could bo fitted for the sea, in order to examine all its bays and creeks; that we might be satisfied whether any of our Viissing ships were there or not. For this purpose Sjme of our best hands were sent on board the Tryal the next morning, to overhaul and fix her rigging ; and our long- boat was employed in completing her water ; and what- ever stores and necessaries she wanted were immediately supplied, either from the Centurion or the Gloucester. But it was the 4th of August before the Tryal was in readiness to sail, when, having weighed, it soon after fell calm, and the tide set her very near the eastern shore. Captain Saunders hung out lights, and fired several guns, to acquaint us with his danger : upon which all the boats lU YOYAGB ROUND THE WORLD. m»iK u i Tero sent to his relief, who towed the sloop into the bay, inhere she anchored until the next morning, and then weighing again, proceeded on her cruiso with a loir breeze. And now, after the Gloucester's arrival, wo were employed in cai'nost in examining and repairing our rigging; but, in the stripping our foremast), we were alarmed by discovering it was sprimg just above tbo pai'tners of the upper deck. The spring was two inches in depth, and twelve in circumference : however, the carpenters, on inspecting it, gave it as their opinion, that fishing it with two leaves of an anchor-stock woidd render it as secure as ever. But, besides this defect in our mast, we had other difficulties in refitting, from the want of cordage and canvas ; for, though we had taken to sea muoh greater quantities of both than had ever') been done before, yet the continued bad weather we met with had occasioned such a consmnption of these stores, that we were driven to great straits: as after working up all our junk and old shrouds, to make twice-laid cordage, we were at last obliged to unlay a cable to work into running rigging: and, with all the canvas and remnants of old sails that could be mustered, we could only make up one complete suit. Towards the middle of August, our men being indif- ferently recovered, they were permitted to quit their sick tents, and to build separate huts for themselves, as it was imagined that, by living apart, they would be much cleanlier, and, consequently, likely to recover their strength the sooner; but at the same time, particular orders were given, that, on the firing of a gun from the ship, they should instantly repair to the water-side. Their employment on shore was now either the procuring of refreshments, the cutting of wood, or the making of oil from the blubber of the sea-lions. This oil served us for several purposes, as burning in lamps, or mixing with pitch to pay the ship's sides, or, when worked up with wood-ashes, to supply the use of tallow (of which we it Cbkt. II.] TllANSAOTIONB AT JDAN FERNANDEZ. 116 leir be heir culax from side. had none left) to give the ship boat-hose tops. Some of the men, too, were occupied in suiting of cod ; for there being two Newfoundland iishenuen in the Cen- turion, the Commodore set them about laying in a considerable quantity of salted cod for a sea-storo, though very little of it was used, as it was afterwards thought to be as productive of the scurvy as any other kind of salt provisions. I have before mentioned, that we had a copper oven on shore to bake broad for the sick; but it happened that the greatest part of the flour, for the use of the squadron, was embarked on board our victualler, the Anna Fink : and I should have mentioned, that the Tryal sloop, at her arrival, had informed us that, on the 9th of May, she had fallen in with our victualler, not far distant from the continent of Chili ; and had kept company with her for four days, when they were parted in a hard gale of wind. This afforded us some room to hope that she was safe, and that she might join us; but all June and July being past without any news of her, we then gave her over for lost; and, at the end of July, the Com- modore ordered all the ships to a short allowance of bread. Nor was it in our bread only that we feared a deficiency, for, since our arrival at this island, we dis- covered that our former purser had neglected to take on board large quantities of several kinds of provisions, which the Commodore had expressly ordered him to receive ; so that the supposed loss of our victualler was, on all accounts, a mortifying consideration^ However on Sunday, the 16th of August, about noon, we espied a sail in the northern quarter, and a gun was imme- diately fired from the Centurion to call off the people from shore ; who readily obeyed the summons, repairing to the beach, where the boats waited to carry them on board. And being now prepared for the reception of this ship in view, whether friend or enemy, we had various speculations about her : at first, many imagined it to be the Tryal sloop returned from her cruse ; though ■ i! 116 TOTAOB BOUND THB WOBLD. [BooKn I I il as she drew neaarer this opinion was confuted, by observ- ing she was a vessol with three masts : then other con- jectures were eagerly canvassed, some judging it to be the Severn, others the Pearl, and several affinning that it did not belong to our squadron : but about three in the afternoon, our disputes were ended, by an unanimous persuasion that it was our victualler, the Anna Pink. This ship, tiiough like the Gloucester she had fallen in to the northward of the island, had yet the good foi*tune to come to an anchor in the bay, at five in the afternoon. Her arrival gave us all the sincerest joy; for each ship'^s company was immediately restored to their full allowance of bread, and we were now freed from the apprehensions of our provisions falling short before we could reach some amicable port ; a calamity which, in these seas, is of all others the most irretrievable. This was the last ship that joined us; and the dangers she encountered, and tibe success which she afterwurds met with, being matters worthy of a separate narration, I shall refer l^em, together with a short account of the other missing ships of the squadron, to the ensuing chapter^ \ CHAPTER IlL A thort NamtlTe of whait befel the Anna Pink before she Joined m, with in Account of the loss of the Wa^er, and of the putting back of the Scwern aci Pearl, the two remaining ships of the Squadron. Ob the first appeaarance of the Anna Pink it seemed Wonderful to us how the crew of a vessel, which came to this rendezvous two months after us, should be capable of working their ship in the manner they did, with so little appearance of debility and distress. But this diffi- culty was soon solved when she came to anchor^ for we then found that they had been in harbour since the middle tl Ciur. lU.) WHAT BBFIL THB ANNA PINK. iir aii.4 ^ May, which was near a month before we arrived at Juan Fernandez ; bo that their sufferings (the risk they had run of shipwreck only excepted) were greatly short of what had been undergone by the rest of the squadron. It seems, on the 16th of May, they fell in with the land, which was then but four leagues distant, in the latitude of 45° 15' south. On the first sight of it they wore-ship and stood to the southward ; but their fore-top-sail split- ting, and the wind being W.S.W., they drove towards the shore : and the captain, at last, either unable to clear the land, or, as others say, resolved to keep the sea no longer, steered for the coast, with a view of discovering some shelter amongst the many islands which then appeared in sight; and, about four hours after the first view of the land, the Pink had the happiness to come to an anchor to the eastward of the island of Inchin ; but, as they did not run sufficiently near to the east shore of that island, and had not hands enough to veer away the cable bripkly, they were soon driven to the eastward, deepening their water from twenty-five fathoms to thirty-five ; and |d;ill continuing to drive, they, the next day, the 17th of May, let go their sheet anchor. This, though it brought them up for a short time, yet, on the 18th, they drove again, tUl they came into sixty-five fathoms water, and were now within a mile of the land, and expected to be forced on shore every moment, in a place where the coast was so very high and steep, that there was not the least prospect of saving the ship or cargo. As their boats were very leaky f and there was no appearance of a landing-place, the whole crew, consisting of sixteen men and boys, gave themselves over for lost, apprehending that, if any of them, by some extraordinary chance, could get on shore, they would, in all probability, be massacred by the savages on the coast ; for these, knowing no other Euro- peans but Spaniards, it might be expected they would treat all strangers with the same cruelty which they had so often and so signally exerted against their Spanish neighbours. Under these terrifying circumstances, th« pf/ 118 VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. [Book 11. I Pink drove nearer and nearer to the rocks which formed the shore ; but at last, when the crew expected each in- stant to strike, they perceived a small opening in the land, which raised their hopes ; and immediately cutting away their two anchors, they steered for it, and found it to be a small channel betwixt an island and the main, that led them into a most excellent harbour, which, for its secu- rity against all winds and swells, and the smoothness of its water, may, perhaps, compare with any in the known world. And, this place being scarcely two miles distant from the spot where they deemed their destruction inevi- table, the horrors of shipwreck and of immediate death, which had so long and so strongly possessed them, vanished almost instantaneously, and gave place to the more joyous ideas of security, refreshment, and repose. In this harbour, discovered in this providential mfinner, the Fink came to an anchor in twenty-five fathoms water, with only a hawser, and a small anchor of about three hundredweight. Here she continued for near two months, and here her people, who were many of them ill of the scurvy, were soon restored to perfect health by the fresh provisions, of which they procured good store, and the excellent water with which the adjacent shore abounded. As this place may prove of the greatest im- portance to future navigators, who may be forced upon this coast by the westerly winds, which are almost per- petually in that part of the world, I shall, before I enter into any farther particulars of the adventures of the Pink, give the best account I could collect of this port, its situation, conveniences, and productions. Its latitude, which is, indeed, a material point, is not ascertained, the Pink having made no observation either the day before she came here, or within a day of her leaving it ; but it is supposed that it is not very distant from 46° 30' south, and the large extent of the bay before the harbour renders this uncertainty of less moment. The island of Inchin, lying before the bay, is thought to be one of the islands of Ohonos, which are mentioned in Chap. III.] WHAT BBFBL THE ANNA PINK. 119 the Spanish accounts as spreading all along that coast ; and are said by them to be inhabited by a barbarous people, famous for their hatred of the Spaniards, and for their cruelties to such of that nation as have fallen into their hands. And it is possible, too, that the land on which the harbour itself lies may be another of those islands, and that the continent may be considerably fur- ther to the eastward. There are two coves in it, where ships may conveniently heave down, the water being con- stantly smooth ; and there are several fine runs of excellent fresh water, which fall into the harbour, some of them so favourably situated that the casks may be filled in the long-boat with a hose ; the most remarkable of these is the stream in the N.E. part of the port. This is a fresh- water river, where the Pink's people got some few mul- lets of an excellent flavour; and they were persuaded that, in a proper season (it being winter when they were there), it abounded with fish. The principal refreshments they met with in this port were greens, as wild celery, nettle-tops, &c. (which, after so long a continuance at sea, they devoured with great eagerness) ; shell-fish, as cockles and mussels of an extraordinary size, and ex- tremely delicious ; and good store of geese, shagt and penguins. The climate, though it was the depth of winter, was not remarkably rigorous ; nor the trees, nor the face of the country, destitute of verdure ; whence, in the summer, many other species of fresh provisions, bosides those enumerated, might doubtless be found here. Notwithstanding the tales of the Spanish his- torians, in relation to the violence and barbarity of the inhabitants, it does not appear that their numbers are sufficient to give the least alarm to any ship of ordi- nary force, or that their disposition is by any means so mischievous or merciless as hath hitherto been repre- sented. With all these advantages, this place is so far removed from the Spanish frontier, and so little known to the Spaniards themselves, that there is reason to suppose that, by proper precautions, a ship might continue here 120 YOTAOB BOUND THE WOBLD. {BOOKU il undiscovered a long time. It is, moreover, a post of great defence ; for, by possessing the island that closes up the harbour, and which is accessible in very few places, a small force might secure this port against all the strength the Spaniards could muster in that part of the world ; since the land, towards the harbour, is pre- cipitous, and has six fathoms water close to the shore, so that the Fink anchored within forty yards of it : whence it is obvious how impossible it would prove either to board or to cut out any vessel protected by a force posted on shore within pistol shot, and where those who were thus posted could not themselves be attacked. All these cir- cumstances seem to render this port worthy of a more accurate examination ; and it is to be hoped that the important uses which this rude account of it seems to suggest, may hereafter recommend it to the consideration of the public, and to the attention of those who are more immediately intrusted with the conduct of our naval affairs. After this description of the place where the Pink lay for two months, it may be expected that I should relate the discoveries made by the crew on the adjacent coast, and the principal incidents during their stay there. But here I must observe that, being only a few in number, they did not dare to detach any of their people on distanni searches ; for they were perpetually terrified with the ap* prehension that they should be attacked either by the Spaniards or the Indians ; so that their excursions were generally confined to that tract of land which surrounded the port, and where they were never out of view of the ship. Though had they, at first, known how little foun- dation there was for these fears, yet the country in the neighbourhood was so grown up with wood, and tra- versed with mountains, that it appeared impracticable to penetrate it : whence no account of the inland parts could be expected from them. Indeed they were able to disprove the relations given by Spanish writers, who have represented this coast as inhabited by a fierce and pow- eiful people : for they were certain that no such inhabit- Chap IU.^ WHAT DSFEL THE ANNA PINK. 121 the Ipow- labit- ants were there to be found, at least during the winter season ; since all the time they continued there they saw no more than one Indian family, which came into the harbour in a periagua, about a month after the arrival of the Pink, and consisted of an Indian, near forty years old, his wife and two childi-en, one three years of age, and the other still at the breast. They seemed to have with them all their property, which was a dog and a cat, a fishing-net, a hatchet, a knife, a cradle, some bark of trees intended for the covering of a hut, a reel, some worsted, a flint and steel, and a few roots of a yellow hue with a very disagreeable taste, which served them for bread. The master of the Pink, as soon as he perceived them, sent his yawl, and brought them on board ; fearing lest they might discover him, if they were permitted to go away, he took, as he conceived, proper precautions for securing them, but without any mixture of ill-usage or violence : for, in the day-time, they were permitted to go where they pleased about the ship, but at night were locked up in the forecastle. As they were fed in the same manner as the rest of the crew, and were often indulged with brandy, which they seemed greatly to relish, it did not at first appear that they wore much dissatisfied with their situation, especially as the master took the Indian on shore when he went a shooting (who always seemed extremely delighted when the master killed his game), and as all the crew treated them with great humanity ; but it was soon perceived that, though the woman continued easy and cheerful, yet the man grew pensive and restless at his confinement. He seemed to be a person of good natural parts, and, though not capable of conversing with the Pink's people otherwise than by signs, was yet very curious and inquisitive, and showed great dexterity in the manner of making himself under- stood. In particular, seeing so few people on board such a large ship, he let them know that he supposed they were once more numerous : and to represent to them what he imagined was become of their companions, he laid him- 122 YOTAOE ROUND THE WORLD. [BuoBll 2 ' self down on the deck, closing his eyes, and stretching himself out motionless, to imitate the appearance of a dead body. But the strongest proof of his sagacity was the manner of his getting away ; for, after being in cus- tody on board the Pink eight days, the scuttle of the forecastle, where he and his family were locked up every night, happened to be unnailed, and the following night, being extremely dark and stormy, he contrived to convey his wife and children through the unnailed scuttle, and then over the ship's side into the yawl ; and to prevent being pursued, he cut away the long-boat and his own periagua, which were towing astern, and immediately rowed ashore. All this he conducted with so much diligence and secrecy, that, though there was a watch on the quarter-deck with loaded arms, yet he was not discovered by them, till the noise of his oars in the water, after he had put of! from the ship, gave them notice of his escape ; and then it was too late either to prevent him or to pursue him ; for their boats being all adrift, it was a considerable time before they could con- trive the means of getting on shore themselves to search for their boats. The Indian, too, by this effort, besides the recovery of his liberty, was in some sort revenged on those who had confined him, both by the perplexity they were involved in from the loss of their boats, and by the terror he threw them in at his departure ; for on the first alarm of the watch, who cried out " The Indians !" the whole ship was in the utmost confusion, believing them- selves to be boarded by a fleet of armed periaguas. The resolution and sagacity with which the Indian behaved on this occasion, had it been exerted on a more extensive object than the retrieving the freedom of a single family, might, perhaps, have immortalized the exploit, and have given him a rank amongst the illus- trious names of antiquity. Indeed his late masters did so much justice to his merit, as to own that it was a most gallant enterprise, and that they were grieved they had ever been necessitated, by their attention to their own CBAf. 111.] WHAT BEFEL THE ANNA PINK. 128 safety, to abridge the liberty of a person of whose pru dence and courage they had now such a distinguished proof. As it was supposed by some of them that he still continued in the woods in the neighbourhood of the port, where it was feared he might suifer for want of provi- sions, they easily prevailed upon the master to leave a quantity of such food as they thought would be most agreeable to him, in a particular part where they ima- gined he would be likely to find it. And there was reason to conjecture that this piece of humanity was not alto- gether useless to him ; for, on visiting the place some time after, it was foimd that the provision was gone, and in a manner that made them conclude it had fallen into his hands. But, however, though many of them were satisfied that this Indian still continued near them, yet others would needs conclude that he was gone to the island of Chiloe, where they feared he would alarm the Spaniards, and would soon return with a force sufficient to surprise the Fiuk. On this occasion the master of the Pink was prevailed on to omit firing the evening gun ; for it must « be remembered (and there is a particular reason, here- after, for attending to this circumstance) that the master, from an ostentatious imitation of the practice of men-of- war, had hitherto fired a gun every evening at the set- ting of the watch. This he pretended was to awe the enemy, if there was any within hearing, and to convince them that the Pink was always on her guard : but, it being now represented to him that his great Becurity was his concealment, and that the evening gun might possibly discover him, and serve to guide the enemy to him, he was prevailed on to omit it for the future. And his crew being now well refreshed, and their wood and water sufficiently replenished, he, in a few days after the escape of the Indian, put to sea, and had a favourable passage to the rendezvous at the Island of Juan Fernandez, where he arrived on the 16th of August, as bath been already men- tioned in the preceding chapter. Ill 124 TOTAOl BOUND THB WORLD. :Book11 This vesnel, the Anna Pink, was, as I have obsoryod, the last that joined the Commodore at Juan Fernandez. The remaining ships of the squadron were, the Severn the Pearl, and the Wager store-ship. The Severn and Pearl parted company with the squadron off Cupo Noir^ and, as we afterwards learnt, put back to the Brazils; so that, of all the ships which came into the South Seas, the Wager, Captain Cheap, was the only one that was missing. This ship bad on board a few field-pieces mounted for land service, together with some cohom mor- tars, and several kinds of artillery stores, and pioneers' tools, intended for the operations on shore : therefore, as the enterprise on Baldivia had been resolved on for the first undertaking of the squadron. Captain Cheap was extremely solicitous that these materials, which were in his custody, might be ready before Baldivia ; that if the squadron should possibly rendezvous there (as he knew not the condition they were then reduced to), no delay nor disappointment might be imputed to him. But whilst the Wager, with tiiese views, was making the best of her way to her first rendezvous off the island of Socoro, whence (as there was little probability of meeting any of the squadron there) she proposed to steer directly for Baldivia, she made the land on the 14th of May about the latitude of 47^ south ; and the captain, exerting himself on this occasion in order to get clear of it, had the misfortune to fall down the alfcer-ladder, and dislocated his shoulder, which rendered him inca- pable of acting. This accident, together with the crazy condition of the ship, which was little better than a wreck, prevented her from getting off to sea, and entangled her more and more with the land ; insomuch that the next morning, at daybreak, she struck on a sunken rock, and soon afterwards bilged, and grounded between two small islands, at about a musket-shot from the shore. In this situation the ship continued entire a long time, so that all the crew had it in their power to get safe on the mi OMAr. in.] LOSS or TBI WAOn. 125 time, fe on shore ; bnt a general confusion taking place, numbera of them, instead of consulting thoir safety, or reflecting oc their calamitous condition, fell to pillaging the ship, arm- ing themselves with the first weapons that came tu hand, and threatening to murder all who should oppose them. This frenzy was greatly heightened by the liquurs they found on board, with which they got so extremely drunk, that some of them, falling down between decks, were drowned as the water flowed into the wreck, being inca- pable of raising themselves up and retreating from it. The captain, therefore, having done his utmost to got the whole crew on shore, was at last obliged to leave the mutineers behind him, and to follow his officers, and such as he had been able to prevail on ; but he did not fail to send back the boats, to persuade those who remained to have some regard to their preservation, though all his efforts were for some time without success. However, the weather next day proved stormy, and there being great danger of the ship parting, they began to be alarmed with the fears of perishing, and were desirous of (getting to land. But it seems their madness had not yet left them ; for the boat not appearing to fetch them off so soon as they expected, they at last pointed a four-pounder, which was on the quarter-deck, against the hut where they knew the captain resided on shore, and fired two shots, which passed but just over it. From this specimen of the behaviour of part of the crew, it will not be difficult to frame some conjecture of the disorder and anarchy which took place when they at last got on shore. For the men conceived that, by the loss of the ship, the authority of the officers was at an end ; and they being now on a desolate coast, where scarcely any other provisions could be got, except what should be saved out of the wreck, this was another in- sarmountable source of discord : since the working upon the wreck, and the securing the provisions, so that they might be preserved for future exigencies as much as pos- lible, and the taking care that what was necessary for .^*^' 126 YOTAGB BOUND THE WOBLD. rBooKlL their present subsistence might be sparingly and equally distributed, were matters not to be brougl^t about but by discipline and subordination. And the mutinous dispo- sition of the people, stimulated by the impulses of imme- diate hunger, rendered every regulation made for this purpose ineffectual; so that there were continual con- cealments, frauds, and thefts, which animated each man against his fellow, and produced infinite feuds and con- tests. And, hence, there was a perverse and malevolent disposition constantly kept up amongst them, which rendered them utterly ungovernable. Besides these heart-burnings, occasioned by petulance and hunger, there was another important point, which set the greatest part of the people at variance with the captain. This was, their differing with him in opinion on the measures to be pursued in the present exigency ; for the captain was determined, if possible, to fit up the \ boats in the best manner he could, and to proceed with them to the northward. Since, having with him above an hundred men in health, having gotten some fire-arms and ammunition from the wreck, he did not doubt but they could master any Spanish vessel they should en- counter in those seas ; and he thought he could not fail of meeting with one in the neighbourhood of Chiloe or Baldivia, in which, when he had taken her, he intended to proceed to the rendezvous at Juan FemaDdez ; and he further insisted that, should they light on no prize by the way, yet the boats alone would easily carry them thither. But this was a scheme that, however prudent, was no ways relished by the generality of his people; for being quite jaded with the distresses and dangers they had already run through, they could not think of prosecuting an enterprise farther which had hitherto proved so disastrous. The common resolution, therefore, was to lengthen the long-boat, and, with that and the rest of the boats, to steer to the southward, to pass through the Straits of Magellan, and to range along the east side of South America, till they should arrive at OOAP. III.] LOSS OF THE WAOBB. 127 tore, the Brazil, where they doubted not to be well received, and to procure a passage to Great Britain. This project was at first sight ind&nitely more hazardous and tedious than what was proposed by the captain; but as it had the air of returning home, and flattered them with the hopes of bringing them once more to their native coun- try, that circumstance alone rendered them inattentive to all its inconveniences, and made them adhere to it with insurmountable obistinacy; so that the captain himself, though he never changed his opinion, yet was obliged to give way to tho torrent, and, in appearance, to acquiesce in this resolution, whilst he endeavoured, un- derhand, to give it all the obstruction he could ; parti- cularly in the lengthening of the long-boat, which he contrived should be of such a size, that though it might serve to carry them to Juan Fernandez, would yet, he hoped, appear incapable of so long a navigation as that to the coast of Brazil. But the captain, by his steady opposition, at first, to this favourite project, had much embittered the people against him : to which, likewise, the following unhappy accident greatly contributed. There was a midshipman, whose name was Cozens, who had appeared the foremost in all the refractory proceedings of the crew. He had involved himself in brawls with most of the officers who had adhered to the captain's authority, and had even treated the captain himself with great abuse and inso- lence. As his turbulence and brutality grew every day more and more intolerable, it was not in the least doubted but that there were some violent measures in agitation, in which Cozens was engaged as the ringleader: for which reason the captain, and those about him, constantly kept themselves on their guard. One day the purser having, by the captain's orders, stopped the allowance of a fellow who would not work, Cozens, though the man did not complain to him, intermeddled in the affair with great bitterness, and grossly insulted the purser, who was then delivering out the provisions, just by the cap- 128 YOTAOB BOUND THB WOBLD. [BookU tain's tent, and was himself suf&ciently violent. The purser, enraged by his scurrility, and perhaps piqued by former quarrels, cried out, " A mutiny I" adding, " The dog has pistols ;" and then himself fired a pistol at Cozens, which, however, missed him. But the captain, on this outcry, and the report of the pistol, rushed out of his tent, and not doubting but it had been fired by Cozens, as the commencement of a mutiny, he immediately shot him in the head without further deliberation : and though he did not kill him on the spot, yet the wound proved mortal, and he died about fourteen days after. However, this incident, though sufficiently displeasing to the people, did yet for a considerable time awe them to their duty, and rendered them more submissive to the captain's authority ; but at last, when, towards the mid- dle of October, the long-boat was nearly completed, and they were preparing to put to sea, the additional provo- cation he gave them, by covertly traversing their project of proceeding through the Straits of Magellan, and their fears that he might, at length, engage a parly sufficient to overturn this favourite measure, made them resolve to make use of the death of Cozens as a reason for de- priving him of his command, under pretence of carrying him a prisoner to England, to be tried for murder ; and he was accordingly confined under a guard. But they never intended to carry him with them, as they tod well knew what they had to apprehend on their return to England, if their commander should be present to con- front them ; and, therefore, when they were just ready to put to sea, they set him at liberty, leaving him and the few who chose to take their fortunes with him no other embarkation but the yawl, to which the barge was after- wards added, by the people on board her being prevailed on to return back. When the ship was wrecked, there were alive or board the Wager near a hundred and thirty persons; of these above thirty died during their stay upon the place, and near eighty went off in the long-boat and the Cmap. III.3 LOSS OF THE WAOKB. 129 or the the cutter to the southward ; so that there remained with the captain after their depaiiiiire no more than nineteen per- sons, which, however, were as many as the barge and the yawl, the only embarkations left them, could well carry off. It was the 13th of October, fiye months after the shipwreck, that the long-boat, converted into .a schooner, weighed and stood to the southward, giving to the cap- tain, who with Lieutenant Hamilton, of the land forces, and the surgeon, were then on the beach, three cheers at their departure ; and on the 29th of January following they arrived at Rio Grande, on the coast of Brazil ; but having, by various accidents, left about twenty of their people on shore at the different places they touched at, and a greater number having perished by hunger during the course of their navigation, there were no more than thirty of them remaining when they arrived in that port. Indeed, the undertaking of itself was a most ex- trr 'Tdinary one ; for (not to mention the length of the raT^; '\i: VGSScl was scarcely able to contain the number tlii' .:>t put to sea in her; and their stock of provision, (bemg only what they had saved out of the ship) was extremely slender; they had this additional misfortune besides, that the cutter, the only boat they had with them, soon broke away from the stem, and was staved to pieces ; so that, when their provision and their water failed them, they had frequently no means of getting on shore to search for a fresh supply. After the long-boat and cutter were gone, the captain, and those who were left with him, proposed to pass to the northward in the barge and yawl; but the weather was so bad, and the difficulty of subsisting so great, that it was two months, from the departure of the long- boat, before he was able to put to sea. It seems th« place where the Wager was cast away was not a part of the continent, as was at first imagined, but an island at some distance from the main, which afforded no other sorts of provision but shell-fish and a few herbs ; and as the greatest part of what they had gotten from the ship ^§;: 18Q VOYAGE BOUND THB WOBLD. CfiuuR II was carried off in the long-boat, the captain and his people were often in extreme want of food, especially as they chose to preserve what little sea provisions remained for their store when they should go to the northward. Bming their residence at this island, which was by the seamen denominated Wager's Island, they had now and then a straggling canoe or two of Indians, who came and bartered their fish and other provisions with oui i \ people. This was some little relief to their necessities, and at another season might perhaps have been greater ; for as there were several Indian huts on the shore, it was supposed that in some years, during the height of sum mer, many of these savages might resort thither to fish , indeed, from what has been related in the account of the Anna Pink, it would seem to be the general practice of. thuse Indians to frequent this coast in the summer-time, I - cbaf. m.] L0B8 or TI!B WAGIB. 181 Lities. later ; It was sum fish, >ftlie ice of. -time, fur the benefit of fishing, and to retire in the winter into a better climate, more to the northward. On this mention of the Anna Pink, I cannot but observe how much it is to be lamented, that the Wager's people had no knowledge of her being so near them on the coast ; for as she was not above thirty leagues distant from them, and came into their neighbourhood about the- same time the Wager was lost, and was a fine roomy ship, she could easily have taken them all on board, and have caiTied them to Juan Fernandez. Indeed, I suspect she was still nearer to them than what is here estimated ; for several of the Wager's people, at different times, heard the report of a cannon, which I conceive could be no other than the evening-gun fired from the Anna Pink, especially as what was heard at Wager's Island was about the same time of the day. But to return to Captain Cheap. Upon the lith of December, the captain and his people embarked in the barge and the yawl, in order to proceed to the northward, taking on board with them all the provisions they could amass from the wreck of the ship ; but they had scarcely been an hour at sea, when the wind began to blow hard, and the sea ran so high that they were obliged to throw the greatest part of their provisioi:s overboard, to avoid immediate destruction. This was a terrible misfortune, in a part of the world where food is so di£&cult to be got: however, they per- sisted in their design, putting on shore as often as they could to seek subsistence. But about a fortnight after, another dreadful accident befel them, for the yawl sunk at an anchor, and one of the men in her was drowned ; and as the barge was incapable of carrying the whole company, iihey were now reduced to the hard necessity of leaving four marines behind them on that desolate shore. Notwithstanding these disasters, they still kept on their course to the northward ; though greatly delayed by the , perverseness of the winds, and tiie frequent interruptions which their search after food occasioned, and constantly {.lit 182 VOYAOl BOUND THE WORLD. CBookU. struggling with a series of the most disastrous events : tiU at last, about the end of January, having made three un- successful attempts to double a headknd, which they supposed to be what the Spaniards called Cape Tres Montes, it was unanimously resolved, finding the diffi- culties insurmountable, to give over this expedition, and to return again to Wager's Islahd, where they got back about the middle of February, quite disheartened and dejected with their reiterated disappointments, and almost perishing with hunger and fatigue. However, on their return they providentially met with several pieces of beef^ which had been washed out of the wreck, and were swimming in the sea. This was a most seasonable relief to them after the hardships they had endured : and to complete their success, there came in a short time, two canoes of Indians, amongst which was a native of Ohiloe, who spoke a little Spanish ; and the surgeon who was with Captain Cheap, understanding that language, he made a bargain with the Indian, that if he woidd carry the captain and his people in the barge, he should have her, and all that belonged to her, for his pains. Accordingly on the 6th of March, the eleven persons to which the company was now reduced, embarked in the barge on this new expedition ; but after having proceeded for a few days, the captain and four of his principal officers being on shore, the six, who together with an Indian re- mained in the barge, put off wi^ her to sea, and did not return again. By this means, there were left on shore Captain Cheap, Mr. Hamilton, lieutenant of marines, the Honourable Mr. Byron, and Mr. Campbell, midshipman, and Mr. Elliot, the surgeon. One would have thought that their distresses had, long before this time, been incapable of augmentation ; but they found, on reflection, that their present situation was much more dismaying than anything they had yet gone through, being left on a desolate coast, without any provisions, or the means of procuring any ; for their arms, ammunition, and e\ery convenience they were masters of, t onAT. ni.] LOSS or Tin wacxb. 133 except the tattered habits they hud on, were all carried away in the barge. But when they had sufficiently rcTolved in their own minds the various circumstances of this unexpected cala- mity, and were persuaded that they had no relief to hope for, they perceived a canoe at a distance, which proved to be that of the Indian who had undertaken to carry them to Chiloe, he and his family being then on board it. He made no difficulty of coming to them ; for it seems he had lefb Captain Cheap and his people a little before to go a-fishing, and had in the mean time committed them to the care of the other Indian, whom the sailors had carried to sea in the barge. When he came on shore, and found the barge gone, and his companion missing, he wIeus extremely concerned, and could with difficulty be per- suaded that the other Indian was not murdered ; yet being at last satisfied with the account that was given him, he still undertook to carry them to the Spanish settlements, and (as the Indians are well skilled in fishing and fowling) to procure them provisions by the way. About the middle of March, Captain Cheap and the four that were left with him set out for Qiiloe, the Indian having provided a number of canoes, and gotten many of his neighbours together for that purpose. Soon affcer they embarked, Mr. Elliot, the surgeon, died, so that there now remained only four of the whole company. At last, after a very complicated passage by land and water, Captain Cheap, Mr. Byron, and Mr. Campbell, ar- rived, in the beginning of June, at the island of Chiloe, where they were received by the Spaniards with great humanity; but on account of some quarrel among the Indians, Mr. Hamilton did not get there till two months later. Thus was it above a twelvemonth from the loss of the Wager before this fatiguing peregrination ended, and not till, by a variety of misfortunes, the company was diminished from twenty to no more tluui four, and those too brought so low, that had their distresses continued but a few days longer, in aU probability, none of them '■ tS 134 TOTAOa BOUND THl WOBLD. (Omtk XL I".' I would have suryived; for the captain himself was with difficulty recovered, and the rest were so reduced, by the severity of the weather, their labour, their want of food, and of all kinds of necessaries, that it was wonder- hil how they supported themselves so long. After some stay at Ohiloe, the captain and the three who were with him were sent to Valparaiso, and thence to St. Jago, the capital of Chili, where they continued above a year : but on the advice of a cartel being settled betwixt Great Britain and Spain, Oaptain Cheap, Mr. Byron, and Mr. Hamilton were permitted to return to Europe on board a French ship. The other midshipman, Mr. Campbell, having changed his religion whilst at St. Jago, chose to go back to Buonos Ayres with Pizarro and his officers, with whom he went afterwards to Spain, on board the Asia ; but having there failed in his endeavours to pro- cure a commission from the court of Spain, he returned to England, and attempted to get reinstated in the British Navy. He has since published a narration of his ad- ventures, in which he complains of the injustice that had been done him, and strongly disavows his ever being in the Spanish service ; but as the change of his religion, and his offering himself to the court of Spain (though he was not accepted), are matters which he is conscious are capable of being incontestably proved, on these two heads he has been entirely silent. And now after this account of the accidents which befel the Anna Pink, And the catastrophe of the Wager, I shall again resume the thread of our own story. CHAPTER IV. Concliulon of par Proceedings at Jnan Fernandez, from the Airlyal of the Anna Pink to oor final Departure from tlience. About a week after the arrival of our victualler, the Tryal sloop, that had been sent to tl)e island of Masa Fuero, returned to an anchor at Juan Fernandez, having :Mtim ■/■:■'. GkAP. IV. 8UBVXT OF TBI ANNA PINK. 185 been round that island without meeting any part of our squadron. As upon this occasion the island of Masa Fuero was more particularly examined than, I dare say, it had ever been before, or perhaps ever will be again ; and as the knowledge of it may, in certain circumstances, be of great consequence hereafter, I think it incumbent on me to insert the accounts given of this place, by the officers of the Tryal sloop. The Spaniards have generally mentioned two islands under the name of Juan Fernandez, styling them the greater and the less; the greater being that island where we anchored, and the less being the island we are now describing, which, because it is more distant from the continent, they have distinguished by the name of Masa Fuero. The Tryal sloop found that it bore from the greater Juan Fernandez W. by S., and was about twenty 1.. J leagues distant. It is a much larger and better spot than has been generally reported ; for former writers have represented it as a small barren rock, des- titute of wood and water, and altogether inaccessible; whereas our people found it was covered with trees, and that there were several fine falls of water pouring down its sides into the sea : they found, too, that there was a place where a ship might come to an anchor on the north side of it, though, indeed, the anchorage is incon- venient ; for the bank extends but a little way, is very steep, and has very deep water upon it, so that you must come to an anchor very near the shore, and there lie exposed to all winds but a southerly one: and, besides the inconvenience of the anchorage, there is also a reef of rocks running off the eastern point of the island, about two miles in length ; though there is little dangsr to bo feared from them, because they are always to be seen by the sea breaking over them. This place has at present one advantage beyond the island of Juan Fernandez; for it abounds with goats, who, not being accustomed- to be disturbed, were noways shy, or apprehensive of dangex, till they had been frequently fi^d at. These w 186 ▼OYAOB BOUND TBI WOBLD. [Boob II. Vlii ' animals reside here in great tranquillity, the Spaniards not haying thought the island oonsiderable enough to be frequented by their enemies, and not having, therefore, been solicitous to destroy the provisions upon it ; so that no dogs had been hitherto set on shore there. Besides the goats, our people found there vast numbers of seals and sea-lions: and, upon the whole, they seemed to imagine, that though it was not the most eligible place for a ship to refresh at, yet, in case of necessity, it might afford some sort of shelter, and prove of considerable use, especially to a single ship, who might apprehend meeting with a superior force at Fernandez. The latter part of the month of August was spent in unlading the provisions from the Anna Pink ; when we had the mortification to find that great quantities of our provisions, as bread, rice, gi'oats, &c., were decayed and unfit for use. This was owing to the water the Pink had made by her working and straining in bad weather ; for hereby several of her casks had rotted, and her bags were soaked through. And now, as we had no frirther occasion for her service, the Commodore, pursuant to his orders from the Board of Admiralty, sent notice to Mr. Gerard, her master, that he discharged the Anna Pink from attending the squadron ; and gave him, at the same time, a certificate, specifying how long she had been employed. In consequence of this dismission, her master was at liberty either to return directly to England, or to make the best of his way to any port, where he thought he could take in such a cargo as would answer the interest of his owners. But the master, being sensible of the bad condition of the ship, and of her unfitness for any such voyage, wrote the next day an answer to the Commodore's message, acquainting Mr. Anson, that from the great quantity of water the Pink had made in her passage round Cape Horn, and since that, in the tempestuous weather she had met with on the coast of Chili, he had reason to apprehend that her bottom was very much iecayed: he added, that her upper works were rotten // OHAr. IV.] THB ANNA PINK BROKKN UP. 187 to Abnft ; that she vim extremely leaky ; that her fore-beam was broke ; and that, in his opinion, it was impossible to proceed to sea with her before she had been thoroughly refitted ; and ho, therefore, requested the Commodore, that the carpenters of the squadron might be directed to survey her, that their judgment of her condition might be known. In compliance with this desire, Mr. Anson immediately ordered the carpenters to take a careful and strict survey of the Anna Pink, and to give him a faith- ful report, under their hands, of the condition in which they found her, directing them at the same time to pro- , ceed herein with such circiunspection, that if they should be hereafter called upon they might be able to make oath of the veracity of their proceedings. Pursuant to these orders, the carpenters immediately set about the axamination, and the next day made their report ; which was, that the Pink had no less than fourteen knees and twelve beams broken and decayed ; that one breast-hook was broken and another rotten ; that her water-ways were open and decayed ; that two standards and several champs were broken, besides others which were rotten ; that all her iron-work was greatly decayed ; that her spirkiting and timbers were very rotten ; and that, hav- ing ripped off part of her sheeting, they found her wales and outside planks extremely defective, and her bows and decks very leaky ; and, in consequence of these defects and decays, they certified that, in their opinion, she could not depart from the island without great hazard, unless she was first of all thoroughly refitted. The thorough refitting of the Anna Pink proposed by the carpenters was, in our present situation, impossible to be complied with, as all the plank and iron in the squadron wab insufficient for that purpose. And now the master, finding his own sentiments confirmed by the opinion of all the carpenters, he offered a petition to the Commodore in behalf of his owners, desiring that, since it appeared he was incapable of leaving the island, Mr. Anson would please to purchase the hull and furniture f 188 VOTAOI BOUND THE WORLD. [Book II. If III) of tliti Pink for the use of tho squadron. Hereupon the Commodore ordered an inventory to be taken of every particular belonging to the Pink, with its just value; and as, by this inventory, it appeared that there were many stores which would be useful in refitting the other ships, and which were at present very scarce in the squadron, by reason of the great quantities that had been already expended, he agreed with Mr. Gerard to purchase the whole together for 300Z. The Pink being thus broken up, Mr. Gerard, with the hands belonging to the Pink, were sent on board the Gloucester; as that ship had buried the greatest number of men, in proportion to her complement: but afterwards, one or two of them were received on board the Centurion, on their own petition, they being extremely averse to sailing in the same ship with their old master, on account of some particular ill-usage they conceived they had suffered from him. This transaction brought us down to the beginning of September, and our people by this time were so far recovered of the scurvy that there was little danger of burying any more at present ; and therefore I shall now sum up the total of our loss since nur departure from England, the better to convey some idea of our past sufferings, and of our present strength. We had buried on board the Centurion, since our leaving St. Helen's, two hundred and ninety-two, and had now remaining on board two hundred and fourteen. This will doubtless appear a most extraordinary mortality ; but yet, on board the Gloucester, it had been much greater ; for, out of a much smaller crew than ours, they had lost the same number, and had only eighty-two remaining alive. It might be expected, that on board the Tryal the slaughter would have been the most terrible, as her decks were almost constantly knee-deep in water ; but it happened otherwise, for she escaped more favourably than the rest, since she only buried forty-two, and had now thirty-nine remaining alive. The havoc of this disease had fallen still severer on the invalids and marines than on the ClAP. IV., UOBTALITT ON BOARD THI SQUADRON. 189 uilors ; for, on board the Centurion, out of fifty invalidfl and seyenty-nine marines, there remained only foiu invalids, including officers, and eleven marines : and oc board the Gloucester, every invalid perished ; and out of forty-eight marines, only two escaped. From this ac- count it appears, that the three ships together departed from England with nine hundred and sixty-one men on board, of whom six hundred and twenty-six were dead before this time ; so that the whole of our remaining crows, which were now to be distributed amongst three ships, amounted to no more than three hundred and thirty-five men and boys — a number greatly insufficient for the manning the Centurion alone, and barely capable of navigating all the three, with the utmost exertion of their strength and vigour. This prodigious reduction of our men was still the more terrifying, as we were hitherto uncertain of the fate of Pizarro's squadron, and had reason to suppose that some part of it, at least, had gut round into these seas : indeed, we were satisfied, from our own experience, that they must have suffered greatly in their passage ; but then every port in the South Seas was open to them, and the whole power of Chili and Peru would doubtless be united in refreshing and refit- ting them, and recruiting the numbers they had lost. Besides, we had some obscure knowledge of a force to be sent out from Callao ; and however contemptible the ships and sailors of this part of the world may have been generally esteemed, it was scarcely possible for anything bearing the name of a ship of force to be feebler or less considerable than ourselves. And had there been nothing to be apprehended from the naval power of the Spaniards in this part of the world, yet our enfeebled condition would, nevertheless, give us the greatest uneasiness, as we were incapable of attempting any of their considerable places ; for the risking of twenty men, weak as we then were, was risking the safety of the whole : so that we conceived we should be necessitated to content ourselves with what few prizes we could pick up at sea, before we 140 ▼OTAGI BOUND THE WORLD. [Kiox II. 11 !i ;:»ii were discovered ; after which we should, in all probabi- lity, be obliged to depart with precipitation, and esteem ourselves fortunate to regain our native country, leaving our enemies to triumph on the inconsiderable mischief they had received from a squadron, whose equipment had filled them with such dreadM apprehensions. This was a subject on which we had reason to imagine the Spanish os- tentation would remarkably exert itself ; though the causes of our disappointment and their security, were neither to be sought for in their valour nor our misconduct. Such were the desponding reflections which, at that time, arose on the review and comparison of our remain- ing strength with our original numbers: indeed, our fears were far from being groundless, or disproportioned to our feeble and almost desperate situation ; for though the final event proved more honourable than we had foreboded, yet the intermediate calamities did likewise greatly surpass our most gloomy apprehensions ; and could they have been predicted to us at this island of Juan Fernandez, they would doubtless have appeared insur- mountable. But to return to our narration : — In the beginning of September, as has been already mentioned, our men were tolerably well recovered; and now the season for navigation in this climate drawing near, we exerted ourselves in getting our ships in readi- ness for sea. We converted the fore-mast of the victualler into a main-mast for the Tryal sloop ; and still flattering ourselves with the possibility of the arrival of some other ships of our squadron^ we intended to leave the main- mast of the victualler to make a mizen-mast for the Wager. Thus, all hands being employed in forwarding our departure, we, on the 8th, about eleven in the morn- ing, espied a sail to the N.E., which continued to approach us, till her courses appeared even with the horizon. Whilst she advanced, we had great hopes she might prove one of our own squadron ; but as, at length, she steered away to the eastward, without hauling in for the island, we thence concluded she must be a Spaniard. OkikT. IV.l CHASE OF A SPAinBH VE88EL. 141 And now great disputes were set on foot about the possibility of her having discovered our tents on shore, some of us strongly insisting, that she had doubtless been near enough to perceive something that had given her a jealousy of an enemy, which had occasioned her standing to the eastward, without hauling in : however, leaving these contests to be settled afterwards, it was resolved to pursue her, and the Centurion being in the greatest forwardness, we immediately got all our hands on board, set up our rigging, bent our sails, and by five in the afternoon got under i^. We had at this time very little wind, so that all the boats were employed to tow UJ9 out of the bay; and even what wind there was lasted only long enough to give us an offing of two or three leagues, when it flatted to a calm. The night coming on, we lost sight of the chase, and were ex- :3'emely impatient for the return of daylight, in hopes to find that she had been becalmed as well as we : though I must confess that her greater distance from the land was a reasonable ground for suspecting the contrary; as we, indeed, found in the morning, to our great morti- fication ; for though the weather continued perfectly clear, we had no sight of the ship from the mast-head. But as we were now satisfied that it was an enemy, and the first we had seen in these seas, we resolved not to give over the search lightly ; and a small breeze spring- ing up from the W.N.W., we got up our top-gallant mast and yards, set all the sails, and steered to the S.E., in hopes of retrieving our chase, which we imagined to be bound to Valparaiso. We continued on this course all that day and the next, and then not getting sight of our chase, we gave over the pursuit, conceiving that by that time she must in all probability, have reached her port. Being therefore determined to return to Juan Fernandez, we hauled up to the S.W., with that view, having but very little wind till the 12th, when, at three in the morning, there sprung up a fresh gale from the W.S.W., which obliged us to tack, and stand to the N.W. rHHl 112 VOTAGS BOUND THB WORLD. [Book 11 At daybreak, we were agreeably surprised with the sight of a sail on our weather-bow, between four and five leagues distant. We immediately crowded all the sail we could, and stood after her, and soon perceived it not to be the same ship we originally gave chase to. She at first bore down upon us, showing Spanish colours, and making a signal as to her consort; but observing that we did not answer her signal, she instantly loosed close to the wind, and stood to the southward. Our people were now all in spirits, and put the ship about with great briskness ; and as the chase appeared to be a large ship, and had mistaken us for her consort, we conceived that she was a man-of-war, and probably one of Pizarro's ' squadron : this induced the Commodore to order all the officers' cabins to be knocked down and thrown overboard, with several casks of water and pro- visions which stood between the guns ; so that we had soon a clear ship, ready for an engagement. About nine o'clock, we had thick hazy weather and a shower of rain, during which we lost sight of the chase ; and we were, apprehensive, if this dark weather should continue, that, by going upon the other tack, or by some other artifice, she might escape us ; but it clearing up in less than an hour, we found that we had both weathered and fore- reached upon her considerably, and were then near enough to discover that she was only a merchantman, without so much as a single tier of guns. About half an hour after twelve, being got within a reasonable distance of her, we fired four shot amongst her rigging ; on which they lowered their top-sails and bore down to us, but in very great confusion, their top-gallant sails and stay-sails all fluttering in the wind : tiiis was owing to their having let run their sheets and halyards just as wo fired at them ; after which, not a man amongst them had courage enough to venture aloft (for there the shot had passed but just before) to take them in. As soon as the vessel came within hail of us, the Oommodore ordered them to bring to under his lee-quarter, and then \ i Cha*. IVJ CAPTUB£ OF A SPANISH VESSEL. 