Commodore ANSON’s Voyage Round the World

When, in the year 1739, the Spanish depredations had roused the national resentment, and the pacific ministry who then were entrusted with the administration of affairs, found it impossible any longer to prevent a war with Spain, several projects were proposed, and several plans formed, for distressing the enemy in the most effectual manner, by cutting off the resources by which alone they were encouraged to continue their insults, and by which alone they could be enabled to support a war.

Among the rest, two expeditions were planned by Sir Charles Wager, then at the head of the admiralty, and two gentlemen named by him for carrying them into execution; which were no sooner laid before the privy council to be examined than they were unanimously approved.

Captain Anson, who was nominated to command the one, being out upon a cruise, a vessel was dispatched to order him to return with his ship, the Centurion, to Portsmouth; and Mr. Cornwall, who was appointed to command the other, was acquainted with the honour conferred upon him, and directed to prepare accordingly.

There are not to be found in the annals of Britain two expeditions, remote in the destination, yet having a connection one with the other, that promised equal advantages with these to the nation, equal honour to the promoters, or equal wealth and glory to the commanders: but by what fatality these expeditions were changed, or by what state-craft one came to be laid aside, and the other delayed,⁠—who were the traitors that betrayed the secret of their destination, or who the demon of seduction was that perverted the grand design to the pitiful purpose of one single pilfering project,⁠—remains at present among those secrets, which, perhaps, a second Dalrymple, in some remote period of time, may discover; when it will probably appear how much the influence of Chilian gold had operated in defeating the most formidable project for the humiliation of Spain that ever was devised; and how easy it is for a prime minister of England, in the plenitude of power, to defeat the best-concerted measures, backed and supported by the King in his council, when either pride, envy, avarice, or emulation, may prompt him to opposition.

The project, as first intended, was to consist of two strong squadrons; one under Captain Anson was to take on board three independent companies of 100 men each, and Bland’s regiment of foot (who was himself to command the land-forces), and was to sail with all possible expedition by the Cape of Good Hope to the city of Manilla, in the island of Luconia, of which city and island frequent mention has already been made in the course of this work; while that commanded by Captain Cornwall, of equal force, was to proceed round Cape Horn into the South Seas, there to range the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico; and when the Commander in Chief had made himself master of the royal treasures in that quarter, he was then to direct his course to the Philippines, and join the squadron of Captain Anson. This done, they were to act in conjunction, as circumstances should arise, or to wait for fresh orders from Government to proceed on fresh enterprizes. The reader will perceive, at first view, the vast importance of this noble undertaking, calculated at once to enrich the nation, and to determine the war without the effusion of much blood; for the places intended to be attacked were at that time incapable of resistance; and as they were in possession of the royal treasures, any failure in the return of which must of necessity oblige Spain to sue for peace, that haughty nation must thus have been subdued without a battle. But posterity will stand amazed when they are told the issue of this project, on which Sir Charles Wager was so intent, that, tho’ it was the 10th of September before Captain Anson arrived in town, yet by the 18th he had received orders to take under his command the Argyle, Severn, Pearl, Wager, and Trial sloop, and to proceed to victual the same with the utmost expedition. Before the end of December such dispatch had been made by that vigilant officer, that the ships were in readiness to take the troops on board; but in January, when Captain Anson attended the Board to receive further orders, he was told by Sir Charles, that the Manilla expedition was laid aside, for what reasons he knew not, but that the expedition to the South Seas was still intended; and that he and his squadron, as their first destination was now countermanded, should be employed in that service.

Accordingly on the 10th of January, 1740, he received his commission as Commodore; yet it was not till the 10th of June that he obtained from the Duke of Newcastle his Majesty’s instructions; and even then so many obstacles were thrown in the way, so many difficulties started, and so many delays contrived, that, before he was permitted to sail, which was not till the latter end of September, the Spaniards were so well informed of his designs, that a person who had been employed in the South-Sea Company’s service, arrived from Panama, and was able to relate to the Commodore most of the particulars of his strength and destination, from what he had learnt among the merchants before he left the South-Seas: but a still more extraordinary proof of their early and perfect intelligence was discovered afterwards, in the course of the voyage, when the Pearl, being separated from the rest of the squadron, in a storm, on the coast of Brasil, fell in with the Spanish fleet, that, during the unprecedented delay, had been purposely fitted out to ruin the expedition, and found Admiral Pisarro so well instructed in the form and make of Com. Anson’s broad pendant, and those he employed had imitated it so exactly, that Capt. Mitchell, who commanded the Pearl, was decoyed by it within gun-shot, before he was able to discover his mistake.