148 hoisted out the boat, and sent Mr. Saumarez, his fii-st- lieutenant, to take possession of the prize, with directions to send ijl the prisoners on board the Centurion, but first the officers and passengers. When Mr. Saumarez came on board them, they recei>'ed him at the side with the si;'ongest tokens of tiie most abject submission ; for they were all of them (especially the passengers, who were twenty-five in number^ extremely ternfied, and under the greatest apprehensions of meeting with very severe and cruel usage ; but the lieutenant endeavoured with great courtesy to dissipate their firight, assuring them that their fears were altogether groundless, and tihat they would find a generous enemy in the Com- modore, who was not less remarkable for his lenity and humanity than for his resolution and courage. The prisoners, who were first sent on board the Centurion, informed us, that our prize was called Nuestra Senora d el Monte Carmelo , and was commanded by l)on Manuel Zamora. Her cargo consisted chiefly of sugar, and great quantities of blue cloth made in the province of Quito, somewhat resembling our English coarse broad- cloths, but inferior to them. They had besides several bales of a coarser sort of cloth, of different colours, somewhat like Colchester bays, called by them Pannia de Tierra, with a few bales of cotton, F.nd some tobacco, which, though strong, was not ill flavoured. These were the principal goods on board her : but we found besides what was to us much more valuable than the rest of the cargo ; this was some trunks of wrought plate, and twenty-three serons of dollars, each weighing upwards of 200 lbs. avoirdupois. The ship's burthen was about four hundred and fifty tons ; she had fifty- three sailors on board, both whites and blacks; she came from Callao, and had been twenty-seven days at sea before she fell into our hands. She was bound to the port of Valparaiso, in the kingdom of Chili, and proposed to have returned from thence loaded with corn and Chili wine, some gold, dried beef, and small cordage, ! i 3 H d I 144 ▼OTAOB BOUND THE WORLD* [Book 11 which at Callao they convert into large rope. Our prize had been built upwards of thirty years ; yet, as they lie in harbour all the winter months, and the climate is favourable, they esteemed it no very great age. Her rigging was very indifferent, as were likewise her sails, which were made of cot^tn. She had only three four- pounders, which were altogether unserviceable, their carriages being scarcely able to support them ; and there were no small arms on board, except a few pistols belong- ing to the passengers. The prisoners informed us, that they leff; Cullao in company with two other ships, whom they had parted with some days before, and that, at first, they conceived us to be one of their company : and, by the description we gave them of the ship we had chased l^om Juan Fernandez, they assured us she was of their number, but that the coming in sight of that island was directly repugnant to the merchant's instructions, who had expressly forbid it, as knowing that, if any English squadron was in those seas, the island of Fernandez wae most probably the place of their rendezvous. After this short account of the ship and her cargo, it is necessary that I shoidd relate the important intelli- gence which we met with on board her, partly from the information of the prisoners, and partly from the letters and papers which fell into our hands. We here first learnt, with certainty, the force and destination of that squadron which cruised off the Madeiras at our arrival there, and afterwards chased the Pearl in our passage to Port St. Julian. This we now knew was a squadron composed of five large Spanish ships, commanded by Admiral Pizarro, and purposely fitted out to traverse our designs, as hath been already more amply related in the third chapter of the first book. We had at the sam« time, too, the satisfaction to find that Pizarro, after his utmost endeavours to gain his passage into these seas, had been forced back again into the river of Plata, with the loss of two of the largest ships: and besides this disappointment of Pizarro, which, considering our great 'S*l CBkT. IV.] PB00SBDIN08 OF THE ENEMY. 146 m ■•?:f debility, was no tmacceptable intelligence, we farther learnt, that though an embargo had been hud upon all shipping in these seas, by the Viceroy of Peru, in the month of May preceding, on a supposition that about that time we might arrive upon the coast, yet it now no longer subsisted; for on the account sent overland by Pizarro of his own distresses, part of which they knew we must have encountered, as we were at sea during the same time, and on their having no news of us in eight months after we were known to set Sbil from St. Catha- rine, they were fully satisfied that we were either ship- wrecked, or had perished at sea, or at least had been obliged to put back again ; as it was conceived impos- sible for any ships to continue at sea during so long an interval : and therefore, on the application of the mer- chants, and the firm persuasion of oui' having miscarried, the embargo had been lately taken o£f. This last article made us flatter ourselves that, as the enemy was still a stranger to our having got round Cape Horn, and the navigation of these seas was restored, we might meet with some valuable captures, and might thereby indemnify ourselves for the incapacity we were under of attempting any of their considerable settlements on shore. And thus much we were certain of, from the information of our prisoners, that, whatever our success might be, as to the prizes we might light on, we had nothing to fear, weak as we were, from the Spanish force in this part of the world ; though we discovered that we had been in most imminent peril from the enemy when we least apprehended it, and when our c^her distresses were at the greatest height ; for we learnt, from the letters on board, that Pizarro, in the express he de- spatched to the Viceroy of Peru after his return to the river of Plata, had intimated to him, that it was possible some part at least of the English squadron might get round ; but that, as he was certain from his own expe- rience, if they did arrive in those seas, it must be in a very weak and defenceless condition, he advised the 11 146 TOTAOB UOUND THE WOBLD. [Book a III, ''fmm'i iu Viceroy, in order to be secure, at all events, to send v^hat ships of war he had to the southward, where, in all probability, they would intercept us singly, before we had an opportunity of touching at any port for refresh- ment; in which case he doubted not but we should prove an easy conquest. The Viceroy of Peru approved of this advice, and as he had already fitted out four ships of force from Callao, one of fifty guns, two of forty guns, and one of twenty-four guns, which were intended to join Pizarro when he arrived on the coast of Chili, the Viceroy now stationed three of these oflf the port of Conception, and one of them at the island of Fernandez, where they continued cruising for us till the 6th of June ; and then not seeing anything of us, and conceiving it to be impossible that we could have kept the sea so long, they quitted their cruise, and returned to Callao, fully persuaded that we had either perished, or, at least, had been driven back. Now, as the time of their quitting their stations was but a few days before our arrival at che island of Fernandez, it is evident that had we made that island on our first search for it, without hauling in for the main to secure our easting (a circumstance which at that time we considered as very unfortunate to us on account of the numbers which we lost by our longer continuance at sea) ; had we, I say, made the island on the 28th of May, when we first expected to see it, and were in reality very near it, we had doubtless fallen in with some of the Spanish squadron ; and, in the distressed condition we then were, the meeting with a healthy well-provided enemy, was an incident that could not but have been perplexing, and might, perhaps, have proved fatal not only to us, but to the Tryal, the Gloucester, and the Anna Pink, who separately joined us, and who were each of them less capable than we were of making any considerable resistance. I shall only add, that the Spanish ships sent out to intercept us had been greatly shattered by a storm during their cruise ; and that, after tl'^ir arrival at Callao, they had been laid 1 61 Omap. IV.] PB00SSDING8 AT JUAN FBBMANDEZ. 147 )t US liBe; laid ap. And our prisoners assured us, that, whenevei in- telligence was received at Lima of our being in these seas, it would be at least two months before this armament could be again fitted out. The whole of this intelligence was as favourable as we, in our reduced circumstances, could wish for. And now we were no longer at a loss as to the broken jars, ashes, and fish-bones, which we had observed at our first landing at Juan Fernandez, these things being doubtless the relics of the cruisers stationed off that port. Having thus satisfied ourselves in the material articles of our in- quiry, and having gotten on board the Centurion most of tiie prisoners, and fJl the silver, we, at eight in the same evening made saU to the northward, in company with our prize, and at six the next morning, discovered the island of Fernandez, where the following day both we and our prize came to an anchor. And here I cannot omit one remarkable incident which occurred, when the prize and her crew came into the bay, where the rest of the squadron lay. The Spaniards in the Camielo had been suf&ciently informed of the distresses we had gone through, and were greatly surprised that we had ever surmounted them ; but when they saw the Tryal sloop at anchor, they were still more astonished, that after all our fatigues we had the industry (besides refitting our other ships) to complete such a vessel in so short a time, they tt^ng it for granted that we had built her upon the spot : nor was it without great difficulty they were at last prevailed on to believe that she came from England with the rest of the squadron ; they long insisting that it was impossible such a bauble as that could pass round Cape Horn, when the best ships of Spain were obliged to put back. By the time we arrived at Juan Fernandez, the let- ters found on board our prize were more minutely ex- amined ; and it appearing from them, and firom the accounts of our prisoners, that several other merchantmen were boimd from Callao to Valparaiso, Mr. Anson de- spatched the Tryal sloop the very next morning, to cruiaa 148 YOTAGB BOUND TBI WOBLD. [Booi 11. I! ; 111*11 off the last-mentioned port, reinforcing her with ten hands from on board his own ship. Mr. Anson likewise resolved, on the intelligence recited above, to separate the ships under his command, and employ them in dis- tinct cruises, as he thought that by tiiis means we should not only increase our chance for prizes, but that we should likewise run a less risk of alarming the coast, and of being discovered. And now, the spirits of our people being greatly raised, and their despondency dissipated by this earnest of success, they forgot all their past distresses, and resumed their wonted alacrity, and laboured indefatigably in completing our water, receiving our lumber, and in preparing to take our farewell of the island : but as these occupations took us up four or five days, with all our industry, the Commodore in that interval directed that the guns belonging to the Anna Pink, being four six-pounders, four four-pounders, and two swivels, should be mounted on board the Carmelo, our prize : and having sent on board the Gloucester six passengers and twenty-three seamen to assist in navi- gating the ship, he directed Captain Mitchel to leave the island as soon as possible, the service demanding the utmost despatch, ordering him to proceed to the latitude of five degrees south, and there to cruise off the high land of Paita, at such a distance from shore as should prevent his being discovered. On this station he was to continue till he should be joined by the Commodore, which would be whenever it should be known that the Viceroy had fitted out the ships at Caliao, or on Mr. Anson's receiving any other intelligence that should make it necessary to unite our strength. These orders being delivered to the Captain of the Gloucester, and all our business completed, we on the Saturday following, being the 19th of September, weighed our anchor, in company with our prize, and got out of the bay, taking our last leave of the island of Juan Fernandez, and steering to the eastward with an intention of joining the Tryal skx)p in ner station off Valparaiso. 0N4JP v.] OAFTUBK 07 ANOTHXB VISAIL. U9 ■it CHAPTEB V. Our Cruiae, from the time of our leaving Jnan Fernandcn, to tM xMng of the Town of Paita. Although the Centurion with her prize, the Carmelo, weighed from the bay of Juan Fernandez on the 19th of September, leaving the Gloucester at anchor behind her ; yet, by the irregularity and fluctuation of the winds in the offing, it was the 22nd of the same month, in the evening, before we lost sight of the island ; after which we continued our course to the eastward in order to reach our station, and to join the Tryal off Valparaiso. The next night the weather proved squally, and we split our main top-sail, which we handed for the present, but got it repaired, and set it again the next morning. In the evening, a little before sunset, we saw two sail to the eastward ; on which our prize stood directly from us to avoid giving any suspicion of our being cruisers; whilst we in the mean time made ourselves ready for an engagement, and steered with all our canvas towards the two ships we had discovered. We soon perceived that one of these, which had the appearance of being a very stout ship, made directly for us, whilst the other kept at a great distance. By seven o'clock we were within pistol-shot of the nearest, and had a broadside ready to pour into her, the gunners having their matches in their hands, and only waiting for orders to fire ; but as we knew it was now impossible for her to escape us, Mr. Anson, before he permitted us to fire, ordered the master to hail the ship m Spanish, on which the commanding officer on boa^i her, who proved to be Mr. Hughes Lieutenant of the Tryal, answered us in English, and informed us that she was a prize taken by the Tryal a few days before, and that the other sail at a distance m '-. V 'I 160 TOTAOI BOUND THE WOBLD. •'Book il was the Tryal herself, disabled in her masts. We were soon after joined by the Tryal ; and Captain Saunders, her commander, came on board the Centurion. He ac- quainted the Conpnodore, that he had taken this ship on the 18th instant; that she was a prime sailer, and had cost him thirty-six hours' chase before he could come up with her; that for some time he gained so little upon her, that he began to despair of taking her; and the Spaniards, though alarmed at first with seeing nothing but a cloud of sail in pursuit of them, the TryaVs hull being so low in the water that no part of it appeared ; yet knowing the goodness of their ship, and finding how little the Tryal neared them, they at length laid aside their fears, and began to think themselves secure ; for altering their course in the night, and shutting up their windows to prevent any of their lights from being seen, they had some chance of escaping, but a small crevice in one of the shutters rendered all their cautions in- effectual, for through this crevice the people on board the Tryal perceived a light, which they chased till they came within gun-shot ; and then Captain Saunders alarmed them, unexpectedly, with a broadside, when they flattered themselves they were got out of his reach : however, for some time after tUey still kept the same sail abroad, and it was not observed that this first salute had made any impression on them ; but just as the Tryal was preparing to repeat her broadside, the Spaniards crept from their holes, lowered their sails, and submitted without any opposition. She was one of the largest merchantmen employed in those seas, being about six himdred tons burthen, and was called the Arranzazu. She was bound from Callao to Valparaiso, and had much the same cargo with the Carmelo, we had taken before, except that her silver amounted only to about 5000Z. sterling. But to balance this success, we had the misfortune to find that the Tryal had sprung her main-mast, and that her main top-mast had come by the board; and as we Chap. V.) TBI TBTAL SLOOP DK8TB0YED. 161 02. to lat iwe were all of iis standing to the eastward, the next morning with a fresh gale at south, she had the additional ill luck to spring her foremast; so that now she had not a mast left on which she could carry sail. These un- happy incidents were still aggravated by the impossibility we were just then under of assisting her ; for the wind blew so hard, and raised such a hollow sea, that we could not venture to hoist out our boat, and, consequently, could have no communication with her ; so that we were obliged to lie to for the greatest part of forty-eight hours to attend her, as we could have no thought of leaving her to herself in her present unhappy situation. It was no small accumulation to these misfortunes, that we were all the while driving to the leewai'd of our station, at the very time too when, by our intelligence, we had reason to expect several of the enemy's ships would appear upon the coast, who would now gain the port of Valpa- raiso without obstruction. And I am verily persuaded that the embarrassment we received from the dismasting of the Tryal, and our absence from our intended station, occasioned thereby, deprived us of some very considerable captures. The weather proving somewhat more moderate, on the 27th we sent our boat for the Captain of the Tryal, who, when he came on board of us, produced an instru- ment signed by himself and all his officers, representing that the sloop, besides being dismasted, was so very leaky in her hull, that even in moderate weather it was neces- sary to ply the pumps constantly, and that they were then scarcely sufficient to keep her tree ; so that, in the late gale, though they had all been engaged at the pumps by turns, yet the water had increased upon them; and, upon the whole, they apprehended her to be at present so very defective, that if they met with much bad wea- ther they must all inevitably perish ; and, therefore, they petitioned the Commodore to take some measures for their future safety. But the refitting of the Tryal, and the repairing of her delects, was an undertalong 162 TOYAOB BOUND THE WOBLD. CRonia that, in the present oonjunctnre, greatly exceeded our power; for we had no masts to spare her, we had no ■tores to complete her rigging, nor had we any port where she might be hove down, and her bottom examined : be- sides, had a port, and proper requisites for this purpose, been in our possession, yet it would have been extreme imprudence, in so critical a conjuncture, to have loitered away so much time as would have been necessary for these operations. The Commodore, therefore, had no choice left him, but was under the necessity of taking out her people, and destroying her : however, as he con- ceived it expedient to keep up the appearance of our force, he appointed the Tryal's prize (which had been often employed by the Viceroy of Peru as a man-of-war) to be a frigate in his Majesty's service, manning her with the Tryal's crew, and giving commissions to the Captain and all the inferior officers accordingly. This new frigate, when in the Spanish service, had mounted thirty-two guns, but she was now to have only twenty, which . were the twelve that were on board the Tryal, and eight that had belonged to the Anna Fink. When this affair was thus resolved on, Mr. Anson gave orders to Captain Saunders to put it in execution, directing him to take out of the sloop the arms, stores, aimnunition, and everything that could be of any use to the other ships, and then to scuttle her and sink her. After Captain Saunders had seen her destroyed, he was to proceed with his new frigate (to be called the Tryal's Prize) and to cruise off the high land of Valparaiso, keeping it from him N.N.W., at the distance of twelve or fourteen leagues: for as all ships bound from Valparaiso to the northward steer that course, Mr. Anson proposed, by this means to stop any intelligence that might be de- spatched to Callao, of two of their ships being missing, which might give them apprehensions of the English squadron being in their neighbourhood. The Tryal's Prize was to continue on this station twenty-four days, and if not joined by the Commodore at the expiration of cmap. r.i DIBPOSITION OF TBI SQUADRON. 153 the by do- ing, lish al'8 that term, she was then to proceed down the coast to Pisco, or Nasca, where she would be certain to meet with Mr. Anson. The Oummodore likewise ordered Lieutenant Saumarez, who commanded the Centurion's Prize, to keep company with Captain Saunders, both to assist him in un- loading the sloop, and also that by spreading in their cruise, there might be less danger of any of the enemy's ships slipping by unobserved. These orders being de- spatched, the Centurion parted from the other yessels, at eleven in the evening, on the 27th of September, directing her course to the southward, with a view of cruising, for some days, to the windward of Valparaiso. And now, by the distribution of our ships, we flat- tered ourselves that we had taken all the advantages of the enemy that we possibly could with our small force, since our disposition was doubtless the most prudent that could be projected. For, as we might suppose the Gloucester by this time to be drawing near the high land of Paita, we were enabled, by our separate stations, to intercept all vessels employed either betwixt Peru and Chili to the southward, or betwixt Panama and Peiii to t'e northward; since the principal trade from Peru to Cnili being carried on to the port of Valparaiso, the Centurion cruising to the windward of Valparaiso would in all probability meet with them, as it is the constant practice of those ships to fall in with the coast to the windward of that port : the Gloucester would in like manner be in the way of the trade bound from Panama, or to the northward to any part of Peni; since the high land off which she was stationed is constantly made by every ship in that voyage. And, whilst the Centurion and Gloucester were thus situated for inter- rupting the enemy's trade, the Tryal's Prize and Cen- turion's Prize were as conveniently posted for preventing all intelligence, by intercepting all ships bound from Valparaiso to the northward ; for it was on board these vessels that it was to be feared some account of us might possibly be sent to Peru. 154 TOTAOB BOUND THE WORLD. [fiOOKll. But the most prudent dispositions cany with them only a probability of success, and can never insure its certainty: since those chances which it was reasonable to overlook in deliberation are sometimes of most powerful influence in execution. Thus, in the present case, the distress of the Tryal, and our quitting our station to assist her (events which no degree of prudence could either foresee or obviate), gave an opportunity to all the ships bound to Valparaiso to reach that port without molestation, during this unlucky interval. So that, though afber leaving Captain Saunders we were very expeditious in regaining our station, where we got the 29th, at noon ; yet in plying on and off till the 6th of October, we had not the good fortune to discover a sail of any sort ; and then, having lost all hopes of meet- ing with better srccess by a longer stay, we made sail to the leeward of die port, in order to join our prizes, but when we arrived off the high land, where they were directed to cruise, we did not find them, though we continued there four or five days. We supposed that some chase had occasioned their leaving their station, and therefore we proceeded down the coast to the high land of Nasca, which was the second rendezvous, where Captain Saunders was directed to join us. Here we got .on the 21st, and were in great expectation of falling in with some of the enemy's vessels, as both the accounts of former voyages, and the information of our prisoners, assured us that all ships bound to Callao constantly make this land to prevent the danger of running to the leeward of the port. But, notwithstanding the advan- tages of this station, we saw no sail till the 2nd of November, when two ships appeared in sight together : we immediately gave them chase, and soon perceived that they were the Tryal's and Centurion's prizes: as they had the wind of us, we brought-to, and waited their coming up, when Captain Saimders came on board us, and acquainted the Commodore, that he had cleared the Tryal, pursuant to his orders, and, having scuttled her, Chap. V.. OBUISS OFF PAITA. 166 he remained by her till she sunk, bnt that it was the 4th of October before this was effected: for there ran so large and hollow a sea, that the sloop, having neither masts nor sails to steady her, rolled and pitched so violently, that it was impossible for a boat to lie along- side of her for the greatest part of the time : and, during this attendance on the sloop, they were all driven so far to the north-west, that they were afterwards obliged to stretch a long way to the westward to regain the ground they had lost : which was the reason that we had not met with them on their station as we expected. We found they had not been more fortunate in their cruise than we were, for they had seen no vessel since they separated from us. The little success we all had, and our certainty that had any ships been stirring in these seas for some time past we must have met with them, made us believe that the enemy at Valparaiso, on the missing of the two ships we had taken, had sus- pected us to be in the neighbourhood, and had con- sequently laid an embargo on all the trade in the southern parts. We likewise apprehended that they might by this time be fitting out the men-of-war at Callao ; as we knew that it was no uncommon thing for an express from Valparaiso to reach Lima in twenty- nine or thirty days, and it was now more than fifty since we had taken our first prize. These apprehensions of an embargo along the coast, and of the equipment of the Spanish squadron at Callao, determined the Commodore to hasten down to the leeward of Callao, and to join Captain Mitchel (who was stationed off Paita) as soon as possible, that our strength being united, we might be prepared to give the ships from Callao a warm reception if tiiey dared to put to sea. With this view, we bore away the same afternoon, taking particular care to keep at such a distance from the shore that there might be no danger of our being discovered from thence ; for we knew that all the country ships were commanded, under the severest penalty, not to sail by the port of Callao with- ,i^' ;|H 156 TOTAOE BOUND THR WORLD. [BooKlL -Jl 1 1 mil 14 ! ' out stopping ; and as this order was constantly complied with, we should undoubtedly be known for enemies if we were seen to act contrary to it. In this new navi- gation, not being certain whether we might not meet the Spanish squadron in our route, the Commodore took on board the Centurion part of his crew, with which he had formerly manned the Carmelo. And now standing to the northward, we, before night came on, had a view of the small island called St. Grallan, which bore from us N.N.E. ^ E., about seven leagues distant. This island lies in the latitude of about fourteen degrees south, and about five miles to the northward of a high land, called Morro Yeijo, or the old man's head. I mention this island and the high land near it more particularly, be- cause between them is the most eligible station on that coast for cruising upon the enemy ; as, hereabouts, all \ ships bound to Callao, whether from the northward or the southward, run well in with the land. By the 5th of November, at three in the afternoon, we were advanced within view of the high land of Barranca, lying in the latitude of 10° 36' south, bearing from us N.E. by E., distant eight or nine leagues; and an hour and a half afterwards we had the satisfaction, so long wished for, of seeing a sail. She first appeared to leeward, and we all immediately gave her chase ; but the Centurion so much outsailed the two prizes, that we soon ran them out of sight, and gained considerably on the chase: however, night coming on before we came up with her, we about seven o'clock, lost sight of her, and were in some perplexity what course to steer ; but, at last, Mr. Anson resolved, as we were then before the wind, to keep all his sails set, and not to change his course : for though we hud no doubt but the chase would alter her course in i,he night, yet as it was uncertain what tack she would go upon, it was thought prudent to keep on cur course, as we must by this means unavoidably come near her, rather than to change it on conjecture; when, if we should mistake, we must infallibly Ic^ her. Thus then we Chap. Y.] CAPTURE OF A SPANISH \ESSEL. 167 continued the chase about an hour and a half, in the dark, some one or other on board us constantly ima- gining they discerned her sails on right ahead of us ; but at length Mr. Brett, our second lieutenant, did really discover her about four points on the larboard bow, steering off to the seawai'd : yre immediately clapped the helm a-weather, and stood for her ; and, in less than an hour, came up with her, and having fired fourteen shots at her, she struck. Our third lieutenant, Mr. Bonnis, was sent in the boat with sixteen men, to take possession of the prize, and to return the prisoners to our ship. This vessel was named the Santa Teresa de Jesus, built at Guayaquil, of about three hundred tons binrthen ; and was commanded by Bartolome Urrunaga, tt Biscayer: she was bound from Guayaquil to Callao, her loading consisted of timber, cocoa, cocoa-nuts, to- bacco, hides, Pito thread (which is very strong, and is made of a species of grass), Quito cloth, wax, &c. The specie on board her was inconsidei-able, being principally small silver money, and not amounting to more than 170Z. sterling. It is true her cargo was of great value, could we have disposed of it : but the Spaniards having strict orders never to ransom their ships, all the goods that we took in these seas, except what little we had occasion for ourselves, were of no advantage to us. Indeed, though we could make no profit tliereby ourselves, it was some satisfaction to us to consider, that it wns so much really lost to the enemy, and that the despoiling them was no contemptible branch of that service in which we were now employed by our country. Besides our prize's crew, which amounted to forty-five hands, there were on board her ten passengers, consisting of four men and three women, who were natives of the country bom of Spanish parents, together with three black slaves that attended them. The women were a mother and her two daughters, the eldest about twenty- rne, and the youngest about fourteen. It is not to be wondered at, that women of these years should be exces- M.. 168 VOTAOB BOUND THB WOBLD. [Book II sively alaimed at the falling into the hands of an enemy, whom, from the former outragpii of the Buccaneers, and by the artful insinuations of their priests, they had been taught to consider as the most terrible and brutal of all mankind. These apprehensions, too, were, in the pre- sent instance, exaggerated by the singular beauty of the youngest of the women, and the riotous disposition which they might well expect to find in a set of sudors. Full of these terrors, the women all hid themselves upon our officer's coming on board, and when they were found out, it was with great difficulty that he could persuade them to approach the light : however, he soon satisfied them by the humanity of his conduct, and by his assur- ances of their future seciurity and honourable treatment, that they had nothing to fear. Nor were these assurances -, of the officer invalidated in the sequel: for the Com- \ modore, being informed of the matter, sent directions that they should be continued on board their own ship, with the use of the same apartments, and with all the other conveniences they had enjoyed before, giving strict orders that they should receive no kind of inquietude or molestation whatever : and that they might be the more certain of having these orders complied with, or have the means of complaining if they were not, the Com- modore permitted the pilot, who in Spanish ships is generally the second person on board, to stay with them as their guardian and protector. The pilot was parti- cularly chosen for this purpose by Mr. Anson, as he seemed to be extremely interested in all that concerned the women, and had at first declared that he was married to the youngest of them ; though it afterwards appeared, both from the information of the rest of the prisoners, and other circumstances, that he asserted this with a view the better to secure them from the insults they expected on their first falling into our hands. By this compassionate and indulgent behaviour of the Com- modore, the consternation of om: female prisoners entirely subsided, and they continued easy and cheerful during Cmaf. v.] OAPTUBE OF A LPAMISH VBSSIL. 169 the whole time they wore with us, as I shall haye occa- sion to mention more particularly hereafter. I have before observed, that, at the beginning of this chase, the Centurion ran her two consorts out of sight, on which account wo lay by all the night, after we had taken tiie prize, for Captain Saunders and Lieutenant Sttumarez to join us, firing guns, and making false fires every half-hour to prevent their passing by us unob- served; but they were so far astern, that tiiey neither heard nor saw any of cor signals, and were not able to come up with us till broad daylight. When they had joined us, we proceeded together to the northward, being now four sail in company. We here found the sea for many miles round us of a beautiful red colour : this, upon examination, we imputed to an immense quantity of spawn spread upon its surface ; for taking up some of the water in a wine-glass, it soon changed from a dirty aspect to a clear crystal, with only some red globules of a slimy nature floating on the top. At present, having a supply of timber on board our new prize, the Com- modore ordered our boats to be repaired, and a swivel gun-stock to be fixed in the bow both of the barge and pinnace, in order to increase their force, in case we should be obliged to have recom'se to them for boarding ships, or for any attempts on shore. As we stood from hence to the northward, nothing remarkable occurred for two or three days; though we spread our ships in such a manner, that it was not pro- bable any vessel of the enemy could escape us. In our run along this coast we generally observed that there was a current which set us to the northward, at the rate of ten or twelve miles each day. And now being in about eight degrees of south latitude, we began to be attended with vast numbers of flying-fish and bonitos, which were the first we saw after our departure from the coast of Brazil. But it is remarkable that, on the east side of South America, they extended to a much higher latitude than they do on the west side ; for we did not (fKii'l 160 VOYAOB BOUND TUU WORLD. [DuoK II. Ail : • I ! lose them on the coast of Brazil till we approached the southern tropic. The reason for this diversity is doubt- less the different degrees of heat obtaining in the same latitude on different sides of that continent. On the 10th of November, we were three leagues south of the southernmost island of Lobos, lying in the latitude of Q° 27' south. There are two islands of this name: this, called Lobos de la Mar, and another, which is situ- ated to the northward of it, very much resembling it in shape and appearance, and often mistaken for it, called Lobos de Tieira. We were now drawing nearer to the station appointed to the Gloucester, for which reason, fearing to miss her, we made an easy sail all night. The next morning, at daybreak, we saw a ship in shore, and to windward, plying up the coast : she had passed by us with the favour of the night, and we, soon perceiving her not to be the Gloucester, got our tacks on board, and gave her chase ; but there being very little wind, so that neither of us could make much way, the Commodore ordered the barge, his pinnace, and the Tryal's pinnace, to be maimed and armed, and to pursue the chase, and board her. Lieutenant Brett, who commanded the barge, came up with her first, about nine o'clock ; and, running alongside of her, he fired a volley of small shot between the masts, just over the heads of the people on board, and then instantly entered, with the greatest number of his men ; but the enemy made no resistance, being sufficiently frightened by the dazzling of the cut- lasses, and the volley they had just received. Lieutenant Brett ordered the sails to be trimmed, and bore down to the Commodore, taking up in his way the two pinnaces. When he was got within about four miles of us, he put off in the barge, bringing with him a number of the prisoners, who had given him some material intelligeir.e, which he was desirous the Commodore should be acquainted with as soon as possible. On his arrival we learnt that the prize was called Nuestrq, Senora del Car^ min, of about two himdred and seventy tons^iirthen ; ha\ imi CoJ dur. /.^ CAPTCHE OF A SPANISH VE8HEL. 161 she was commanded by Marcus Morena, a n&tiye of Venice, and Lad on board forty-three mariners. She was deeply laden with steel, iron, wax, pepper, cedar, plank, snuff, rosaries, European bale goods, powder-blue, cinnamon, RomisBT indulgences, and other species of merchandise ; and though this cargo, in our present cir- cumstances, was but of little value to us, yet, with respect to the Spaniards, it was the most considerable captm-e we made in this part of the world ; for it amounted to up- wards of 400,000 dollars, prime cost, at Panama, This ship was bound to Callao,' and had stopped at Paita in her passage, to take in a recruit of water and provisions^ having left that place not above twenty-four hours before nhe fell into our hands. I have mentioned that Mr. Brett had received some important intelligence, which he endoavom-ed to let the (Jonmiodore know immediately. The first person he 162 ▼OYAGE BOUND THE WOBLD. rKMftU. learnt it from (though, upon further examination, it was confirmed by the other prisoners) was one John Williams, an Irishman, whom he found on board the Spanish vessel. Williams was a papist, who worked his passage from Cadiz, and had travelled over all the kingdom of Mexico as a pedlar. He pretended that, by his business, he had once got 4,000 or 5,000 dollars ; but that he was embarrassed by the priests, who knew he had money, and was at last stripped of everything he had. He was, indeed, at pre- sent, all in rags, being but just got out of Paita gaol, where he had been confined for some misdemeanour. He expressed gre^t joy upon seeing his countrymen, and immediately told them that, a few days before, a vessel came into Faita, where the master of her informed the governor that he had been chased in the ofiEmg by a very large ship, which, from her size, and the colour of her sails, he was persuaded must be one of the English squadron. This we then conjectured to have been the Gloucester, as we afterwards found it was. The governor, upon ex- amining the master, was fully satisfied of his relation, and immediately sent away an express to Lima, to acquaint the viceroy therewith ; and the royal of&cer residing at Paita, apprehensive of a visit from the English, had, from his first hearing of this news, been busily employed in removing the king's treasure and his own to Piura, a town within land, about fourteen leagues distant. We further learnt from our prisoners that there was a very considerable sum of money, belonging to some merchants of Lima, that was now lodged in the custom-house at Paita ; and that this was intended to be shipped on board a vessel which was then in the port of Paita, and was preparing to sail with the utmost expedition, being bound for the bay of Sonsonnate, on the coast of Mexico, in order to purchase a part of the cargo of the Manilla ship. As the vessel in which the money was to be shipped was a prime sailer, and had just received a new coat of tallow on her bottom, and might, in the opinion of the prisoners be able to sail the succeeding morning, the character Th root Chap, yi.] AOOOUMT OW TEl TOWN Of PAITA. 168 they gave of her left us little reason to believe that our ship, which had been in the water near two years, could have any chance of coming up with her, if we once suf- fered her to escape out of the port. Therefore, as we were now discovered, and the coast would be soon alarmed, and as our cruising in these parts any longer would answer no purpose, the Commodore resolved to endeavour to surprise the place, having first minutely informed himself of its shength and condition, and being fully satisfied that there was little danger of losing many of our men in the attempt. This attack on Paita, be- sides the treasure it promised us, and it being the only enterprise it was in our power to undertake, had these other advantages attending it, that we should, in all pro- bability, supply ourselves with great quantities of live provision, of which we were at this time in want, and that we should likewise have an opportunity of setting our prisoners on shore, who were now very numerous, and made a greater consumption of our food than our stock that remained was capable of furnishing long. In all these lights, the attempt was a most eligible one, and what our necessities, oui* situation, and every prudential consideration prompted us to. How it succeeded and how far it answered our expectations, shall be the subject of the following chapter. CHAPTER VI. ^ The taking of Paita, and our Proceedings there The town of Paita is situated in the latitude of 6® 12' bouth, on a most barren soil, composed only of sand and slate : the extent of it is but small, containing in all less than two hundred families. The houses are only ground- floors; the walls built of split cane and mud, and the rootii thatched with leaves: these edifices, though ex- 164 TOTAGB BOUND TBI WOBLO. [Book II. tremelj slight, are abundantly sufficient for a climate where rain is considered as a prodigy, and is not seen in many years : so that it is said, a small quantity of rain falling in this country, in the year 1728, ruined a great number of buildings, which mouldered away, and, as it were, melted before it. The inhabitants of Paita are principally Indians and black slaves, or at least a mixed breed, the whites being but very few. The port of Paita, though in reality little more than a bay, is esteemed the best on that part of the coast, and is, indeed, a very secure and commodious anchorage. It is greatly fre- quented by all vessels coming from the North, since here only the ships from Acapulco, Sonsonnate, Bealeijo, and Panama can touch, and refresh in their passage to Callao : and the length of these voyages (the wind for the greatest part of the year being full against them) renders it impossible to perform them without calling upon the coast .for a recruit of fresh water. It is true, Paita is situated on so parched a spot that it does not itself fiimish a drop of fresh wator, or any kind of greens or provisions, except fish and a few goats : but there is an Indian town called Colan, about two or three leagues distant to the northward, from whence water, mair^, greens, fowls, &c., are conveyed to Paita, on balzas, or floats, for the convenience of the ships that touch here : and cattle are sometimes brought from Piura, a town which lies about fourteen leagues up in the coimtry. The water fetched from Colan is whitish, and of a dis- agreeable appearance, but is said to be very wholesome ; for it is pretended by the inhabitants, that it runs through large woods of sarsaparilla, and is sensibly impregnated therewith. This port of Paita, besides ftu*- nii^ng the northern trade bound to Callao with water and necessaries, is the usual place where passengers from Acapulco, or Panama, bound to Lima, disembark: for as it is two himdred leagues from hence to Callao, the port of Lima, and as the wind is generally contrary, the passage by sea is very tedious and fatiguing ; but by laud OMA?. VL] PBIPARATIOMB TOR ATTAOKIITO PAITA. 166 , the laud there is a tolerahly good road parallel to the coast, witli many stations and Tillages for the aouommodation of travellers. The town of Paita itself is an open place, so that its sole protection and defence is in a fort. It was of con- sequence to us to he well informed of the fahrio and strength of this fort; and, from the examination of our prisoners, we found that there wore eight pieces of can- non mounted in it, hut that it had neither ditch nor outwork, heing surrounded hy a plain hrick wall; and that the garrison consisted of only one weak company, though the town itself might possibly arm three hundred men more. Mr. Anson, having informed himself of the strength of the place, resolved, as hath been said in the precedmg chapter, to attempt it that very night. We were then about twelve leagues distant from the shore, far enough to prevent our being discovered ; yet not so far but that, by making all the sail we could, we might arrive in the bay with our ships long before daybreak. However, the Commodore prudently considered that this would be an improper mediod of proceeding, as our ships being such large bodies might be easily seen at a distance even in the night, and might thereby alarm the inhabitants, and give them an opportunity of removing their valuable efifects. He therefore, as the strength of the place did not require our whole force, resolved to attempt it with the boats only, ordering the eighteen-oared iMurge, and our own and the Tryal's pinnaces, on that service ; and having picked out fifty-eight men to man them, well furnished with arms and ammunition, he intrusted the command of the expedition to Lieutenant Brett, and gave him his necessary orders. And the better to pre- vent the disappointment and confusion which might arise from the darlmess of the night, and from the ignorance of the streets and passages of Hjie place, two of the Spa- nish pilots were cohered to attend the lieutenant, who were to conduct him to the most convenient landing- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^ .<.*. ^ ^ *it *i 1.0 I.I 1^121 125 ■tt iU 122 [Jf |j}4 "^ [if |i£ 12.0 IMU L25MU.||^ A% .•»* Photographic Sdences CarporatiQn 23 WBT MAIN STtKT wnSTM,N.Y. U5M (716)I73-4S03 '^r': 166 TOTAOK BOUHD THS WOBLD. [BoMli ■•111 pUwe, ami were afkerwuds to be his goides on shore: and that we mi^t have the greater security for their behayiouT on this occasion, the Cknnir.odore took oare to assure onr prisoners, that they should all of them be released, and set on shore at this place, j^nded the pilots acted faithfully ; but in case of any misconduct or treachery, he threatened that the pilots should be instantly shot, and that he would carry the rest of the Spaniards, who were on board him, prisoners to England : so that the prisoners themselyes were interested in our success, and therefore we had no reason to suspect our conductors either of negligence or perfidy. On this occasion, I cannot but remark a singular circumstance of one of the pilots employed by us in the business. It seems (as we afterwards learnt) he had been taken by Oaptain Clipperton, aboye twenty years before, and had been obliged to leaid Clipperton and his people to tibe surprise of Tnudlla, a town within land to the southward of Faita, where, however, he contrived to alarm his countrymen, and to save them, though the place was carried and pillaged. Now, that the only two at- tempts on shore, which were made at so long an interval from each other, should be guided by the same person, and he, too, a prisoner both times, and forced upon the ' employ contrary to his inclination, is an incident- so very extraordinary, tibat I could not help mentioning it. But, to return to the matter in hand. During our preparations, the ships themselves stood towards the port with all the sail they could make, being secure that we were yet at too great a distance to be seen. But, about ten o'clock at night, the ships being then within five leagues of the place, Xieutenant Brett, with the boats under his command, put of^ and arrived at the mouth of the bay without being discovered; though, no sooner had he entered it, than some of the people on board a vessel riding at anchor there, per- ceived him, who instantly getting into the boat, rowed towuds the fort, shouting and crying, ** The English, lU. OiAl'. Vl,j ATTACK ON PAITA. 167 F^nl stood ), being I to be \ being I Brett, airiyed overed; of the the English dogs," &o., by which the whole town wm suddenly alanned, and onr people soon observed several lights hnnying backwards and forwards in the fort, and oUier marks dT the inhabitants being in great motion. Lieutenant Brett, on this, encouraged his men to pull briskly up, that they might give the enemy as little time as possible to prepare for ^eir defence. However, be- fore our boats could reach the shore, the people in the fort had got ready some of their cannon, and pointed them towards the landing-place; and though, in the darkness of the night, it might be well supposed that chance had a greater share than skill in their direction, yet the first shot passed extremely near one of the boats, whistling just over the heads of the crew. This made our people redouble their efforts; so that they had reached the shore, and were in p«rt disembarked, by the time the second gun fired. As soon as our men landed, they were conducted by one of the Spanish pilots to an entrance of a narrow street, not above fifty yards distant from the beach, where they were covered firom the fire of the fort ; and being formed in the best manner the shortness of the time would allow, they immediately marched for the parade, which was a large squate at the end of the street, the fort being one side of the square, and the governor's house another. In this march (though performed with tolerable regularity) the shouts and clamours of threescore sailors, who had been confined so long on shipboard, and were now, for the first time, on shore in an enemy's country, joyous as they always are when they land, and animated besides, in the present case, with the hopes of an immense pillage ; the huzzas, I say, of this spirited detachment, joined with the noise of their drums, and favoured by the night, had augmented their numbers, in the opinion of the enemy, to at least three hundred; by which persuasion the inhabitants were so greatly intimidated, that they were much more solicitous about the means of flight than of resistance; so that though, upon entering the parade, m 4!l 168 TOTAOB SOUMD THB WORLD. [BoOKU. oat people received « Tolley from the motolmita, who owned uie treMure then in the town, and wiio, witii a few others, had ranged themselves in a galleiy that ran round the Governor's house, yet that post was immei' diately abandoned upon Hhe first fire made by our people, who were thereby left in quiet possession of the parade. On this snooess, Lieutenant Brett divided his men into two parties, <»dering one of them to surround the Governor's house, and, tf possible, to secure the Gk>- vemor, whilst he himself, at the head of the other, marched to the fort, with an intent to force it. But, contrary to his expectation, he entered it without oppo- sition: for the enemy on his approach abandoned it, and made their escape over the walls. By this means, the whole place was mastered in less than a quarter of an hour's time from the first landing, and with no other loss than that of one man killed on the spot, and two wounded: one of which was tiie Spanish pilot of the Teresa, who received -a slight bruise by a ball which grazed on his wrist; indeed another of the company, the Honourable Mr. Eeppel, son of the Earl of Albe- marle, had a very narrow escape; for having on a jockey-cap, one side of the peak was shaved oS, close to his temple, by a ball, which, however, did him no other injury. Lieutenant Brett, when he had thus far happily succeeded, placed a guard at the fort, and another at the Governor's house, and appointed sentinels at all the avenues of the town, both to prevent any surprise from the enemy, and to secure the effects in the place from being embezzled. This being done, his next care was to seize on the custom-house, where the treasure lay, and to examine if any of the inhabitants remained in the town, that he might know what farther precautions it was necessary to take; but he soon found that the numbers left behind were no ways formidable; for the greatest part of them being in bed when the plao^ was entr. VL] OAPTVBS or PAITA. 169 rarpriaed, had ran awaj with bo nraoh pieoipifatum, that they had not given tiiemselTea time to put on their eloUies. In this general rout, the Gorernor was not the last to Beonre himself, for he fled betimes, half-naked, leaving his wife, a yonng lady of about seventeen yean of age, to whom he had been married bat three or four days, behind him : though she, too, was afterwards carried off in her shift by a conple of sentinels, just as the detachment, ordered to invest the house, arrived before it. This escape of the Governor was an nnpleasant cir- cmnstanoe, as Hr. Anson had particularly recommended it to Lientenant Brett to secure his person, if possible, in hopes that by that means we might be able to treat for the ransom of the place : but it seems his alertness rendered the execution of these orders impracticable. The few inhabitants who remained were confined in one of the churches under a guard, except Bome stout negroes who were fotmd in the town; these^ instead of being shut up, were employed, the remaining part of the night, to assist in carrying the treasure -firom tiie custom-house and other places to tiie fort: however, there was care taken that they should be always attended by a file of musketeers. The transporting tiie treasure from the custom-house to the fort was tiie principal occupation of Mr. Brett's people, after he had got possession of the place. But the sailors, while they were thus busied, could not be prevented from entering the houses which lay near them in search of private piUage ; where the first things which occurred to ^em, being the clothes which the Spaniards in their flight had left behind them, and which, according to the cuskmi of the conntiy were most of them either embroidered or laced, our people eagerly seised these lettering habits, and put them on over their own dirty trousers and jackets, not forgetting at the same time the tye, or bag-wig, and laced hat, which were generally found with the clothes; and when this practice was once begun, there was no preventing the whole detaoh- iif & i J::^ 170 TOTAOB BOJKD TH> WORLD. raoOKlL meni froni imitatiiig it : bat those who oun« Uiert into the fMdiion, not finding men's clothes sofBoient to eqnip themselyea, were obliged to take up with women's gowns and petticoats, which, proyided tiiere was finely enongh, they made no scrapie of patting on, and blending with their own greasy dross. So that, when a party of them thos ridicalously metamorphosed, first appeared before Mr. Brott, he was extremely sarprised at the grotesque sight, and ooald not immediately be satisfied they were his own people. These were the transactions of oar detachment on shore at Paita the first night: bat to retam to what was done on board the Oentarion in that interval, I mast obserye, that alter the boats were gone oiS, we lay by till one o'clock in the morning, and then, supposing oar detachment to be near landing, we made an easy sail for the bay. About seven in the morning we began to open the bay, and soon after had a view of the town ; li^ Our.VL" PILLAOR or PAITA. 171 and though we had no reason to doubt of the suooesa oi the enterpriae, yet it was with great joy thai we first discoyered an infallible signal of the certainty 'of our hopes: this was by means of our telescopes, for through them we saw an English flag hoisted on the flag-staff of the fort, which, to us, was an incontestable proof that our people were in possession of the place. We plied into the bay with as much expedition as the wind, which then blew off shore, would permit us: and at eleyen, the Tryal's boat came on board us, laden with dollars and church plate; when the officer who com- manded her informed us of the preceding night's trans- actions, such as we have already related them. About two in the afternoon we anchored in ten fathoms and a hal^ at a mile and a half distance from the town, and were consequently near enough to haye a more imme- diate intercourse with those on shore. And now we found that Mr. Brett had hitherto gone on in collecting and remoying the treasure without interruption; but that the enemy had rendezyoused from all parts of the country on a hill at the back of the town, where they made no inconsiderable appearance ; for, among the rest of their force, there were two hundred horse, seemingly very well armed and moimted, and, as we conceiyed, properly trained and regimented, being fbmished with trumpets, drums, and standards. These troops paraded about the hiU with great ostentation, sounding their military music, and practising eyery art to intimidate us, as our numbers on shore were, by this time, not un- known to them, in hopes that we might be induced, by our fears, to abandon the place before the pillage was completed. But we were not so ignorant as to belieye that this body of horse, which seemed to be what the enemy principally depended on, would dare to yenture in streets and amongst houses, eyen had their numbers been three times as large: and, therefore, notwithstanding their menaces, we went on calmly, as long as the day- light lasted, in sending off the treasure, and employing Hi Hi 179 TOTAM BOVVD nO WOBUI. nkwsU the boftlB to ouny on board the refreBhmente, mioh w bogs, fowls, &0.J which we fotmd here in great abiindMioe. Howerer, «t night, to prerent any Boiprise, the Oom- modore lent on shore a reinforoementj who posted them- selves in all the passages leading to the parade ; and, for their farther security, traversed the streets with banrio»- does six feet high : bnt the enemy continning quiet all night, we at daybreak retomed again to oar labour of loading the boats, and sending thom o£P. By this time we were convinced of what consequence it would have been to us had it pleased Providence to have seconded the prudent views of the Commodore, by permitting us to secure the (Governor. For as we found in the place many storehouses full of valuable effects, which were tiseless to us at present, and such as we could not find room for on board ; had the Gk>vemor been in our power, he would, in all probability, have treated for the ransom of this merchancuBe, which would have been extremely advantageous both to him and us ; whereas, he being now at liberty, and having collected all the force of the country for many leagues round, and having even got a body of militia from Piura, which was fourteen leagues distant, he was so elated with his numbers, and so fond of his new military conmiand, .that he seined not to trouble himself about the iSette of his government. So that, though Mr. Anson sent several messages to him by some of the inhabitants, whom he had tdcen prisoners, ofiFering to enter into a treaty for the ransom of the town and goods, giving him, at the same time, an intimation that we should be tu from insisting on a rigorous equivalent, but perhaps might be satisfied with some live cattle, and a few necessaries for the use of the squadron, flireatening, too, that if he would not condescend at least to treat, we would set fire to the town and all tiie war^ouses ; yet the (Governor was so imprudent and arrogant, that he despised all these reite- rated overtures, and did not deign even to return the least answer to them. ^ ' ■ )it: OiAf Vt] TBI PBMOinnUi VKLMAMMD, 17a On llie Moond day of oar being in poMenrion of the plaoe, Mvanl negro slaTea deeertod ttaan the enemy on the Idll, and ooming into the town, Tolanterily engeged in oar lerTice : one of these was well known to a gentle- man on board, who remembered him formerly at Panama. We now leamt that the Spaniards without the town were in extreme want of water, for many of their slayes crept into the place by stealth and carried away several jars of water to their masters on the hill ; and though some of them were seized by our men in the attempt, yet the thirst among the enemy was so pressing, that they con- tinued this practice till we left the place. On this second day we were assured, both by the deserters snd by those prisoners we todc, tibat the Spaniards on the hiU, who were by this time increased to a formidable number, had resolved to storm the town and fort the succeeding night ; and that one Gordon, a Scotoh papist , and captain of a ship of those seas, was to have tCe command of this enterprise. However, we, notwithstanding, continued sending off our boats, and prosecuted our work without the least hurry or precipitation till the evening ; when a reinforcement was again sent ashore by the Com- modore, and Lieutenant Brett doubled lus guards at each of the barrioadoes ; and our posts being connected by the means of sentinels placed within call of each other, and the whole being visited by frequent rounds, attended with a drum, these marks of our vigilance, which the enemy could not be ignorant of, as they could doubtless hear the drum, if not ue calls of the sentinels : these marks, I say, of our vigilance, and of our readiness to receive them, cooled their resolution, and made them forget the vaunts of the preceding day: so that we pamed this second night with as litUie molestation as we had done the first. We had finished sending the treasure on board the Oenturion the evening before ; so that the third morning, being the 15th of November, the boats were employ^ in oanying off the most valuable part of the effects that ■i vi'fM 174 TOTAOB KOVHD TBI WOBLD. PkNiKU renwiBed in fhe town. And the Oommodora intending to Mol in the afternoon, he, abont ten o'clock, pnnoaDt to bia promiae, aent all hia priaonera, amonnting to eighty-eight, on ahore, giving ordera to Lieutenant Brett to aecnre them in one of the ohnrohea, under a strict guard, till the men were ready to be embarked. Mr. Bratt waa, at the same time, ordered to bum the whole town, except the two churohea (which, happily, stood at some distance from the houaea), and then he waa to abandon the place and to return on board. These ordera were punctually complied with; for Mr. Brett immediately act hia men to work to distribute pitch, tar, and other combustibles (of which great quantities were found here), into houses situated in different streets of the town, so that the place being fired in many quarters at the same time, the destruction might be more violent and sudden, and the enemy, after our departure, might not be able to extinguish it. When these pre- parations were made, he, in the next place, commanded the cannon which he found in the fort to be nailed up ; and then setting fire to those houses which were most to the windward, he collected hia men, and marched to- wards the beach, where the boats waited to carry them oS. As that part of the beach whence he intended to embark, was an open place without the town, the Spaniards on the hiU perceiving he was retreating, re- solved to try if they could not precipitate his departure, and thereby lay some foundation for tbeir future boasting. To this end, a small squadron of their horse, consisti^ of about sixty, picked out, as I suppose, for this service, marched down the hill with mudi seeming resolution; so that had we not entertained an adequate opinion of their prowess, we might have imagined, that now we were on the open beach, with no advantage of situation, th^ would certainly have charged us ; but we presumed, and we were not mistaken, that this was mere ostenta- tion. For notwithstanding the pomp and parade ^ey at Hat came on with, Mr. Brett had no sooner ordered Our. VI.] nOILLWT DIMIPLUni OV THB MEH. 17ft re- hit men to halt and face about, than the enemy stopped their career, and never dared to advance a step nurther. When our people were arrived in their boats, and were ready to go (m board, they were for some time retarded by miaring one of their number; and being unable, on their mutual inquiries amongst each other, to inform themselves where he was left, or by what ac- cident he was detained, they, after a considerable delay, resolved to get into their boats, and to depart without him. But, when the last man was actually embarked, and the boats were just putting ofl^ they heard him calling to them to take him in : the place was by this time so thoroughly on fire, and the smoke covered the beach so eflTectually, that they could scarcely discern him though they heard his voice. However, the lieu- tenant instantly ordered one of the boats to his relief, who found him up to the chin in water, for he had waded as far as he durst, being extremely frightened with the apprehension of filling mto the huids of the enemy, en- raged as they doubtless were at the pillage and destruc- tion of their town. On inquiring into the cause of his staying behind, it was found that he had taken that morning too large a dose of brandy, which had thrown him into so sound a sleep, that he did not awake till the fire came near enough to scorch him. He was strangely amazed, at first opening his eyes, to see the houses ail in a blaze on one side, and several Spaniards and Indians not far from him on the other. The greatness and suddenness of his fright, instantly brought him to a state of sobriety, and gave hhn sufficient presence of mind to push through the thickest of the smoke, as the likeliest means to escape the enemy; and making the best of his way to the beach, he ran as far into the water as he durst (for he could not swim), before he ventured to look back. I cannot but observe here, to the honour of our people, that though there were great ' quantities of wine and spirituous liquors found in the place, yet this man was 8 P 1T« TOTAOI BOUND TBB WOBLO. THwrnlL the only one who wm known to bare so far nogleotAd hii duty M to get dnmk. Indeed, their whole beh»Tionr, vhile they were Mhore, wm much more regular then oould weu h«Te been expected from Mtilon who bed been eo long confined to » ibip ; end though pert of this prudent demeenour must doubtlew be imputed to the diligence of their officers, and to the excellent discipline to which they had been constantly inured on board the Centurion ; yet it was doubtless no small reputation to the men, that they should generally refrain from in- iulging themselves in those intoxicating liquors, which they found ready to their hands at almost every ware- house. Having mentioned this single instance of drunkenness, I cannot pass by another oversight, which was likewise che only one of its kind, and which was attended with very particular circumstances. There . was an English- man, who had formerly wrought as a ship-oarpentor in the yard at Portsmouth, but leaving his country, had afterwards entered into the Spanish service, and was employed by them at the port of Guayaquil ; and it being weu known to his friends in England, that he was then in tbat part of the world, theyput letters on board the Oenturion directed to him. This man being then by accident amongst the Spaniards who were retired to the hills at Paita, he was ambitious, as it should seem, of acquiring some reputation amongst his new masters. With thu view he came down unarmed to a sentinel of ours, placed at some distance from the fort towards thu enemy, to whom he pretended that he was desirous of surrendering himself, and of entering into our service. Our sentind had a cooked pistol in his hand, but being deceived by the other's fair speeches, he was so impru- dent as to let him approach much nearer than he ought ; so that the shipwrif^t, watching his opportunity, rushed on the sentinel, and seizing his pisto^ wrenched it out of his hand, and instantly ran away with it up th^ hill. By this time, two of our people, who seeing the fellow two apid UMr Tl.l Dwrauonov or para. m •dvanoe had tuipeoted hia intention, were making towarda him, Mid wore uereby prepared to porane him ; hot be got to the top of the mil before they conld reaoh him, and then, turning about, fired the piitol ; whereupon hia ponmera immediately returned the fire, and thoudi he waa at a great diatanoe, and the creat of the hill hid him aa Boon aa they had fired, ao that they took it for sranted they had miiaed him, yet we afterwarda learnt tiut he waa ahot through the bodv, and had fidlen down dead, the Tery nozt step he took after he was out of eight. The sentinel, too, who had been thua groasly imposed upon, did not escape unpimished ; since ne was ordered to be severely whipped, for being thus shameftdly sur- prised upon hiiTpost^ and haTing thereby given an example of oarelessneaa, which, if followed in othei instancea, might prove fatal to us all. But, to return. Bv the time our people had helped their comrade out of we water, and were making tiie best of their way to the squadron, the flames had taken possession of every part of the town, and had got auch hold, both by means of the combustibles that lutd been distributed for that purpose, and by the alightness of the materials of which the houses were composed, and their aptitude to take fire, that it was sufficiently apparent no efforts of the enemy, though they flocked down in great numbers, oould possibly put a stop to it, or prevent the entire destruction of tne place, and aU the merchandise con- tained therein. Our detachment under Lieutenant Brett having safely joined the squadron, the Oommodore prepared to leave the place the same evening. He found, when he first came into the bay, six vessels of the enemy at anchor ; one whereof was the ship which, according to our intel- ligence, was to have sailed with the treasure to the coast of Mexico, and which, aa we were persuaded she waa a good sailer, we resolved to take with us : the others were two snows, a bark, and two row-galleys, of thirty-six oars apiece : these last, as we were afterwanla infoiined, with 4 i^ I li t 178 VOTAOK BOUND THS WOBU). [BOOKIL many otihers of the same kind, built at divers ports, were intended to prevent our landing in the neighbourhood of Callao ; for the Spaniards, in the firet intelfigence of our squadron and ita force, expected that we would attempt the city of Lima. The Commodore, having no occasion for these other vessels, had ordered the masts of all five of them to be out away at his first arrival ; and, on his leaving the place, they were towed out of the har- bour, and scuttled and sunk; and the command of the remaining ship, called the Solidad, being given to Mr. Hughes, the Lieutenant of the Tiyal, who had with him a crew of ten men to navigate her, the squadron, towards midnight, weighed anchor and sailed out of the bay, being at present augmented to six sail, that is, the Cen- torion, and the Tryal's Prize, together with the Carmelo, the Teresa, the Carmin, and our last-acquired vessel, the Solidad. And now, before I end the accoont of our transactions at this place, it may not, perhaps, be improper to give a succinct relation of the booty we got here, and of the loss the Spaniards sustained. I have before observed, that there were great quantities of valuable effects in the town ; but as most of them were what we could neither dispose of nor carry away, the total amount of this mer- chandise can only be rudely guessed at. The Spaniards, in their representations sent to the Court of Madrid (as we were afterwards assured), estimated their whole loss at a million and a half of doUars ; and when it is considered that no small part of the goods we burnt there were of the richest and most expensive species, as broad-cloths, silks, cambrics, velvets, &c., I cannot but think their valuation sufficiently moderate. As to our- selves, the acquisition we made, though inconsiderable in comparison of what we destroyed, was yet far from despicable ; for the wrought plate, dollars, and other coin which fell into our himds, amounted to upwards of 30,0002. sterling, besides several rings, bracelets, and jewels, whosA intrinsic value we oonld not then deter- OBAP.TT.] HB. AVBOV'S OOXDITOT TO THI PBISONIBS. 179 minfl ; and over niid above all this, the plunder, which hecame the property of the immediate capton, was very great ; so that, upon the whole, it was by much the most important booty we met with upon that coast. There remains still another matter to be related, which on aocomit of the signal honour which otir na- tional character in those parts has thence received, and the reputation which our Commodore in particular has thereby acquired, merits a distinct and circumstantial discussion. It has been already observed, that all the prisoners taken by us in our preceding prizes were here put on shore and discharged ; amongst whom there were some persons of considerable distinction, especially a youth of about seventeen years of age, son of the Vice- president of the Council of Chili. As the barbarity of the Buccaneers, and the artful use the ecclesiastics had made of it, had filled the natives of those countries with the most terrible ideas of the English cruelty, we always found our prisoners, at their first coming on board us, to be extremely dejected, and under great horror and anxiety : particularly this youth, whom I last mentioned, having never been from home before, lamented his cap- tivity in the most moving manner, regretting in very plaintive terms, his parents, his brotiiers, his sisters, and his native country : of all which he was fully persuaded he had taken his last farewell, believing that he was now devoted, for the remaining part of his life, to an abject and cruel servitude. Indeed, his companions on boohl, and all the Spaniards that came into our power, had the same desponding opinion of their situation. Mr. Anson constantly exerted his utmost endeavours to efface these terrifying impressions they had received of us ; always taking care, that as many of the principal people among them as there was room for should dine at his table by turns ; and giving the strictest orders, too, that they should, at all times and in every circumstance, be treated with the utmost decency and humanity. But notwif'' standing this precaution, it was generally observed, that t i>| it ■m 180 TOTAOl BOmiD THl WOBU). [BOOKII. Illl the first day or two they did not quit their fears, sus- peotinjg the gentleness of their usage to be only a prepara- tory to some nnthought-of calamity. However, being at length convinced of our sincerity, they grew perfectly easy in their situation, and remarlubly cheerful, so that it was often disputable whether or no they considered their being detained by ns as a misfortune : for the youth I have above mentioned, who was near two montilxs on board us, had at least so for conquered his melancholy surmises, and had taken such an affection to Mr. Anson, and seemed so much pleased with the manner of life, totally different from ul he had ever seen before, that it is doubtful to me whether, if his own opinion had been asked, he would not have preferred a voyage to England in* the Centurion to the being set on shore at Faita, where he was at liberty to return to his country and friends. This conduct of the Commodore to his prisoners, which was continued without interruption or deviation, gave them all the highest idea of his humanity and bene- volence, and induced them likewise (as mankind are fond of forming general opinions) to entertain very &vourable thoughts of the whole English nation. But, whatever they might be disposed to think of Mr. Anson before ■the capture of the Teresa, their veneration for him was prodigiously increased by his conduct towards those women, whom (as I have already mentioned) he took in that vessel; for the leaving them in the possession of their apartments, the strict orders given to prevent all his people on board from approaching them, and the permitting the pilot to stay with them as their guardian, were measures that seemed so different from what might be expected from an enemy and a heretic, that the Spaniiurds on board, though they had themselves expe- rienced his beneficence, were surprised at this new instance of it ; and the more so, aa all this was done without his ever seeing the women, though the two daughters wore both esteemed handsome, and the youngest Obap. fTLi OORSVOT Of THK FBIMKBUi. 181 was celebrated for her uncommon beauty. The women themselves, too, were so sensible of the obligations they owed him, for the care and attention with which he had protected them, that they absolutely refused to go on shore at Paita, till they had been permitted to wait on him on board the Centurion, to return him thanks in person. Indeed, all the prisoners left us with the siarongest assurances of their grateful remembrance of his uncommon treatment. A Jesuit, in particular, whom the Commodore had taken, and who was an ecclesiastic of some distinction, conld not help expressing himself with great thankfnlnesSw for the civilities he and Us countrymen had found m board, declaring that he should consider it as his duty to do Mr. Anson justice at all times ; adding, that his usage of the men-prisoners was such as could never bo forgot, and such as he could never foil to ■acknowledge and recite upon all occasions ; but that his behaviour to the women was extraordinary, and so ex- tremely honourable, that he doubted all the regard due to his own ecclesiastical character would be scarcely sufficient to render it credible. Indeed, we were afterwards informed, that he and the rest of our prisoners had not been silent on this head, but had, both at Lima and at other places, given the greatest encomiums to our Commodore ; the Jesuit in particular, as we were told, having, on his ac- count, interpreted in a lax and hypothetical sense that article of lus church which asserts the impossibility of heretics being saved. CHAPTEE VII. From oar departure fh>m Fttlta, to onr airlTal at Qntbo. When we got under sail from the coast of Paita, (which, as I have already observed, was about midnight, on the 16th of November,) we stood to the westward, and in the morning the Commodore gave orders that tha whole ''Pt ■M 182 TOYAOI BOUITD TBI WOSU). IBuomn ;i:il Bqnadron should spread themselyes to look out for the Olouoester. For we then drew near the station where Captain Mitohell had been directed to cruise, and we hourly expected to get sight of him ; but the whole day passed without seeing him. And now a jealousy, which had taken its rise at Faita, between those who had been commanded on shore for the attack, and those who had continued on board, grew to such a height, that the Oommodore being made ac- quainted with it, thought it necessary to interpose his authority to appease it. The ground of this animosity was the plunder gotten at Faito, whiph those who had acted on shore had appropriated to themselves, con- sidering it as a reward for tiie risks they had run, and the resolution they had shown in that service. But those who had remained on board looked at this as a very partial and unjust procedure, urging, that had it been left to their choice, they shoidd have preferred the acting on shore to the continuing on board; that their duty, while their comrades were on shore, was extremely fatiguing ; for, besides the labour of the day, they were oonstanUy under arms all night, to secure the prisoners, whose numbers exceeded their own, and of whom it was .then necessary to be extremely watchful, to prevent any attempts they might have formed in that critical con- juncture: that, upon the whole, it could not be denied but that tho presence of a sufficient force on board was as necessary to the success of the enterprise as the action of the others on shore, and, therefore, tiiose who had con- tinued on board maintained, that they could not be deprived of their share of the plunder without manifest injustice. These were the contests amongst our men, which were carried on with great heat on both sides; and though the plunder in question was a very trifle, in comparison of the treasures taken in the place (in which there was no doubt but those on board had an eqval right), yet, as the obstinacy of sailors is not always regulated by the importance of the matter in dispute gor daj ha^ or lool ■j*ry Utur. m.] DITI8I0N or THE PLUNOBB OF I'AiVA. 188 the Commodore thought it necessary to put a stop to this ferment betimes. Accordingly, the morning after our leaving Faita, he ordered all ^mds upon tiie quarterr deck, where, addressing himself to thoso who hail been detached on shore, he. commended their behaviour, and thanked them for their services on that occasion: but then, representing to them the reasons urged by those who had continued on board for an equal distribution of the plunder, he told them that he thought these reasons very conclusive, and that the expectations of their com- rades were jusdy founded : and tiierefore he insisted that not only the men, but all the officers likewise, who had been employed in taking the place, should produce the whole of their plunder immediately upon tiie quarter- deck, and that it should be impartially divided amongst the whole crews in proportion to each man's rank and commission : and, to prevent those who had been in possession of the plunder from murmuring at this dimi- nution of their share, the Commodore added, that as an encouragement to others who might bo hereafter em- ployed on like services, he would give his entire share to be distributed amongst those who had been detached for the attack of the place. Thus this troublesome affiur, which, if permitted to have gone on, might perhaps have been attended with mischievous consequences, was, by the Commodore's prudence, soon appeased, to the general satis- faction of the ship's company ; not but there were some few whose selfish dispositions were iminfluenced by the justice of this procedure, and who were incapable of dis- cerning the force of equity, however glaring, when it tended to deprive them of any part of what they hod once got into their hands. This important business employed the best part of the day, after we came from Paita. And now, at night, having no sight of the Gloucester, the Commodore ordered the squadron to bring to, tliAt we might not pass her in tiie dark. The next morning we again looked out for her, and at ten we saw a sail, to which 184 VOTAOK BOUND THB WOBU). TBooK 11. It •II '■•■'III III" '•t:.' we gave chase; and at two in the afternoon we came near enough to disooyer her to be the Gloucester, with a small yessel in tow. About an hour after we were joined by them; and then we learnt that Oaptain Mitchell, in the whole time of his omise, had only taken two prizes : one of them being a small snow, whose cargo consisted chiefly of wine, brandy, and oliyes in jars, with about 7,0002. in specie ; and the other a large boat, or laimch, which the Gloucester's barge came up with near the shore. The prisoners on board this last yessel alleged that they were yery poor, and that their lading consisted only of cotton ; though the circumstances in which the barge surprised them seemed to insinuate that they were more opulent than they pretended to be; for the Gloucester's people found them at dinner upon pigeon- pie seryed up in silyer dishes. Howeyer, the officer who commanded the barge haying opened seyeral of the jars on board, to satisfy his curiosity, and finding nothing in them but cotton, he was inclined to belieye the ac- count the prisoners gaye him ; but the cargo being taken into the Gloucester, and there examined more strictly, they were agreeably surprised to find that the whole was a yery extraordinary piece of false package, and that there was concealed amongst the cotton, in eyery jar, a considerable quantity of double doubloons and dollars to the amount, on the whole, of near 12,000Z. This treasure was going to Paita, and belonged to the same merchants who were the proprietors of the greatest part of the money we had taken there : so that had this boat escaped the Gloucester, it is probable her cargo would haye fallen into our hands. Besides these two prizes which we haye mentioned, the Gloucester's people told us that they had been in sight of two or three other •hips of the enemy which had escaped them ; and one of them, we had reason to belieye, from some of our intel- ligence, was of immense yalue. Being now joined by the Gloucester and her prize, it was resolyed that we should stand to the northward, and Cur.VlL' VWtMBMVn TO PBOOSED NOBTHWAKD. 186 ' Hill make the best of our way either to Oape St. Lccas, ox Oalifomia, or to Cape Ck>riente8 on the coast of Mexico. Indeed, the Oommodoro, when at Juan Fernandez, had determined with himself to touch in the neighbonrhood of Panama, and to endeavour to get some correspondence overland with the fleet under the command of Admiral Vernon. For, when we departed from England, we left a large force at Portsmoutii, which was intended to be sent to the West Indies, there to be employed in an ex- pedition against some of the Spanish settlements. And Mr. Anson taking it for granted that this enterprise had succeeded, and that Porto Bello perhaps might be then garrisoned by British troops, he hoped that on his arrival at the Isthmus he should easily procure an intercourse with our countrymen on the other side, either by the Indians, who were greatly disposed in our favour, or even by the Spaniards themselves, some of whom, for proper rewards, might be induced to carry on this intelligence, which, after it was once begun, might be continued with very little difficulty: so that Mr. Anson flattered him- self that he might, by this means, have received a rein- forcement of men from the other side, and that by settling a prudent plan of operations with our com- manders in the West Indies, he might have taken even Panama itself; which would have given to the British nation the possesion of that Isthmus, whereby we should have been in effect masters of all the treasures of Pern, and should have had in our hands an equivalent for any demands, however extraordinary, which we might have been induced to make on either of the branches of the House of Bourbon. Such were the projects which the Commodore revolved in his thoughts at the island of Juan Fernandez, not- withstanding the feeble condition to which he was then reduced. And, indeed, had the success of our force in the West Indies been answerable to the general expect- ation, it cannot be denied but these views would have been the most prudent that could have been thought at 1 ^1 nl 186 VOTAGK BOONB THK WOBLD. [BuOKl^ But, in ezamining the papers which were found on board the Oarmelo, the first prize we took, we learnt (though I then omitted to mention it) that our attempt against Garthagena had &iled, and that there was no probability that our fleet in that part of the world would engage in any new enterprise that would at all facilitate this pltm. Mr. Anson, therefore, gave over all hopes of being rein- forced across the Is^mius, and consequently had no in- ducement at present to proceed to Panama, as he was incapable of attacking tlie place ; and there was great reason to believe that, by this time, there was a general embargo on all the coast. The only feasible measure, then, which was left us was to steer as soon as possible to the southern parts of Cali- fornia, or to the adjacent coast of Mexico, there to cruise for the Manilla Glaleon, which we knew was now at sea, bound to the port of Acapulco. And we doubted not to get on that station time enough to intercept her ; for this ship does not usually arrive at Acapulco till towards the middle of January, and we were now but in the middle of November, and did not conceive that our passage thither would cost us above a month or five weeks ; so that we imagined we had near twice as much time as was necessary for our purpose. Indeed, there was a busi- ness, which we foresaw would occasion some delay, but we flattered ourselves that it would be despatched in four or five days, and, therefore, could not interrupt our pro- ject. This was the recruiting of our water; for the number of prisoners we had entertained on board since our leaving the island of Fernandez had so far exhausted our stock, that it was impossible to think of venturing upon this passage to the coast of Mexico till we had procured a fresh supply ; especially as at Paita, where we had some hopes of getting a quantity, we did not find enough for our consumption during our stay there. It was for some time a matter of deliberation where we should take in this necessary article ; but, by consulting the accounts of former navigators, and examining our CRAr. VIL] raLA»J> or PLATA. 187 80 prisonen, we at last resolyed for the island of Qnibo, situated at the mouth of the bay of Panama ; nor was it but on good grounds that the Commodore conceived this to be the properest phioe for watering the squadron. In- deed, there was a small island, called Cooos, which was less out of our way than Quibo, whore some of the Buc- caneers have pretended they found water; but none of our prisoners knew anything of it, and it was thought too dEtngerous to risk tibe safety of the squadron, by ex- posing ourselves to the hazard of not meeting with water when we came there, on the mere authority of these legendary writers, of whose misrepresentations and falsi- ties we had almost daily experience. Besides, by going to Quibo, we were not without hopes that some of the enemy's diips, bound to or from Panama, might faU into our hands, particularly such of them as were put to sea before they had any intelligence of our squadron. Determined, therefore, by these reasons, for Quibo, we directed our course northward, being eight sail in com- pany, and, consequently, having the appearance of a very formidable fleet ; and on the 19th, at daybreak, we dis- covered Cape Blanco, bearing S.S.E. ^ E., seven miles distant. This Cape lies in the latitude of 4|P 16' south, and is always made by ships, bound either to windward or to leeward ; so that off this Cape is a most excellent station to cruise upon the enemy. By this time we found that our last prize the Solidad, was far from answering the character given her of a good sailer ; and she and the Santa Teresa delaying us considerably, the Commo- dore commanded them both to be cleared of everything that might prove useM to the rest of the ships, and then to be burnt ; and having given proper instructions, and a rendezvous to the Gloucester and the other prizes, we proceeded in our course for Quibo ; and on the 22nd, in the morning, saw the island of Plata, bearing east, distant four leagues. Here one of our prizes was ordered to stand close in with it, both to discover if tiiere wore any ships between that island and the continent, and likewise 188 ▼OTAOB BOUMD TBI WOULD. rBooBXL ■i to look out for a stream of fretsh water which waa reportod to be there, and which would have saved os the trouble of going to Quibo : but she returned without having seen any ship, or finding any water. At three in the afternoon Point Manta bore S.E. by E., seven miles distant; and, there being a town of the same name in the neighbourhood, Oaptain Mitchell took this opportunity of sending away several of his prisoners from the Glou- cester in tiie Spanish launch. The boats were now daily employed in distributing provisions on board our prizes, to complete their stock for six months ; and that the Cen- turion might be the better prepared to give the Manilla ship (one of which we were told was of an immense size) * warm reception, the carpenters were ordered to fix eight stocks in the main and fore tops, which were properly fitted for the mounting of swivel-guns. On the 26th we had a sight of the island of Gallo, bearing S.S.E. i E., four leagues distant ; and from hence we crossed the bay of Panama, with a N.W. course, hoping that this would have carried us in a direct line to the island of Quibo. But we afterwards found that wo ought to have stood more to the westward ; for the winds in a short time began to incline to that quarter, ■ and made it difficult to gain the island. After passing the equator (which we did on the 22nd), and leaving the neighbourhood of the OordiUeras, and standing more and more towards the Isthmus, where the communication of the atmosphere to the eastward and the westward was no longer interrupted, we found, in a very few days, an extraoidinary alteration in the climate; for, instea^l of that uniform temperature, where neither the excess of heat nor cold was to be complained of, we had now, for several days together, close and sultry weather, resem- bling what we had before met with on tiie coast of Bra- zil, and in other parts between the tropics, on the eastern side of America. We had, besides, frequent calms and heavy rains, which we at first ascribed to the neighbour- hood of the line, where this kind of weather is generally OB^P.VIL UmtTAL AT Qvno. 189 found to piuvail at all seasona of the year ; bnt obMnring that it attended us to the latitude of seyon degrees north, we were at length induced to beliere that the stormy season, or, as the Spaniards call it, the vandevals, was not yet over ; though many writers positively assert that this season hegins in June, and is ended in November ; and our prisoners all affirmed the same thing. But perhaps its end may not be always constant, and it might last tlus year longer than usual. On the 27th, Captain Mitchell, having finished the clearing of his largest prize, she was soutued and set on fire ; but we still consisted of five ships, and were fortu- nate enough to find them all good sailers; so that we never occasioned any delay to each other. Being now in a rainy climate, which we had long been disused to, we found it neoeasaiy to caulk the decks and sides of the Centurion, to prevent the rain-water from running into her. On the 3rd of December, we had a view of the island of Quibo, the east end of which then bore from us N.N.W. four leagues distant, and the island of Quicara W.N.W. about the same distance. Here we struck ground with sixty-five fathoms of line, the bottom consisting of gray sand with black specks. When we had thus got sight of the land, we found the wind to hang westerly ; and, therefore, night coming on, we thought it advisable to stand off till morning, as there are said to be some shoals in the entrance of the channel. At six the next morn- ing. Point Mariato bore N.E. ^ N. three or four leagues distant. In weathering this point all the squadron, ex- cept the Centurion, were very near it ; and the Gloucester, being the leewardmost ship, was forced to tack and stand to the southward, so that we lost sight of her. At nine, the island of Sebaoo bore N.W. by N. four leagues dis- tant; but the wind still proving unfiEivourable, we were obliged to ply on and off for the succeeding twenty-fota hours, and were frequently taken aback. However, at eleven the next morning the wind happily settled in ijbib yi\ 1 s^:* I ! 190 ▼OTAQB BOUVD THE WOBLD. [BOOBll S.S.W., and we bore away for the S.S.E. end of the island, and, about three in the afternoon, entered the Oanal Bueno, paMiag round a shoal which stretohea off about two miles from the south point of the island. This Oanal Bueno, or Qooi channel, is at least six miles in breadth ; and, as we had the wind large, we kept in a good depth of water, generally from twenty-eignt to thirty-tlu«e fathoms, and came not within a mile and half distance of the breakers ; though, in all probability, if it had been necessary, we might have ventured much nearer, without inoturing the least danger. At seven in the evening we \nohored in thirty-three fathoms muddy ground; the south point of the island bearing S.E. by S., a re- markable high part of the island W. by N., and the isknd Sebaoo £. by N. CHAPTER Vin. Our ProcMdlngt at Quibo^ wlUi an Aocoant of the Place. Thi next morning, after our anchoring, an officer was despatched on shore to discover the watering-place, who, having found it, returned before noon ; and then we sent tiie long-boat for a load of water, and, at the same time, we weighed and stood fitrther in with our ships. At two we came again to an anchor, in twenty-two fathoms, with a bottom of rough gravel intermixed with broken shells, the watering-place now bearing frY)m us N.W. ^ N. only three-quarters of a mile distant. The latitude of the S.E. point of the island is, as hath been alreSdy mentioned, 70° 20' north. This island of Quibo is extremely convenient for brooding and watering, since the trees grow close to the high-water mark, and a large rapid stream of fresh water runs over the sandy beach into the sea : so that we were little more than two days in laying in all the wood and water we wanted. The whole island is of a very moderate Qur.VUI.] AOOOVMT OV THS ifLOKD Of (fffTMOt 191 height, ezoopting one part. It ooaiifts of a contintted wood apread all over the whole anrfiMse of the ooimtiy, which preservoB ita yerdnre the year round. Amongst the other wood, we found there abundance of eawia, Mid a few lime-trees. It appeared singular to us that, con- sidering the climate and the shelter, we should see no other birds than parrots, parroquets, and mackaws; in- deed, of these last there were prodigious flights. Next to these birds, tho anin>Als we found m most plentv were monkeys and guanos, and those we frequently killed for food; for, notwithstanding there were many herds of deer upon the place, yet the difficulty of penetrating the wopds prerented our coming near them ; so that, though we saw them often, we killed only two during our stay. Our prisoners assured us that this island abounded with tigeis; and we did once discorer the print of a tiger's paw upon the beach, but the tigers themselves we never saw. The Spaniards, too, informed us that there was frequently found in ihe woods a most mischievous ser^ jMtnt, called the flying snake, which, they said, darted it- self from the bou^^s of trees on either man or beast that came within its reach ; and whose sting they believed to be inevitable death. Besides these dangerous land- animals, the sea hereabouts is infested with great num- bers of alligators of an extraordinary size ; and we often observed a large kind of flat fish, jumping a consider- able height out of the water, which we supposed to be the fish that is said frequently to destroy tiie pearl divers, by clasping them in its fins as they rise from the bottom ; and we were told that the divers, for their security, are now always armed with a sharp knife, which, when they are entangled, they stick into the beUy of the fish, and thereby disengage themselves from its embraces. Whilst the ship continued here at anchor, the Gom- modore, attended by some of his officers, went in a boat to examine a bay which lay to the northward ; and they afterwards ranged all along the eastern side of the island. !? 192 yOTAOI BOUND THS WOBLD. moiw U. 1:: AdcI, in the places where they put on shore in the oourra of this expedition, they generally found the soil to be ex- tremely rich, and met with great plenty of excellent water. In particular, near the N.E. point of the island, they discovered a natural cascade, which surpassed, as they conceived, everything of this kind which human art or industry hath hitherto produced. It was a river of transparent water, about foiiy yards wide, which rolled down a declivity of near a hundred and fifty yards in length. The channel it fell in was very irregular; for it was entirely composed of rock, both its sides and bottom being made up of large detached blocks ; and by these the course of the water was frequently interrupted ; for in some pcrts it ran sloping, with a rapid but uniform motion, while in others it tumbled over the ledges of rocks with a perpendicular descent. All the neighbour- hood of this stream was a fine wood: and even the huge masses of rock which overhung the water, and which, by their various projections, formed the inequali- ties of tiie channel, were covered with lofty forest trees. Whilst the Commodore, with those accompanying him, wore attentively viewing the place, and were I'emark- ing the different blendings of the water, the rocks, and . the wood, there came in sight (as it were still to heighten and animate the prospect^ a prodigious fiight of mackaws, which, hovering over this spot, and often wheeling and playing on the wing above it, afforded a most brilliant appearance, by the glittering of the sun on their varie- gated plumage; so that some of the spectators cannot refrain from a kind of transport, when they recount the complicated beauties which occurred in this extraordi- nary waterfall. Li this expedition which the boat made along the eastern side of the island, though they discovered no inhabitants, yet they saw many huts upon the shore, and great heaps of shells of fine mother-of-pearl scattered up and down in different places : these were the remains left by the pearl-fishers from Panama, who often frequent mw U. URAP. VII.] MODI or OBTTIMO PKABLS. 199 lOUTM le ex- grater. , they I they m art ver of rolled rds in ir; for 3B and and by Tipt^d; iniform iges of \ rhbonr- ren the er, and leqnali- }t trees, ig him, remark- ks, and leighten lackawB, ing and )]^ant varie- cannot )ant the traordi- ong the ered no ore, and teredup remains frequent this place in the summer season ; for the pearl-oysters, which are to be met with eyerywhere in the bay of Panama, do so abound at Quibo, that, by advancing a very littie way into the sea, you might stoop down and reach them from the bottom. They are usually very large; and out of curiosity we opened some of them, wilb a view of tasting them, but we found them ex' tremely tough and un^datable. And having mentioned these oysters and the pearl-fishery, I must beg leave to recite a few particulars relating to that subject. The oysters most productive of pearls are those found in considerable depths; for though what are taken up by wading near the shore are of the same species, yet the pearls they contain are few in number and very small. It is said, too, that the pearl partakes, in some degree, of the quality of the bottom on which the oyster is lodged; so that, if the bottom be muddy, the pearl is dark and ill-coloured. The taking up oysters from great depths, for the sake of their pearls, is a work performed by negro slaves, of which the inhabitants of Panama and the neighbouring coast formerly kept vast numbers, which were carefully trained to this business. Though the pearl-oyster, as hath been said, was inca- pable of being eaten, yet their defect was more than repaid by the turtle, a dainty which the sea at this place furnished us with in the greatest plenty ftnd perfection. There are generally reckoned four species of turtle ; that is, the trunk turtle, the loggerhead, the hawksbiU, and the green turtle. The two first are rank and un- wholesome: the hawksbill (which affords the tortoise- sheU) is but indifferent food, though better than the other two; but the green turtle is generally esteemed by the greatest part of those who are acquainted with ito taste, to be the most delicious of all eatables ; and that it is a most wholesome food, we are amply convinced by our own experience ; for we fed on this last species, or the green turtle, near four months, and, consequently, 9 194 VOTAOX BOUND THK WORLD. mooKii, had it been in any degree noxious, its ill effects could not possibly have escaped us. At this island we caught what quantity we pleased with great fiusility : for as they are an amphibious animal, and get on shore to lay their eggs, which they generally deposit in a large hole in the sand, just above tiie high-water mark, covering them up, and leaving them to be hatched by the heat of the sun, we usually dispersed several of our men along the beach, whose business it was to turn them on their backs when they came on land; and the turtle being thereby pre- sented from getting away, we brought them off at our leisure. By tibis means, we not only secured a sufficient stock for the time we stayed on the island, but we carried a number of them with us to sea, which proved of great service, both in lengthening out our store of provision, and in heartening the whole crew with an almost constant supply of fresh and palatable food ; for the turtle being la^e, they generally weighing about 200 lbs. weight each, those we took with us lasted near a month ; so that, be- fore our store was spent, we met with a fr^sh recruit on the coast of Mexico, where, in the heat of the day, we often saw great numbers of them &at asleep, floating on the surface of the water. Upon discovering them, we usually sent out our boat with a man in the bow, who wag a dexterous diver; and as the boat came within a few yards of the turtle, the diver plunged into the water, taking care to rise close upon it, when seizing the shell near the tail, and pressing down the hinder parts, the turtle was thereby awakened, and began to strike with its claws, which motion supported botii it and the diver till the boat came up and took them in. By this ma- nagement, we never wanted turtle for the succeeding four months in which we continued at sea ; and though, when at the island of Quibo, we had already been three months on board, without otherwise putting our feet on shore than in the few days we stayed there (except those employed in the attack at Paita), yet, in the whole •even months from our leaving Juan Fernandez to our scnl that anil and the mani have \ MKll. could augbt lihey their in the imup, a Bun, beach, ) wheu y pre- at our fficieut oarried f great jvision, loustant a being \it each, hat,be- cruit on day, we tting on xem, we ow, who tnthin a 16 water, he shell arts, the ike with ihe diver this ma- icceeding i though, oen three our feet •e (except the whole ez to our Chap. VIII.] TUBTLK PROSOBIBBD UY THE 8PANIAB0S. 195 anchoring in the harbour of Chequetan, wo buried no more in the whole squadron than two men ; a most incon- testable proof that the turtle, on which we fed fur the last four months of this term, was at least innocent, if not something more. Considering the scarcity of other provisions on some parts of the coast of the South Seas, it appears wonder- ful that a species of food so very palatable and salubrious as turtle, and there so much abounding, should be pro- scribed by the Spaniards as unwholesome, and little leas than poisonous. Perhaps the strange appearance of this animal may have been the foundation of this ridiculous and superstitious aversion, which is strongly rooted ii the inhabitants of those countries, and of which we had many instances during the course of this navigation. I have already observed, that we put our Spanish prisoners 196 VOYAOB ROUND THB WOBLD. [BooKlL on shore at Paita, and that the Gloucester sent theirs to Manta ; but, as we had taken in our prizes some Indian and negro slaves, we did not dismiss them with their masters, but continued them on board, as our crews were thin, to assist in navigating our' ships. These poor people being possessed with the prejudices of the country they came from, were astonished^ at our feeding on turtle, and seemed fully persuaded that it would soon destroy us ; but finding that none of us died, nor even suffered in our health, by a continuation of this diet, they at last got so tax the better of their aversion as to be persuaded to taste it, to which the absence of all other kinds of fresh provisions might not a little contribute. However, it was with great reluctance, and very spar- ingly, that they first began to eat of it ; but the rdish improving upon tfiein by degrees, they lU last grew ex- treqaely fond of it, and preferred it to every other kind of food, and often felicitated etudjix other on the happy experience they had acfuued, and the luxurious and plentiful repasts it wouJIfL. .i^ways be in their power to procure, when they should agfun return back to their country. Those who aro acquainted with the manner of life of those unhappy wretches need not be told that, next to large draughts of spirituous liquors, plenty of tolerable food is the greatest joy they know, and conse- quently, the discovering the means of being always sup- plied with what quantity they pleased, of a food more delicious to the palate than any their haughty lords and masters could indulge in, was doubtless a circumstance which they considered as the most fortunate that could befall them. After this digression, which the prodigious quantity of turtle on this island of Quibo, and the store of it we thence took to sea, in some measure led me into, I shall now return to our own proceedings. In three days' time we had completed our business at this place, and were extremely impatient to depart, that we might arrive time enough on the coast of Mexicv to intercept the Manilla galeon. But the wind being \ looxlL into ndian their Bwsre I poor ountry turtle, leBtroy (Offered t, ihey ) to be 1 other [tribute, y gpar- e relisb ;tew ex- ler land e happy ouB and )ower to to their tanner of old that, )lenty ol [d conse- rays snp- aod more lords and }umBtance hat could )TodigiouB le store of me into, I fusiness at epart, that of Mexico and being UHAF. yui LEAVE THE ISLAND OF QUIBO. 