All delays being at length overcome, the squadron, consisting of five men of war, a sloop of war, and two victualling ships, namely, the Centurion, of 60 guns, 400 men, commanded by Captain Anson, as Commodore; the Gloucester, of 50 guns, 300 men, of which Richard Norris, Esq; was Commander; the Severn, of 50 guns, 300 men, the Hon. Edward Legg, Esq; Commander; the Pearl, of 40 guns, 250 men, Matthew Mitchell, Esq; Commander; the Wager, of 28 guns, 160 men, the Hon. John Murray, Commander; two victuallers, the Industry and Ann pinks, the largest of about 400, and the other about 200 tons burthen; were ordered to take the troops on board at St. Helen’s. But how much the numbers, strength, and probability of success, of this squadron, were diminished by the various incidents that took place in near a twelvemonth’s procrastination, may fully be conceived by what has already been said. Had the honourable Board from whence the first idea of the expedition originated been permitted to direct, all the old and ordinary seamen on board the ships would have been exchanged for such as were young and able; the full complement of each ship would have been made up; and the salt provisions which had been so long on board in the Channel would have been remanded on shore, and fresh provisions replaced in their room: but, instead of these necessary precautions, the Captains were glad to retain their old crews; the deficiency in the numbers of which, amounting to more than 300 men, was no otherwise made up than by sending on board about 100 cripples from the hospitals, and a party of raw marines who had never been at sea before: nor were they more fortunate in the change that was made in the land-forces; for, instead of three independent companies, of 100 men each, and Bland’s regiment of foot, as first promised, they had only 400 invalids from Chelsea allotted them, one part of whom was incapable of action by their age and infirmities, and the other part useless by their ignorance of their duty. But this diminution of strength was not the greatest misfortune that attended these measures; the importance of the time which was wilfully wasted was in its consequences the source of all those calamities to which the enterprize was afterwards exposed, by obliging the Commodore to make his passage round the Cape in the most tempestuous season, when, as it was foreseen, almost all the invalids, to a man, perished long before they arrived at the place of action, expiring in a most lamentable condition when they came to be attacked with the scurvy, with their wounds bleeding afresh, which had been healed some of them 20, some 30, and some 40 years before.

But to proceed: Of this voyage there are two very authentic and well-written accounts; one by Pasco Thomas, the mathematical master on board the Centurion, who sailed in her out of the British Channel, and returned with her in safety when she arrived at Portsmouth, and was an eye-witness and careful observer of all that passed: the other by the Rev. Mr. Richard Walters, Chaplain to the above ship, who received his materials, and every other assistance necessary to authenticate his narration, from the Commander in Chief.

We have chosen to follow the former in the narrative of facts, as most exact and least liable to imposition; but, in the explanatory part, we shall copy the latter; because, though Mr. Thomas suffered nothing material that passed to escape his notice, there were many things transacted, the motives for which he could only guess at; but these motives Mr. Walters has, by means of the Commodore’s assistance, been able to explain.

“Being quite ready about the beginning of September, 1740, we put to sea three different times, but were as often put back to the road of St. Helen’s, by contrary winds and stormy weather. At last, on Thursday, Sept. 18, we sailed in company with the Lark and St. Alban’s, two of his Majesty’s ships, and several merchant-ships, besides our own squadron; and Saturday evening saw some men-of-war, and a large fleet of merchantmen, waiting for us at Torbay. At one in the afternoon we joined them; and the Commodore hoisted his broad pendant, which was saluted by all his Majesty’s ships in the fleet with 13 guns each. The King’s ships which joined us here were, the Dragon, Chatham, Winchester, and South-Sea-Castle, and near 200 sail of merchantmen under convoy, some of whom were bound to the Mediterranean, and others to several parts of North America. We had at present the command of the whole fleet; and this same afternoon, seeing a ship to the south-west, we made the Dragon a signal for chasing her; but she proved one of our own ships, too far a-head of her station. At four this afternoon, the Start Point bore from us E. by N. at the distance of eight leagues.

Monday the 22d, we saw two sail to the westward, and sent the Trial sloop to speak with them. They were Dutch ships bound to Curasoe, with soldiers for their garrisons there.

Thursday the 25th, the Winchester and South-Sea-Castle, with the merchant-ships under their convoy for Virginia, and other parts of North-America, parted from us, and proceeded on their respective voyages. And Monday the 29th, the Dragon, Chatham, St. Alban’s, and Lark, with the merchant-ships in their charge for the Mediterranean, did the like; and we had now no ships left in company but our own proper squadron.

Tuesday the 30th, we spoke with a Dutch man-of-war, who came from Malta, bound for Amsterdam.

Friday, October the 3d, we spoke with two English merchant-ships from Lisbon for New-York, and the 8th we spoke with a French sloop from Rochelle. The 13th, one Philip Merrit, a common sailor, died, which I mention because he was the first man we lost on the voyage. The next day, by an order from the Commodore, we went to short allowance; that is, one third of the allowance granted by government is kept back, in order to make our provisions hold out the longer. The 23d, we spoke with a ship from Liverpool, and the next day with another from Glasgow, for the Cape de Verde islands; as also with a small brigantine from Falmouth for Madeira, who kept us company thither. The next day we spoke with a Dutch ship from Surinam for Holland. The 26th, at six o’clock in the morning, we saw the land bearing W. N. W. distance six leagues, and at four in the evening anchored in Fonchale road, in forty fathom water, a-breast the town of Fonchale, and about a mile and a half from it. During this whole passage, we had almost continually contrary winds, and boisterous uncertain weather; by which means, a passage which is very commonly made in 10 or 12 days, took us up 38.