197 contrary, detained us a night; and the next day, when we got into the offing, which we did through the same channel by which we entered, we were obUged to keep hovering about the island, in hopes of getting sight of the Gloucester, which, as I have in t^e last chapter mentioned, was separated from us on our first arrival. It was the 9th of December, in the morning, when we put to sea; and continuing to the southward of the island, looking out for the Gloucester, we, on the 10th, at five in the afternoon, discerned a small sail to the northward of us, to which we gave chase, and, coming up with her, took her. She proved to be a bark from Panama, called the Jesu Nazareno. She had nothing on board but some oakum, a ton of rock salt, and be- tween 302. and 402. in specie, most of it consisting of small silver money, intended for purchasing a cargo of provisions at Cheripe, an inconsiderable village on the continent. On the 12th of December, we were at last relieved from the perplexity we had suffered, occasioned by the separa- tion of the Gloucester ; for on that day Ae joined us, and informed us that, in tacking to the southward on our first arrival, she had sprung her foretop-mast, which had dis- abled her from working to vnndward, and prevented her from joining us sooner. And now we scuttled and sunk the Jesn Nazareno, the prize we took last ; and having the greatest impatience to get into a proper station for intercepting the Manilla galeon, we stood all together to the westwaid, leaving the island of Quibo, notwithstanding all the impediments we met with, about nine days after our first coming in sight of it. 198 VOYAGE KOUND THE WORLD. BcicsU. CHAPTER IX. F>om Qulbo to the CoMt of Mexico. On the 12th of December we stood from Quibo to the westward, and the same day the Commodore delivered fresh inslructions to the captains of the men-of-war and the commanders of our prizes, appointing the places of meeting, and the courses they were to steer, in case of a separation. And first, they were directed to use all pos- sible despatch in getting to the northward of the harbour of Acapulco, where they were to endeavour to fall in with the land between the latitudes of eighteen and nineteen degrees ; from thence they were to beat up the coast at eight or ten leagues' distance from the shore, till they came abreast of Cape Corientes, in the latitude of 20° 20'. After they arrived there, they were to continue cruising on that station till the 14th of February, when they were to depart for the middle island of the Tres Marias, in the latitude of 21° 25', bearing from Cape Corientes N. W. by N., twenty-five leagues distant. And if at this island they did not meet the Commodore, they were there to recruit their wood and water, and then immediately to proceed for the island of Macao, on the coast of China. These orders being distributed to all the ships, we had little doubt of arriving soon upon our in- tended station, as we expected, upon the increasing our offing from Quibo, to fall in with the regular trade-wind. But to our extreme vexation we were baffled for near a month, either by tempestuous weather from the western quarter, or by dead calms and heavy rains, attended with a sultry air ; so that it was the 25th of December before we saw the island of Cocos, which, according to our reckoning, was only a hundred leagues from the continent : and even then we had the mortification to make so little way that we did not lose sight of it again in five days. Our. IX.J BUN TO THl 00A8T OF MEUCO. 199 sing our xle-wind. ir near a western ided wiih er before g to onr ontinent : e 60 little days. Tills island we found to be in the latitude of S*" 20' N, It has a high hummock towards the western part, which descends gradually, and at last terminates in a low point to the eastward. From the island of Cocoa, we stood W. by N., and were till the ninth of January in running an hundred leagues more. We had at first flattered ourselves that the uncertain weather and western gales we met with were owing to the neighbourhood of the continent ; from which, as we got more distant, we expected every day to be relieved, by falling in with the eaistem trade-wind : but as our hopes were so long baffled, and our patience quite exhausted, we began at length to despair of succeed- ing in the great purpose we had in view, that of inter- cepting the Manilla galeon. This produced a general dejection amongst us, as we had at first considered the project as almost in&llible, and had indulged ourselves in the most boundless hopes of the advantages we should thence receive. However, our despondency was at last somewhat alleviated by a favourable change of the wind : for, on the 9th of Januaiy, a gale sprang up the first time from the N.E., and on this we took the Carmelo in tow, as the Gloucester did the Carmin, making all the sail we could to improve the advantage, because we still suspected that it was only a temporary gale which would not last long ; though tiie next day we had the satisfisMstion to find that the wind did not only continue in the same quarter, but blew with so much briskness and steadiness, that we no longer doubted of its being the true trade-wind. As we now advanced apace towards onr station, our hopes began to revive, and our former despair, by degrees, gave place to more sanguine prospects ; insomuch, that tiiough the customary season of the arrival of the galeon at Acapulco was already elapsed, yet we were by this time unreason- able enough to flatter ourselves, that some accidental de- lay might, for our advantage, lengthen out her passage beyond its usual limits. When we got into the trade-wind, we found no altera- tion in it tUl the 17th of Januaiy, when we were ad- ' * 200 VOYAOK BOVIID TBI WOBLO. rBoOKlL !!!!ii xnnoed to the latitude of 12° 50' ; but on that day it shifted to the westward of the nortii. This change we imputed to our having hauled up too soon, though we then esteemed ourselves full seventy leagues firom the coast ; whence, and by our former experience, we were folly satis- fied that the trade-wind doth not take place but at a con- siderable distance from the continent. After this the wind was not so favourable to us as it had been ; however we still continued to advance, and on the 26th of January, being then to the northward of Acapulco, we tacked and stood to the eastward with a view of making the land. In the preceding fortnight, we caught some turtle on the surface of the water, and several dolphins, bonitos, and albicores. One day, as one of the sail-maker's mates was fishing from the end of the jib-boom, he lost his hold, and dropped into the sea; and the ship, which was then going at the rate of six or seven knots, went directly over him; but as we had the Carmelo in tow we instantly called out to the people on board her, who threw him over several ends of ropes, one of which he fortunately caught hold o^ and twisting it round his arm, he was thereby hauled into the ship without having received any other in- jury than a wrench in the arm, of which he soon recovered. . When, on the 26th of January, we stood to the east- ward, we expected by our reckonings to have fallen in with the land on the 28th ; yet though the weather was perfectly clear, we had no sight of it at sunset, and therefore we continued our course, not doubting but we should see it by the next morning. About ten at night we discovered a light on the larboard bow, bearing from us N.N.E. The Tryal's Prize too, which was about a mile ahead of us, made a signal at the same time for seeing a sail. As we had none of us any doubt but what we saw was a ship's light, we were all extremely animated with a firm persuasion- that it was the Manilla galeon, which had been so long the object of our wishes : and what added to our alacrity was our e^tectation of meet- ing with two of them instead of one ; for we took it for Oiur. IX.] BT7N TO THa OOAST OF MSXIOO. 201 it granted that the light in view was carried in the top of one ship for a direction to her consort. We immediately cast off the Carmelo, and pressed forward with all our canvas, making a signal for the Gloucester to do the same. Thus we chased the light, keeping all oxa hands at their respective quarters, under an expectation of en- gaging within half an hour, as we sometimes conceived tiie chase to be about a mile distant, and at other times to be within reach of our guns ; for some on board us positively averred, that besides the light they could plainly discern her sails. The Commodore himself was so fully persuaded that we should be soon alongside of her, that he sent for his first-lieutenant, who commanded between decks, and directed him to see all the great guns loaded with two round shot for the first broadside, and after that with one round shot and one grape, strictly charging him at the same time, not to suffer a gun to be fired till he, the Commodore should give orders, which he informed the lieutenant would not be tiU we arrived within pistol-shot of the enemy. In this constant and eager attention we continued all night, always presuming that another quarter of an hour would bring us up with the Manilla ship, whose wealth, and that of her supposed consort, we now estimated by round millions. But when the morning broke and dayUght came on, we were most strangely and vexatiously disappointed, by finding that the light which had occasioned all this bustle and ex- pectancy was only a fire on the shore. It must be owned the circumstances of tfaiis deception were so extraor- dinary as to be scarcely credible, for by our run during the night and the distance of the land in the morning, there was no doubt to be made but this fire, when we first discovered it, was about twenty-five leagues from us ; and yet I believe there was no person on board who doubted of its being a ship's light, or of its being near at hand. It was indeed upon a very high mountain, and continued burning for several days afterwards ; however, it was not a volcano, but rather, as I suppose, a tract of ao2 YOTAOB BOVKS THS WOULD. [BookU • .!; I stubble, or heath, set on fire for some purpose of agri- culture. At sunrising, after this mortifying delusion, we found ourselves about nine leagues o£f the land, which extended from the N.W. to E. ^ N. On this hmd, we obseryed two remarkable hummocks, such as are usually called paps, which bore north from us : these a Spanish pilot and two Indians, who were the only persons among us that pretended to have traded in this part of the world, affirmed to be over the harbour of Acapulco. Indeed we very much doubted their knowledge of the coast, for we found these paps to be in the latitude of 17° ib', whereas those over Acapulco are said to be seventot-rti degrees only ; and we afterwards found our suspicions of their skill to be well grounded : however, they were very confident, and assured us that the height of the mountains was itself an infallible mark of the harbour ; the coast as they pretended, though falsely, being generally low to the eastward and westward of it. Being now in the track of the Manilla galeon, it was a great doubt with us, as it was near the <)ud of January, whether she was or was not arrived ; b>it examining our jprisoners about it, they assured us that she was some- times known to come in after the middle of February ; and they endeavoured to persuade us that the fire we had seen on shore was a proof that she was yet at sea, it being customary, as they said, to make use of these fires as signals for her direction, when she continued longer out ^han ordinary. On this reasoning of our prisoners, strengthened by our propensity to believe them in a matter which so pleasingly flattered our wishes, we re- solved to cruise for her some days ; and we accordingly spread our ships at the distance of twelve leagues from the coast in such a manner that it was impossiblo slie should pass us unobserved. However, not seeing her soon, we were at intervals inclined to suspect that she had gained her port already : and as we now began to want a harbour to refresh our people, the uncertainly of •'^fi OM^r. IX.] ABBIVAL ON TBS COAST OF MXXIOO. 208 our present situation gave us great uneasiness, and we were yery solicitous to get some positive intelligence, which might either set us at liberty to consult our neces- sities, if ^e galeon was arrived, or might animate us to continue our present cruise with cheeiifulness if she was not. With this view the Commodore, after examining our prisoners very particularly, resolved to send a boat, under colour of tiie night, into the harbour of Acapulco, to see if the Manilla ship was there or not ; one of the Indians being very positive that this might be done with- out the boat itsdf being discovered. To execute this enterprise the barge was despatched the 6th of Februaty, carrying a sufficient crew and two officers, as also a Spa- nish pilot, with the Indian who had insisted on the facility of this project, and had undertaken to conduct it. Our barge did not return to us again till the 11th, when the officers acquainted Mr. Anson that, agreeably to our sus- picion, there was nothing like a harbour m the place where the Spanish pilots had at first asserted Acapulco to lie ; that, after they had satisfied themselves in this particular they steered to the eastward, in hopes of dis- covering it, and had coasted along-shore thirty-two leagues : that, in this whole range, they met chiefly with sandy beaches of a great lengti^, over which the sea broke with so much violence, that it was impossible for a boat to land : that at the end of their run, they could just discover two paps at a very great distance to the eastward, which, from their appearance and their latitude, they concluded to be those in the neighbourhood of Acapulco ; but that) not having a sufficient quantity of fresh water and provision for their passage thither and back again, they were obliged to return to the Commodore, to acquaint him with their £s- appointment. On this intelligence we all made sail to the eastward, in order to get into the neighbourhood of that port ; the Commodore being determined to send the barge a second time upon the same enterprise, when we were arrived within a moderate distance. Accordingly the next day, which was the 12th of February, we being by that 204 TOTAOB ROUND TBI WOBLD. [BnoBlI. time oonsiderablj advanced, the barge was again de« Bpatched, and particular instructions given to the officers to preserve themselves from being seen from the shore. On the 13th, we espied a high Itmd to the eastward, which was first imagined to be that over the harbour of Aca- pnloo ; but we afterwards found that it was the high land of Segnateneio, where there is a small harbour, ox which we shall have occasion to make more ample mention here- after. We waited six days from the departure of our barge without any news of her, so that we began to be uneasy for her safety ; but on the seventh day, that is, on the 19th of February, she returned. When the officers in- formed the Oommodore that they had discovered the har- bour of Acapulco, which they esteemed to bear from vm E.S.E., at least fifty leagues distant : that on the 17th, about two in the morning, they were got within the island that lies at the mouth of the harbour, and yet neither the Spanish pilot nor the Indian could give them any inform- ation where they then were ; but that, while they were lying upon their oars in suspense what to do, being igno- rant that they were then at the very place they sought for, they discerned a small light near the surface of the water, on which they iustanUy plied their paddles, and ■ moving as silently as possible towards it, they found it to be a fishing canoe, which they surprised, with three ne- groes that belonged to it. It seems the negroes at first attempted to jump overboard, tmd being so near the shore they would easily have swum to land; but they were prevented, by presenting a piece at them, on which they readily submitted, and were taken into the baige. The officers further added, that they had immediately turned the canoe adrift against the face of a rock, where it would inevitably be dashed to pieces by the fury of the sea : this they did to deceive those who, perhaps, might be sent from the town to search after the canoe ; for, upon seeing seve- ral remains of a wreck, they woiild immediately conclude that the people on board her had been drowned, and would have no suspicion of their having fallen into our hands. CUP. no 1J>T1NT0U AT AOAPCLTO. 305 When the orew of the burge had taken this preoantion, they exerted their utmost strengUi in palling out to sea, and by dawn of the day had gained such an oiSng, as rendered it impossible for them to bo seen from the coast. Haying now gotten the three negroes in our posses- sion, who were not ignorant of the transactions at Aca- pulco, we were soon satisfied about the most material points which had long kept us in suspense. On exa- mining them we found that we were indeed disappointed in our e^ectation of intercepting the galeon before her arrival at Acapuloo ; but we learnt other circumstances which still revived our hopes, and which, we then con- ceived, would more than balance the opportunity we had already lost ; for, though our negro prisoners informed us that the galeon arrived at Acapuloo on our 9th of January, which was about twenty days before we fell in with this coast ; yet they at the same time told us, that the galeon had delivered her cargo, and was taking in water and provisions in order to return, and that the Viceroy of Mexico had, by proclamation, fixed her de- parture from Acapuloo to the 14th of March N.S. This last news was most joyfully received by us, since we had no doubt but she must certainly fall into our hands ; and it was much more eligible to seize her on her return than it would have been to have taken her before her arrival, as the specie for which she had sold her cargo, and which she would now have on board, would be pro- digiously more to be esteemed by us than the cargo itself ; great part of which would have perished on our hands, and none of it could have been disposed of by us at so advantageous a mart as Acapulco. Thus we were a second time engaged in an eager ex- pectation of meeting with this Manilla ship, which, by the fame of its wealth, we had been taught to consider as the most desirable capture that was to be made on any part of the ocean. But since all our future projects will be in some sort regulated with a view to the possession of this celebrated galeon, and since the commerce which is 206 VOTAOK BOUND THE WOBLD •.300KU carried on by means of these vessels between the city of Manilla and the port of Acapulco is, perhaps, the most Taluable in proportion to its quantity of any in the known world, I shall endeavour in the ensuing chapter to give as circumstantial an account as I can of all the particuLan relating thereto, both as it is a matter in which I conceive the pubUo to be in some degree interested, and, as I flatter myself that, from the materials which have fallen into my hands, I am enabled to describe it with more distinctness thaii has hitherto been done, at least in oi:r language. CHAPTER X. An Account of the Commerce curled on between the City of Manilla, on the Island of Luoonia, and the Port of Acapulco, on the Coast of Mextoo. Aboct the end of the fifteenth century and the begin- ning of the sixteenth, the searching after new countoies and new branches of commerce was the reigning passion among several of the European princes. But those who engaged most deeply and fortunately in these pursuits were the Kings of Spain and Portugal; the first of them .having discovered the immense and opulent continent of America and its adjacent island; whilst the other, by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, had opened to his fleets a passage to the southern coast of Asia, usually called the East Indies, and by his settlements in that part of the globe, became possessed of many of the manufiEkctures and natural productions with which it abounded ; and which for some ages had been the wonder and delight of the more polished and refined part of mankind. In the mean time, these two nations of Spain and Por- tugal, who were thus prosecuting the same views, though in different quarters of the world, grew extremely jealous of each other, and became apprehensive of mutual en- CttAP.X.] POBTUOUKSK AND SPANISH SISOOTIBiaS. 207 croaohments. And, therefore, to quiet their jealousies, and to enable them with more tranquillity to pursue the propagation of the Catholic faith in these distant coun- tries (they having, both of them, given distinguished marks of their zeal for their mother-church by their butchery of innocent Pagans), Pope Alexander YI. granted to the Spanish crown the property and domi- nion of all places either already discovered, or that should be discovered, an hundred leagues to the westward of the islands of Azores, leaving all the imknown coun- tries to the eastward of this limit to the industry and disquisition of the Portuguese. And this boundary, being afterwards removed tno hundred and fifty leagues more to the westward, by the agreement of both nations, it was imagined that tibis regulation would have sup- pressed all the seeds of future contests ; for the Spaniards presumed that the Portuguese wotild be thereby prevented from meddling with their colonies in America ; and the Portuguese supposed that their East Indian settlements, and particularly the Spice Islands, which they had then newly found out, were for ever secured from any attempts of the Spanish nation. But it seems the infallibility of the holy father had on this occasion deserted him ; and, for want of being more conversant in geography, he had not foreseen that the Spaniards, by pursuing their discoveries to the west, and the Portuguese to the east, might at last meet with each other, and be again embroiled, as it actually happened, within a few years afterwards. For Ferdinand Magellan, an officer in the King of Portugal's service, having re- ceived some disgust from the Court, either by the defal- cation of his pay, or by having his parts, as he con- ceived, too cheaply considered, entered into the service of the King of Spain. As he appears to have been a man of ability, he was desirous of signalizing his talents in some enterprise which might prove extrer>ely vexatious to his former masters, and might teach them to estimate his worth from the greatness of the mischief he brought m-' 208 VOTAOB BOVNS TBB WOBLD. [Book II. *!•!. upon them ; this being the most obviouB and natural turn of all {hgitiTes, more especially of those who, being really men of capacity, have quitted their country by reason of the small account that has been made of tiieiu. Magellan, in pursuance of these vindictive views, know- ing that the Portuguese considered their trafSo to the Spice Islands as their most important acquisition in the East, resolved with himself to instigate the Court of Spain to an attempt which, by still pushing their dis^ coveries to the westward, would give them a light to in- terfere both in the property and commerce of those renowned countries ; and the King of Spain approving of this project, Magellan, in the year 1519, set sail from the port of Seville, in order to carry this enterprise into execution. He had with him a considerable force, con- sisting of five ships, and two hundred and thirty-four men, with which he stood for the coast of South America ; and ranging along-shore, he at length, towards the end of October, 1620, had the good fortune to discover those Straits, which have since been denominated from him, and which opened him a passage into the South Seas. This, which was the first part of his scheme, being thus happily accomplished, he after some stay on the coast of .Peru, set sail again to the westward, with a view of falling in with the Spice Islands. In Ihis extensive run across the Pacific Ocean, he first discovered the Ladrones, or Marian Islands ; and continuing on his course, he at length reached the Philippine Islands, which are the most eastern part of Asia, where venturing on shore in an . hostile manner, and skirmishing with the Indians, he was slain. By the death of Magellan, his original project of securing some of the Spice Islands was defeated; for those who were left in command contented themselves with ranging through them, and purchasing some spices from the natives ; uter which they returned home round the Cape of Good Hope, being the first ships which had ever surrounded this terraqueous globe; and thereby Cbap. X.] ACCOUNT OF MAOELLAN'S DISOOVEBIES. 2W demonstrated by a palpable experiment, obvioiiB to the grossest and most vulgar capacity, the reality of its long- disputed spherical figure. But though Spain did not hereby acquire the property of any of the Spice Islands, yet the discoTcry of the Philippines, made in this expedition, was thought too considerable to be neglected ; since these were not far distant from those places which produced spices, and were very well situated for the Chinese trade, and for the commerce of other parts of India. A communication, therefore, was soon established, and carefully supported, between these islands and the Spanish colonies on the coast of Peru ; whence th'' city of Manilla, which was built on the island of Luoonia, the chief of the Philip- pines, became in a short time the mart for all Indian commodities, which were brought up by the inhabitants, and were annually sent to the South Seas, to be there vended on their account ; and the returns of this com- merce to Manilla being principally made in silver, the place by degrees grew extremely opulent, and its ti-ade so far increased, as to engage the attention of the Court of Spain, to be frequently controlled and regulated by royal edicts. In the infancy of this trade it was carried on from the port of Callao to the city of Manilla, in which navi- gation the trade-wind continually favoured them ; so that notwithstanding these places were distant between three and four thousand leagues, yet the voyage was often made in little more than two months : but then the return from Manilla was extremely troublesome and tedious, and is said to have sometimes lasted above a twelvemonth ; which, if they pretend to ply up within the limits of the trade-wind, is not at all to be wondered at. Indeed, though it is asserted, that in their first voyages they were so imprudent and unskilful as to attempt this course, yet that route was soon laid aside, by the advice, as it is said, of a Jesuit, who persuaded them to steer to the northward, till they got clear of the 210 ▼OTAOK BOUND THK WOULD. [BaoKU. trade-winds, and then, by the favour of the westerly winds, which generally prevail in high latitudes, to stretch away for the coast of California. This we know has been the practice for at least a hundred and sixty years past ; as Sir Thomas Cavendish, in the year 1686, Engaged off the south end of California a vessel bound from Manilla to the American coast. And it was in compliance with this new plan of navigation, and to shorten the run both backwards and forwurds, that the staple of this commerce to and from Manilla was removed from Callao, on the coast of Peru, to the port of Aoapulco on the coast of Mexico, where it continues fixed to this time. Such was the commencement, and such were the early regulations of this commerce ; but its present condition being a much more interesting subject, I must beg leave to dwell longer on this head, and to be indulged in a more particular narration, beginning with a descrip- tion of the island of Luconia, and of the port and bay of Manilla. The island of Luconia, though situated in the latitude of 15° north, is esteemed to be in general extremely healthy, and the water that is found upon it is said to be the best in the world: it produces all the fruits of the warm climates, and abounds in a most excellent breed of horses, supposed to be carried thither first from Spain : it is very well seated for the Indian and Chinese trade ; and the bay and port of Manilla which lies on its western side, is, perhaps, the most remarkable on the whole globe, the bay being a large circular basin, near ten leagues in diameter, great part of it entirely land- locked. On the east side of this bay stands the city ^i Manilla, which is large and populous; and which, ttt the beginning of this war, was only an open place, its principal defence consisting in a small fort, which was almost surrounded on every side by houses; but they have lately made considerable additions to its fortifica- tions, though I have not yet learnt after what manner. aU [BookU. esterly ies, to I know i sixty r 1586, botincl was in. and to 1b, that 11a was port of LOB fixed he early ondition ust beg indulged descrip- id bay of latitude ixtremely I said to fruits of excellent list from Ohinese les on its e on the ftsin, near ely land- le city '■f trhich, t*t place, its rhioh was but they fortificft- manner. ORAP. X.] DESOBIPTION or UAIOLLA. 211 The port peculiar to the city is called Cabite, and lies near two leagues to the southward ; and in this port all the ships employed for the Acapidco trade ai'e usually stationed. The city of Manilla itself is in a healthy situation, is well watered, and is in the neighbourhood of a very fruit- ful and plentiful country ; but, as the principal business of this place is its trade to Acapulco, it lies under some disadvantage from the difficulty there is in getting to sea to the eastward ; for the passage is among islands and through channels, where the Spaniards, by reason of their unskilfulness in marine afiGurs, waste much time, and are often in great danger. The trade carried on from this place to China, and different part of India, is principally for such commo- dities as are intended to supply the kingdom of Mexico and Peru. These are spices, and all sorts of Chinese silks and manufactures ; particularly silk stockings, of which I have heard that no less than fifty thousand pair were the usual number shipped in each cargo ; vast quantities of Indian stuffs, as calicoes and chintzes, which are much worn in America, together with other minuter articles, as goldsmiths' work, &c., which is principally wrought at the city of Manilla itself by the Chinese ; for it is said there are at least twenty thousand Chinese who constantly reside there, either as servants, manufacturers, or brokers. All these different commo- dities are collected at Manilla, thenco to be transported annually, in one or more ships, to the port of Acapuloc^ in the kingdom of Mexico. This trade to Acapulco is not laid open to all the inhabitants of Manilla, but is confined by very particular regulations, somewhat analogous to those by which the trade of the register-ships from Cadiz to the West Indies is restrained. The ships employed herein are found by the King of Spain, who pays the officers and crew ; and the toimage is divided into a certain number of bales, all of the same size : these are distril"ited amongst the ,\ 212 ▼OYAGX BOUm) THE WOBLD. [BoobU. S!»!i,. convents at Manilla, but principally to the Jesuits, as a donation, to support their missions for the propagation of the Catholic faith ; and the convents have thereby a right to embark such a quantity of goods on board the Manilla ship as the tonnage of their bales amounts to ; or, if they choose not to be concerned in trade them- selves, they have the power of selling this privilege to others; nor is it uncommon, when the merchant to whom they sell their share is unprovided of a stock, for the convents to lend him considerable sums of money on bottomry. The trade is by the royal edicts limited to a certain value which the annual cargo ought not to exceed. Some Spanish manuscripts I have seen mention thiti limitation to be 600,000 dollars; but the annual cargo does certainly surpass this simi : and though it may be difficult to fix its exact value, yet, from many com- parisons, I conclude that the return cannot be much short of three millions of dollars. As it is sufficiently obvious that the greatest share of the treasure returned from Acapulco to Manilla does not remain in that place, but is again dispersed into diffe rent parts of India ; and as all European nations have gene- rally esteemed it good policy to keep their American settlements in an immediate dependence on their mother- country, without permitting them to carry on directly any gainful traffic with other powers ; these considera- tions have occasioned many remonstrances to be pre- sented to the Court of Spain against this Indian trade, •llowed to the kingdom of Mexico. It has been urged, that the silk maniiactures of Valencia, and other parts of -^ Spain, are hereby greatly prejudiced, and the Imena oairied from Cadiz much injured in their sale; since Che Chinese silks coming ahnost directly to Acapulco, can be affi>rded considerably cheaper tiiere than any European manufactures of equal goodness; and the oottons from the Coromandel coast make the Europeaa linens nearly useless ; so that the Manilla trade renders IookII. OkA*. X.] TUADB BKTWBEM MANILLA Aim AOAPULOO. 218 ,88 a Ration reby a rd the its to; them- ege to lant to ck, for ney on certain exceed, on thit« 1 cargo may be \ y com- e much ehare of loeB not different ve gjne- Lmerican motber- directly jnsidera- be pre- on trade, en nrged, ler parts le Imens le; since ^capnlco, than any and the EtDTopean e renders both Mexico and Peru less dependent upon Spain for a supply of their necessities than they ought to be ; and exhausts those countries of a considerable quantity of silver, the greatest part of which, were this trade pro- hibited, would centre in Spain, either in payment for Spanish commodities or in gains to the Spanish mer- chant: whereas now the only advantage which arises from it is, the enriching the Jesuits and a few particular persons besides, at the other extremity of the world. These arguments did so far influence Don Joseph Pa- tinho, who was formerly prime minister, and an enemy to the Jesuits, that, about the year 1725, he had resolved to abolish this trade, and to permit no Indian commodities to be introduced into any of the Spanish ports in the West Indies, except such as were brought thither by the register-ships from Europe. But the powerful intrigues of the Jesuits prevented this regulation from taking place. This trade, from Manilla to Acapulco, and back again, is usually carried on in one, or at most two, annual E^iips, which set sail from Manilla about July, and arrive at Acapulco in the December, January, or February follow- ing ; and having there disposed of tiieir effects, return for Manilla some time in March, where they generally arrive in June ; so that the whole voyage takes up very near an entire year. For this reason, though there is often no more than one ship freighted at a time, yet there is always one ready for the sea whcr the other arrives ; and, there- fore, the commerce at Manilla is provided with three or four stout ships, that in case of any accident the trade may not be suspended. The largest of these ships, whose name I have not learned, is described as little less than one of our first-rate men-of-war ; and, indeed, she must be of an enormous size, as it is known that when she was employed with other ships, from the same port to cruise for our China trade, she had no less than twelve hundred men on board. Their other ships though far inferior in bulk to this, are yet stout, large vessels, of the burthen of twelve hundred tons and upwards, and usually carry from 214 VOTAOE BOUND THE WOBtD. [Book II three hundred and fifty to six hundred hands, passengers included, with fifty-odd guns. As these are all king's ships, commissioned and paid hy him, there is usually one amongst the captains styled the general, and he carries the royal standard of Spain at the main top-gallant-mast- haad, as we shall more particularly observe hereafter. And now, having described the city and port of Manilla, and the shipping employed by its inhabitants, it is neces- sary to give a more circumstantial detail of the navigation from thence to Acapulco. The ship, having received her cargo on board, and being fitted for the sea, generally weighs from the mole of Cabite about the midiUe of July, taking the advantage of the westerly monsoon which then sets in. It is indeed most remarkable, that, by the con- current testimony of all the Spanish navigators, there is not one port, nor even a tolerable road, as yet found out between the Philippine islands and the coast of California ; so that from the time the Manilla ship first loses sight of land, she never lets go her anchor till she arrives on the coast of Oalifomia, and very often not till she gets to its southernmost extremity. As this voyage is rarely of less than six months' continuance, and the ship is deep laden with merchandise and crowded with people, it may appear wonderful how they can be supplied with a stock of fresh water for so long a time. The method of pro- curing it is indeed extremely singular, and deserves a very particular recital. It is well known to those who are acquainted with the Spanish customs in the South Seas, that their water is preserved on ship-board, not in casks, but in earthen jars, which, in some sort, resemble the large oil-jars we often see in Europe. When the Manilla ship first puts to sea, she takes on board a much greater quantity of water than can be stowed between decks, and the jars which contain it are hung all about the shrouds and stays, BO as to exhibit, at a distance, a very odd appearance. Though it is one convenience of their jars, that they are much more manageable than casks, and ore liable to no ».J TBABB BETWEKN MANILLA AND AOAPULOO. 316 leakage, unless they are broken; yet it is sufficiently obvious, that a six, or even a three months' store of water, oould never be stowed in a ship so loaded, by any manage- ment whatever ; and therefore without some other supply, this navigation could not be performed. A supply ^ey have indeed, but the reliance upon it seems, at first sight, BO extremely precarious, that it is wonderful such numbers should risk the perishing by the iaost dreadful of all deaths, on the expectation of so casual a relief. In short, their only method of recruiting their water is by the rains which they meet with between the latitudes of thirty and forty degrees north, and which they are always prepared to catch. For this purpose they take to sea with them a great number of mats, which, whenever the rain descends, they range slopingly against the gunwale, from one end of the ship to the other, their lower edges resting on a large split bamboo ; whence all the water which &lls on the mats drains into the bamboo, and by this, as a trough, is conveyed into a jar. And this method of furnishing them- selves with water, however accidental and extraordinary it may at first sight appear, has never been known to fail them ; but it has been common for them, when their voyage is a little longer than usual, to fill all their water-jars several times over. However, though their distresses for fresh water are much short of what might be expected in so tedious a navigation ; yet there are other inconveniences generally attendant upon a long continuance at sea from wluch they are not exempted. The principal of these is the scurvy, which sometimes rages with extreme violence, and destroys great numbers of tiie people ; but at other times, their passage to Acapulco, of which alone I would be here understood to speak, is performed with little loss. The length of time employed in this passage, so much Deyond what usually occurs in any other known naviga- tion, is perhaps in part to be imputed to the indolence and uni^lfuhiess of the Spanish sailors, and to an un- necessary degree of caution, on pretence of the great 216 VOTAOB ROUND THK WORLD. [Buosa H- riohus of the vessel : for it is said, that they rarely set their main-sail in the night, and often lie by unnocessturily. This much is certain, that the instructions given to their captains, which I have seen, seem to have been drawn ap by such as were more apprehensive of too strong a gale, though favourable, than of the inconveniences and mor- tality attending a lingering and tedious voyage. For the captain is particularly ordered to make his passage in the latitude of thirty degrees, if possible, and to be extremely careful to stand no farther to the northward than is abso- lutely necessary for the getting a westerly wind. This, according to our conceptions, appears to be a very absurd restriction ; since it can scarcely be doubted but that in the higher latitudes the westerly winds are much steadier and brisker than in the latitude of thirty degrees. Indeed, the whole conduct of this navigation seems liable to very great censure. Since, if instead of steering E.N.E. into tke latitude of thirty degrees, they at first stood N.E. or even still more northerly, into the latitude of forty or forty-five degrees, in part of which course the trade-winds woidd greatly assist them, I doubt not but by this manage- ment they might considerably contract their voyage, and perhaps perform it in half the time which is now allotted for it. This may, in some measure, be deduced from their own journals ; since, in those I have seen, it appears that they are often a month or six weeks after their leaving the land before they get into the latitude of thirty degrees ; whereas, with a more northerly course it might easily be done in less than a fortnight. Now, when they were once well advanced to the northward, the westerly winds would soon blow them over to the coast of California, and they would be thereby freed from the other embarrassments to which they are at present subjected, only at the expense of a rough sea and a stiff gale. This is not merely matter of speculation ; for I am credibly informed that, about the year 1721, a French ship, by pursuing this course, ran from the coast of China to the valley of Vanderas, on the coast of Mexico, in less than fifty days ; but it was said thii Oiur. X.] TRADE BinWEBN MANILLA AMD AOAPULOO. 217 that, notwithstanding the shortnoss of her passage, she suffered prodigiously by the scurvy, so that i^e had only four or five of her crew remaining alive when she arrived in America. However, I shall descant no longer on the probability of performing this voyage in a much shorter time, but shfJl content myself with reciting the actual occurrences of the present navigation. The Manilla ship having stood so far to the northward as to meet with a westerly wind, stretches away nearly in the same latitude for the coast of Oalifomia ; and when she has run into the longitude of about one hundred degrees from Cape Spiritu Santo, she generally finds a plant floating on the sea, which, being called Porra by the Spaniards, is, I presume, a species of sea-leek. On the sight of this plant they esteem them> selves sufficiently near the Califomian shore, and imme- diately stand to the southward ; and they rely so much on this circumstance, that on the first discovery of the plant, the whole ship's company chant a solemn Te Deum^ esteeming the difficulties and hazards of their passage to be now at an end ; and they constantly correct their longi- tude thereby, without ever coming within sight of land. After falling in with these Signs, as they denominate them, they steer to the southward, without endeavouring to approach the coast, till they have run into a lower latitude ; for, as there are many islands and some shoals adjacent to California, the extreme caution of the Spanish navigators renders them very apprehensive of being engaged with the land ; however, when they draw near its southern ex- tremity, they ventiire to haul in, both for the sake of making Cape St. Lucas, to ascertain their reckoning, and also to receive intelligence from the Indian inhabitants, whether or no there are any enemies on the coast ; and this last circumstance, which is a particular article in the captain's instructions, obliges us to mention the late pro- ceedings of the Jesuits among the Califomian Indians. Since the first discovery of California, there have been various wandering missionaries, who have visited it, at 218 TOYAOB BOUMD TUK WOBLD. CBUMU. different timeB, though to little piirpose : but of late yean the Jesuits, enouurugod and supportod by a largo donation from the Marquis de Valero, a most munificent bigot, have fixed thomselvos upon the place, aud have there established a very considerable mission. Their principal settlement lies just within Capo St. Lucas, where they have collected a great nimiber of savages, and have endeavoured to inure them to agriculture and other mechanic arts : nor have their efforts been altogether ineffectual; for they have planted vines at their settlements with very good success, so that they already make a considerable quantity of wine, which begins to bo esteemed in the neighbouring kingdom of Mezioo, it resembling in flavour the inferior sorts of Madeira. The Jesuits then being thus firmly rooted on California, they have already extended their jurisdiction quite across the country from sea to sea, and are endeavouring to spread their influence farther to the northward ; with which view they have made several expeditions up the gulf between California and Mexico, in order to discover the nature of the adjacent countries, all which they hope hereafter to bring under their power. And being thus occupied in advancing the interests of their society, it is no wonder if some share of attention is engaged about the security of the Manilla ship, in which their convents at Manilla are ' 80 deeply concerned. For this purpose, there are refresh- ments, as fruits, wine, water, &o., constantly kept in readiness for her ; and there is, besides, care taken at Cape St. Lucas to look out for any ship of the enemy which might be cruising there to intercept her ; this being a station where she is constantly expected, and where she has been often waited for, and fought vrith, though gene- rally with little success. In consequence then of the measures mutually settled between the Jesuits of Manilla and their brethren at California, the captain of the galeon is ordered to fall in with the land to the northward of Cape St. Lucas, where the inhabitants ore directed, on sight of the vessel, to make the proper signals with fires. CHAr. X.J TBADB BRWOM MAMILLA AMD AOAFOLOO. Sltl On disooyering these fires, the captain is to send his hiunoh on shore with twenty men, well armed, who are to carry with them the letters from the oonventa at Manilla to the Oalifomian missionaries, and are to bring back the refreshments which will be prepared for the ship, and like- wise intelligence whether or no there are enemies on the coast. If the captain finds, from the account which is sent him, that he has nothing to fear, he is directed to pro- ceed for Cape St. Lucas, and thence to Cape Corientes, after which he is to coast it along for the port of Acapulco, The most usual time of the arrival of the galeon at Acapulco is towards the middle of January; but this navigation is so tmoertaiu, that she sometimes gets in a month sooner, and at other times has been detained at s-a above a month longer. The port of Acapulco is by much the securest and finest in eh the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, being, as it were, a basin surrounded by very high mountains ; but the town is a most wretched place, and extremely unhealthy, for the air about it is so pent up by the hills, that it has scarcely any circulation. Acapulco is, besides, destitute of fresh water, except what is brought from a considerable distance, and is in all re- spects so inconvenient, that, except at the time of the mart, while the Manilla galeon is in the port, it is almost deserted. When the galeon arrives in this port she is generally moored on its western side, and her cargo is delivered with all possible expedition. AJid.now the town of Acapulco, from almost a solitude, is immediately thronged with mer- chants from all parts of the kingdom of Mexico. The cargo being landed and disposed of, the silver and the goods intended for ManiUa are taken on board, together with provisions and water, and the ship prepares to put to sea with the utmost expedition. There is, indeed, no time to be lost ; for it is an express order to the captain to be out of the port of Acapulco on his return before the first day of April, N.S. Having mentioned the goods intendiBd for Manilla, I must observe that the principal return is always made in #/' \ 220 TOTAOX BOUKD THB WOBLD. U, !;ili, ulver, and, conseqnently, the rest of the cargo is but of little accoiint ; the other articles, besides the silver, being some cochineal and a few sweetmeats, the produce of the American settlements, together with European millinery- ware for the women at Manilla, and some Spanish wines, such as tent and sherry, which are intended for the use of their priests, in the administration of the sacrament. And this difference in the cargo of the ship to and from Manilla occasions a yery remar^ble variety in the man- ner of equipping her for these two different voyages ; for the galeon, when she sets sail for Manilla, being deep laden with a variety of bulky goods, she has not got the conveniency of mounting her lower tier of guns, but car- ries them in her hold till she draws near Cape St. Lucas, and is apprehensive of an enemy. Her hands, too, are as few as is consistent with the safety of the ship, that she may be less pestered by the stowage of provisions. But, on her return from Acapulco, as her cargo lies in less room, her lower tier is, or ought to be, always mounted before she leaves the port, and her crew is augmented with a supply of sailors, and with one or two companies of foot, which are intended to reinforce the garrison at Manilla. Besides, there being many merchants who take their pas- sage to Manilla on board the galeon, her whole number of heuads, on her return, is usually little short of six himdred, all which are easily provided for, by reason of the small stowage necessary for the silver. The galeon being thus fitted in order to her return, the captain, on leaving the port of Acapulco, steers for the latitude of 13° or 14°, and then continues on that parallel till he gets sight of the island of Guam, one of the Ladrones. In this run the captain is particularly directed to be care- ful of the shoals of St. Bartholomew, and of the island of Qasparico: he is also told, in his instructions, that, to prevent his passing the Ladrones in the dark, there are orders given that, through all the month of June, fires shall be lighted every night, on the highest part of Guam and Bota, and kept in till the morning. . ORAT X.] TBAJ)« BSTWIKN BfANIIXA AND AOAPULOO. 221 At Ouam there is a small Spanish garrison, as will be more particularly mentioned hereafter, purposely intended to secure that place for the refreshment of the galeon, and to yield her all the assistance in their power. However, the danger of the road of Ouam is so great, that, though the galeon is ordered to call there, yet she rarely stays aboye a day or two ; but, getting her water and refrei^- mcnts on board as soon as possible, she steers away directly for Cape Spiritu Santo, on the island of Samal. Here the captain is again ordered to look out for signals ; and he is told that sentinels will be posted, not only on that cape, but likewise in Catanduanas, Butnsan, Birriborongo, and on the ii>land of Batan. These sentinels are instructed to make a fire when they discover the ship, which the captain is carefully to observe ; for if, after this first fiire is extin- guished, he perceives that four or more are lighted up again, he is then to conclude that there are enemies on the coast; and on this he is immediptely to endeavour to speak with the sentinel on shore, and to procure from him more particular intelligence of their force, and of the station they cruise in ; pursuant to which he is to regu- late his conduct, and to endeavour to gain some secure port amongst those islands, without coming in sight of the enemy ; and, in case he should be discovered when in port, and should be apprehensive of an attack, he must land his treasure, and must tako some of his artillery on shore for his defence, not neglecting to send frequent and particular accounts to the city of Manilla of all that passes. But if, after the first fire on shore, the captain observes that two others only are made by the sentinels, he is then to conclude that there is nothing to fear ; and he is to pursue his course without interruption, making the best of his way. to the port of Cabite, which is the port to the city of Manilla, and the constant station for all ships employed in this commerce to Acapulco. 3122 ▼OTAOX BOmiD THB WOBLD. CBowh. CHAPTER XI. Our CrulBe oif the Port of Acapuloo fbr the HuiUIa Sbipi, I HATB already mentioned, in the ninth chapter, that the return of our barge fi-om the port of Acapulco, 'where she had surprised three negro fishermen, gave us inexpressible satisfaction; as we learnt from our prisoners that the galeon was then preparing to put to sea, and that her departure was fixed, by an edict of the Viceroy of Mexico, to the 14th of March, N.S., that is, to the 3rd of March, according to our reckoning. What related to this Manilla ship being the matter to which we were most attentive, it was necessarily the first article of our examination ; but having satisfied ourselves upon this head, we then indulged our curiosity in in- quiring after other news ; when the prisoners informed us that they had received intelligence, at Acapulco, of our having plundered and burnt the town of Paita ; and that on this occasion the governor of Acapulco had augmented the fortifications of the place, and had taken several pre- cautions to prevent us from forcing our way into the harbour ; that, in particular, he had planted a guard on the island which lies at the harbour's mouth, and that this guard had been withdrawn but two nights before the arrival of our barge ; so that, had the barge succeeded in her first attempt, or had she arrived at the port the second time two days sooner, she could scarcely have avoided being seized on ; or, if she had escaped, it must have been with the loss of the greatest part of the crew, as she would have been under the fire of the guard before she had known her danger. The withdrawing of this guard was a circumstance that gave us much pleasure, since it seemed to demonstrate not only that the enemy had not as yet discovered us, but, chat.xli cbuisb off the post of aoapuloo. 223 atter to the first \ urselves likewise, that they had now no fart>her apprehensions of our visiting their coast. Indeed the prisoners assured us that they had no knowledge of our being in those seas, and that they had therefore flattered themselves that, in the long interval from our taking of Paita, we had steered another course. But we did not consider the opinion of these negro prisoners as so authentic a proof of our being hitherto concealed as the withdrawing of the guard from the harbour's mouth ; for this, being the action of the governor, was, of all arguments, the most convincing, as he might be supposed to have intelligence with which the rest of the inhabitants were unacquainted. Satisfied, therefore, that we were imdiscovered, and that the day was fixed for the departiure of the galeon from Acapulco, we made all necessary preparations, and waited with the utmost impatience for the important moment. As i>. was the 19th of February when the barge returned orad t , oTinrht us our intelligence, and the galeon was not tc 1' U ;he 3rd of March, the Commodore resolved to con. . V ' ■ ' uB greatest part of the intermediate time on his present station, to the westward of Acapulco, conceiving that, in this situation, there would be less daiiger of his being seen from the shore, which was the only circum- stance that could deprive us of the immense treasure on which we had at present so eagerly fixed our thoughts. During this interval we were employed in scrubbing and cleansing our ships' bottoms, in bringing them into their most advantageous trim, and in regulating the orders, sig- nals, and positions, to be observed when we should arrive off Acapulco, as the time appointed for the departure of tho galeon should draw nigh. It was on the 1st of March we made the high lands, usually called the Paps, over Acapulco, and got, with all possible expedition, into the situation prescribed by the Commodore's orders. The distribution of our squadron on this occasion, both for the intercepting the galeon and for avoiding a discovery from the shore, was so very judi- cious, that it well merits to be distinctly described. The 224 trOTAGX BOUND TBI WOBLD. [BooeU order of it was thus : the Centurion brought the Paps oyer the harbour to bear N.N.E., at fifteen leagues' distance, which was a sufficient offing to prevent oiur being seen by the enemy. To the westward of the Centurion there was stationed the Carmelo, and to the eastward the Tryal's Prize, the Gloucester, and the Carmin. These were all ranged in a cucular line, and each ship was three leagues distant from the next ; so that the Carmelo and the Carmin, which were the two extremes, were twelve leagues removed from each other ; and as the galeon could, with- out doubt, be discerned at six leagues' distance from either extremity, the whole sweep of ova squadron, within which nothing could pass undiscovered, was at least twenty-four leagues in extent ; and yet we were so connected by our signals as to be easily and speedily informed of what was seen in any part of the line. To render this disposition still more complete, and to prevent even the possibility of the galeon's escaping us in the night, the two cutters be- longing to the Centurion and the Gloucester were both manned and sent in-shore, and commanded to lie all day at the distance of four or five leagues from the entrance of the port, where, by reason of their smallness, they could not possibly be discovered ; but in the night they were directed to stand nearer to the harbour's mouth, and, as the light of the morning approached, to come back agttin to their day-posts. When the cutters should first discern the Manilla ship, one of them was to return to the squadron, and to make a signal whether the galeon stood to the eastward or to the westward ; whilst the other was to follow the galeon at a distance, and if it grew dark, to direct the squadron in their chase by showing false fires. Besides the care we had taken to prevent the galeon from passing by us unobserved, we had not been inatten- tive to the means of engaging her to advantage when we came up with her ; for considering the thinness of our crews, and the vaunting accounts given by the Spaniards of her size, her guns, and her strength, this was a con- sideration not to be neglected. As we supposed that none cbap. XI.] 0KUI8B orr ths fobt of aoapcloo. 225 of our ships but the Centurion and Gloucester were capable of lying alongside of her, we took on board the Centurion all the hands belonging to the Carmelo and Carmin, except what were just sufficient to navigate those ships ; and Captain Saunders was ordered to send from the Tryal's Prize, ten Englishmen, and as many negroes, to reinforce the crew of the Gloucester. At the same time, for the encouragement of our negroes, of whom we had a con- siderable number on board, we promised them, that, on their good behaviour, they should have their freedom. As they had been almost every day trained to the manage- ment of the great guns for the two preceding months, they were very well qualified to be of service to us ; and from their hopes of liberty, and in return for the kind usage they had met with amongst us, they seemed disposed to exert themselves to the utmost of their power, whenever we should have occasion for them. Being thus prepared for the reception of the galeon, we expected, with the utmost impatience, the often-mentioned 8rd of March, the day fixed for her departure. No sooner did that day dawn than we were all of us most eagerly engaged in looking out towards Acapulco, from whence neither the casual duties on board nor the calls of hunger could easily divert our eyes : and we wero so strangely prepossessed with the certainty of our intelligence, and with an assurance of her coming out of port, that some or other amongst us were constantly imagining that they discovered one of our cutters returning with a signal. But, to our extreme vexation, both tlus day and the succeeding nigh*: -passed over without any news of the galeon: however, we did not yet despair, but were all heartily disposed to flatter ourselves that some unforeseen accident had intervened, which might have put off her departure for a few days ; and suggestions of this kind occurred in plenty, as we knew that the time fixed by the Viceroy for her sailing was often prolonged on the petition of the merchants of Mexico. Thus we kept up our hopes, and did not abate of our vigilance; and as the 7th of n SSi;' 226 VOTAOS BOUND THB WORLD. LIIookU March was Sunday, the beginning of Passion-week, which is observed by the Papists with great strictness, and a total cessation from all kinds of labour, so that no ship is permitted to stir out of port during the whole week, this quieted our apprehensions for some time, and disposed us not to expect the galeon till the week following. On the Friday in this week our cutters returned to us, and the officers on board them were very confident that the galeon was still in port ; for that she could not possibly have come out, but they must have seen her. The Monday morning following, that is, on the 15th of March, the cutters were again despatched to their old station, and our hopes were once more indulged in as sanguine preposses- sions as before ; but in a week's tiiue our eagerness was greatly abated, and a general dejection and despondency took place in its room. It is true, there were some few amongst us, who still kept up their spirits, and were very ingenious in finding out reasons to satisfy themselves that the disappointment we had hitherto met with had only been occasioned by a casual delay of the galeon, which a few days woidd remove, and not by a total suspension of her departure for the whole season : but these speculations were not adopted by the generality of our people ; for they were persuaded that the enemy hod, by some accident, discovered our being upon the coast, and had therefore laid an embargo on the galeon till the next year. And, indeed, this persuasion was but too well founded ; for we afterwards learnt, that our barge, when sent on the dis- covery of the port of Acapulco, had been seen from the shore ; and that this circumstance (no embarkations but canoes ever frequenting that coast) was to them a suffi- cient proof of the neighbourhood of our squadron ; on which they stopped the galeon till the succeeding year. The Commodore himself, though he declared not his opinion, was yet, in his own thoughts, apprehensive that we were discovered, and that the departure of the galeon was put off; and he had, in consequence of this opinion, formed a plan of possessing himself of Acapulco ; becaiiso Cur. XL] OBY7I8K OFF TUB FOBT OF AOAFULOO. 227 on he had no doubt but the treasure as yet remained in the town, even though the orders for despatching of the galeon were coimtermanded. Indeed, the pkce was too well defended to be carried by an open attempt ; since, besides the garrison and the crew of the galeon, there were in it at least a thousand men weU armed, who had marched thither as guards to the treasure, when it was brought down from the city of Mexico ; for the roads thereabouts are so much infested, either by independent Indians, or fugitives, that the Spaniards never trust the silver without an armed force to protect it. Besides, had the strength of the place been less considerable, and such as might not have appeared superior to the efforts of our squadron, yet a declared attack would have prevented us receiving any advantages from its success ; for, upon the first discovery of our squadron, all the treasure would have been ordered into the country, and in a few hours would have been out of our reach ; so that oxa conquest would have been only a desolate town, where we should have found nothing that could in the least have recompensed the fatigue and hazard of the undertaking. For these reasons, the surprisal of the place was the only method that could at all answer our purpose ; and, therefore, the manner in which Mr. Anson proposed to conduct this enterprise was, by setting sail with the squadron in the evening, time enough to arrive at the port in the night. As there is no danger on that coast, he would have stood boldly for the harbour's mouth, where he expected to arrive, and, perhaps, might have entered, before the Spaniards were acquainted with his designs : as soon as he had run into the harboiur, he intended to have pushed two hundred of his men on shore in his boats, who were immediately to attempt the fort, whilst he, the Com- modore, with his ships, was employed in firing upon the town and the other boitteries. And these different opera- tions, which would have been executed with great regu- larity, could hardly have failed of succeeding against an enemy, who would have been prevented by the suddenness S28 TOTAQK BOUND THE WOBLD. (BnoKll of the attack, and by the want of daylight, from concert- ing any measures for their defence : so that it was ex- tremely probable that we should have carried the fort by storm ; and then the other batteries, being open behind, must have been soon abandoned ; after which, the town, and its inhabitants, and all the treasure, mtist necessarily have fallen into our hands ; for the place is so cooped up with mountains, that it is scarcely possible to escape out of it, but by the great load, which passes under the fort. This was the project which the Commodore had thus &r settled generally in his thoughts ; but when he began to inquire into such circomstances as were necessary to be considered, in order to regulate the particulars of its execution, he found there was a di£Giculty, which, being insuperable, occasioned the enterprise to be laid aside ; as, on examining the prisoners about the winds which pre- vail near the shore, he learnt (and it was afterwards con- firmed by the ofBcers of our cutters) that, nearer in-shore, there was always a dead calm for the greatest part of the night, and that towards morning, when a gale sprung up, it constantly blew off the land ; so that, setting sail from our present station in the evening, and arriving at Aca- pulco before daylight was impossible. This scheme, as hath been said, was formed by the Commodore, upon a supposition that the galeon was detained till the next year ; but, as this was a matter of opinion only, and not founded on intelligence, and there was a possibility that she might still put to sea in a short time, the Commodore thought it prudent to continue cruising on his present station as long as the necessary attention to his stores of wood and water, and to the convenient season for his future passage to China, would (rive him leave. And, therefore, as the cutters had been ordered to remain before Acapulco till the 28rd of March, the squadron did not change its position till that day ; when the cutters not appearing, we were in some pain for them, apprehending they might have suffered either from the enemy or the weather; but we were relieved CiUP.Xl.] OBTOSI OWr TEUt POBT OT AOAPCLCO. 229 firom our oonoem the next morning, when we discoTered them, though at a gr^t distance, and to the leeward of the squadron. We b'jre down to them, and took them up, and were informed by them, that, conformable to their orders, they had left their station the day before, withonc having seen anything of the galeon ; and we found that the reason of their being so far to the leeward of us was a strong current, which had driven the whole squadron to windward. And here it is necessary to mention, that, by inform- ation which was afterwards received, it appeared that this prolongation of ova cruise was a very prudent measure, and afibrded us no contemptible chance of seizing the treasure f^^ which we had so long fixed our thoughts : for after the embargo was laid on tibe galeon, as is before mentioned, the persons principally interested in the cargo despatched several expresses to Mexico, to beg that doe might still be permitted to depart : it seems they knew, by the acootmts sent from Paita, that we had not more than three hundred men in all, when they inmsted that there was nothing to be feared ; as the ^eon, carrying above twice as many hands as our whole squadron would be greatly an overmatch for us. And, though the Vice- roy was inflexible, yet, on the accotmt of their representa- tion, she was kept ready for the sea near three weeks after the first order came to detain her. When we had taken up the cutters, all the ships being joined, the Commodore made a signal to speak with their commanders ; and, upon inquiry into the stock of fresh water remaining on board the squadron, it was found to be so very slender, that we were under a necessity of quitting our station to procure a fresh supply. Consult- ing what place was the properest for this purpose, it was agreed that the harbour of Seguataneio, or Chequetan, being the nearest, was on that account the most eligible, BO that it was immediately resolved to make the best of our way thither; but that even while we were recruit- ing our water, we might not totally abandon our views 230 trOTAGI ROUND THE WOBLD. [Boowtt ■^i npon the galeon, vrhicli perhaps from certain intelligence of our being employed at Ghequetan, might venture to Hlip out to sea, our cutter, under the command of Mr. Hugheo, the lieutenant of the Tryal's Prize, was ordered to cruise off the port of Acapulco for twenty-four days : that, if the galeon should set sail in that interval, wo might be speedily informed of it. In pursuance of these resolutions, we endeavoured to ply to the westward, to gain our intended port, but were often interrupted in our progress by calms and adverse currents : at these intervals, we employed ourselves in taking out the most valuable part of the cargoes of the Carmelo and Carmin prizes, which two ships we intended to destroy as soon as we had tolerably cleared them. By the 1st of April, we were so far advanced towards Seguataneio, that we thought .it expedient to send our two boats, that they might range along the coast to discover the watering-place. They were gone some days, and our water being now very short, it was a particular felicity to us that we met with daily supplies of turtle ; for had we been entirely confined to salt provisions, we must have suffered extremely in so warm a climate. Indeed our present circumstances were ev*- ficiently alarming, and gave the most considerate among ns as much concern as any of the numerous perils we had hitherto encountered ; for our boats, as we conceived by their not returning, had not as yet found a place proper to water at, and by the leakage of our casks, and other accidents, we had not ten days' water on board the whole aquadron ; so that, from the known difficulty of procuring water on this coast, and the little reliance we had, on the Buccaneer writers (the only guides we had to trust to), we were apprehensive of being soon exposed to a calamity the most terrible of any that occurs in the long disheartening catalogue of the distresses of a seafaring life. But these gloomy suggestions were at length happily ended ; for our boats returned on the' 5th of April, having, about seven miles to the westward of the rocks of Segua- taneio, met with a place fit for our purpose ; and which by Chap. Xll.] DK80HIPTION OF OHKQUKl'AN. II the desonption they gave of it, appeared to be the port of Chequetan, mentioned by Dampier. The success of our boats was highly agreeable to us, and they were ordered out again the next day to sound the harbour and its en- trance, which they had represented as very narrow. At their return they reported the place to be free from any danger ; so that on the 7th we stood for it, and that even- ing came to anchor in eleven fathoms. The Gloucester cast anchor at the same time with us ; but the Car- melo and the Carmin, having fallen to the leeward, the Tiyal's Prize was ordered to join them, and to bring them up, which in two or three days she effected. Thus after a four months' continuance at sea after leav- ing Quibo, and having but six days' water on board, we arrived in the harbour of Chequetan. CHAPTER XII. DMciiptlon of the Harbour of Chequetan, and of the a^looent Coast and Cnnntry. Thb harbour of Chequetan, which we here propose to de- scribe, lies in the latitude of 17° 36' north, and is about thirty leagues to the westward of Acapulco. It is easy to be discovered by any ship that will keep well in with the land, especially by such as range down the coast from Acapulco, and will attend to the following particulars. There is a beach of sand, which extends eighteen leagues from the harbour of Acapulco to the westward, against which the sea breaks so violently, that with our boats it would be impossible to land on any part of it ; but yet the ground is so clean that, during the fair season, ship^ may anchor in great safety at the distance of a mile or two from the shore. The land adjacent to this beach is generally low, full of villages, and planted with a great number of trees ; and on the tops of some small eminences, there are several look-out towers, so that the face of the country affords a very agreeable prospect; for the 232 TOTAOfi BOUMl) THK WOULD. rH''• ' The noxt morning, after coming to an anchor in the harbour of Chequetan, we sent about ninety of our men, well armed, on shore, forty of whom were ordered to march into the country, as hath been mentioned, and the remaining fifty were employed to cover the water- ing-place, and to prevent any interruption from the natives. Here we completed the unloading of the Carmelo and Carmin, which we had begun at sea ; that is to say, we took out of them the indigo, cocoa, and cochineal, with some iron for ballast, which were all the goods we intended to preserve, though they did not amount to a tenth of their cargoes. Here, too, it was agreed, after a mature consultation, to destroy the Tryal's Prize, as weU as the Oarmelo and Carmin, whose fate had been before resolved on. Indeed, the Tryal's Prize was in good repair, and fit for the sea ; but, as the whole nimibers on board our squadron did not amount to the complement of a fourth-rate man-of-war, we found it was impossible to divide them into three ships, without rendering each of those ships incapable of navigating in safety through the tempestuous weather we had reason to expect on the coast of China, where we supposed we should arrive about the time of the change of the mon- soons. These considerations determined the Commodore to destroy the Tryal's Prize and to reinforce the Glou- cester with the best part of her crew. And in conse- quence of this resolve, all the stores on board the Tryal's Prize were removed into the other ships, and the prize herself, with the Oarmelo and Carmin, were prepared II I ^■2 VOTAOB BOUND THB WwttLD. [BbOBO. t: ■mi] ■M o for scuttling with all the expedition we wore masters of; but the great difficulties we were under in providing a store of water, together with the necessary repairs of our rigging, and other unavoidable occupations, took us up so much time, and found us such unexpected employ- ment, that it was near the end of April before we were in a condition to leave the place. During our stay here, there happened an incident which, as it proved the means of convincing our friends m England of our safety, which for some time they had despaired of, and were then in doubt about, I shall beg leave particularly to recite. I have observed, in the preceding chapter, that, from this harbour of Chequetan, there was but one pathway which led through the woods into the country: this we found much beaten, and were thence convinced that it was well known to CRAP. XUL] PSOOEEDINQS AT OHEQVETAN. 213 ./j: igh the beaten, known to the inhabitants. As it passed by the springhead, and was the only avenue by which the Spaniards could approach us, we, at some distance beyond the spring- head, felled several large trees, and laid them one upon the other across the path : and at this barricade we constantly kept a guard. We, besides, ordered our men employed in watering to have their arms ready, and in case of any alarm, to march instantly to this post. And though our principal intention herein was to prevent our being disturbed by any sudden attack of the enemy's horse, yet it answered another purpose, which was not in itself less important: this was, to hinder oui* own people from straggling singly into the coimtry, where we had reason to believe they would be surprised by the Spaniards, who would doubtless be extremely solicitous to pick up some of them, in hopes of getting intelligence of our future designs. To avoid this inconvenience, the strictest orders were given to the sentinels, to let no person whatever pass beyond their post. But notwith- standing this precaution, we missed one Lewis Leger, who was the Commodore's cook: as he was a French- man, and was suspected to be a Papist , it was at first imagined that he had deserted, with a view of betraying all that he knew to the enemy: though this appeared, by the event, to be an ill-grounded surmise ; for it was afterwards known that he had been taken by some Indians, who carried him prisoner to Acapulco, from whence he was transferred to Mexico, and then to Vera Cruz, where he was shipped on board a vessel bound tu Old Spain. But the vessel being obliged, by some accident, to put into Lisbon, Leger escaped on shore, and was by the British Consul sent from thence to England, where he brought the first authentic account of the Bsiietj of the Commodore, and of his principal ti-ansactions in the South Seas. The relation he gave of his own seizure was, that he rambled into the woods, at some distance from the barricade, where he had fiivf attempted to pass, but had been stopped, and threateucili 1 ..M 244 VOYAOa HOUND TBK WOBLD. [Book II. to be puniBhed ; that his prinoipal view was to get a quantity of limes for his master's store, and that in this ooeupation, he was surprised unawares by four Indians, who stripped him naked, and carried him in that con- dition to Acapuloo, exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, whieh at that time of the year shone with its greatest violence; that afterwards, at Mexico, his treat- ment in prison was sufiScieutly severe ; so that the whole course of his captivity was a continued instance of the hatred which the Spaniards bear to all those who endea- vour to disturb them in the peaceable possession of tho coasts of the South Seas. Indeed, Leger's fortime was upon the whole extremely singular, as, after the hazai'dH he had run in the Commodore's squadron, and the severities he had suffered in his long confinement amongst the enemy, a more fatal disaster attended him on his return to England ; for though, when he arrived in Londcm, some of Mr. Alison's friends interested them- selves in relieving him from the poverty to which his captivity had reduced him ; yet he did not long enjoy the benefit of their humanity, since he was killed in an insignificant night-brawl, the cause of which could scarcely be discoverod. And, on occasion of the surprise of Leger, I must observe, that though the enemy never appeared in sight during our stay in the harbour, yet we perceived that large parties of them were encamped in the woods about as; for we could see their smokes, and could thence determine that they were posted in a circular line, Hurrounding us at a distance; and just before our coming away, they seemed, by the increase of their fires, to have received a considerable reinforcement. But, to return. Towards the latter end of April, the unloading of our three prizes, our wooding, and watering, and, in short, every one of our proposed employments at the harbour of C^equetan, were completed ; so that, on the 27th of April, 41)0 Tiyol's Prize, the Carmelo, and the Cormin, rtur. &HI.J PBOCnUDINOS AT OUBQaSlAN. 246 of our B short, harbour 27th of Cannin, all which we here intended to destroy, were towed oa shore, and scuttled, a quantity of combustible materials having been distributed in their upper works; and, the next morning, the Oenturion, with the Gloucester, weighed anchor; though, as there was but little wind, and that not in their favour, they were obliged to warp out of the harbour. When they had reached the offing, one of the boats was despatched back again, to set fire to our prizes; which was accordingly executed. After this, a canoe was left fixed to a grapnel in the middle of the harbour, with a bottle in it well corked, enclosing a letter to Mr. Hughes, who commanded the cutter, which had been ordered to cruise before the port of Aoapulco, when we ourselves quitted that station. And, on this occasion, I must mention more particularly than I have yet done the views of the Oommodore in leaving the cutter before that port. When we were necessitated to proceed for Cheqnetan, to recruit our water, Mr. Anson considered that our arrival in that harbour would soon be known at Aca- pulco ; and therefore he hoped, that on the intelligenco of our being employed in port, the galeon might put to sea, especially as Chequetan is so very remote from the course generally steered by the galeon ; he therefore or- dered the cutter to cruise twenty-four days off the port of Acapulco, and her commander was directed, on per- ceiving the galeon under sail, to make the best of his way to the Commodore at Chequeton. As the Centurion was doubtless a much better sailer than the galeon, Mr. Anson, in this case, resolved to have got to sea as soon txs possible, and to have pursued the galeon across the Pacific Ocean, where, supposing he should not have met with her in his passage (which, considering that he would have kept near the same parallel, was very im- probable), yet he was certain of arriving off Cape Spiritn Santo, on the island of Samal, before her ; and that being the first land she makes on her return to the Philippines, we could not have failed to fall in with her by cruising MO VOTAOI BOUND TBI WOBLD. [BUOK 11. a fow dttys in that station. However, the Viceroy of Mezioo, rained this project, by keeping the galeon in theport of Acapuloo all that year. The letter left in the canoe for Mr. Hughes, the commander of the cutter, the time of whose return was now considerably elapsed, directed him to go back im- mediately to his former station before Aoapulco, where he would find Mr. Anson, who resolved to cruise for him there a certain number of days ; after which it was added, that the Oommodore would return to the southward tu join the rest of the squadron. This last article was in- serted to deceive the Spaniards, if they got possession of the canoe, as we afterwards learnt they did ; but could not impose on Mr. Hughes, who well knew that the Oom- modore had no squadron to join, nor any intention of steering back to Peru. Being now in the offing of Ohequetan, bound across the vast Pacific Ocean in our way to Ohina, we were impatient to run off the coact as soon as possible, since the stormy season was approaching apace. As we had no farther views in the American seas, we had hoped Aiat nothing would prevent us from steering to the westward the moment we got out of the harbour of Ohequetan ; and it was no small mortification to us, that Qur necessary employment there had detained us so much longer than we ezpeci»d. But now, when we had put to sea, we were farther detained by the absence of the cutter, and the necessity we were under of stand- ing towards Acapulco in search of her. Indeed, as the time of her cruise had been expired for near a fortnight, we expected that she had been discovered from the shore ; and that the Governor of Acapulco had thereupon sent out a force to seize her, which, as she carried but six hands, was no very difficult enterprise. However, this being only conjecture, the Oommodore, as soon as he was got clear of the harbour of Ohequetan, stood along the coast to the eastward in search of her : and, to prevent her from parsing by us in the dark, we brought to tur Xlll.J LUM or IBM OCTTU. 2147 every night; and the Olouoester, whose station was a league within us towards the shore, carried a light, which the cutter could not but perceive, if she kept along-shore, as we supposed she womd do ; besides, as a further se- curity, the Centurion and Gloucester alternately showed two false fires every half-hour. Indeed, had she escaped us, she would have found orders in the canoe to return immediately before Acapuloo, where Mr. wAnson proposed to cruise for some days. By Sunday, the 2nd of May, we were advanced within three leagues of Acapulco, and having seen nothing of our boat, we gave her over as lost : which, besides the compassionate concern for our shipmates, and for what it was apprehended they might have suffered, was in itself a misfortune, which, in our present scarcity of hands, we were all greatly interested in : since the crew of the cutter, consisting of six men and the lieutenant, were the very flower of the people, purposely picked out for this service, and known to be every one of them of tried and approved resolution, and as skilful seamen as ever trod a deck. However, as it was the general belief among us that they were token and carried into Acapulco, the Commodore's prudence suggested a project, which we hoped would recover them. This was founded on our having many Spanish and Indian prisoner's in our possession, and a number of sick negroes, who could be of no service to us in navigating the ship. The Commodore, therefore, wrote a letter the some day to the Governor of Acapulco, telling him, that he would release them all, provided the Governor returned the cutter's crew. This letter was despatched in the after- noon by a Spanish officer, of whose honour we had a good opinion, and who was furnished with a launch belonging to one of our prizes, and a crew of six other persons, who gave their parole for their return. The Spanish officer, too, besides the Commodore's letter, carried with him a joint petition, signed by all the rest of the prisoners, beseechmg the Governor to acquiesce II i UB VOTAOB BOUKD THE WOBLD. [Boob II in the terms proposed for their liberty. From a consi- deration of the number of om> prisoners, and the quality of some of them, we did not doubt but the Gk)vemor would readily comply with Mr. Anson's proposal; and therefore we kept plying; on and off the whole night, intending to keep well in with the land, that we might receive an answer at the limited time, which was the next day, being Monday: but, both on Monday and Tuesday, we were driven so far off shore, that we could not hope that any answer could reach us ; and even on Wednesday morning, we found ourselves fourteen leagnen fipom the harbour of Acapulco; however, as the wind was then favourable, we pressed forward with all our SO:";, and did not doubt of getting in with the land that '..xtemoon. Whilst we were thus standing in, the sentinel called out from the mast-head, that he saw a boat under sail at a considerable distance to the south-eastward : this we took for granted was the answer of the Governor to the Commodore's message, and we instantly edged towards her : but as we approached her, we found to our unspeakable joy, that it was our own cutter. And though, while she was still at a distance, we imagined that she had been discharged out of the port of Acapulco by the Governor: yet, when she drew nearer, the wan .and m«agre countenances of the crew, the length of their beards, and the feeble and hollow tone of their voices, convinced us that they had suffered much greater hard- ships than could be expected from even the sevoritieR of a Spanish prison. They were obliged to be helped into the ship, and were immediately put to bsd, where, by rest and nourishing diet, which they were plentifully supplied with from the Commodore's table, they reco- vered their health and vigour apace. And now wo learnt that they had kept the sea the whole time of theii absence, which was above six weeks; that when the; had finished their cruise before Acapulco, and had jusi begun to ply to the westward, in order to join the squadron, a strong adverse current had forced them '-'{jaidi < riup. xiii] BROOVEnV OF THE CUTTOT. 219 down the coast to the eastward, in spite of all their efforts to the contrary; that at length, tiieir water being ex- pended, they were obliged to search the coast farther on the eastward, in quest of some convenient landing-place, where they might get a fresh snpply ; that in this distress they ran upwards of eighty leagues to leeward, and found everywhere so large a surf, that there was not the least possibility of their landing ; that they passed some days in this dreadful situation without water, having no other means left them to allay their thirst than sucking the blood of the turtle which they caught ; that at last, giving up all hopes of succour, the heat of the climate, too, augmenting their necessities, and rendering their suffer- ings insupportable, they abandoned themselves to despair, fully persuaded that they should perish by the most ter- rible of all deaths; but that soon after a most unex- pected incident happily relieved them : for there fell so heavy a rain, that on spreading their sails horizontally, and putting bullets in the centres of them to draw them to a point, they caught as much water as filled all their casks; that immediately upon this providential supply, they stood io the westward, in quest of the Commodore ; and being now favoured by a strong current, they joined us in less than fifty hours fi*om that time, after having been absent in the whole full forty-three days. Those who have an idea of the inconsiderable size of a cutter belonging to a sixty-gun ship (being only an open boat, about twenty-two feet in length), and who will reflect on the various casualties that must have attended her during a six weeks' continuance alone in the open ocean, on so impracticable and dangerous a coast, will readily own that her return to un at last, after all the difficulties which she actually experienced, and the dangers to which she was each hour exposed, may be considered as little short of miraculous. I cannot finish this article of the cutter without remarking how slender a reliance navigators ought to have on the accounts of the Buccaneer writers; for t ■ i- 250 TOTAQK BOaNO TUB WOBLD. [Book II though, in this run of hers, eighty leagues to the east- ward of Acapulco, she found no place where it was pos- sible that a boat could land ; yet those writers have not 'oeen ashamed to feign harbours and convenient watering- places within these limits, thereby exposing such as should confide in their relations to the risk of being destroyed by thirst. Having thus recovered our cutter, the sole object of our coming a second time before Acapulco, the Com- modore determined not to lose a moment')} time more, but to run off the coast with the utmost expedition, both as the stormy season, on the coast of Mexico, was now approaching apace, and as we were apprehensive of having the westerly monsoon to struggle with when we came upon the coast of China: for this reason, we no longer stood towards Acapulco, as at present we wanted no answer from the Governor. However, Mr. Anson resolved not to deprive his prisoners of the liberty which he had promised them : and therefore they were all im- mediately embarked in two launches, which belonged to our prizes; those from the Centurion in one launch, and those from the Gloucester in the other. The launches were well equipped mth masts, sails, and oars : and, lest the wind might prove unfavourable, they had a stock of water and provisions put on board them suffi- cient for fourteen days. There were discharged thirty- nine persons from on board the Centurion, and eighteen from the Gloucester, the greatest part of them Spaniards, the rest being Indians and sick negroes ; indeed, as our crews were very weak, we kept the mulattoes, and some of the stoatest of our negroes, with a few Indians, to asdist us ; but we dismissed every Spanish prisoner what- ever. We have since learnt, that these ^.vo launches arrived safe at Acapulco, where the prisoners could not enough extol the humanity with which they had been treated. It seems the Governor, before their arrival, had returned a very obliging answer to our letter, and had at the same time ordered out two boats laden with the choicest COAF XIU.l UBEBATIOH OF THE PBISOBEBS. 2RI refreshments and provisions that were to be procured at Acapulco, which he intended as a present to the Commo- dore ; but these boats not having found our ships, wer^ at length obliged to put back again, after having thrown all their provisions overboard, in a storm which t&eatened their destruction. The sending away our prisoners was our last transaction on the American coast ; for no sooner had we parted with them, than we and the Gloucester made sail to the S.W., proposing to get a good ofSng from the land, where we hoped in a few days to meet witii the regular trade-wind, wUch the accoimts of former navigators had represented as much brisker and steadier in this ocean than in any other part of the world ; for it has been esteemed no uu- common passage to run from hence to the easternmost isles of Asia in two months : and we flattered ourselves, that we were as capable of making an expeditious voyage as any ships that had ever sailed this course before us ; so that we hoped soon to gain the coast of China, for which we were now bound. As we conceived this navigation to be free from all kinds of embarrassment of bad weather, fatigue, or sickness, conformable to the general idea of it given by former travellers, we consequently undertook it with alacrity, especially as it was no contemptible step towards our arrival at our native country, for which many of us by this time began to have great longings. Thus on the 6th of May, we for the last time lost sight of the mountains of Mexico, persuaded that in a few weeks we should arrive at the river of Canton, in China, where we expected to meet with many English ships, and with num- bers of our countrymen ; and hoped to enjoy the advan- tages of an amicable, well-frequented port, inhabited by a polished people, and abounding with the conveniences and indulgences of a civilized life ; blessings which now, for near twenty months, had never been once in our power. 11! 2o2 TOTAOE BOUITI) THE WOSLD. (Book 111. BOOK THE THIRD. fe CHAPTER I. The Run trom the Coast of Mexico to tlie Ladrones, or Marian Islaiidti. When, on the 6th of May, 1742, we left the coast of America, we stood to the 8.W. with a view of meeting the N.E. trade-wind, which the accounts of former writers taught us to expect at seventy or eighty leagues from the land. We had, besides, another reason for standing to the southward, which was the getting to the latitude of 13° or 14° north ; that being the parallel where the Pacific Ocean is most usually crossed, and, consequently where the navigation is esteemed the safest: this last purpose we had soon answered, being in a day or two sufficiently advanced to the south. But the jgh we were, at the sfune time, more distant from the shore than we had presumed was necessary for the falling in with the trade-wind, yet, in this particular, we were most grievously . disappointed, the wind still continuing to the westward, or at best variable. As the getting into the N.E. trade was to us a matter of the last consequence, we stood yet more to the southward, and made many experimente to meet with it : but all our efforts were for a long time unsiiccess- ful, so that it was seven weeks from our leaving the coast before we got into the true trade-wind This was an interval, in which we had, at first, believed we should well-nigh have reached the sastemmost parts of Asia ; but we were so baffled with the contrary and variable winds, which for all that time perplexed us, that we were not as yet advanced above a foui-th of the way. The delay alone would have been a sufficient mortification ; but there were -!•' CiiAr. 1.J BAYAOKB OF THK SOCUTT. 268 other oircamgtanceB attending it, which rendered this situ- ation not less terrible, and our apprehensions, perhaps still greater than any of our past calamities. For our two f^ips were by this time extremely crazy ; and many days had not passed before we discovered a spring in the foremast of the CSenturion, which rounded about twenty- six inches of its ciroumferencf and which was judged to be at least four inches deep, ^nd no sooner had the car- penters secm-ed this mast with fishing it, than the Glou- cester made a signal of distress, to inform us that she had a spring in her main-mast, twelve feet below the trussel- trees, which appeared so dangerous, that she could not carry any sail upon it. Our carpenters, on a strict examination of this mast, found it excessively rotten and decayed ; and it being judged necessary to cut it down as low as it was defective, it was by this means reduced to nothing but a stump, which served only as a step to the top-mast. These accidents augmented our delay, and, being added to our other distresses, occasioned us great anxiety about our future safety. For though, after our departure from Juan Fernandez, we had enjoyed a most uninterrupted state of health till our leaving the coast of Mexico, yet the scurvy now began to make fresh havoc amongst our people : and we too well knew the effects of this disease, by our former fatal experience, to suppose that anything, except a speedy passage, could secure the greater part of our crew from being destroyed thereby. "C.it as, after being seven weeks at sea, there did not appear any reasons that could persuade us we were nearer the trade- wind than when we set out, there was no ground for us to imagine that our passage would not prove at least three times as long as we at first expected, and, consequently, we had the melancholy prospect, either of dying by the scurvy, or of perishing with the ship, for want of hands to navigate her. Indeed, several amongst us were willing to believe, that, in this warm climate, so different from what we felt in passing round Cape Horn, the violence of this disease, and its fatality, might be in some degree miti- 3 26ft VOTAOl BOUND THB WOBLD. [Uoos 111 gated ; as it had not been unusual to suppose, that its par- ticular virulence, during that passage, was, in a great measure, owing to the severity of the weather. But the ravage of the distemper, in our present circumstances, soon convinced us of the falsity of this speculation, as it like- wise exploded certain other opinions, which usually pass current about the cause and nature of this disease. For it has been generally presumed that sufficient sup- plies of water and of fresh provisions are effectual pre- ventives of this malady ; but it happened that, in the present case, we had a considerable stock of fresh pro- visions on board, being the hogs and fowls which were taken at Faita ; we, besides, almost daily caught great abundance of bonitos, dolphins, and albicores; and the unsettled season, which deprived us of the benefit of the trade-wind, proved exceedingly rainy; so that we were enabled to fill up our water-casks almost as fast as they were empty ; and each man had five pints of water aUowed him every day during the passage. But notwithstanding this plenty of water, and that fresh provisions were dis- tributed amongst the sick, and the whole crew often fed upon fish, yet neither were the sick hereby relieved, nor the progress or malignity of the disease at all abated. Nor was it in these instances only that we found the general maxims upon this head defective ; for though it .has been usually esteemed a necessary piece of manage- ment to keep all ships, where the crews are large, as clean and airy between decks as possible ; and it hath been believed by many that this particular alone, if well attended to, would prevent the appearance of the scurvy, or at least mitigate its virulence ; yet we observed during the latter part of our run, that though we kept all om* ports open, and took uncommon pains in cleansing and sweetening the ships, the disease still raged with as much violence as ever, nor did its advancement seem to be thereby sensibly retarded. However, I would not be understood to assert that fresh provisions, plenty of water, and a constant supply of iaujf.L] ON TUB OAVBB OF THK SCVilTT. 265 sweet air between decks, are matters of no moment : I am, on the contrary, well satisfied that they are, all of them, articles of great importance, and are doubtless extremely conducive to the health and yigour of the crew, and may in many cases prevent this fatal malady from taking place. All I have aimed at in what I have advanced is only to evince that, in some instances, both the cure and pre- vention of this malady are impossible to be effected by any management, or by the application of any remedies which can be made use of at sea. Indeed, I am myself fuUy persuaded, that when it has got to a certain head there are no other means in nature for relieving the sick but carrying them on shore, or at least bringing them into the neighbourhood of the land. Perhaps a distinct and adequate knowledge of the source of this disease may never be discovered ; but in general there is no difficulty in conceiving that, as a continued supply of fresh air is necessary to all animal life, and as this air is so particular a fluid, that without losing its elasticity, or any of its obvious properties, it may be rendered unfit for this pin-- pose by the mixing with it some very subtle and otherwise imperceptible effluvia — it may easily be conceived, I say, that the steams arising from the ocean may have a tendency to render the air they are spread through less properly adapted to the support of the life of terrestrial animals, unless these steams are corrected by effluvia of another kind, which perhaps the land alone can afford. To what has been already said in relation to this disease, I shall add, that our surgeon, who, during our passage round Cape Horn, had ascribed the mortality we suffered to the severity of the climate, exerted himself in the present run to the utmost : but he at last declared that all his measures were totally ineffectual, and did not in the least avail his patients. On this it was resolved hy the Commodore to try the success of two medicines, which, just before his depar- ture from England, were the subject of much discourse : I mean the pill and drop of Mr. Ward. For, however violent the operations of these medicines are said to have II 256 VOTAOK SOUND THS WOULD. [UooxUI. ■i sometimes proyed, yet, in the present instance, where, without some remedy, destruction seemed inevitable, the experiment at least was thought advisable, and therefore one or both of them at different times were administered to persons in every stage of tho distemper. Out of the numbers who took them, one, soon after swallowing the pill, was seized with a violent bleeding at the nose ; he was before given over by the surgeon, and lay almost at the point of death; but he immediately found himself much better, and continued to recover, though slowly, till we rxrl^'ed on shore, which was near a fortnight after. A few others, too, were relieved for some days, but the disease returned again with as much virulence as ever. Though neither did these, nor the rest who received no benefit, appear to be reduced to a worse condition than they would have been if they had taken nothing. The most remark- able property of these medicines, and that was obvious in almost every one that took them, was that they acted in proportion ^o the vigour of the patient : so that those who were within two or three days of dying were scarcely affected ; and as the patient was differently advanced in the disease, the operation was either a gentle perspiration, an easy vomit, or a moderate purge ; but if they were taken by one in full strength, they then produced all the before-mentioned effects with considerable violence, which sometimes continued for six or eight hours together, with little intermission. However, let us return to the prose- cution of our voyage. I have already observed, that a few days after our run- ning off the coast of Mexico, the Gloucester had her main- mast cut down to a stump, and we were obliged to fish her foremast ; and that these misfortunes were greatly aggra- vated by our meeting with contrary and variable winds for near seven weeks. I shaU now add, that when we reached the trade-wind, and it settled between the north and the oast, yet it seldom blew with so much strength that the Centurion might not have carried all her small sailii abroad without the least danger ; so that had we been a MSUI. ONAr. I.J AOOIDSMT TO THB 0L0V0I8TBB. ilft/ vhere, le, tho ireforo stored of tbo ug the Be; be aoBt at limself rly, till »r. A disease rhough benefit, y would remark- riouB in icted in lose who scarcely need in )iration, ey were all tbe wbicb |er, witb prose- )iir run- ermain- fisbber y aggra- nnds for reached and tbe ;hat the all sailiJ been a •ingle ship we might havo run uown our longitude apuoe, and have arrived at the Ladrones soon enough to have reooTered great nnmbers of our men, who afterwards perished. But the Gloucester, by the loss of her main- mast, sailed so very heavily, that we had seldom any more than our top-sails set, and yet were frequently obliged to lie to for her. And I conceive that, on the whole, we lost little less than a month by our attendance upon her, in consequence of the various mischances she encountered. During all this run, it was remarkable that we were rarely many days together without seeing great numbers of birds, which is a proof that there are sevetral islands, or at least rocks, scattered all along at no very considerable distance from our track ; but the frequency of these birds seems to ascertain that there are many more than have been hitherto discovered ; for the most part of Idie birds, we observed, were such as were known to roost on shore ; and the manner of their appearance sufficiently evinced that they came from some distant haunt every morning, and returned thither again in the evening, since we never saw them ear^ or late, and the hour of their arrival and departure greatly varied, which we supposed was occasioned by our running nearer their haunts, or getting farther from them. The trade-wind continued to favour us, without any fluctuation, from the end of June till towards tho end of July. But on the 26th of July, being then, as we esteemed, about three hundred leagues from the Ladrones, we met with a westerly wind, which did not come about again to the eastward in four days' time. This was a most dis- piriting incident, as it at once damped all oui- hopes of speedy relief, especially too as it was attended with a vexatious accident to the Gloucester : for in one part of these four days the wind flatted to a calm, and the ships rolled very deep ; by which means the Gloucester's forf*- cap splitting, her fore-top-mast came by the boai-d, and broke her fore-yard directly in the slings. As she was hereby rendered incapable of making any sail for some tune, we were under the necessity, as soon as a galo 2r>3 TOTAOB BOVMD TBI WOBLD. [Book 111 apmng np, to take her In tow, and near twenty of the healthiest and nblost of oar seamen were removed from the duty of our own ship, and continued eight or ten days together on board the Olouoester, to assist in repairing her damago : but these things, mortifying as we thought them, wore only the commencement of our disasters, for scarce bad our people finished their business in the Glou- cester, before we met with a most yiolent storm from the western board, which obliged us to lie to. At the begin- ning of this storm our ship sprung a leak, and let in so much water, that all oiu: people, officers included, were constantly employed about the pumps : and the next day we had the vexation to see the Gloucester with her fore- top-mast once more by the board. Nor was that the whole of her calamity, since whilst we wore viewing her with great concern for this now distress, we saw her main- top-mast, which had hitherto served her as a jury-main- mast, share the same fate. This completed our misfor- times, and rendered them without resource ; for we knew the Gloucester's crew were so few and feeble, that without our assistance they could not be relieved ; whilst, at the same time, our sick were now so far increased, and those who remained in health so continually f&tigued with the additional duty of our pumps, that it was impossib' ^ for us to lend them any aid. Indeed we were not a*} , editiously as he could, now the weatiier was calm and favourable, and to take out such stores as he could get at, whilst tho ship could be kept above water. And, as our leak re- quired less attention, whilst the present easy weather con- tinued, we sent our boats, with as many men as we could spare, to Captain Mitchell's assistance. The removing the Gloucester's people on board us, and the getting out such stores as could most easily be come at, gave us full employment for two days. Mr. Anson was exttemely desirous to save two of her cables and an anchor, but the ship rolled so much, and the men were so excessively fatigued, tiliat they were incapable of effecting it ; nay, it was even with the greatest difficulty that tiie prize-money which the Gloucester had taken in tho South Seas, was seciured, and sent on board tiie Cen- turion. However, tho prize-goods in the Gloucester, which amounted to several thousand pounds in value, and were principally the Centurion's property, were entirely lost ; nor could any more provision be got out than five casks of flour, three of which were spoiled by the salt water. Their sick men, amounting to near seventy, were !f? It OUAr. L} THB GLOUOBSTIB DX8TB0YID. 861 conveyed into the boats with as much oare as the oiiciuu- stances of that time would permit ; but three oar four of them expired as they were hoisting them into the Cen- turion. It was the 16th of August, in the evening, before the Gloucester was cleared of everything that was proposed to be removed ; and, though tibe hold was now almost full of water, yet, as the carpoiters wore of opinion that she might still swim for some time, if the Cfum should continue and the water become smooth, it was resolved she should be burnt, as we knew not how little distant we might be at present from the island of Guam, which was in possession of our enemies, to whom the wreck of such a ship would have been no contemptible acquisi- tion. When she was set on fire. Captain Mitchell and his ofKcers left her, and came on board the Centurion : and we immediately stood from the wreck, not without some apprehensions, as we had only a light breeze, that, if she blew up soon, the concussion of the air might damage our rigging : but she fortunately continued burn- ing the whole night, so that though her guns fired suc- cessively as the flames reached them, yet it was six in the morning, when we were about four leagues distant, before she blew up. The report she made upon this occasion was but small, although the blast produced an exceeding black pillar of smoke, which shot up into the air to a very considerable height. Thus perished his Majesty's ship the Gloucester. And now it might have been expected that, being freed from the embarrassments which her frequent disasters had involved us in, we should have proceeded on our way much brisker than we had hitherto done, especially as we had received some small addition to our strength by the taking on board the Gloucester's crew. However, we were soon taught that our anxieties were not yet to be relieved, and tiiat, notwithstanding all we had already suffered, there remained much greater distresses which we were still to struggle with : for the late storm, wbicli ' st gloomy persuasion of our approaching destruction, we stood firom the island of Anatacan, having all of ns the it ' i H Our, II.} ABBIYAL AT TBS IS|.ANI> OF TINIAN. 265 rtron^BBt fti^KrehensiaiiB, and those not iU-gromicled, either of ^ d^ng by the seurvv, or of being deetrojed witii the ship, wmoh, for went ox handji to work her pnmpi, night in a short tine be expected to founder. CHAPTER II. Oar wriTal at Tlnkn, and an aoouunt of the Island, and of ow proeeadlnga Ibere^ till the Ooturlon droTe out to Sea. It was the 26th of August, 1742, in the morning, when we loet sight of the island of Anatacan, dreading that it was the lost land we shonld ever fix onr eyes on ; but the next morning we discovered three other islands to the eastward, which were between ten and fourteen leagues distant from us. These were, as we afterwards learnt, the ishmda of Saypan, Tinian, and Aguigan. We immediately steered towards Tinian, which was the middlemost of the three ; but we had so much of calms and light airs, that though we were helped forward by the currents, yet on the morrow, at daybreaik, we had not advanced nearer than within five lei^es of it. However we kept on our course, and about ten o'clock we perceived a proa under sail to the southward, between Tinian and Aguigan. As we imagined from hence that these islands were inhabited, and kuew that the Spaniards had always a force at Guam, we took the necessary precautions for our own security, and endeavoured to prevent the enemy, as much as possible, from taking an advantage of our present wretched circumstances, of which we feared they would be sufficiently informed by the man- ner of our working the ship. We therefore mustered aU our hands who were capable of standing to their arms, and loaded our upper and quarter-deck guns with grape-shot; and that we might £he more readily pro- cure some intelligence of the state of these islands, we showed Spanish colours, and hoisted a red flag at the ^;'<>j5| m m ■ It, -lb. I i ■ 1 I ;ii i| HI lit ' 1 1 iid6 YOTAOI BOUND THB WOBLD. [Booxlll. l!'^ ' fore-lop-mait head, hoping ihereby to give our ship the appeemnoe of the Manilla galeon, and to decoy some of the inhabitants on board na. Thus pr^aring ourselTea, and standing towards the land, we were near enough, at three in the afternoon, to send the ontter in-shore to find out a proper berth for the ship ; and we soon peroeived that a proa put off from the isLnnd to meet the ontter, fully persuaded, as we afterwards fomid, that we were the lumilla diip. As we saw the cutter returning with the proa in tow, we instantly sent the pinnace to receive the proa and the prisoners, and to bring them on board, that the cnttOT might proceed on her errand. The pinnace came back with a Spaniard and four Indians, which were the pe^le taken in tiie proa; and the Sjpaniard being immediately examined as to produce and circumstances of this island of Tinian, his account of it surpassed even our most sanguine hopes, for he in- formed us that though it was uninhabited (which in itself, considering our present defenceless condition, was a oonyenience not to be despised), yet it wanted but few of the accommodations that could be expected in the most cultivated country. In particular he assured us that there was plenty of very good water; that there was an incredible number of cattle, hogs, and poultry running wild on the island, all of them excellent in their kind ; that the woods afforded sweet and sour oranges, limes, lemons, and cocoa-nuts in great abundance, be- sides a fruit peculiar to these islands, which served instead of bread ; that from the quantity and goodness of the pro- visions produced here, tilie Spaniards at Guam made use of it as a store for supplying the garrison ; and that he himself was a seijeant of that garrison, who was sent hither with twenty-two Indians, to jerk beef, which he was to load for Guam, on board a small barque, of about fifteen tons, which lay at anchor near the shore. This relation was received by us with inexpressible joy : part of it we were ourselves able to verify on' the Rpot, as we were by this time near enougn to discovM CHAr.U.] AOOOUMT 07 TBI IILAVD Of TXITIAN. 267 seTenl nnmeroiis beicU of oatUe feeding in diibnint placet of the idand: and ire did not anywiie donbt the reat of hia narration, since the appearance of the shore prejudiced ns greatly in its fitvoar, and made us hope that not only onr necessities misht be there fully relieyed, and our diseased recovered but that amidst those pleasing scenes which were then in -view, we might procure ourselYes 8"Sl 'Ife II ▼OTAOI BOUHD THB WOBLD. in. 970 Snile dopei from the Tery beach where we watered to e middle of the island, thonsh the Mneral conne of its Moent was often interrupted by Tiuleys of an easy descent, many of which wmd irregularly through the country. TheB9 yalleys, and the ^adual swellings of the ground, which their different combinations gave rise to, were most beautifUly diyersified by the mutual encroachments of woods and lawns, which coasted each ottier, and traversed the island in large tracts. The woods consisted of tall and well-spread trees, the greatest part of them celebrated either for their aspect or their fruit; whilst the lawns were usually of a considerable breadth, their turf quite clean and uni- form, it being composed of a veiy fine trefoil, which was intermix^ with a variety of flowers. The woods, too, were, in many places open, and free from all budies and underwood, so that they toiminated on the lawns wi^ a well-defined outline, where neither shrubs nor weeds were to be seen; but the neatness of the adjacent turf was frequently extended to, a considerable distance, under the hollow shade formed by the trees. Hence arose a great number of the most elegant and entertaining prospects, according to the different blend- ings of these woods and lawns, and their various inter- sections with each other, as they spread themselves .differently through the valleys, and over the slopes and declivities in which the place abounded. Nor were the alluremente of Tinian confined to the excellency of its landscapes only, since the fortunate animals, which, during the greatest part of the year, are the sole lords of this happy soil, partake, in some measure, of the romantic cast of the island, and are no small addition to its wonderful scenery ; for the cattle, of which it is not uncommon to see herds of some thousands feeding to- gether in a large meadow, are certainly the most remark- able in the world, as they are all of them milk-white, except their ears, which are generally brown or black. And though there are no inhabitants here, yet the clangour m, I III. (kup. U. DSiOBIPTIOll OF TIJfUjr. 271 •nd frequent panding of domeitic poultry, which range the wocds in great numbers, perpetually excite the idea of the neighbourhood of farms and Tillageki, and greatly contribute to the oheerftdneas and beau^ of the place. The cattle on Tinian, we computed, were at least ten thousand. We had no difficulty in getting near them, for they were not at all shy of us. Chur first method of killing them was shooting them; but at kst, when by accidents to be hereafter recited, we were obliged to husband our ammunition, our men ran them down with ease. Their flesh was extremely well tasted, and was believed by us to be much more easily digested than any we had ever met with. The fowls, too, were exceeding good, and were likewise run down with little trouble; for they could scarce fly farther than a hundred yards at a flight, and even that fatigued them to such a desree that they could not readily rise again ; so that, aided bv the openness of the woods, we could at all times furnish ourselyes with whatever number we wanted. Besides the cattle and the poultry, we found here abundance of wild hogs : these were most excellent food ; but as they were a very fierce animal, we were obliged either to shoot them or to hunt them with large dogs, which we found upon the place at our landing, and which belonged to the detachment which was then upon the ishmd, amassing provisions for the garrison of Guam. As these dogs had been purposely trained to the killing of the wild hogs, they followed us very readily, and hunted for us : but, Uiough they were a largo bold breed, the hogs fought with so much fury, that uiey frequently destroye** them, whence we, by degrees, lost the greatest part of them. This place was not only extremely grateful to us, from the plenty and excellency of its fresh provisions, but was as much, perhaps, to be admired on account of its fruits and vegetable productions, which were most happTly adapted to ike cure of the sea-scurvy, the disease which had so terribly reduced us. For in the woods there were inconceivable quantities of cocoa-nuts, with the ■ il . 1 d72 ▼OTAGlE BOUND THX WORLD. [Book in. cabbages growing on tiie flame tree : there were, besides, gttavas, limes^ sweet and sour oranges, and a kind of firait peonliar to these islands, called by the Lidians rhymay, but by ns the bread-fruit, for it was constantly eaten by us during our stay upon the island, instead of bread, and so universally preferred to it, that no ship's bread was exp^aded in that whole interval. It grew upon a titiQ which is somewhat loffy, and which towards the top divides into large and spreading branches. The leaves of this tree are of a r^narkably deep green, are notched about the edges, and are generally from a foot to eighteen inches in length. The fruit itself is found, indifferently, on all parts of the branches : it is in shape rather ell^tical than round ; it is covered with a roii^h rind, and is usually seven or eight inches long ; each of them grows singly, and not in clusters. This fruit is fittest to be used when it is full grown, but still green, in which state, after it is properly prepared, by being roasted in the embers, its taste has some distant resem- blance to that of an artichoke's bottom, and its texture is not very different, for it is soft and lE^ngy. As it ripens, it becomes softer, and of a yellow colour, when it contracts a luscious taste and an agreeable smell, noi unlike a ripe peach; but then it is esteemed unwhole- some, and is sud to produce fluxes. I shall only add, that it is described both by Dampier and in Eay's His- tory of Plants. Besides the fruits already enumerated, there were many other vegetables extremely conducive to the cure of the malady we had long laboured under, such as water melons, dandelion, creeping purslain, mint, scurvy grass, and sorrel, all which, together with the fresh meats of the place, we devomred with great eagerness, prompted thereto by the strong inclination which in scor- butic disorders, nature never fails of exciting for these powerful specifics. It will easily be conceived, from what has been already said, that our cheer upon this island was, in some degree, luxurious; but I have not yet recited all the varieties VfeAV.ILl DX8011IPTI0M 01* TIMIAN. 278 of provisions which we here indulged in. Indeed, we thought it prudent totally to abstain from lish, the few we caught at our first arriTal having surfeited tiiose who ato of them; but, considering how much we had been Inured to that species of food, we did not regard this circumstance as a disadvantage, especially as the defect was 80 amply supplied by tiie beef, pork, and fowls, already mentioned, and by great plenfy of wild fowl; for it is to be remembered, that, near ^e centre of the island, there were two considerable pieces of fresh water, which abounded with duck, teal, and curlew; not to mention the whistling plover, which we found there in prodigious plenty. It may now, perhaps, be wondered at, that an island so exquisitely famished with the conveniences of life, and so well adapted not only to the subsistence but likewise to the enjoyment of mankind, should be entirely destitute of inhabitants, especially as it is in the neigh- bourhood of other islands, which, in some measure, depend upon this for their support. To obviate this difficulty, I must observe, that it is not fifty years since the island was depopulated. The Indian we had in our custody assured us that formerly the three islands of Tinian, Bota, and Guam, were all full of inhabitants; and that Tinian alone contained thirty thousand souls; but a sickness raging among these islands, which de- stroyed multitudes of the people, the Spaniards, to recruit their numbers at Guam, which were extremely diminished by the mortality, ordered all the inhabitants of Tinian tluther, where, languishing for their former habitations, and their customary method of life, the greatest port of them, in a few years, died of grief. In- deed, independent of that attachment which dl mankind have ever shown to the place of their birth and bringing up, it should seem, from what has been already said, that there were few countries more worthy to be regretted than this of Tinian. 'J.'hose poor Indians might reasonably have expected, i i ii ■ I ■i ■ Ml ■'fit *:'!' ■ m 274 yOTAOS BOUND THX WOBLD. [Bourn. kUk at fhe great distance from Spain where they were placed, to have escaped the violence and 'cruelty of Hhat luraghty nation, so fatal to a large proportion of the whole human race; but, it seems, tiieir remote situation: could not protect them fron sharing in the common destruction of the western world ; all the advantage they received from their distance being only to perish an age or two later. It may, perhaps, be doubted, if the number, of the inha- bitants of Tinian who were banished to Guam, and who died there pining for their native home, wad So consi- derable as what we have related above ;: 'but not to mention the concurrent assertion of our prisoners, and the commodiousness of the island, and its j^ot fertility, there are still remains to bo met with on thejodace, which show it to have been once extremely populous^ ^or there are, in all parts of the island, many ruins of a very particular kmd. These usually consist of two rows of square pyramidal pillars, each pillar being about six feet from the next, and the distance between the rows being about twelve feet ; the pillars themselves are about five feet square at the base, and about thirteen feet high, and on the top of each of them there is a semi-globe, with the flat surface upwards; the whole 'bf the pillars and semi-globe is solid, being composed, of sand and stone cemented together, and plastered > OVer. If the account our prisoners gave us of the structures was true, the island must, indeed, have been most extraor- dinarily well peopled, since they assured us that they were the foundations of particular buildings, set apart for those Indians only who had engaged in some religious vow, monastic institutions being often to be met with in many Pagan nations. However, if these ruins were originally the basis of the common dwelling-houses of the natives, their numbers must have been considerable, for in many parts of the island they are extremely thickly planted, and sufficiently evince the great plenty of iU former inhabitants. But, to retiun to the present <£u.te of the island. ^ \ m Bousiu. placed, human Id not tion of id from o later, e inha- nd who » consi- not to irs, and 'ertility, ), which or there a very rows of )6at six he rows re ahoiit tethigh, d-globe, ) piUars tnd and If the tikAr.aj INCONVENIENCES OF TINIAN. 276 Having briefly recounted the conveniences of this place, the ezcdlency and quality of its fruits and provisions, the neatness of its lawns, the stateliness, freshness and fragrance of its woods, the happy inequality of its sur£ftce, and the variety and elegance of the views it afforded, I must now observe, that all these advantages were greatly enhanced by the healthiness of its climate, by the almost constant breezes which prevail, and by the frequent showers which fell there ; for these^ instead of the heavy continued rains, which in some countries render great part of the year so unpleasant, were usually of a very short, and almost momentary duration. Hence they were extremely grateful and refreshing, and were, perhaps, one cause of the salubrity of the air, and of the extraordinary influence it was observed to have upon us in increasing and invigorating our appetites and di- gestion. This effect was, indeed, remarmtble, since those amongst our of&cers who were at all other times spare and temperate eaters, who, besides a slight brealdast, used to make but one moderate repast a day, were here in appearance transformed into gluttons ; for, instead of one reasonable flesh meal, they were now scarcely satis- fied with three, each of them, too, so prodigious in quan- tity, as would at another time, have produced a fever or a surfeit. And yet our digestion so well corresponded to the keenness of our appetites, that we were neither dis- ordered, nor even loaded by this uncommon repletion: for after having, according to the custom of the island, made a large beef breakfast, it was not long before we began to consider the approach of dinner as a very de- sirable, though somewhat tardy, incident. After giving these large encomiums to this island, in which, however, I conceive I have not done it justice, it is necessary I should speak of those circumstances in which it is defective, whether in point of beauty or utility. And, first, with respect to its water. I must own, that, before I had seen this spot I did not conceive that the absence- of running water of which it is entirely desti- i m 'i In 276 YOYAGR BOUND THE WOBLD. [BOOKIU. tute, ootild have been so well replaced by any other means, as it is in this island ; since, though there are no streams, yet the water of the wells and springs, which are to be met with everywhere near the snr&ce, is extremely good ; and in the midst of the island, there are two or three considerable pieces of excellent water, the turf of whose banks was as clean, as even, and as regularly disposed as if they had been basins purposely iDAde foi the decoration of tilie place. It must, however, be Confessed, that, with regard to the beauty of the pros- pects, the want of rills and streams is a very great defect, not to be compensated either by large pieces of standing water, or by the neighbourhood of the sea, though that, from the smallness of the island, generally makes a part of every extensive landscape. As to a residence upon the island, the principal incon- venience attending it is the vast number of mosquitoes, \ and ^uious other species of flies, together with an insect called a tick ; this, though principally attached to the cattle, would yet frequently fasten upon our limbs and bodies, and if not perceived and removed in time, would bury its head under the skin, and raise a painful inflam- mation. We found here, too, centipedes and scorpions, which we supposed were venomous, though none of us ever received any injury from them. But the most important and formidable exception to this place remains still to be told. This is the inconve- nience of the road, and the little security there is, in some seasons, for a ship at anchor. The only proper anchoring-places for ships of burthen is at the S.W. end of the iaLand. Here the Centurion anchored in twenty and twenty-two fathom water, about a mile and a half distant from tiie shore, opposite to a sandy bay. , The bottom of this road is fbll of sharp-pointed coral rocks, which, during four months of the year, that is, from the middle of June to the middle of October, irender it a very unsafe anchorage. This is the season of the western mon- soons : when near the full and change of the moon, but >{( Gbaf. I1.J PB00BSOIN08 AT TINIAN. 277 more particularly at the change, the wind is usually variable all round the compass, and seldom fails to blow with such fury that the stoutest cables are not to be con- fided in. What adds to the danger at these times is the excessive rapidity of the tide of flood, which sets to the S.E. between this island and that of Aguiguan, a small islet near the southern extremity of Tinian. This tide runs at first with a vast head and overfall of water, occa- sioning such a hollow and overgrown sea as is scarcely to be conceived; so that (as will be more particularly recited in the sequel) we were under the dreadM appre- hensions of being pooped by it, though we were in a sixty-gun ship. In the remaining eight months of tiie year, that is, from the middle of October to the middle of June, there is a constant season of settled weather ; when, if the cables are but well armed, there is scarcely any danger of their being ever rubbed : so that, during all that interval, it is as secure a road as could be wished for. I shall only add, that the anchoring bank is very shelving, and stretches along the S.W. end of the island, and is entirely free from shoals, except a reef of rocks, which is visible, and lies about half a mile from the shore, affording a narrow passage into a nnall sandy bay, which is the only place where boats can possibly hmd. Having given this account of the island and its produce, it is necessary to return to our own history. Our first undertaking after our arrival was the removal of our sick on shore, as hath been related. Whilst wo were thus employed, four of the Indians on the island, being part of the Spanish Serjeant's detachment, came and surrendered themselves to us ; so that, with those we took in the proa, we had now eight of them in our custody. One of the four who submitted undertook to show us the most convenient place for killing cattle, and two of our men were ordered to attend him on that ser- vice ; but one of them unwarily trusting the Indian with his firelock and pistol, the Indian escaped with them into the woods. His countrymen who remained behind were m 278 YOTAGB BOUND THE WOBLD. IBooKlIL apprehensive of suffering for this perfidy of their com- rade, and therefore begged leave to send one of their own party^^into the coiintry, who, they engaged, should both bring back the arms, and persuade the whole detachment from Guam to submit to us. The Commodore granted their request ; and one of them was despatched on this errand, who returned next day, and brought back the firelock and pistol, but assured us he had found them in a pathway in the wood, and protested that he had not been able to meet with any one of his countrymen. This report had so little the air of truth, that we suspected there was some treachery carrying on ; and therefore, to prevent any further communication amongst them, we immediately ordered all the Indians who were in our power on board the ship, and did not permit them to go any more on shore. When our sick were well settled on the island, we em- ployed all the hands that could be spared from attend- ing them in arming the cables with a good rounding, several fathpm from the anchor, to secure them from being rubbed by the coral rocks, which here abounded. This being completed, our next occupation was our leak ; and, in order to raise it out of the water, we, on tho 1st of September, began to get the g'ms aft, to bring the ship by the stem ; and now the carpenters, being able to come at it on the outside, they ripped off what was left of the old sheathing, caulked all the seams on both sides the cutwater, and leaded them over, and then new- sheathed the bows on the surface of the water. By this means we conceived the defect was sufficiently secured ; but, upon our beginning to return the guns to their ports, we had the mortification to perceive that the water rushed into tiie ship in the old place, with as much violence as ever. Hereupon we were necessitated to begin again: and that our second attempt might be more successful, we cleared the fore store-room, and sent a hundred and thirty barrels of powder on board the small Spanish barque we had seized here, by which means wo raised the *'i. !'ll GtaAF. U.] PB00BSDIM08 AT TINIAN. 279 ship about three feet out of the water forwards. The carpenters now ripped off ihh sheathing lower down, new caulked all the seams, and afterwards liud on new shieath- ing; and then, supposing the leak to be effectually stopped, we began to move the guns forward ; but the upper-deck guns were scarcely replaced, when, to our amazement, it burst out again. As we durst not out away the lining mthin board, lest a but-end or plank might start, and we might go down immediately, we had no other resource left than chincing and caulking within board. Indeed by this means the leak was stopped for some time; but when our guns were all fixed in their ports, and our stores were taken on board, the water again forced its way through a hole in the stem, where one of the bolts was driven in. We on this desisted from all further efforts, being at last well assured that the defect was in the stem itself, and that it was not to be remedied till we should have an opportunity of heaving down. In the first part of the month of September several of our sick were tolerably recovered by their residence on shore; and, on the 12th of September, all those who were so tax relieved since their arrival as to be capable of doing duty, were sent on board the ship ; and then the Commodore, who was himself ill of the scurvy, had a tent erected for him on shore, where he went with the view of staying a few days to establish his health, being convinced, by tiie general experience of his people, that no other metiiod but living on the land was to be trusted to for the removal of this dreadful malady. The place where his tent was pitched on this occasion was near the well whence we got all our water, and was indeed a most pleasant spot. As the crew on board were now reinforced by the re- covered hands returned from the island, we began to send our casks on shore to be fitted up, whichy till this time, could not be done, for the coopers were not well enough to work. We HkewisA weighed our anchors, that we \ . i:i! 280 VOTAOK BOUND THE WOBLD. LBOOK 111 might examine our cables, which, we siupected, had by this time received considerable damage. And as the new moon was now approaching, when we apprehended violent gales, the Oommodore, for our greater security, ordered that part of the cables next to the anchors to be armed with the chains of the fire-grapnels : besides which they were cackled twenty fathom from the anchors, and seven fathom from the surfEtce, with a good rounding of a four-inch-and-half hawser. And being persuaded that the dangers of this road demanded our utmost foresight, we, to idl these precautions, added that of lowering the main and foreyard close down, that, in case of blowing weather, the wind might have less power upon the ship to make her ride a strain. Thus effectually prepared, as we conceived, we waited till the new moon, which was the 18th of September, when riding safe that and the thaee succeeding days, though the weather proved very squally and uncertain, we flat- tered ourselves, for I was then on board, that the pru- dence of our measures had secured us from all accidents ; but on the 22nd the wind blew from the eastward with such fury, that we soon despaired of riding out the storm. In this conjuncture we should have been extremely glad if the Oommodore and the rest of our people on shore, which were the greatest part of our hands, had been on board us, since our only hopes of safety seemed to de- pend on our putting immediately to sea. But all com- munication with the shore was now absolutely cut off, for there was no possibility that a boat could live, so that we were necessitated to ride it out till our cables parted. Indeed we were not long eiqpecting this dreadful event, for the small bower parted at five in the afternoon, and the ship swung off to the best bower ; and as the n^ght come on, the violence of the wind still increased ; though, notwithstanding its inexpressible fury, the tide ran with so much rapidity as to prevail over it : for the tide, which set to the northward at the beginning of the hurricane, turning suddenly to the southward, about six in the CBAP. U.] PB00EEDING8 AT TIMIAV. 281 evening, forced the ship before it, in spite of the storm which blew upon the beam. The sea now broke most surprisingly all round us, and • large tumbling swell threatened to poop us ; by which the long boat, at this time moored astern, was on a sudden canted so high, that it broke tlie transom of the Commodore's gallery, whose cabin was on the quarter-deck, and would doubtless have risen as high as the tafferel, had it not been for the stroke, which stove the boat all to pieces; and yet the poor boat-keeper, though extremely bruised, was saved almost by miracle. About eight the tide slackened ; but the wind not abating, the best bower cable, by which alone we rode, parted at eleven. Our sheet-anchor, which was the only one we had left, was instantly cut from the bow; but before it could reach the bottom, we were driven from twenty-two into thirty-five fathoms ; and after we had veered away one whole cable, and two- thirds of another, we could not find ground with sixty fathoms of line. This was a plain indication that the anchor lay near the edge of the bank, and could not hold us long. In this pressing danger Mr. Saumarez, our first lieutenant, who now commanded on board, ordered several guns to be fired, and lights to be shown, as a signal to the Commodore of our distress ; and, in a short time after, it being then about one o'clock, and the night excessively dark, a strong gust, attended with rain and lightning, drove us oif the bank and forced us out to sea, leaving behind us on the island Mr. Anson, with many more of our officers, and groat part of our crew, amounting in the whole to a hundred and thirteen per- sons. Thus we were all, both at sea and on shore, re- duced to the utmost despair by this catastrophe; those on shore conceiving they had no means left them ever to depart from the idand, whilst we on board, being utterly unprepared to struggle with the fury of the seas and winds we were now exposed to, expected each moment to bo our last. ifii i m 282 VOTAQE BOUND THX WOBLD. [Book IIJ. CHAPTER III. TnuuacUons at Tlnion, after the Departure of the Centurion. The storm which drove the Centurion to sea, blew with too much turbulence to permit either the Commodore, or any of'the people on shore, to hear the guns which she fired as signals of distress; and the frequent glare of the lighning had prevented the explosions from being observed; so that, when at daybreak it was perceived £:om the shore that the ship was missing, there was the utmost consternation amongst them, for much the greatest part of them immediately concluded that she was lost, and entreated the Commodore that the boat might be sent round the island to look after the wreck ; and those who believed her safe had scarcely any expectation that she would ever be able to make tiie island again, since the wind continued to blow strong at east, and they well knew how poorly she was manned and provided for strug- gling with so tempestuous a gale. In either of these views, their situation was indeed most deplorable ; for if the Centurion was lost, or should be incapable of return- ing, there appeared no possibility of their ever getting off the island, as they were at least six hundred leagues from Macao, which was their nearest port : and tiiey were masters of no other vessel than the small Spanish barque, of about fifteen tons, seized at their first arrival, which would not even hold a fourth part of their number. And the chance of their being taken off the island by the casual arrival of any other ship was altogether desperate ; as, perhaps, no European ship had ever anchored here before, and it were madness to expept that like incidents should send another here in a huii- dred years to come ; so that their desponding thoughts could only suggest to them the melancholy prospect of spending the remainder of their days on this island, and Chat. UI-l PB00SEDIN08 AT TUIUN. *48a bidding adieu for ever to their country, their friendii their funilies, and all their domestic endearments. Nor was this the worst they had to fear ; for they had reason to apprehend that the Governor of Guam, when he should be informed of their circumstances, might send a force sufficient to overpower them, and to remove them to that island ; and then the most &vourable treatment they could expect would be to be detained prisoners during life, since, from the known policy and cruelty of the Spaniards in their distant settlements, it was rather to b^ supposed that the Governor, if he once had them in his power, would make their want of commissions (all of them being on board the Oenturion) a pretext for treating them as pirates, and for depriving them of their lives with infamy. In the midst of these gloomy reflections, Mr. Anson, though ho always kept up his usual composure and steadi- ness, had doubtiiess his share of disquietude. However, having soon projected a scheme for extricating himself and his men from their present anxious situation, he first communicated it to some of the most intelligent persons about him ; and having satisfied himself that it was prac- ticable, he then endeavoured to animate his people to a speedy and vigorous prosecution of it. With this view, he represented to them how little foundation there was for their apprehensions of the Centurion's being lost ; that he shoidd have presumed they had been all of them better acquainted with sea afi&drs than to give way to the impres- sion of so chimerical a fright ; that he doubted not but, if they would seriously consider what such a ship was capable of enduring, they would confess there was not the least probability of her having perished ; that he was not without hopes that she might return in a few days ; but if she did not, the worst that could be imagined was, that she was driven so far to the leeward of the island that she could not regain it, and that she would, conse- quently, be obliged to bear away for Macao, on the coast of China ; that, as it was necessary to be prepared against ',1;-! ■m \ \ 384 TOTAGl BOUND THI WOBLD. ^BOOB 111. all eyonts, he had, in this case, considered of a method of carrying them o£f the ialand, and of joining their old ship the Oentnrion again at Macao ; that this method was to haul the Spanish barque on shore, to saw her asunder, and to lengflien her twelve feet, which would enlarge her to near forty tons burthen, and would enable her to carry them all to Ohina ; that he had consulted the carpenters, and they had agreed that this proposal was very feasible, and that nothing was wanting to execute it but tiie united resolution and industry of ney or a the Whilst the smith was preparing the necessary iron-work, others were employed in cutting down trees, and sawing them into planks ; and this being the most laborions task, the Commodore wrought at it himself, for the encourage- ment of his people. But there being neither blocks nor cordage sufficient for tackles to haul the barque on shore, this occasioned a new difficulty ; however, it was at length resolved to get her up on rollers, since for these the body of the cocoa-nut tree was extremely well fitted, as its smoothness and circular tmm prevented much labour, and suited it to the purpose with very little workmanship. A number of these trees were therefore felled, and the ends of them properly opened for the insertion of handspikes ; and in the meantime, a dry-dock was dug to receive the barque, and ways were laid from thence quite into the sea, to facilitate the bringing her up. Neither were these the whole of their occupations, since, besides those who were thus busied in preparing m^Mtsures towards the fiiture enlargement of the barque, a party was constantly ordered to kill and provide provisions for the rest. And though in these- various employments, some of which demanded considerable dexterity, it might have been expected there would have been great confusion and delay ; yet good order being once established, and all hands engaged, tiieir preparation advanced apace. Indeed, the common men, I presume, were not the less tractable for their want of spirituous liquors ; for there being neither wine nor brandy on shore, the juice of the cocoa-nut was their constant drink ; and this, though extremely pleasant, was not at all intoxicating, but kept them very temperate and orderly. The main work now proceeding successfully, the officers began to consider of all the articles which would be necessary to the fitting out the barque for the sea : on this consultation it was found that the tents on shore, and the spare cordage accidentally left there by the Centurion, together with the sails and rig^ng already belonging to the barque, would serve to rig her indifferently well, when 1 I,' iiliji 288 TOTAGE BOUND THE WOBLD. (BoOKlIL she was lengthened. And as they had tallow in plenty, they proposed to pay her bottom with a mixture of tallow and lime, which it was known was not ill adapted to that purpose : so that with respect to her equipment she would not have been very defective. There was, however, one exception which would have proved extremely inconvenient, and that was her size : for as they could not make her quite forty tons burthen, she would have been incapable of containing half the crew below the deck, and she would have been so top-heavy, that if they were all at the same time ordered upon deck, there would be no small hazai'd of her oversetting ; but this was a difficulty not to be re- moved, as they could not augment her beyond the size already proposed. After the manner of rigging and fitting up the barque was considered and regulated, the next essential point to be thought on was, how to procure a sufficient stock of provisions for their voyage : and here they were greatly at a loss what expedient to have recourse to, as they had neither grain nor bread of any kind on shore, their bread-fruit, which would not keep at sea, having all along supplied its place ; and though tiiey had live cattle enough, yet they had no salt to cure beef for a sea-store, nor wotdd meat take salt in that climate. In- deed, they had preserved a small quantity of jerked beef, which they found upon the place at their landing ; but this was greatly disproportioned to the run of near six hun- dred leagues, which they were to engage in, and the num- ber of hands they should have on board. It was at last, however, resolved to put on board as many cocoa-nuts as they possibly could, to prolong to the utmost their jerked beef by a very sparing distribution of it, and to endeavour to supply their want of bread by rice : to furnish them- selves with which it was proposed, when the barque was fitted up, to make an expedition to the island of Kota, where they were told that the Spaniards had large planta- tions of rice under the care of the Indian inhabitants ; but as this last measure was to be executed by force, it became necessary to examine what ammunition had been left on (' • CnAV. IIL rnOCEEDIXGS AT TINIAN. 289 hill one shore, and to preserve it carefully : and on this inquiry titey had the mortification to find that their firelocks would be of little service to them, since all the powder that could be collected by the strictest search did not amount to more than ninety charges, which was considerably short of one apiece to each of the company, and was indeed a very slender stock of ammunition for such as were to eat no grain or bread daring a whole month, except what they were to procure by force of arms. But the most alarming circumstance, and which, with- out the providential interposition of very improbable events, would have rendered all their schemes abortive, remains yet to be related. The general idea of the fabric and equipment of the vessel was settled in a few days ; and tbis being done, it was not difficult to frame some estimation of the time necessary to complete her. After this it was natural to expect that the officers would con- sider the course they were to steer and the land they were to make. These reflections led them to the dis- heartening discovery that there w^as neither compass nor quadrant on the island. Indeed the Commodore had brought a pocket-compass on shore for his own use, but Lieutenant Brett had borrowed it to determine the posi- tion of the neighbouring islands, and he had been driven to sea in the Centurion without returning it. And as to a quadrant, that could not be expected to be found on shore ; since, as it was of no use on land, there could be no reason for bringing it from on board the ship. There were now eight days elapsed since the departure of the Centurion, and yet they were not in any degree removed from this terrible perplexity : at last, in rummaging a chest belonging to the Spanish barque, they discovered a small compass, which though little better than the toys usually made for the amusement of schoolboys, was to them an invaluable treasure. And a few days after, by a similar good providence, they met with a quadrant on the sea-shore, which had been thrown overboard amongst other lumber, belonging to the dead. The quadrant was u L';! ■i 290 YOTAQE BOUND THE WOBLD.'> [BOOKIII eagerly seized : but on examination it wanted yanes, and therefore in its present state was altogether useless : how- ever, Providence still continuing favourable, it was not long before a person, through curiosity, pulling out the drawer of an old table which had been dnven on shore, found therein some vanes, which fitted the quadrant very well ; and it being thus completed, it was examined by the ^own latitude of the place, and upon trial, answered to a sufficient degree of exactness. When now all these obstacles were in some degree re- moved (which were always as much as possible concealed from the vulgar, that they might not grow remiss with the apprehension of labouring to no purpose), the business proceeded very successfiQly and vigorously. The neces- sary iron-work was in great forwardness ; and the timbers and planks (which though not the most exquisite per- h formances of the sawyer's art, were yet sufficient for the *■ purpose) were all prepared ; so that on the 6th of October, being the fourteenth day from the departure of the ship, they hauled the barque on shore ; and on the two succeed- ing days she was sawn asunder, though with the caution not to cut her planks ; and her two parts being separated the proper distance from each other, and the materials being aU ready beforehand, they, the next day, being the 9th of October, went on with no small despatch in their proposed enlargement of her ; whence by this time they had all their future operations so fairly in view, and were so much masters of them, that they were able to determine when the whole would be finished, and had accordingly fixed the 5th of November for the day of their putting to sea. But their projects and labour were now drawing to a speedier and happier conclusion ; for on the 11th of October, in the afternoon, one of the Gloucester's men being upon a hill in the middle of the island, perceived the Centurion at a distance, and running down with his utmost speed towards the landing-place, he in the way saw some of his comrades, to whom he hallooed out with great ecstasy, " The ship, the ship I" This being heard Ohap. UI.] riiOOktIDINCSd AT TINIAM. 291 by Mr. Gordon, a lieutonant of marines, who was convinced by the fellow's transport that this report was true — Mr. Gordon directly hastened towards tiie place where the Commodore and his people were at work, and being fresh and in breath easily outstripped the Gloucester's man, and got before him to the Conmiodore, who, on hearing this pleasing and unexpected news, threw down his axe with which he was then at work, and by his joy broke through, for the first time, the equable and unvaried character which he had hitherto preserved : whilst the others, who were present, instantly ran down to the sea-side in a kind lii m Jill I I V I 1 i ! m.i ', il of frenzy, eager to feast themselves with a sight they had so ardently longed after, and of which they had now for a considerable time despaired. By five in the evening the Centurion was visible in the offing to them all : and the boat being sent off with eighteen men, to reinforce her and with fresh meat and fruits for the refreshment of her 292 YOTAGB BOUND THE WORLD. [Book HI. crew, she the next afternoon happily cast anchor in the road, where the Commodore immediately came on board her, and was received by ns with the sincercst and heartiest acclamations : for by the following short recital of the fears, the dangers, and fatigues we in the ship underwent, during our nineteen days' absence from Tinian, it may be easily conceived, that a harbour, refreshments, repose, and the joining of our Commander and shipmates, wore not less pleasing to us than our return was to them. m CHAPTER IV. Proceedings on board the Centurion, when driven out to Sea. The Centurion being now once more safely arrived at Tinian, to the mutual respite of the labours of our divided crew, it is high time that the reader, after the relation already given of the projects and employment of those left on shore, should be apprised of the fatigues and distresses to which we whom the Centurion carried off to sea were exposed, during the long interval of nineteen days that we were absent from the island. It has been already mentioned that it was the 22nd of September, about one o'clock, in an extreme dark night, when, by the united violence of a prodigious storm and an exceeding rapid tide, we were driven from our an- chors and forced to sea. Our condition then was truly deplorable : we were in a leaky ship, with three cables in our hawses, to one of which hung our only remaining anchor ; we had not a gun on board lashed, nor a port barred in; our shrouds were loose and our top-masts unrigged, and we had struck our fore and main yards close down before the hurricane came on, so that there were no sails we could set except our mizen. In this dreadful extremity we could muster no more strength on board to navigate the ship than a hundred and eight hands, several negroes and In-iians included : this CHAP. IV.] TRANSAOTIONtf IN THE OBNTUBION. 293 was Bcarooly the fourth part of our complement ; and oi tiiese the greater nmnber were either boys or such as, being but lately recovered from the scurry, had not yet arrived at half their former vigour. No sooner were we Iftt sea, but by the violence of the storm, and the working of the ship, we made a great quantity of water through the hawse-holes, ports, and scuppers, which, added to the constant effect of our leak, rendered our pumps alone a sufficient employment for us all. But, though we knew that this leakage, by being a short time neglected, would inevitably end in our destruction, yet we had other dangers then hanging over us, which occa- sioned this to be regarded as a secondary consideration only. For we all imagined that we were driving directly on the neighbouring island of Aguiguan, which was about two leagues distant: aiid as we had lowered our main and fore yards close down, we had no soils we could set but the mizen, which vn\a altogether insufficient to cany us clear of this imminent peril. Urged, therefore, by this pressing emergency, we immediately applied our- selves to work, endeavouring with the utmost of our efforts to heave up the mAin and fore yards, in hopes that, if we could but be enabled to make use of our lower canvas, wo might possibly weather the island, and thereby save ourselves from this impending shipwreck. But, viter full three hours' ineffectual labour, the jeers broke ; and the men being quite jaded, we were obliged by mere debility to desist, and quietly to ei^ct our fate, which we then conceived to be unavoidable. For we soon esteemed ourselves to be driven just upon the shore, and the night was so extremely dork that wo expected to dis- cover the island no otherwise than by striMng upon it ; so that the belief of our destruction, and the uncertainty of the point of time when it would take place, occasioned us to pass several hours under the most serious apprehen- sions that each succeeding moment would send us to the bottom. Nor did these continued terrors of instantly striking and sinking end but with the daybreak, when y 294 \OrAO£ ItOCKO THli WOBLD. [liOOK lU. we with great transport perceived that the island we had thus dreaded was at a considerable distance, and that a strong northern current had been the cause of our preservation. The turbulent weather which forced us from Tiniar did not 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 again, and killed one of our people, 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 exigencies, no rank or office exempted any per- son from the manual application and bodily labour of a common sailor. The business of this day was no less than an endeavour 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 it would be to our navigation, and hazard to the 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 diffi- culties and hazards whenever we fell in with the land again ; and, therefore, being all of us folly apprized of the Consequence of this enterprise, we laboured at it with the severest application for full twelve hours, when we had indeed made a considerable progress, having broi^ht the anchor in sight ; but it growing dork, and we being excessively fatigued, were obliged to desist, and to leave our work unfinished tUl the next morning, and then, refreshed by the benefit of a night's rest, we completed it, and hung the anchor at our bow. It was the 27th of September, that is, five days after our departure, before we had thus secured our anchor ; however, we the same day got up our main-yard; so that, having now conquered in some degree the distress and disorder which we were necessarily involved in at C>Ar. IV.j TAAMBA0TI0N8 IN THE OBNTURION. 29C oui' first driving out to sea, and being enabled to make use of our canvas, 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 ; since, by our accounts, we were only forty-seven leagues distant to the south-west. Hence, on tiie first day of October, having then run the distance necessary for making the island, according to our reckoning, wo were in full expectation of seeing it. But here we were unhappily disappointed, and were thereby convinced that a current had driven us considerably to the eastward. This discovery threw us into a new perplexity; for, as we could not judge how much we might hereby have de- viated, and, consequently, how long we might still expect to be at sea, we had great apprehensions that our stock of water would prove deficient, since we were doubtful about the quantity we had on board, finding many of oiw casks so decayed as to be half leaked out. However, we were delivered from our uncertainty the next day, having then a sight of the island of Guam ; and hence we computed that the currents had driven us forty-four leagues to the westward of our accounts. Being now satisfied of our situation by this sight of land, 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 was 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 th(f nineteenth day from our departure; when arriving in the ojffing of Tinian, we were reinforced from the shore^ as hath been already related ; and on the evening of tho same day we, 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 fiitigues and apprehensions which this disastrous incident had given rise to. i; [■V '1' Siill ■i -M 296 VOfAOE ROUND THE WOULD. Uuoilll CHAPTER V. Ktnployment at Tinlan, till tbe fkiwl departure of the Centurion from thence ; with a Description of the Ladronee. When the Commodore came on board the Centurion after her return to Tinian, he resolved to stay no longer at the island than was absolutely necessary to complete our stock of water, a work which we immediately set our- selves about. But the loss of our long-boat, which was staved against our poop before 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 casks, 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 14th of October, being but 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 wovisions. These had with them our two cutters : but a3 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 busied in killing cattle in the woods, and in bringing them down to the landing-place, remained be- hind ; and though the eighteen-oared barge was left for their convenience, yet, as the ship soon drove to a con- siderable distance, it was not in their power to join us. However, as the weather was favourable, and ou^ crew was now stronger than when we were first driven out, we, in about five days' time, returned again to an an- chor at Tinian, and relieved those we had left behind W !t» > Ciup. V. EMPLOYMENT AT TUIIAK. 807 US from their second fears of being deserted k> uioir ship. On our arriyal we found that the Spanish htiyafi, the old object of their hopes, had undergone a new meta- morphosis ; for those on i^ore despairing of our jetum, and conceiving that the lengthening the barque, as for- merly 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 of&ng, two proas had stood in very near the shore, and had continued there for somo 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 nar- ration. It has been already observed that a part of the detach- ment sent to this island under the command of the Spanish Serjeant, lay concealed in the wood : indeed we were less solicitous to find them out, as our prisoners all assured us that it was impossible for them to get ofi^ 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, ho 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 observed in the valley beneatli them, the appearance of a small thicket, which by attend- ing to more nicely, they found had a progressive motion. This at first surprised them; but they soon perceived that it was no more than several large cocoa bushes, which were dragged along the ground by persons concealed be- lli • -%\ 298 TOYAOK ROUND TBJB WORLD. [BOORlIl. Death them. They immediately ooncludod that those wore some of the Serjeant's party, which was, indoed, true ; and, therefore, the Cfommodore and his people made after themj in hopes of tracing out thoir retreat. The Indians remarking that they were discovered, hur- ried 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 ofi&cers entering, found to be abandoned, there being a passage from it which had been contrived for the conveniency of flight, and which led down a precipice. They hero met with an old fire- lock 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, they concluded that the extraordinary appe- tite which they had acquired at this island was not con- fined to themselves alone : for, it being about noon, the Indians laid out a very plentiful repast, considering their numbers, and had their bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts pre- pared ready for eating, in a manner, too, which plainly evinced that, with them, a good meal was neither an un- common nor an unheeded article. The Commodore having in vain searched after the path by which the Indians had escaped, he and his of&cers contented themselves with sitting down to the dinner, which was thus luckily fitted to their present hunger ; after which they returned back to their old habitation, ^spleased at missing the Indians, as they hoped to have engaged them in our service, if they could have had any conference with them. I must add that, notwithstanding what our prisoners had asserted, we were afterwards assured that these Indians were car- ried off to Guam long before we left the plbce. But, to return to our history. On our coming to an anchor again, after our second driving off to sea, we laboured indefatigably at getting in our water; and, having, by the 20th of October, completed it to fifty tons, which we supposed would be sufficient during our passage to Macao, we, on the next CiUr.V} DKSCUIPTION OF 'i'lUB LADHONfl I8LAND8. 299 day, sent ono of each mcsg on shoro, to gather as largo a quantity of orangos, lemons, coooo-nuts, and other fruit« of the island as they possibly could, for the uso of them- selves and their messmates, when at sea: and theso purveyors returning on the evening of the same day, wo then set fire to the bark and proa, hoisted in our boats, and got under sail, steering away towards the south end of the island of Formosa, and taking our leave, for the third and last time, of the island of Tinian ; an island which, whether we consider the excel- lence of its productions, the beauty of its appearance, tho elegance of its woods and lawns, the healthiness of its air^ or the adventures it gave rise to, may, in all these views^ bo justly styled romantic. And now postponing, for a abort time, our run to For- mosa, and thence to Canton, I shall interrupt the narra- tion with a description of that range of islands, usually called the Ladrones, or Marian Islimds, of which this of Tinian is one. These islands were discovered by Magellan, in the year 1521, and, £rom the account given of the two hv first fell in with, it would seem that they wero those of Saypan and Tinian; for they ore described as very beautiful islands, and as lying between ^fteen and sixteen degrees of north latitude. These characteristics are particularly applicable to the two above-mentioned places; for tho pleasing appearance of Tinian has occasioned the Spaniards to give it the additional name of Buonavista ; and Saypan^ which is in the latitude of 15° 22' north, alfords no contemptible prospect when seen at sea. There ore usually reckoned twelve of these islands; out if the small islets and rocks are counted, their wholo number will amount to above twenty. They were formerly, most of them, well inhabited; and even not sixty years ago, tho three principal islands, Guam, Eota, And Tinian together, are asserted to have contained above fifty thousand people ; but since that time Tinian has been entirely depopulated ; and no more than two or 'i^lfS^ ::•"" m 800 YOTAGE ROUND THE WORLD. riioOK IlL three liimdred Indians have been left at bota, to cultiyate rice for the isknd of Guam, so that now Guam alone can properly be said to be inhabited. This island of Guam is the only settlement of the Spaniards; hero they keep a governor and garrison, and here the Manilla ship generally touches for refreshment, in her passage from Acapulco to the Philippines. It is esteemed to be about thirty leagues in circumference, and contains, by the Spanish accounts, near four thousand inhabitants, of which a thousand ai*e supposed to live in the city of San Ignatio de Agana, where the Governor generally resides, and where the houses are represented as considerable, being built with stone and timber, and covered with tiles, a very uncommon fabric for these warm climates and savage countries. Besides this city, there are upon the island thirteen or fourteen villages. As Guam is a post of some consequence, on account of the refreshment it yields to the Manilla ship, there are two castles on the sea-shore ; one is the castle of St. Angelo, which lies near the road where the Manilla ship usually anchors, and is but an insignificant fortress, mounting only five guns, eight-pounders ; the other is the castle of St. Lewis, which is N.E. from St. Angelo, and four leagues distant, and is intended to proteqt a road, where a small ves- sel anchors, which arrives here every other year from Manilla. This fort mounts the same number of guns as the former. And besides these forts, there is a battery of five pieces of cannon on an eminence near the sea- shore. The Spanish troops employed at this island consist of three companies of foot, betwixt forty and fifty men each; and this is the principal strength the Governor has to depend on, for he cannot rely on any assistance from the Indian inhabitants, being generally upon ill terms with them, and so apprehensive of them, that he has debarred them the use both of fire-arms and lances. The rest of these islands, though not inhabited, do yet abound with many kinds of refreshment and pro- ^'m Chap, v.] DESCRIPTION OF THE LADROME ISLANDS. 301 vision ; but tlicro is no good harbour or road amongst them all. Of that of Tinian we have treated largely already ; nor is the road at Guam much better, since it is not uncommon for the Manilla ship, though she pro- poses to stay there but twenty-four hours, to be forced to sea, and to leave her boat behind her. This is an inconvenience so sensibly felt by the commerce at Ma- nilla, that it is always recommended to the Governor of Guam to use his best endeavours for the discovery of some secure port in the neighbouring ocean. How in- dustrious he may be to comply with his instructions I know not ; but this is certain, that notwithstanding the many islands already found out between the coast of Mexico and the Philippines, there is not any one safe port to be met with in that whole track, though in other parts of the world, it is not uncommon for very small islands to furnish most excellent harbours. From what has been said, it appears that the Spa- niards, on the island of Guam, are extremely few, compared to the Indian inhabitants; and formerly the disproportion was still greater, as may be easily conceived from the accoimt given, in another chapter, of the num- bers heretofore on Tinian alone. These Indians are a bold, strong, well-limbed people, and, as it would seem from some of their practices, are noways defective in understanding; for their flying proas in particular, which, during ages past, have been the only vessels employed by them, are so singular and extraordinary an invention that it would do honour to any nation, however dexterous and acute. Since, if we consider the aptitude of this proa to the navigation of these islands, which lying, all of them, nearly under the same meridian, and within the limits of the trade-wind, require the ves- sels made use of in passing from one to the other, to be peculiarly fitted for saiUng with the wind upon the beam ; or, if we examine the uncommon simplicity and ingenuity of its fabric and contrivance, or the extraordi- nary velocity with which it moves, we shall in each of III iiflj. I; 'i!li I T 302 TOTAGE BOUND THE WOULD. A [Book U\, these articles find it worthy of our admiration, and do- Sfjrving a place amongst the mechanical productions of the most civilized nations, where arts and sciences have most eminently flourished. As former navigators, though they have mentioned these vessels, have yet treated of them imperfectly, and as I conceive t^at, besides their curiosity, they may furnish both the shipwright and seaman with no contemptible observations, I shall here insert a very exact description of the building, rigging, and working of these vessels, which I am the better en- abled to perform, as one of them fell into our hands on our first arrival at Tinian, and Mr. Brett took it to pieces, that he might delineate its fabric and dimensions with greater accuracy ; so that the following account may be relied on : — The name of flying proa, appropriated to these vessels, is owing to the swiftness with which they sail. Of this the Spaniards assert such stories as must appear alto- gether incredible to one who has never seen these vessels move ; nor are they the only people who recount these extraordinary tales of their celerity ; for those who shall have the ciuriosity to inquire at Portsmouth Dock, about an experiment tried there some years since with a very imperfect one built at that place, will meet with accoimts not less wonderful than any the Spaniards have related. However, fi'om some rude estimation made by us of the velocity with which they crossed the horizon at a dis- tance, whilo we lay at Tinian, I cannot help believing, that, with {I brisk trade-wind, they will run near twenty miles an hour, which, though generally short of what the Spaniards report of them, is yet a prodigious degree of swiftness. But let us give a distinct idea of its figure. The construction of this proa is a direct contradiction to the practice of all the rest of mankind ; for, as it is customary fo make the head of the vessel different from the stem, but the two sides alike, the proa, on the con- trary, has her head and stem exactly alike, but her two sides very different ; the side intended to be always the Cokf. T.] DISOBIPTION OP THE FLYING PROA. 808 lee-side being flat, whilst the windward side is built rounding, in the manner of other vessels ; and to preyent her oversetting, which from her small breadth and the straight run of her leeward side would, without this precaution, infallibly happen, there is a frame laid out from her, to windward, to the end of which is fastened a log, fashioned into the shape of a small boat, and made hollow : the weight of the frame is intended to balance the proa, and the small boat is, by its buoyancy, as it is always in the water, to prevent her oversetting to wind- ward; and this frame is usually called an outrigger. The body of the proa (at least of that we took) is formed of two pieces, joined endways, and sewed together with bark, for there is no iron used in her construction ; she is about two inches thick at the bottom, which, at the gunwale, is reduced to less than one. 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, he in the stem beiiig 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 f )r ranging this collection of islands called the Ladrones, since, as these islands bear nearly N. and S. of each other, and are aU within the limits of the trade-wind, the proas by sailing most excellently on a wind, and with either end foremost, can run 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 capa- ble of lying much nearer the wind than any other vessel hitherto known, and thereby have an advantage which no vessels that go large can ever pretend to ; the advan- tage I mean is that of running with a velocity nearly as great, and perhaps sometimes greater, than ,That the wind blows with. This, however paradoxical it may ■ V' m 804 VOYAGE BOUKD THE WOBLD. rfiooznu appear, is evident enough in similar instances on shore ; since it is well known, that the sails of a windmill often move faster than the wind ; and one great superiority of common windmills over all others that ever were, or ever will be contrived to move with an horizontal motion, is analogous to the case we have mentioned, of a vessel upon a wind, and before the wind ; for the sails of an ' horizontal windmill, the faster they move, the moro they detract from the impulse of the wind upon them ; whereas the common windmills, by moving perpendicular to the torrent of air, are nearly as forcibly acted on by the wind, when they are in motion, as whe:^ they ai'e at rest. Thus much may suffice as to this description and nature of these singular embarkations. I must add, that vessels bearing some obscure resemblance to these, are to be met with in various parts of the East Indies, but none of them, that I can learn, to be compared with those of the Ladrones, either for their construction or celerity: which should induce one to believe that this was originally the invention of some genius of these islands, and was afterwards imperfectly Qopied by the neighbouring nations ; for though the Ladrones have no immediate intercourse with any other people, yet there lie to the S. and S.W. of them a great number of islands so near the Ladrones, that canoes &om them have some- times, by distress, been driven to Guam ; and the Spa- niards ^d once despatch a barque for their discovery, which left two Jesuits amongst them, who were after- wards murdered: whence it may be presumed that the Inhabitants of the Ladrones, with their proas, may, by storms or casualties, have been driven amongst those islands. After this short account of thef places, I shall now return to the prosecution of our voyage. I V. J CM«».VL\ PASfAGE FBOU TINIAM TO HAQAO. 806 CHAPTER VI. From Tinian to Macao. 1 On the 21st of October, in the evening, we took our leave of the island of Tinian, steering the proper course for Macao in China. The eastern monsoon was now we reckoned fairly settled, and we had a constant gale 1)lowing right astern, 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 our leak w&s augmented, and we received great damage in our rigging, which by this time was grown very rotten : however, our people were now hap- pily 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. Before we left Tinian we swept for our best and small bower, and employed the Indians to dive in search of them, but all to no purpose ; hence, except our prize- anchors, which were stowed in the hold, and were too light to be depended on, we had only om* sheet-anchor left, and that being obviously much too heavy for a coasting anchor, we were under great concern how we should manage on the coast of China, where we were entire strangers, and where we should doubtless be fre- quently under the necessity of coming to an anchor. But we at length removed the difficulty by fixing two of our largest prize-anchors into one stock, and placing between their shanks two guns, four-pounders ; this we intended to serve as a best bower : and a third prize- anchor being in like manner joined to our stream anchor, with guns between them, made us a small bower; so that besides our sheet-anchor, we had again two others . ii I Hi: ,!( .'1 'it I,. I '■'M . (11 ' r 806 VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. [BOOK TiL 11 at our bows, one of which weighed 3900, and the other 2900 pounds. The 3rd of November, about three in the afternoon, we saw an island, which at first wo imagined to be Botel Tobago Xima ; but on our nearer approach we found it to be much smaller than that is usually represented ; and about an hour after we saw another island five or six miles farther to the westward. As no chart or journal we had seen took notice of any island to the eastward of Formosa but Botel Tobago Xima, and as wo had no observation of our latitude at noon, we were in some perplexity, apprehending that an extraordinary current had driven us into the neighbourhood of the fiashee Islands. We, therefore, when night came on, brought to, and continued in that posture till the next morning, which proving dark and cloudy for some time prolonged our uncertainty ; but it clearing up about i nine o'clock, we again discerned the two ii^^ds above mentioned, and having now the day befere us, wo pressed forward to the westward, and by eleven got a sight of the southern part of the island of Formosa. This satisfied us that the second island we saw was Botel Tobago Xima, and the first a small islet or rock, lying five or six miles due east of it, which cot being mentioned in any of our books or charts, had been the occasion of all our doubts. -^ When we had made 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 Bete, which we did not discover 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. J W., about five leagues distant. To give these rocks a good berth, we immediately hauled 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 hidl, yet they are environed with breakers on all sides, and there is a shoal stretching Chap. VI.] PASSAGE FROM TINIAN TO MACAO. 307 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, according to our most ap- proved reckonings, in 23° 50' west longitude from Tinian, though some of our accounts made its longitude above a degree more. While we were passing by these rocks of Vele Bete, there was an outcry of "fire" on the forecastle: this occasioned a general alarm, and the whole crew instantly flocked together in the utmost confusion, so that the officers found it difficult for some time to appease the uproar ; but having at last reduced the people to order, it was perceived tlmt the fire proceeded from the furnace, where the bricks being over-heated, had begun to com- municate the fire to the adjacent wood-work ; hence, by pulling down the brick-work, it was extinguished with great facility. In the evening we were surprised with a view of what we at first sight conceived to be breakers, but on a stricter examination we discerned them to be only a great number of fires on the island of Formosa. These we imagined were intended by the inhabitants of that island as signals to invite us to touch there ; but that suited not our views, we being imj ^tient to reach the port of Macao as soon as possible. From Formosa, we steered W.N.W., and sometimes still more northerly, proposing to fall in with the coast of China, to the eastward of Pedro Blanco, as the rock so called is usually esteemed an uzcellent direction for ships, bound to Macao. We con- tinued this course till the following night, and then frequently brought to to try if we were in soundings : but it was the 5th of November, at nine in the morning, be- fore we struck ground, and then we had forty-two fathoms, and a bottom of gray sand mixed with shells. When we had run about twenty miles fS^her W.N.W., we had thirty-five fathoms, and the same bottom ; then our soun<3- 308 yOYAOE BOUND THE WOBLD. [Book 111. ings gradually decreased from thirty-five to twenty-five fathoms ; but soon after, to our great surprise, they jumped back again to thirty fathoms. This was an alteration we (*ould not very well account for, since all the charts laid down regular soundings everywhere to the northward of Pedro Bkmco ; we for this reasoi^lijjBpt a very careful look- out, and altered our course to N.N.W., and having run thirty-five miles in that direction, our soundings again gradually diminished to twenty-two fathoms, and we at last, about midnight, got sight of the mainland of China, bearing N. by W. four leagues distant. We then brought the ship to, with her head to the sea, proposing to wait for the morning ; and before sunrise we were surprised to find ourselves in the midst of an incredible number of fishing-boats, which seemed to cover the sur- face of the sea as far as the eye could reach. I may well style their number incredible, since I cannot believe, upoiv the lowest estimate, that there were so few as six thousand, most of them manned with five hands, and none of those we saw with less than three. Nor was this swarm of fishing-vessels peculiar to that spot ; for tis we ran on to the westward we found them as abundant on every part of the coast. We at first doubted not but we 'should procure a pilot from them to carry us to Macao; but though many of them came close to the «hip, and we endeavoured to tempt them, by showing them a number of dollars, a most alluring bait for Chinese of all ranks and professions, yet we could not entice them on board us, nor procure any directions from them; though I presume the only difficulty was their not comprehending what we wanted them to do, as we could have no communication with them but by signs. Indeed we often pronounced the word Macao; but this we had reason to suppose they understood in a different sense, since in return they sometimes held up fish to us ; and we afterwards learnt that the Chinese name for fish is of a somewhat similar sound. But what surprised tis most was the inattention and want of curiosity which [Book 111. Chat. Vl.] PASSAGE FBOM TIMIAN TO MAOAO. 301) nty-five jmnped ition we rts laid iward of iul look- ing run rs again i we at f CJliina, Ve then reposing we were icredible the sur- I may 1 believe, )W as six Qds, and Nor was pot; for ibnndant not but ry us to 3 to the ing them linese of lee them them; leir not as we )y signs, but this different sh to us ; for fish iurprised iy which we observed in this herd of fishermen. A ship like ours had doubtless never been in those seas before, and per- haps there might not bo one amongst all the Chinese employed in that fishery who had ever seen any Euro- pean vessel, so that we might reasonably have expected to be considered by them as a very uncommon and extra- ordinary object. But though many of their boats came close to the ship, yet they did not appear to be at all interested about us, nor did they deviate in the least from their course to regard us ; which insensibility, especially of maritime persons, in a matter relating to their own profession, is scarcely to bo credited, did not the general behaviour of the Chinese in other instances fivnish us with continual proofs of a similar turn of mind. It may, perhaps, be doubted whether this cast of temper be the effect of nature or education ; but in either case it is an incontestable symptom of a mean and contemptiblo disposition, and is alone a sufficient confutation of the extravagant praises which many prejudiced writers have bestowed on the ingenuity and capacity of this nation. But to return. Not being able to procure any information from the Chinese fishermen about our proper course to Macao, it was necessary for us to rely entirely on our own judg- ment; 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 still stood on to the west- ward. And for the assistance of future navigators, who may hereafter doubt what part 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, whicli to the westward of that rock is almost everywhere twenty fathoms, there is another circumstance which will be greatly assistant in judging of the position of the ship . this is the kind of ground ; for till we came within thirtj; miles of Pedro Blanco, we had constantly a sandy bottom ; but there the bottom changed to soft and muddy, and I I si m ;i 310 VOYAGE BOUND THE WOBLD. [OooK la 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 hottom of greenish mud intermixed with sand. It was on the 5th of November, at midnight, when we first made the coast of China. The next day, about two o'clock, as we were standing to the westward, within two leagues of the coast, still surrounded by fishing- vessels, in as great mmibers as at first, we perceived that a boat ahead of us waved a red flag, and blew a horn. This we considered as a signal made to us, either to warn us of some shoal, or to inform us that they would supply us with a pilot ; we therefore immediately sent our cutter to the boat to know their intentions ; when we were soon convinced of our mistake, and found that this boat was the Commodore of the whole fishery, and that the signal she had made was to order them all to leave o£f fishing and to return in shore, which we saw them instantly obey. Being thus disappointed, we kept on our course, and shortly after passed by two very small rocks, which lay four or five miles distant from the shore. We were now in hourly expectation of descrying Pedro Blanco; but night came on before we got sight of it, and we therefore brought to till the morning, when we had the satisfaction to discover it. Pedro Blanco is a rock of a small circumference, but of a moderate height, resembling a sugar-loaf both in shape and colour, and is about seven or eight miles distant from the shore. We passed within a mile and a half of it, and left it between us and the land, still keeping on to the westward ; and the next day, being the 7th, we were abreast of a chain of islands, which stretched from east to west. These, as we afterwards found, were called the islands of Lema ; they are rocky and barren, and are in all, small and great, fifteen or sixteen; but there are, besides, many more between them and the mainland of China. We left these islands on the starboard side, passing within four miles of them, where we hod twenty-four fathoms \ ii CHAr. VI.] PASSAGE FUOM TINIAN TO MACAO. 811 wator. Being still surrounded by fishing-boats, we once more sent the cutter on board some of them, to endea- vour to procure a pilot, but we could not prevail ; how- ever, one of the Chinese directed us, by signs, to sail round the westernmost of the islands, or rocks, of Lema, and then to haul up. We followed this direction, and in the evening came to an anchor in eighteen fathoms ; at which time a rock, which bore S.S.E., five miles distant, and the grand Ladrone W. by S., about two leagues distant, afforded a most excellent direction in coming from the eastward : its latitude is 21° 52' north, and it bears from Pedro Blanco S. 64° W., distant twenty-one leagues. You are to leave it on the starboard side, and you may come within half a mile of it, in eighteen fathoms water, and then you must steer N. by "W. J W. for the channel, between the islands of Cabouce and Bamboo, which are to the noiihward of the grand Ladrone. After having continued at anchor all night, wo, on the 9th, at four in the morning, sent our cutter to sound the channel, where we proposed to pass ; but before the return of the cutter, a Ohinese pilot put on board the C/cnturion, and told us, in broken Portuguese, he would carry the ship to Macao for thirty doll^ : these were immediately paid him, and we then weighed and made sail. Soon after several other pilots came on board, who, to recommend themselves, produced certificates from the captains of many European ships they had piloted in, but we still continued under the management of the Chinese whom we at first engaged. 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 IP ■>'\'. 1 i 312 VOYAQB BOUND THK WOULD. t'f^WK la islands till the 12th of Novomber, at two in the morning. In passing through, our depth of water was from twelve to fourteen fathoms ; and as we steered on N. by W. ^ W., between a number of other islands, oui* soundings under- went little or no variation till towards the evening, when they inereased to seventeen fathoms, in which depth, tho wind dying away, we anchored not far from the island of Lantoon, 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., wo, at ten o'clock, happily anchored in Macao road, in five fathoms water, the city of Macao bearing W. by N. three leagues distant ; tho 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 at an amicable port and a civilized country, where tho conveniences of life were in great plenty ; where tho naval stores, which we now extremely wanted, could be in some degree procured; where we expected the inexpressible satis&ction of receiving letters from our relations and friends ; and where our country- men, who were lately arrived from England, would be capable of answering the numerous inquiries we wero prepared to make, both about public and private occur- rences; and to relate to us many particulars which, whether of importance or not, would be listened to by us with the utmost attention, after tho long suspension of our correspondence with our country, to which the nature of our undertaking had hitherto subjected us. m i- • i V n OHAPTEB VII. Prooeodings at Macao. Tub Commodore, not to depaii; from his usual pru- donce, no sooner come to an anchor in Macao road than he despatched an officer with his compliments to the Portuguese Governor of Macao, requesting his Excel- lency, by the same officer, to advise him in what manner it woidd 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 Conmiodore principally appre- hended related to the duty usually paid by ships in the river of Canton, according to their tonnage ; 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 iionour of his country to kubmit to this duty in China ; and therefore he desired BU VOTAOE BOUND THE WOBLD. [Book 111. LJR9 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 €xpected to give us the best lights for obviating this perplexity. Our boat returned in the evening, with two officers sent by the Governor, who informed the Commo- dore, that it was the Governor's opinion, that if the Cen- turion ventured into the river of Canton, the duty would certainly be expected ; and therefore, if the Commodore approved of it, he would send him a pilot, who should conduct us into another safe harbour, cdUod 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, in all probability, the above-men- tioned duty would never be demanded. This proposal the Commodore agreed to, and in the morning weighed anchor, under the direction of the Portuguese pilot, and steered for the intended harbour. As we entered between two islands, which form the eastern passage to it, we found our soundings decreased to three fathoms and a half. However, the pilot assuring us that this wcs 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 shallowed to sixteen •feet, bx^t the ship remained perfectly upright; we then sounded all round us, and discovering that 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 breeze spring- ing up the same instant, we set the fore-top-sail, and slip- ping the hawser, ran into the harbour, where we moored, in about five fathoms 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 \' m. Chap. Vll.] PB0GEEDING8 AT MACAO. 315 eleven guns, which were returned by the Centurionc Mr. Anson's business, in this visit, was to solicit the Governor to grant us a supply both of provisions, and of such naval 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 powei* ; but ho at the same time frankly owned, that he dared not, openly, to furnish us with anything we de- manded, unless we first produced an order for it from the Viceroy of Canton ; since he himself neither received pro- visions for his garrison, nor any other necessaries, but by permission from the Chinese government ; and as they took care only to victual 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, by laying an embargo on lus provisions. On this declaration of the Governor, Mr. Anson re- solved himself to go to Canton, to procure a licence from the Viceroy ; and he 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 of Macao, refused to grant a permit to the boat, and ordered the watermen not to proceed at their peril. The Com- modore 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 ; but the officer continuing inflexible, Mr. Anson told him the next day that if the permit was any longer refused, he would man and arm the Centu- rion's boats ; asking the Hoppo, at the same time, who, he imagined, would dare to oppose them in their passage ? This threat immediately brought about what his entrea- ties had endeavoured at 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 Eng- lish ships, how to procure an order from the Viceroy for the necessaries he wanted : but in this he had reason to %m r ) m 816 VOYAGE BOUND THE WOBLD. FEOOK III. suppose that the advice they gave him, though well in- tended, 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 persuaded to follow the same method upon this occasion, the English promising, in which they were doubtless sincere, to exert all their in- terest to engage the merchants in his favour. Indeed, when the Chinese merchants were spoken to, they readily undertook the management of this business, and promised to answer for its success ; but after near a month's delay, and reiterated excuses, during which interval they pre- tended to be often upon the point of completing it, they at last, when they were pressed, and measures were taken for delivering a letter to the Viceroy, threw off the mask, and declared they neither had made application to the Viceroy, nor could they, as he was too great a man, they said, for them to approach on any occasion. And not eontented with having themselves thus grossly deceived the Commodore, they now used all their persuasion with the English at Canton to prevent them £rom intermed- dling with anything 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, unluckily, but too much weight with those they were intended to influence. 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 tnide; and therefore acted in this manner with a view of forcing the Commodore to Ba- tavia; though it might be as natural in this light to CBAP. VII.] PROCEEDINGS AT MAOAO. 317 it to suppose that they would have been eager to get him despatched. I, therefore, rather impute their behaviour to the unparalleled pusillanimity of tiie nation, and to the awe they are under of the government ; since such a ship as the Centurion, fitted for war only, having never been seen in those parts before, she was the horror of these dastards, and the merchants were in some degree terri- fied 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 occasions which a hungry and tyrannical magistrate might possibly find for censuring their inter- meddling with 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 interpo- sition of the merchants, as it was on his pressing them to deliver a letter to the Viceroy, that they had declared they durst not interfere in the affair, 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 pas- sage. The merchants, on this, imdertook to procure him provisions, though they assured him that it was what they durst not engage in openly, but they proposed to manage it in a clandestine manner, by putting a quantity of bread, flour, and other provisions, on board the Eng- lish 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 mer- chants represented as a matter of great favour, being settled, the Commodore, on the 16th of December, came back from Canton to the ship, seemingly resolved to pro- ceed to Batavia to refit as soon as he should get his sup- plies of provisions on boai'd. ; ) hyim in I m H,ii 318 YOTAOB BOUND THE WOBLD. [BOOKUL 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 consider- ably increased; so that upon the whole he was folly satisfied that, though he i^ould lay in a sufiGicient stock of provisions, yet it would be impossible for him to put to sea without refitting ; since 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 met with, he resolved at all events to have her hove down before he departed from Macao. He was fully convinced, by what he had observed at Canton, that his great caution not to injure the East India Com- pany's affiurs, and the regard he had shown to the advice of their officers, had occasioned all his perplexity ; for he now saw clearly that, if he had at first carried his ship into the river of Canton, and had immediately ad iicssed himself to the Mandarins, who are the chief officers of state, instead of employing the merchants to apply in his behalf, he would most probably have had all his requests granted, and would have been soon despatched. He had already lost a month by the wrong measures he had pur- sued, but he resolved to lose as little more time as pos- sible ; 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 enmity with the king, his master : that on 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 tiU his ship was repaired, and he was supplied with the necessaries he wanted ; that he had been to 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 Chap VII.] PBOOEEDINGS AT MAOAO. 319 himself wliat sieps were necessary to be taken to procure such an audience, and, therefore, was obliged to apply in this manner, to desire his Excellency to give orders for his being permitted to employ carpent^ and proper workmen to refit his ship, and to furnish himself with provisions and stores, that he might be enabled to pur- sue his voyage to Great Britain ; 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 ho 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 Ma(»u>, 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 Commo- dore's having any immediate intercourse with the Vice- roy or Mandarins: and therefore the Commodore, not without some resentment, took back his letter from the Hoppo, and told him he would immediately send it to Canton in his own boat, and would give his officer posi- tive 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 refasal, begged to be intrusted with the letter, and pro- mised to deliver it, and to procure an answer as soon as possible. And now it was presently 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 abeady observed, and on the 19th, in the morning, a Mandarin of the first rank, who was governor of the city of Janson, together with two Mandarins of an inferior class, and a consider- able retinue of officers and servants, Imving with them eighteen half-galleys furnished with music, and decorated m 1 1^ 'it !"r- 1, ;.:l. 820 VOYAOK BOUND THE WOBLD. rOoOKlIL with a great number of streamers, and full of men, came to grapple ahead of the Centurion ; whence the Man- darin sent a message to the Commodore, telling him that he (the Mandarin) was ordered by the Viceroy of Canton to examinjB the condition of the ship ; therefore, desiring the ship's boat might be sent to fetch him on board. The Centurion's boat was immediately despatched, and pre- parations were made for receiving him ; in particular, a hundred of the most sightly of the crew were uniformly dressed in the regimentals of the marines, and were drawn up under arms on the main-deck against 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 newly-formed guard, he was met by 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 on board her powder and gunner's stores, and proceeded with gettmg 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. But whilst they were thus employed, they were alarmed, on the 10th of March, by a Chinese fisherman, who brought them in- telligence that he had beon on board a large Spanish ship - CiUP. VII.] PBOOSBDIlfGS AT MACAO. 829 off the grand Ladrone, and that there were two more in company mth hor. He added several particulars of his relation ; as, that he had brought one of their officers to Macao, and that on this boats went off early in the morn- ing 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 forementioned 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 directly. Indeed no Spanish ships ever appeared, and they were soon satisfied the whole of the story was a fiction ; though it was difficult to con- ceive what reason could induce the fellow to be at such extraordinary pains to impose on them. It was the beginning of April when 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 de- sirous that she should be gone ; either not knowing, or pretending not to believe, that this was a point the Com- modore was as eagerly set on as they could be. At length, about the 3rd of April, two' Mandarin boats came on board from Macao, to press him to leave their port ; and this having been often urged before, though there had been no pretence to suspect Mr. Anson of any affected delays, he, at this last message, answered thom in a deter- mined tone, desiring them to give him no further trouble, for he woiQd go when he thought proper, and no sooner. After this rebuke the Chinese, though it was not in their power to compel him to depart, immediately prohibited all provisions from being carried on board him, and took such care their injunctions should be complied with, that from thenccforwards nothing could be purchased, at any rate whatever. Hi si I 330 VOrAGE BOUND THE WOBLD. [Book Ul Tho 6th of April the Centurion weighed from the Typa, and warped to the southward ; and by the 15th, she was got into the 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. i\' t CHAPTER VIII. From Macao to Cape Spiritu Sauto : the taking of th* Manilla Galeou, and returning back again. The Commodore was now got to sea, with his ship well refitted, his stores replenished, and an additional stock of provisions on board ; his crew, too, was somewhat rein- forced, for he had entered twenty-three men during his stay at Macao, the greatest part of them Lascars, or In- dian sailors, and the rest 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 hands, 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 sent 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 supposed that, instead of one annual ship from Aca- pulco to Manilla, there would be this year in all pro- bability tvio; since, by being before Acapulco, he had prevented one of them from putting to sea the preceding season. He therefore, not discouraged by his former disasters, resolved again to risk the casualties of the Pa- cific Ocean, and to cruise for these returning vessels off m Chat. VUI.] BUN TO OAPE SPIBITU SANTO. 381 Gape Spiritu Santo, on the island of Samal, which is the first hmd they always make at the Philippine Islands. And as June is generally the month in which they arrive there, he doTihted not but he should get to his intended station timi« enough to intercept them. It is true they were said to be stout vessels, mounting forty-four guns apiece, and carrying above five hundred hands, and might be expected to retm'n 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 bo much better fitted for a sea-engagement than theirs, and as he had reason to expect that his men would exert themselves after a most extraordinary manner when they had in view the immense wealth of these Manilla galeons. 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 had 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 galeons 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 fepr that, if his designs were discovered, intelligence would be immediately sent to Manilla, and measures would be taken to prevent the galeons from falling into his hands. But, being now at sea, and en- tirely 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 Uiem he should choose 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 farther added, that many ridiculous tales had 'i 882 VOYAGE BOUND THE WOBLD. [Book lit been propagated about the strength of the sides of these ships, and tiioir being impenetrable to cannon-shot : that those fictions had been principally invented to palliate tho cowardice of those who had formerly engaged them ; but he hoped there was none of those present weak enough to give credit to so absurd a story : for his own part, he did assure il .em, upon his word, that, whenever he fell in with them, he would fight them so near us, 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 was received by his people with great joy; since no sooner had he ended, than they expressed their approbation, according to naval custom, by three strenuous cheers, and declared their determination to succeed or perish, whenever the oppor- tunity presented itself. Immediately^ too, their hopes, which, on their departure from the coast of Mexico had entirely subsided, were again revived; and they per- suaded 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 galeons, 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, who had taken some Chinese sheep to sea with him for his own provision, inquiring one day of his butcher why he had lately seen no mutton at his table, and asking him if all the sheep were killed, the fellow very seriously replied that there were indeed two sheep lefb, but that, if his honour would give him leave, he proposed to keep those for the entertainment of the general of the galeons. When tho Centurion left the port of Macao, she stood for some days to the westward, and on the 1st of May CHAP. VIII.] RUN TO CAPE 8PIRITU SANTO. 888 they saw part of the island' of Formosa ; and steering thence to the southward, they, on the 4th of May, were in the latitude of the Bashee Islands, as laid down by Dam> pier; but they suspected his accoimt of inacciuacy, as they knew that he had been considerably mistaken in the latitude of the south end of Formosa ; and therefore they kept a good look-out, and, about seven in the evening, discovered from the mast-head five small islands, which were judged to be the Bashees. As they afterwards saw Botel Tobago Xima, they by this means found an oppor- tunity of correcting the position of the Bashee Isla,nd8, which had been hitherto laid down twenty-five leagues too far to the westward ; for, by their observations, they esteemed the middle of these islands to be in 21° i' north, and to bear from Botel Tobago Xima S.S.E. twenty leagues distant, that island itseK being in 21° 57' north. After getting a sight of the Bashee Islands, they stood between the S. and S.W. for Cape Spiritu 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., near eleven leagues distant. It appeared to be of a mo- derate height, with several round hummocks on it. As it was known that there were sentinels 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 where it was resolved to cruise for the galeons, they kept the Capo between the south and the west, and endeavoured to con- fine themselves between the latitude of 12° 50', and 13° 5', the Cape itself lying, by their observations, in 12° 40' north, and in 4° of east longitude from Botel Tobago Xima. It was the last of May by the foreign style, when they arrived off this Cape, and the month of June by the some style, being that in which the Manilla ships are usually expected ; the Centurion's people were now waiting each !5 l|IIP Pi 1 ^ m 884 YOTAOK BOUND THE WOBLS. [Book III. lir B hour, with the utmost impationco, for the happy crisis which was to balance tho account of all their past cala- mities. As from this time there was but small employ- ment for the crew, the Commodore ordered them almost every day to be exercised in the working of the great- guns, and in the use of their small-arms. This had been his practice more or less at every convenient season during the whole course of his voyage; and the advantages which he received from it, in his engagement with the galeon, were an ample recompense for all his care and attention. Indeed it should seem that there are few par- ticulars of a conmiander's duty of more importance, how much soever it may have been sometimes overlooked or misunderstood : since it will, I suppose, be confessed that, in two ships-of-war, equal in the number of their men, and guns, the disproportion of strength, arising from a greater or less dexterity in the use of their great-guns and small-arms is what can scarcely be balanced by any other circumstances whatever. For as these are the weapons with which they are to engage, what greater inequality can there be betwixt two contending parties, than that one side should perfectly understand the ma- nagement of them, and should have the skill to employ them in the most effectual manner for the annoyance of their enemy ; while the other side should, by their awk- ward handling of their arms, render them rather terrible to themselves than mischievous to their antagonists ? This seems so obvious and natural a conclusion, that a person unacquainted with these matters would suppose the first care of a commander to be the training his people to the ready use of their arms. But human affairs are not always conducted by the plain dictates of common sense. There are many other principles which influence our transactions ; and there is one in particular, which, though of a very erroneous complexion, is scarcely ever excluded from our most serious deliberations : I mean cuatomy or the practice of those who have preceded us. This is usually a power CtaAV. TIU.] CAPS 8PIBITU SAIfTO. 885 too mighty for reason to grapple with, aud is often ex- tremely troublesome to those who oppose it, since it has much of superstition in its nature, and piursucs all those who question its authority with unrelenting vehemence. However, in these latter ages of the world, some lucky encroachments have been made upon its prerogative ; and it may surely bo expected that the gentlemen of the navy, whose particular profession had within a few years been considerably improved by a number of new inventions, will of all others be the readiest to give up any usage which has nothing to plead in its behalf but prescription, and will not suppose that every branch of their business has already received all the perfection of which it is capable. Indeed, it must be owned that if a dexterity in the use of small-arms, for instance, has been some- times less attended to on board our ships-of-war than might have been wished for, it has been rather owing to unskilful methods of teaching it than to negligence ; since the common sailors, how strongly soever attached to their own prejudices, are very quick-sighted in finding out the defects of others, and lutve ever shown a great contempt for the formalities practised in the training of land troops to the use of their arms. But when those who have undertaken to instruct the seamen have con- tented themselves with inculcating only what was useful in the simplest manner, they have constantly found their people sufficiently docile, and the success has even ex- ceeded their expectation. Thus, on board Mr. Anson's ship, where they were taught no more of the manual exer- cise than the shortest method of loading with cartridges, and were constantly trained to fire at a mark, which was usually hung at the yard-arm, and where some little re- ward was given to the most expert, the whole crew, by this management, were rendered extremely skiKul. For, besides an uncommon readiness in loading, they were all of them good marksmen, and some of them most extra- ordinary ones ; whence, I doubt not, but in the use of small-arms they were more than a match for double their ; II 336 YOTAOB BOUND THB WOBLD. [BOOKIZL number, who had not been habituated to the same kind of exerqise. But to return. It was the last of May, N.S., as hath been already said, when the Oenturion arrived off Cape Spiritu Santo ; and consequently the next day, the month began in which the galeons were to be expected. The Commodore, therefore, made all necessary preparations- for receiving them, hoisting out his longboat, and lashing her along- side, that the ship might be ready for engaging if they fell in with the galeons during 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 has been since learnt, that notwithstanding his care, he was seen from the land ; and advice of hmi was sent to Manilla, where though it was at first disbelieved, yet on reiterated intelligence (for it seems he was seen more than once) the 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. With this view some of these vessels actually weighed : but the principal ship not being ready, and the monsoon being against them, the commerce and the Governor disagreed, so that the enterprise was laid aside. . This frequent dis- covery of the Centurion from the shore was somewhat extraordinary ; since 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 expectations and impatience of the Commodore's people every day increased. And I think no better idea can be given of their great eagerness on this occasion, than by copying a few para- graphs from the jomnal of an oficer, who was then on bofurd, as it will, I presume, be a more natural picisure of the fall attachment of their thoughts to the business of Chap, VllLj PBEPABATI0N8 TO ATTACK 1 Uio GALLON. •.)«»7 tlieir cruise than can be given >>y luiy other moans. The paragraphs 1 have selected, as tac^ r jour in order of time, are as follow : — "May 31, Exercising our men at their quarters, in great expectation of meeting with the galcons very soon, this being the 11th of June, their style. " June 3, Keeping in our stations, and looking out fur the galeons. "June 6, Begin now to be in great expectation, tliis being the middle of June, their style. " Jime 11, Begin to grow impatient at not seeing t])e galeons. June 13, The wind having blown fresh easterly for the forty-eight hours past, gives great expectations of seeing the galcons soon. "June 15, Cruising on and off, and looking out strictly. " June 19, This being the last day of Jime, N.S., the galeons, if they arrive at all, must appear soon." From these samples, it is sufficiently evident how completely the treasure of the galeons had engrossed their imagination, and how anxiously they passed the latter part of their cruise, when the certainty of the arrival of those vessels was dwindled down to pro- bability only, and that probability became each hour more and more doubtful. However, on the 20th of Jime O.S., being just a month after their gaining their station, they were relieved out of this state of uncer- tainty; for at sunrise they discovered a sail from thc- mast-head, in the south-east quarter. On this a general joy spread through the whole ship ; for they had no doubt but this was one of the galeons, and they ex- pected soon to descry the other. The Commodore in- stantly stood towards her, and at haK an hour after seven they were near enough to see her from the Centurion's deck; at which time the galeon fired a gun, and took in her top-gallant sails : this was supposed to be a signal to her consort to hasten her up ; and therefore the Centurion fired a gim to leewaid to amuse her. The z 338 VOYAGE BOUND THS WOULD. [BooxUL ■ 1 1 Hi Oommodore was surprised to find that during all this interval the galeon did not change her course, but con- tinued to bear down upon him ; for he hardly believed, what afterwards appeared to be the case, that she know his ship to be the Centurion, and resolved to fight him. About noon the Oommodore was a little more than a league distant from the galeon, 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 galeon hauled 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 every possible measure 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 fiilly answered his expectation by the signal services they performed. As he had not hands enough remaining to quarter a su£&- cient number to each great gun in the customary manner, he therefore, on his lower tier, fixed only two men to each gun, who were to be solely employed in loading it, whilst die rest of his people were divided into different gangs of ten or twelve men each, who were continually moving about the decks, to run out and fire such guns as were loaded. By this management he was enabled to make use of all his guns ; and instead of whole broadsides, 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 tXi for some time over, work their guns and fire with great briekness, till another broadside is ready ; but the tiring [Book UI. all this l)ut con- >elieved, 16 know him. I than a er wake, )nd ship eparatcd 1 up her ler head I having ast head, hings for ad taken I exertion 3onfusion le picked larksmen, lanswercd jrformed. nr a suffi- manner, a to each it, whilst gangs of moving as were make use des, with without uro very Spaniards broadside is given ; ianger to ith great he tiring tiiAT. vm.'' TAKING THK GALEOll. 330 gun by gun, in the manner directed by the Gommoduro, I'endcrod this practice of theirs imposaiblo. The Contui'ion being thus prepared, and uearing the galeon apace, thcro happened, a little ftfter noon, several squalls of wind und rain, which often obscured the galeon from their sight : but whenever it cleared up, they ob- served her resolutely lying to. Towards one o'clock the Centurion lioistcd her broad pendant and colours, she being then within gunshot of the enemy : and the Com- modore perceiving the Spaniards to have neglected clear- ing their ship till that time, as he saw them tlirowing overboard cattle and lumber, he gave orders to fire upon them with the chase-guns, to disturb them in their work and prevent them from completing it, though his general directions had been not to engage before they were within pistol-shot. The galeon retiuned the fire with two of her stem-chase ; 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 come abreast of the enemy within pistol-shot, keeping to the leeward of them, with a view of preventing their put- ting 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 galeoin, 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 galeon could only bring a part of hers to bear. Imme- diately on the commencement of the action, the mats with which the galeon 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 the utmost terror, and also alarmed the Commodore, for ho feared lest tlio galeon should bo burnt, and lost he himself too might suffer by her driving on board him. However, the Spaniards at laBt freed themselves from the fire bv cutting away tho uo VOYAQB BOUND THE WORLD. LBOOK lit. netting, and tumbling tbo whole maBS which was iu flames into the sea. All this interval the Centurion kept her first advantageous position, firing her cannon with great regularity and briskness ; while at the same time the galeon's docks lay open to her top-men, who having at their first volley driven the Spaniards from their tops, made prodigious havoc with their small-aims, killing or I ! « Si I } .1 wounding every officer but one that appeared on the quarter-deck, and wounding in particular the general of the galeon himself. Thus the action proceeded for at least half an hour; but then the Centurion lost the superiority arising from her original situation, and was close alongside the galeon, and the enemy continued to fire briskly for near an hour longer; yet even in this posture the Commodore's grape-shot swept their decks so effectually, and the number of their slain and wounded became so considerable, that they began to fall into great [Book lit. I was iu irion kopt non with ) timo the having at heir tops, killing or :^^^^ CaAF.VIli.] TAKIXa THE GALEON. 841 n ed on the general of ided for at lost the m, and was Qntinued to ven in this ir decks so id wounded 1 into great disorder, especially as the general, who was the life of the action, was no longer capable of exerting himself. Their confusion was visible from on board the Centurion ; for the ships were so near that some of the Spanish officers wore seen running about with much 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 (»r six guns mth more judgment than usual, they yielded up the contest ; and the galeon's colours being singed off the ensign-staff iu the beginning of the engagement, she struck the standard at her main- top-gallant-mast head, the person who was employed to perform this office 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 General Don Jeronimo de Montero, a Portuguese, who was the most approved officer for skill and courage of any employed in that service. The galeon was much larger than the Centurion, and had five hundred and fifty men, and thirty-six guns mounted for action, besides twenty-eight pedreroes in her gunwale, quarters, and tops, each of which carried a four-pound ball. She was very well furnished with small-arms, and was par- ticularly provided against boarding, both by her close quarters, and by a strong net-work two-inch rope, which was laced over her waist, and was defended by half-pikes. She had sixty-seven men 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 tmnsport on board. U2 VOTAGB BOUND TUK WOULD. [OOOE lit when, after all their reiterated disappoictzacnts, they at last Baw their wishes accomplished. But their joy was near being suddenly damped by a most tremendous inci- dent ; for no sooner had the galeon 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 the fire, 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, and the blast had communicated its flame to a quantity of oakum in the after-hatchway, near the after-powder-room, where the great smother and smoke of the oakum occasioned the apprehension of a more extended and mischievous ceo.- flagration. All hopes, too, of avoiding its fiiry by escaping on board the prize had instanti.y vanished ; for at the same moment the galeon fell on board the Centurion on the starboard quai*ter, though she was fortunately cleared without doing or receiving any coiisiderable damage. The Commodore appointed the Manilla vessel to be a post ship in his Majesty's service, and gave the command of her to Mr. Saumarez, his first lieutenant, who before night sent on board the Centurion all the Spanish prisoners, except such as were thought the most proper to be re- tained 4,0 assist in navigating the galeon. And now the Comis'^^iore learnt from some of these prisoners that the other snip 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 Capie Spiritu Santo ; so that Mr. Anson, notwithstanding his present success, had great reason to regi'ot his loss of time at Macao, which prevented him from taking two rich prizes instead of one. euAr. VUI.J aiETHOD 09 SS0URIN6 THB miSONEUS. 348 Tho Commodore, when the action was ended, rcBolvcd to make the best of his way with his prize for tho river of Canton, being, tho mean time, fully employed in securing his prisoners and in removing the treasure from on board the galeon into tho Centurion. Tho last of these opera- tions was too important to be postponed ; for as tho navi- gation to Canton was through seas but little known, and where, from the season of tho yep-r, very tempestuous 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 larger number of her hands, and her other advantages, was doubtless better provided against all the casualties of winds and seas than the galeon. And the securing the prisoners was a matter of still more consequence, as not only the possession of the treasure, Hi t the lives of tho 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 peoplo ; and some of them when they were brought on bcvEtrd the Centurion, and had observed how slenderly she was manned, and tho large proportion which the striplings bore to the rest, covld not help expressing themselves with great indignation, to be thus beaten by a handful of boys. The method wliich 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 hatchways were left open ; but then, to avoid any danger that might happen, whilst tho Centmion's people should bo employed upon deck, there was a square parti- tion of thick planks, made in the shape of a funnel, which enclosed each hatchway, 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 clamber up : and still to p' 344 VOTAOB B0T7ND THE WOBLD. [BoOKlU. lit augment that difficulty, four swivel guns, loaded with musket-bullets, were planted at the mouth of each funnel, and a sentinel, with lighted match, was posted there ready to fire into the hold amongst them, in case of any disturb- ance. Their officers, who amounted to seventeen oi' eighteen, were all lodged in the first lieutenant's cabin, under a guard of six men ; and the general, as he was wounded, lay in the Commodore's cabin, with a sentinel always with him ; every prisoner, too, was sufficiently apprised, 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 clothes when he slept, or when he lay down omitted to have his arms always 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 carriful. Indeed, the sufferings of the poor prisoners, though impossible to be alleviated, were much to bo 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 allow- ance 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 expired the same night they were taken ; though, li must be confessed, that the greatest part of them were strangely metamorphosed by the heat of the hold ; for when they were first brought on board 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 tho [Boor 111. Out VIU.j ABBIVaL at MACAO. 345 laded "with ach foimel, khere ready ny disturb- venteen oi' mt's cabin, as he was a sentinel sufficiently J would be Centurion's idthstanding I small-arms B, whilst all )ls ; and no Bpt, or when lys ready by , considering People would [ul. Indeed, 1 impossible jerated ; for of the hold allowance of it not being ite of a pint ily an allow- lered, it was ig their long o expired the be confessed, )tamorphosed first brought ^; but when, 'e discharged 3re skeletons, more to tho conception formed of ghosts and ftpectres than to the figure and appearance of real men. Thus employed in securing the treasure and the prisoners, the Commodore, as hath been said, 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. The next day ho made the Bashee Islands, and the wind being so far to tho 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 ; though, in getting through, the sea had a very dangerous aspect, for it rippled and foamed, with all the appearance of being full of breakers, which was still more terrible as it was then night ; but the ships got through very safe, the prize keeping ahead ; and it was found that the agitation of the sea which had alarmed them had been occasioned only by a strong tide. I must here observe, thai though th«.5 Bashee Islands are usually reckoned to be no more than five, yet there are many more lying about them to the westward, which, seeing the channels amongst them arc not at all known, makes it advisable for ships rather to pass to the northward or southward than through them ; as, indeed, the Commodore proposed to have gone to the northward, between them and Formosa, had it been pos- sible for him to weather them. From hence, the Cen- turion steering the proper course for the river of Canton, she, on the 8th of July, discovered the island of Supata, the westernmost of the Lema Islands, being the double- peaked rock formerly referred to. This island of Supata they made to be a hnndred 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 galeon were well ascertained, and it was found that she had on board 1,313,843 pieces of eight, and 36,682 ounces of pi I 346 VOYAGE ROUND THE WOULD. [Book IU virgin silver, besides somo cochineal, and a fow other commodities, which, however, were but of small acconnt in comparison of the specie. And this being the Com- modore's last prize, it hence appears, that all the treasure taken by the Centurion was not much short of 400,000Z., independent of the ships and merchandise, which she either burnt or destroyed, and which, by the most reason- able estimation, could w^ amount to so little as 60O,000Z. more ; so that the whole damage done the enemy by our squadron did doubtless exceed a million sterling: to which, if there be added the great expense of the Court of Spain, in fitting out Pizarro, and in paying the addi- tional 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 e:q)editiony which, with all its numerous disadvantages, did yet prove so extremely prejudicial to the enemy. I shall only add, that there were taken on board the galeon several drafts and journals. Amongst the rest there was found a chart of all the ocean between the Philippines and the coast of Mexico, which was what was made use of by the galeon in her own navigation. CHAPTER IX, 'Itansacnons in the River of Caaton. The Commodore, having taken pilots on board, proceeded mth the prize for the river of Canton, and on the 14th of July, cast anchor short of the Bocca Tigris, which is a nar- row passage forming the mouth of that river : this en- trance 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 was [Ooox lU Ohul.IXO TRANSACTIONS IN THE RIYER OF CANTON. 847 V other accoTUit le Corn- treasure )0,000Z., lich she i reason- ;oo,oooz. y by our iing: to 16 Court he addi- account, total of n, and is [pedition, jret prove only add, ral drafts id a chart coast of galeon in proceeded le 14th of 1 is a nar- this en-" ay, and to safe road, urion and officer wai sent oif from the Mandarin commanding the forts at Bocca Tigris, to examine what the ships were, and whence they came. Mr. Anson informed the officer that his own ship was a man-of-war, belonging to the King of Great Britain, and that the other in company with him was a prize he had token ; that ho was going into Canton river, to shelter himself against the hurricanes,' whi ' were then approaching, and that as soon as the monsocu <^hifted, he should set sail for England. The officer then desired an p.ccoimt of what men, guns, and ammunition were on board, a list of all which, he saiu, was to be sent to the Govern- ment of Canton. But when these articles wore repeated to him, particularly upon his being told that there wero 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 hoxe re- cital, 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 Begency. After he had finished his inquiries, and wa& preparing to dej^uxt, he desired to leave two custom-house officers behind him ; on which the Commmodore told him, that though as a man-of-war he was prohibited from trad- ing, and had nothing to do with customs, or duties of any kind, yet, for the satisfaction of the Chinese, he would per- mit 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 answered, that the Emperor's duty must be paid by every ship that came into his ports : and it is supposed, that, on this occasion, private directions were gi-ven 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 musket-shot over, formed by two points of land, on each of which there is a fort ; that on the starboard-side being # ii II i; '■I 'I III ' M I ■848 VOYAGE HOUND THE WOBLD. [BookUI. •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 dis- i;inguished by that name ; it is situated on a high rock, xmd 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 j'iver of Canton, and which the Chinese, extremely de- fective in all military skill, have imagined were sufficient to prevent an 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 gun- ners and stores ; and, therefore, though the pilot, after Chap. I X.J TBAKSAOTIOilS IN THK lUVER OP CANTON. 34» the Chinese officer had been on board, refnsed at first to- take charge oi the ship, till he had leave from the forts l yet as it was necessai'y 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 countr^en ; for when he came ou shore, he was seized and sent to prison, and was rigor- ously disciplined with a bamboo. However, he found means to get at Mr. Anson afterwards, to desire of hint some recompense for the chastisement he had undergone, and of which he then carried very signiiicant marks about him: Mr. Anson, therefore, in commiseration of his sufferings, gave him such a sum of money as would . at any time have enticed a Chinese to undergo a dozen bastinadoings. Nor was the pilot the only person that suffered on thi^* occasion ; for the Commodore soon after seeing some royal junks pass by him, from Bocca Tigris towards Canton^ he learnt on inquiry that the Mandarin commanding the forts was a prisoner on board them, that he was already turned out, and was now being carried to Canton, where, it was expected, he would be severely punished for having permitted the ships to pass. Upon the Commodore'^ urging the unreasonableness of this procedure, from thcv inability of the forts to have done otherwise, and explain- ing 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 Mandarin would infallibl}- suffer for not having done what all his judges were con- vinced was impossible. To such indefensible absurdities are those obliged to submit who think themselves con- 350 VOYAOK HOUND THE WOULD. [DooK UL cerned to snpport tlioir authority when tho necessary force is wanting. On the 16th of July the Commodore sent his second lieutenant to Canton, with a letter for the Viceroy, in- forming him of the reason of the Centurion's putting into that port, and that tho Commodore himself soon proposed to repair to Canton, to pay a visit to his Excellency. The lieutenant was very civilly received, and was pro- mised 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 galeon to go to Canton, they engaging their parole to return in two days. When these prisoners got to Canton the Hegency sent for them, nnd examined them, inquiring particularly by what means they came into Mr. Anson's power. It luckily hap- pened that, 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. And being questioned as to their usage on board, they frankly aclmowledged that they had been treated by the Commodore much better than they be- lieved 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 military force, had yet sus- pected 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 esteem and reve- rence of the Chinese nation. In this examination of the Spanish pnsoners, though the Chinese had no reason in the main to doubt of the account which was given them, yet there were two cir- reve- ^■AP.IX.] TRANdAOYlONB IN THE UIVfiB OF CANTOX. 851 cmnstancos which appeared to them so einsidai', as to deserve a more ample exphmation : one of them was the great disproportion of men between the Centurion and ^e galeon : the other was the humanity with which the people of the galeon were treated after they were taken. The Mandarins, 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 fell into the hands of the English. To the first of these inquiries the Spaniards answered that, though they had more men than the Cen- turion, yet she, being intended solely for war, had a great superiority in the size of her guns, and in many othei articles, over the galeon, which was a vessel fitted prin- cipally 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 imusual courtesy, much beyond what they could have expected, or than was required by the customs esta- blished 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 Mandarins, with a great number of boats and a vast retinue, came on bi>ard the Centurion, and delivered to the Commodore the Viceroy of Canton's order for a daily supply of provi- sions, and for pilots to 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 wea- ther, because the assembling the Mandarins and soldiers necessary to that ceremony would prove extremely incon- venient and fatiguing ; but that in September, when the '?c 852 VOYAG£ IIOL'NP THE WOKLD. weather would be more temporato, he should be glad to see both the Oommodore himself and the English captain of tlie other ship that was with him. As Mr. Anson knew that an express had been despatched 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 Begency at Canton might gain time to receive the Em- poror's instructions about their behaviour on this unusual affair. When the Mandarins 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 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 forbade him from paying any acknowledgment for his ships anchoring in any port whatever. The Mandarins being thus cut short on the subject of the duty, they said they had an<^ lier matter to mention, which was the only remaining one they had in charge ; this was, a request to the Commodore that he would re- lease the piisoners he had taken on board the galeon ; for that the Viceroy of Canto:i 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 at his first arrival sent about a hundred of them to Macao, and those who remained, which were near four hundred more, were on many accounts a great incumbrance to him. Howevor. to enhance the favour, he at first raised some difficulties ; glud to see captain of iBon knew ■ t at Pekin, rize being ibt but the 3, that tho re the Em- lis unusual Bsago, they ities to be lem that he d; that as or intended )ly deemed which were [y; adding, -of-war by 1 that his paying any I any port e subject of ;o mention, in charge; B would re- he galeon ; e Emperor, )o informed on a great inement in sly desirous irst arrival those wha re, were on However, difficulties ; f7nceive, will Ivanced. one of his lave of him ing island, , contribute Commodore g the tricks mportunal^, lim thither. lis exercise, on, or even seeing any of the inhabitants ; but the second day he was assaulted, just 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 Imn, taking from him hi6 sword, the hilt of which was silver, his money, watch, gold-headed cane, snuff-box, sleeve-buttons, and hat, with several other tninkets. In the mean time, the boafs crew, who were at a little distance, and had no arms of any kind with them, were incapable of giving him any reHef ; 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 £Gtll on the Chinese, some of whom he could not have fidled of killing. But the ofi&cer, perceiving what he was about, immediately ordered him to desist, thinking it more prudent to submit to the present violence than to embroil his Commander in an inextricable squabble with the Chinese government, by the death of their subjects : which calmness in thifi gentleman was tbe 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 speedily re- covered the possession of the sword, when they perceived it was prohibited to be made use of against tiiem, and carried off their whole booty unmolested. No sooner were they gone than a Ohinese on horseback, very well dressed, and who had the air and appearance of a gentle- man, came down to the sea-side, and as fur as could be understood by his signs, seemed to censure tho conduct of his countrymen, and to commiserate the ofi&cor, being wonderfully of&cious 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 made out the justice of those snspinloTis. When the boat returned on board, and the officer roDorted what had passed to the Commodore, ho imme* mm *.,,„, ,,,, m 356 YOTAOB BOUND THE WORLD. [Book 111. diatoly oomplained of it to the Mandarin, who attended to see his ship supplied ; but the Mandarin coolly observed that the boat ought not to have gone on shore, promising, howeyer, that if the thieves CQidd be found, they should be punished; though it appeared plain enough by his manner of answering, that he would never give himself any trouble in searclung them out. However, a consider- able time afterwards, when some Ohinese boats were sell- ing provisions to the Centurion, the person who had wrested the sword from the Ohinese came with eagerness to the Oommodore, 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 wete immediately given to seize him ; and he was accordingly secured on board the ship, where strange discoveries were now made. The thief, on his being first apprehended, expressed so much fright in his countenance, that it was feared he would have died upon the spot ; the Mandarin, 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 apparent that he had been privy to the whole robbery ; for the Oommodore declar- ing that he would not deliver up the thief, but would himself order him to be shot, the Mandarin immediately put off the magisterial air, with which he had at first pretended to demand him, and begged his release in the most abject manner. But the Oommodore seeming to be inflexible, there came on board, in less than two hours' time, five or six of the neighbouring Mandarins, who all joined in the same entreaty, and with a view of facilitating their suit, offered a large qum of money for the fellow's liberty. Whilst they were thus soliciting, it was ctis- covered that the Mandarin, the most active amongst them, and who was thence presumed to be most interested in the event, was the very gentleman who rode up to the officer, just aiter the robbery, and who pretended to be so mnch [Book IlL attended to Y observed promising, bey should gh by his ve himself \ consider- were sell- L who had . eagerness e principal the ship; the fellow orders we»e kccordingly yeries were cpressed so \ feared he n, too, who of concern )Ugh to be 3 had been ore declar- but would mmediately lad at first ease in the iming to be two hours* as, who all facilitating bhe fellow's it was dis- ongst them, ested in the the officer, )e so much OaAP.IX.] TBANSAOTIONS IN THE KlVZtt 07 CANTOS. 357 displeased with the villany of his countrymen. On further inquiry, it was also found that h^ was the Man- darin of the idiand ; and that he had, by the authority of his office, ordered the pedsants to commit that infamous action. This easily accounted for his extraordinary vigilance in the present conjuncture ; since, as fietr as could be collected from the broken hints which wero casually thrown out, it seemed that he and his brethren, who were every one 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 dis- pleased to have caught the Chinese in this dilemma ; 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 cer- tainly 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, though not till the Mandarin had collected and returned all that had been stolen from the officer, even to the minutest trifle. But, notwithstanding this instance of the good intelli- gence between the magistrates and criminals, the strong addiction of the Chinese to lucre often prompts them to break through this awful confederacy, ^d pute them on defrauding the authority that protects them of its proper quota of the pillage. For not long after the above-men- tioned transaction (the former Mandarin, attendant on the ship, being in the mean time relieved by another), the Commodore lost a top-mast from his stem, which on the most diligent inquiry could not be traced out. As it was not his own, but had been bon'owed at Macao to heave ▼OTAOI BOUND THE WORLD. [Bock Hi ! i down by, and was not to be replaced in that part of the world, he was extremely desirous to recover it, and pab- lished a considerable reward to any who would bring it him again. There were suspicions from the first of its being stolen, which made him conclude a reward was the likeliest method of getting it back. Hereupon soon after the Mandarin informed him, that some of his, the Man- darin's, attendants had found the top-mast, desiring the Commodore to send his boats to fetch it, which being done, the Mandarin's people received the promised re- ward. It seems the Commodore had told the Mandarin that he would make him a present besides, on account of the care he had taken in directing it to be searched for ; and, accordingly, Mr. Anson gave a sum of money to his linguist, to be delivered to the Mandarin; but the linguist, knowing that the Chinese had been paid, and ignorant that a farther present had been promised, kept me money himself. However, the Mandarin fully con- fiding in Mr. Anson's word, and suspecting the linguist, he took occasion, one morning, to admire the size of the Centurion's masts, and thence, on a pretended sudden recollection, he nutde a digression to the top-mast which had been lost, and asked Mr. Anson if he had not got it again. Mr. Anson presently perceived the bent of this conversation, and inquired of him if he had not received the money from the linguist ? and finding he had not, he offered to pay it him upon the spot ; but this the Man- darin refused, having now somewhat more in view than the sum which had been detained ; for the next day the linguist was seized, and was doubtless mulcted of whatever he had gotten in the Commodore's service, which was supposed to be little less than two thousand dollars; being besides so severely bastinadoed that it was wonder- ful he escaped wi^li his life. And when he was upbraided by the Commodore, to whom he afterwards came a begging, with his folly in risking this severe chastisement, and tiie loss of all he was worth, for the lucre of fifty dollars, the present of which he defrauded the Mandarin, [Bock Hi )art of fhe t, and pub- id bring it first of its ixd was the L soon after I, the Man- ^siring the hich being omised re- 3 Mandarin account of uxihed for ; money to n; but the 1 paid, and mised, kept fudly con- be linguist, size of the led sudden mast which 1 not got it »ent of this lot received had not, he 3 the Man- view than ext day the of whatever which was ad dollars; eas wonder- 8 upbraided ds came a lastisement, ere of fifty Mandarin, OUW.ULI TOAMSAOTIONS IN THE BIVIB 01 OANTOK. 359 he had no other excuse to make, than the strong bias of his nation to dishonesty, replying, in his broken jargon, Chinese man very great rogue, truly, but have fSuhion, no can help. It were endless to recount all the artifices, extortions, and frauds which were practised on the Commodore and his people by this interested race. The method of buy- ing provisions in China being by weight, the tricks the Chinese made use of to augment the weight of what they sold to the Centurion were almost incredible. One time a large quantity of fowls and ducks being brought for the ship's store, the greatest part of them presently died: this spread a general alarm on board, it being appre- hended that they had been killed by poison; but on examination, it appeared that it was only owing to their being crammed with stones and gravel, to increase their weight, the quantity thus forced into most of the ducks being found to amount to ten ounces in each. The hogs, too, which were bought ready killed of the Chinese butchers, had water injected into them for the same pur- pose ; so that ft carcase, hung up all night, that the water might drain from it, had lost about a stone of its weight. And when, to avoid this cheat, the hogs were bought alive, it was discovered that the Chinese gave them salt to in- crease their thirst ; and having thus excited them to drink great quantities of water, they sold the tortured animals in this inflated state. When the Commodore first put to sea from Macao, they practised an artifice of another kind : for as the Chinese never scruple eating any food that dies of itself, they contrived, by some secret practices, that great part of his live sea-store should die in a short time after it was put on board, hoping to make a second profit of the dead carcases which they eiqpected would be thrown overboard ; and two-thirds of the hogs dying before the Centurion was out of sight of land, many of the Chinese boats followed her, only to pick up the carrion. These instances may serve as a specimen of the manners of this celebrated nation, which is often recommended to the rest of the war^ «» « nattem of all kinds of laudable quaUtiei. B 860 YOTAGK BOUND THE l/VOBLD. [HOOSIIK The Commodore, towards the end of September, having found out, as has been said, that those who had contracted to supply him with sea provisions and stores had deceived him, and that the Viceroy had not invited him to an in- terview, according to his promise, he saw it would be impossible for him to surmount the difficulties he was imder, without going to Canton, and visiting the Viceroy. And tiierefore, on the 27th of September, he sent a message to the Mandarin, who attended the Centurion, to inform him that he, the Commodore, intended, on the 1st of October to proceed in his boat to Canton, adding, that the day after he got there, he should notify his arrival to the Viceroy, and should desire him to fix a time for his audience. This message being delivered to the Mandarin, he returned no other answer than that he would acquaint the Viceroy with the Commodore's intentions. In the mean time, all things were prepared for this expedition ; and the boat's crew which Mr. Anson proposed to take with him were clothed in an uniform-dress, resembling that of the watermen on the Thames. They were in number eighteen, and a cockswain : they had scarlet jackets and blue silk waistcoats, the whole trimmed with silver buttons, besides silver badges on their jackets and caps. As it was apprehended, and even asserted, that the payment of the customary duties for the Centurion and her prize would be demanded by the Segency of Canton, and would be insisted on, previous to their granting a permission to victual the ship for the future voyage, the Commodore, who was resolved never to establish so dis- honourable a precedent, took all possible precaution ta prevent the Clunese from facilitating the success of their unreasonable pretensions, by having him in their power at Canton. And, therefore, the better to secure his ship, and the great treasure on board her, against their projects, he appointed his first lieutenant, ]!i^. Brett, to be captain of the Centurion under him, giving him proper instruc- tions for his conduct ; directing him particularly if he, the Commodore, should be detained at Canton, on account JKUf ■1' [HoosUK er, having Bontracted 1 deceived to an in- would be 98 bo was Q Viceroy, be sent a aturion, to on tbe Ist Idiug, tbat ) arrival to me for bi» Mandarin, i acquaint s. In ibe ixpedition ; led to take resembling^ ly were in uid scarlet mmed with ackets and )d, that the turion and of Canton, granting a iroyage, the ish so dis- 3caution ta SB of their heir power e his ship, lir projects, be captain er instruc- arly if he, on accotinlf Cbav.IX.] TSANSACTIONS in tub niVKB OF CANTON. 361 of the duties in dispute, to take out the men from the Oen- turion's prize, and to destroy her, and thou to proceed down the river, through the fiocca Tigris, with tiie Centurion alone, and to remain without that entrance till ho received further orders from Mr. Anson. These necessary steps being taken, which were noi jmknown to the Chinese, it would seem as if their deli* berations were in some sort perplexed thereby. It ia reasonable to imagine that they were in general very desirous of getting the duties to be paid them, not perhaps solely in consideration of the amount of those duties, but to keep up tiieir reputation for address and subtlety, and to avoid the imputation of receding from claims on which they had already so frequently insisted. However, aa they now foresaw that they had no other method of suc- ceeding than by violence, and that even against this the Commodore was prepared, they were at last disposed, I conceive, to let the alfair drop rather than entangle them- selves in a hostile measure, which they found would only expose them to the risk of having the whole navigation of their port destroyed without any certain prospect of gain> ing their poiat. But, though there is reason to conclude that these were their thoughts at that time, yet they could not depart at once from the evasive conduct to which they had hitherto- adhered; for when the Commodore, on the morning of the Ist of October, was preparing to set out for Canton^ his linguist came to him from thr l^andarin, who attended the ship, to tell him that a lettei laid been received from the Viceroy of Canton, desiring the Commodore to put oft his going thither for two or three days. The reality of this message was not then questioned; but in the afternoon of the same day, another linguist came on board, who with much seeming fright told Mr. Anson that the Viceroy had expected him up that day, that the council was assembled, and the troops had been under arms to receive him, and that the Viceroy was highly offended at the disappointment, and had sent the Commo- immm 8(» YOTAOI ROUND TBI WOBLD. [UoOBllL Bl ; TJT 1 I dore's lingnist to prison, ohamed, supposing that the whole had been owing to the linguist's negligence. Thii plausible tale gave &e Commodore great concern, and made him apprehend that there was some treachery de- signed him, \Auch he could not yet &thom. And though it afterwards appeared that the whole was a fiction, not one article of it havinff the least foundation, yet, for reasons best known to themselves, this falsehood was so well sup- ported by the artifices of tiie Chinese merchants at Canton, that, three days afterwards, the Commodore received a letter signed by all the supercargoes of the English ships then at that place, expressing their great uneasiness about what had happened, and intimating their fears that some insult would be offered to his boat if he came thither be- fore thd Viceroy was fully satisfied of the mistake. To this letter Mr. Anson replied, that he did not believe there had been a mistake, but' was persuaded it was 4 forgery of the Chinese to prevent his visiting the Viceroy ; that, therefore, he would certainly come up to Canton on the 18th of October, confident that the Chinese would not dare to offer him any insult, as well knowing he should want neither power nor inclination to make them a proper return. On the 18th of October, the Commodore continuing firm to his resolution, all the supercargoes of the English, Danish, and Swedish ships came on board the Centurion, to accompany him to Canton, for which place he set out in his barge the same day, attended by his own boats and by those of the trading ships, which on this occasion sent their boats to augment his retinue. As he passed by Wampo, where the European vessels lay, he was saluted by all of them but the French, and in the evening he arrived safely at Canton. His reception in that city, and the most material transactions from henceforward, till the expedition was brought to a period by the return of the C^turion to Great Britain, shall be the subject oC ti^e ensuing chapter. ;i i' \ V lit'' i il CUOOBIII. C!«Ar.\.l aOCEEDIMGS AT THK CITY OF CANTON. 863 that the oe. This cem, and tohery de- id tliough iction, not br reasons well snp- at Canton, ■eceiyed a jlish ships aess about that some ;hither be- itake. To ot believe I it was d e Viceroy; Canton on would not he should n a proper nuing firm e English, Centurion, le set out boats and sasion sent passed by ras saluted evening he it city, and xA, till the ram of the oct of t^e V\ CHAPTER X. PlMMdinfi at the Otty of OMiton, and Um Rstwo of tbe CentoitoD !• EngUnd. Whbk the Commodore arrived at Canton he was visited by the principal Chinese merchants, who aflTeoted to appear very much pleased that he had met with no obstruction in getting thi^er, and who thence pretended to conclude that tibe Viceroy was satisfied about the former mistake, the reality of which they still insisted on. In the con- versation which passed upon this occasion, they took care to insinuate that, as soon as the Viceroy should be in- formed that Mr. Anson was at Canton, which they pro- mised should be done the next morning, they were per- suaded a time would be immediately appointed for the visit, which was the principal business that had brought the Commodore to that city. The next day the merchants returned to Mr. Anson, and told him that the Viceroy was then so fully employed in preparing his despatches for Pekin, that there was no getting admittance to him at present ; but that they had engaged one of the officers of his court to give them in- formation, as soon as ^e should be at leisure, when they proposed to notify Mr. Anson's arrival, and endeavour to fix the audience. The Commodore was already too well acquainted with their artifices not to perceive that this was a fidsehood ; and had he consulted only his own judgment, he would have applied directly to the Viceroy by other hands. But the Chinese merchants had so far prepossessed the supercargoes of our ships with chimerical fears, that they, the supercargoes, were extremely appre- hensive of being embroiled with the government, and of suffering in their interest if those measures were taken which appeared to Mr. Anson at that time to be the most prudentiiU : and therefore, lest the malice and double- 'V m 'k ' S6'l TOrAOl BOUND THE WOILD. [RiioKlIA dealing of the Chinese might have giycn riio to some sinister incident, which would be afterwards laid at his door, ho resolved to continue passive as long as it should appear that he lost no time by thus suspending his own opinion. In pursuance of this resolution, he proposed to the English that ho would engage not to take any imme- diate step himself for gaining admittance to the Vice- roy, provided the Chinese, who contracted to furnish his provisions, would let him see that his bread was baked, his meat siedted, and his stores prepared with the utmost despatch. But if, by the time when all was in readiness to be shipped off, which it was supposed would be in about forty days, the merchants should not have procured the government's permission to send it on board, then the Commodore was determined to apply to the Viceroy him- self. These were the terms Mr. Anson thought proper to offer to quiet the uneasiness of the supercargoes ; and, notwithstanding the apparent equity of the conditions, many difiBculties and objections were urged ; nor would the Chinese agree to the proposal, till the Commodore had consented to pay for every article he bespoke , before it was put in hfuid. However, at last, the contract being past, it was some satisfaction to the Commodore to be certain that his preparations were now going on; and being himself on the spot, he took care to hasten them as much as possible. During this interval, in which the stores and provisions were getting ready, the merchants continually entertained Mr. Alison with accounts of their various endeavours to procure a licence from the Viceroy, and their frequent disappointments : this was now a matter of amusement to the Commodore, as he was fully satisfied there was not one word of truth in anything they said. But, when all was completed, and wanted only to be shipped, which was about the 24th of November, at which time, too, the north-east monsoon was set in, he then resolved to demand an audience of the Viceroy, as ho was persuaded that without this ccicmony, the grant of a permission to take [liooK 11£ ONAr.X.] PBOOBKDIMOI AT TBI OITT OF OAKTON. 366 to some laid at his 1 it ehould ig his own roposed to any immc- the Vioe- 'umieh his nras bakod, ;he utmost I readiness be in about ocured the I, then the oeroy him- it proper to goes; and, conditions, nor would aodore had 3 before it aract being lore to be g on; and en them as provisionft mtertained leavours to r frequent usement to re was not b, when all )ed, which le, too, the to demand iiaded that on to take his stores on board would meet with groat difBculty. On the 24th of November, therefore, Mr. Anson sent one o<' lus officers to the Mandarin who commanded the guard of the principal gate of the citv of Canton, with a letter directed to the Viceroy. When this letter was delivered to the Mandarin, he received the officer who brouaht it yQTY civilly, and took down the contents of it in Chinese, and promised that the Viceroy should be immediately acquainted with it ; but told the officer it was not neces- sary he should wait for an answer, because a message would be sent to the Commodore himself. When Mr. Anson ilrst determined to write this letter, be had been under great difficulties about a proper inter- preter, as he was well aware that none of the Chinese usually employed ad linguists could be relied on ; but ho at last prevailed with Mr. Flint, an English gentleman belonging to the factory, who spoke Chinese perfectly well, to accompany his officer. This person, who, upon that occasion, and many others, was of singular service to the Commodore, had been left at Canton, when a youth, by the late Captain Rigby. The leaving him there to learn the Chinese language was a step taken by that cap- tain merely from his own persuasion of the considerable advantages which the East India Company might one day receive from an English interpreter; and the utility of this measure has greatly exceeded all that was expected from it. Two days after the sending the above-mentioned letter, a fire broke out in the suburbs of Canton. On the first alarm, Mr. Anson went thither with his officers and his boat's crew to aid the Chinese. When he came there, he found that it had begun in a sailor's shed, and' that by the filightness of the bmldings, and the awkwardness of the CMnese, it was getting head apace. However he perceived that by pulling down some of the adjacent sheds, it might easily be extinguished ; and particularly observed, that it was then running along a wooden cornice, whicli blazed fiercely, and would immediately communicate the j»«e TOTAOE BOUND THE WORLD. [BOOKIIL B flat*. ^ to a great distance. He ordered his people to begin with tearing away that cornice : this was presently at- tempted, and would have been soon executed ; but in the mean time he was told that as there was no Mandarin there, who alone has a power to direct on these occasions, the Chinese would make him, the Commodore, answer- able for whatever should be pulled down by his command. Hereupon Mr. Anson and his attendants desisted ; and he sent them to the English factory, to assist in securing the Company's treasure and effects, as it was easy to foresee that no distance was a protection against the rage of such a fire, where so little was done to put a stop to it : since nil the while the Chinese contented themselves with view- ing it, and now and then holding one of their idols near it, which they seemed to expect should check its progress. In- deed, at last a Mandarin came out of the city, attended by four or five hundred firemen : these made some feeble [BooKlIL QK4r.>..'] PBOOEIDINCMt AT THS CITY OF CANTON. 367 I to begin ently at- it in the y[andarin >ccasions, answer- ommand. and he iring the foresee 3 of euch it : since ith view- ' s near it, ess. In- attended le feeble efibrts to pull down the neighbouring hojses: but by that time the fire had greatly extended itself, and was got amongst the merchants' warehouses, and the Chinese firemen wanting both skill and spirit, were incapable of checking its violence; so that its fury increased upon them, and it was feared that the whole city would be de- stroyed. In this general confusion, the Viceroy himself came hither, and the Commodore was sent to, and waa entreated to afford his assistance, being told that he might take any measures he should think most prudent in the present emergency. Upon this message he went thither a second time, carrying with him about forty of his people ; who in the sight of the whole city, exerted themselves after so extraordinary a manner, as in that country was altogether without example. For, behaving with the agility and boldness peculiar to sailors, they were rather ani- mated than deterred by the flames and falling buildings amongst which they wrought ; whence it was not uncom- mon to see the most forward of them tumble to the ground off the roofs, and amidst the ruins of houses, which their own efforts brought down under them. By their resolution and activity, the fire was soon extinguished, to the amaze- ment of the Chinese : and it fortunately happened, too, that the buildings being all on one floor, and the materials slight, the seamen, notwithstanding their daring behaviour, escaped with no other injuries than some considerable bruises. The fire, though at last thus luckily extinguished, did great mischief during the time it continued : for it con- sumed a hundred shops and eleven streets fidl of ware- houses, so that the damage amoimted to an immense sum : and one of the Chinese merchants, well known to the English, whose name was Snccoy, was supposed for his own share to have lost near two hundred thousand pounds sterling. It raged indeed with unusual violence : for in many of the warehouses there were large quantities of camphor, which greatly added to its fury, and produced a colimm of exceeding white flame, which blazed up into $68 YOTAOE BOUND THE WOBLD. [BlKliC III »,ffHI!!7 the air to such a prodigious height that it was distinctly seen on board the Centurion, though she was at least thirty mih^s distant. Whilst the Oommodore and his people were labouring «t the fire, and the terror of its becoming general still possessed the whole city, several of the most considerable C/hinese merchants came to Mr.^ Anson, to desire that he would let each of them have one of his soldiers (for such they styled his boat's crew from the uniformity of their dress) to guard their warehouses and dwelling-houses, which, from the known dishonesty of the populace, they feared would be pillaged in the tumult. Mr. Anson granted them this request ; and all the men that he thus furnished behaved much to the satisfaction of the mer- chants, who afterwards highly applauded their great dili- gence and fidelity. By this means, the resolution of the English in master- ing the fire, and their trusty and prudent conduct, where they were employed as safeguards, was the general subject of conversation amongst the Chinese. And the next morning many of the principal inhabitants waited on the Oommodore to thank him for his assistance ; frankly owning to him that he had preserved their city from being totally consumed, as they could never have extinguished the fire of themselves. Soon after, too, a message came to the Commodore from the Viceroy, appointing the 30th of November for his audience ; which sudden reso- lution of the Viceroy, in a matter that had so long been agitated in vain, was also owing to the signal services performed by Mr. Anson and his people at the fire, of which thw Viceroy himself had been in some measure an «ye-witness. The fixing this business of the audience was on every account a circumstance with which Mr. Anson was much pleased ; since he was satisfied the Chinese government would not have determined this point without having agreed among themselves to give up their pretensions to the duties they claimed, &nd to grant him all he could roa- [IkWiC ilL OBAV.Z.] PBOCEXDINOB AT THI OITT OV CANTON. 369 distinctly B at least labouring neral still nsiderable re that he 9 (for such ;y of their ng-houses, iilaco, they Ir. Anson lat he thus if the mer- great dili- in master- luct, where 3ral subject L the next ited on the Ej; frankly from being ttinguished 3sage came inting the idden rcso- long been lal services the fire, of measure an ks on every 1 was much government out having Btensions to could rea- sonably aak. For as they well knew the Commodore's sentiments, it would have been a piece of imprudence not consistent with their refined cunning, to admit him to aodience only to contest with him. Being therefore him- self perfectly easy about the result of his visit, he made the necessaiy preparations against the day ; and engaged Mr. Flint, whom I have mentioned before, to act as in- terpreter in the conference ; and Mr. Flint, in this affair as in all others, acquitted himself much to the Commo- dore's satisfSaction ; repeating with great boldness, and doubtless with exactness, whatever was given him in charge ; a part which no Chinese linguist would have per- formed with any tolerable fidelity. At ten o'clock in the morning on the day appointed, a Mandarin came to the Commodore, to let him know that the Viceroy was prepared and expected him ; on which the Commodore and his retinue immediately set out. As soon as he entered the outer gate of the city, he found a guard of two hundred soldiers ready to receive him ; these attended him to the great parade, before the Emperor's palace, where the Viceroy then resided. In this parade, a body of troops, to tho number of ten thousand, were drawn up under arms, who made a very fine appearance, they being all of them neW'-clothed for this ceremony. Mr. Anson with liis retinue having passed through the middle of them, he was then conducted to the great hall of audience, where he found the Viceroy seated under a rich canopy in the Emperor's chair of state, with all his council of Manda- rins attending. Here there was a vacant seat prepared for the Commodore, in which he was placed on his arrival. He was ranked the third in order from the Viceroy, there being above him only the two chiefs of the law and of the treasury, who in the Chinese government have precedence of all military ofBicers. When the Commodore was seated, he addressed himself to the Viceroy by his interpreter, and began with reciting the various mediods he had for- merly taken to get an audience ; adding that he imputed the delays he had met with to the insincerity of those h» 2 B 870 TOTAOB BOUND THB WOBLD. [BookUL liad employed ; and that he had therefore no other means left thui to send, as he had done, his own officer with !» letter to the gate. On the mention of this, the Viceroy inter- rupted the interpreter, and bade him assure Mr. Anson that the first knowledge they had of his being at Oanton was from that letter. Mr. Anson then proceeded, and told him that the subjects of the King of Great Britain trading to China had complained to him, the Oommodore, of the vexatious impositions, both of the m^chants and inferior custom-house officers, to which they were frequently neces- sitated to submit by reason of the difficulty of getting access to the Mandarins, who alone could grant them re- dress ; that it was his, Mr. Anson's duty, as an officer of the King of Great Britain, to lay before the Viceroy these grievances of the British subjects, which he hoped the Viceroy would take into consideration, and would give orders that hereafter there should be no just reason for complaint. Here Mr. Anson paused, and waited some time in expectation of an answer ; but nothing being said,, he asked his interpreter if he was certain the Viceroy un- derstood what he had urged ; the interpreter told him he was certain it was understood, but he believed no Teply would be made to it. Mr. Anson then represented to tho Viceroy the case of the ship Haslingfield, which having been dismasted on the coast of China, had arrived in the river of Canton but a few days before. The people on board this vessel had been great sufferers by the fire ; the captain in particular had all his goods burnt, and had lost besides, in the confusion, a chest of treasure of four thousand five hundred tahel, which was supposed to be stolen by the Chinese boatmen. Mr. Anson therefore desired that tho captain might have the assistance of the €k)vemment, as it was apprehended the money could never be recovered without the interposition of the Man- darins. And to this request the Viceroy made ani^wer, that in settling the Emperor's customs for that ship, some abatement should be made in consideration of her losses. And now the Commodore having despatched the bust* i [BOOBlXli her means cer with » 5roy inter- Ur. Anson at Oanton a, and told lin trading, ore, of the nd inferior intlyneces- r of getting at them re- 1 officer of ceroy these hoped the would give reason for mted some rbeing said,^ Viceroy nn- old him he 3d no Teply ented to tho hich having •rived in the ) people on Ihefire; the it, and had inre of f onr )Osed to h© jn therefore Stance of the loney conld yi iieMan- lade answer, A ship, some her losses.^ led tho bnffl^ n, by which ), exempted ii China, oy, the pro- r succeeding nodore em- Qow all tho ith so much the 7th of Qoored, and tocca Tigris ve, that the m each side could well ii pikes and 3d to show s, and were think more hinese mili- uipped with r of colours icular there md a soldier our, stalked is hand, en- ol an air as 1 board the irance of his id only of a s of Macao which they was gready Oommodore LO strangers, terms. Mr. bt Oanton, to CSAP. 1.] 8KT SAIL FOR ENOLAKD. a73 coigeoture that the war with Spain waS' itill continued ; and that, probably, the French might engage in the assist- ance of Spain before he could arrive in Great Britain ; and, therefore, knowing that no intelligence could come to Europe of the prize he had taken, and the treasure he had on board, till the return of the me.rchantmen from Canton, he was resolved to make all possibie expedition in getting back, that he might be himself the first messenger of his own success, and might therel y prevent the enemy from forming any projects to intercept him: for these reasons, he, to avoid all delay, accepted of the sum offered for the galeon ; and she being delivered up to the mer- chants the 15th of December, 1743, the Centurion, the same day, got under sail, on her return to England. On the 3rd of January, she came to an anchor at Prince's Island, in the Straits of Sunda, and continued there, wooding and watering, till the 8th ; whence she weighed, and stood for the Cape of Good Hope, where, on the 11th of March, she anchored in Table Bay. Here the Commodore continued till the beginning of April, highly delighted with the place, which by its extra- ordinary accommodations, the healthiness of its air, and the picturesque appearance of the country, the whole en- livened, too, by the addition of a civilised colony, was not disgraced on a comparison with the valleys of Juan Fer- nandez and the lawns of Tinian. During his stay, he entered about forty new men : and having, by the 3rd of April, 1744, completed his water and provision, he on tlmt day weighed, and put to sea. The 19th of April, they saw the island of St. Helena, which, however, they did not touch at, but stood, on their way ; and arriving in soundings about the beginning of June, they, on the 10th of that month, spoke with an Engli^ ship bound for Pliiladelphia, from whom they received the first intelli- gence of a French war. By the 12th of June, they got sight of the Lizard ; and the 15th, in the evening, to their ioifiiiite joy, they came safe to an anchor at Spithead. And the good Providence which had preserved them ! ,1 ' 374 ▼OTACn BOUND THB WOBLD. [BooKlU. ihiongh the sigml perils which had so often threatened ihem, in the preceding part cf the enterprise, attended ihem to the very hutt ; for Mr. Anson learnt, on his Arrival, that there was a French fleet of considerable force craiiing in the Chops of the Channel, which, from the ticcomit of their position, he found the Centurion had run through, and had been all the time concealed by a fog. Thus was this expedition finished, when it had lasted ihree years and nine months, alter having by its event strongly evinced this important truth, thiat, though prudence, intrepidity, and perseverance united are not exempted firom accidents and adverse circumstancei^ yet, in a long series of transactions, they usually rise suptaior, and, in 3ie end, rarely Ml of provmg suocessfol, through •Ihe Uessing of Divine Providence. '^^9 m. ■1''' ! ii 1 'v- 'tt 't -^■~ 5? 1 '■ > ? »s G-- [BooKlIL en threatened »ri8e, attended eamt, on his dderable force ich, from tho Orion had ran ded by a fog. it had ksted by its event that, though iited are not nstancesv 7^^ rise supteior, ufol, through