Our business in this place was only to water, and take in wine, and some private stocks: but, soon after our arrival, we were informed, that they had seen from the island, to the westward, about 16 or 18 sail of ships for several days together, which were supposed to be a junction of French and Spanish ships of war; and as we had reason to imagine that our expedition had long been known, there was little room to doubt, but that those ships were designed to intercept and destroy us before we could attempt any thing to the prejudice of Spain. On this news the Commodore sent out an English privateer which lay in the road, with one of his own officers, to see if they could discover them at sea, and what they were; but she returned the next day, having made no discovery.

Nov. 2, Captain Norris, at his own request, being in an ill state of health, with the consent of the Commodore quitted the command of the Gloucester, in order to return to England. The Gloucester was hereupon given to Captain Mitchell, the Pearl to Captain Kidd, the Wager to the Hon. Captain Murray, and the Trial sloop to David Cheap, our First Lieutenant; and as one of the Lieutenants of the Gloucester had quitted with Captain Norris, our two mates, who had long depended on the Commodore, were preferred to be Lieutenants on this occasion.

The 4th, at four in the afternoon, we weighed and put to sea, with all the squadron under our command. An English sloop, which lay in the road, saluted us at our departure with nine guns, to which we returned five.

The 6th, at four o’clock in the evening, we saw the island of Palma, one of the Canary islands, in the latitude of 29 degrees north, and longitude from the meridian of London 19 degrees 44 minutes west. The same day we spoke with a French ship from Marseilles bound to Martinico, and the next morning with a Dutch ship from Amsterdam bound to Batavia, the metropolis of the Dutch settlements in the East-Indies.

The 11th, about four in the morning, we crossed the Northern Tropic for the first time in this voyage, in long. 24 deg. 24 min. west from London.

The 16th, being in the latitude of about 12 deg. 20 min. and the contract with our victuallers expiring in that latitude, the Anne pink fired a gun, and hoisted a red flag at her fore-top-mast head, to give us notice of it.

On the next day all the Lieutenants of the squadron were by a signal ordered on board the Centurion, and orders were given to unlade the Industry pink, and each ship to take on board from her their respective quotas of provisions; in pursuance of which we immediately began to unlade her, lying by in the day, and making an easy sail in the night.

The 19th, having unloaded and discharged the Industry, at eight in the evening she parted from us, in order to proceed to Barbadoes, whither she was bound; but the Commodore having entered into a new contract with the master of the Anne pink, she was detained with us for his Majesty’s service, our ships being too much encumbered to admit of taking on board any more provisions at this time.

The 28th, about five in the morning, we crossed the Equinoctial, in the longitude of 28 deg. 15 min. W. from London, the variation of the compass at that place being 35 min. E.

December the 2d, at eight in the morning, we saw a sail to the north-west, to which we gave chace. At night we lost sight of her; but next morning we saw her and gave chace again, but in the afternoon quitted her. We imagined this sail to be a tender on the Spanish fleet, sent purposely to get intelligence of us: but on our arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, in our return home, we learned that she was the East-India Company’s packet bound for the island of St. Helena.

The 10th, expecting to be near the coast of Brazil, we sounded, and found 67 fathom water, on which we fired a gun for a signal, and altered our course more to the southward. This day died Thomas Waller, our surgeon, who was succeeded by Henry Ettrick, surgeon of the Wager; the surgeon of the Trial succeeded him, and Joseph Allen, our surgeon’s first mate, was made surgeon of the Trial.

The 11th, we spoke with a Portuguese brigantine from Rio Janeiro, bound to Santos, one of the principal Portuguese settlements in the Brazils. The 13th, we crossed the South Tropic for the first time, in long. 38 deg. 36 min. W. from London.

The 14th, died Robert Welden, our purser, who was succeeded by John Rule, purser of the Wager, and Commodore’s Secretary; Thomas Harvey, one of our midshipmen, was made purser of the Wager, in the room of Mr. Rule.

The 17th, we saw the land of the Brazils, from W. to W. S. W. very mountainous, and full of woods. I have, for several days last past, found, by my observations, a strong current on this coast, setting to the southward near three quarters of a mile an hour, which, perhaps, may be occasioned by the neighbourhood of the vast river of Rio de la Plata; another observation, which I shall have occasion to make after our leaving the coast of Brazil, will very much corroborate this conjecture.

The same day, at four in the evening, we had 40 fathom of water, muddy ground; the island of Alvoredo, a small island at the north-east end of the large island of St. Katharine’s, then bearing N. W. by N. about eight leagues distant; and the next day at seven in the evening we came to an anchor in twelve fathom water, the north-east end of St. Katharine’s bearing S. S. W. about three miles distant, and the island of Alvoredo, N. N. E. about six miles distant. Here we found the tide to set S. S. E. and N. N. W. We sent ashore a Lieutenant to the fort, to compliment the Governor, and to desire a pilot to carry us into the road. The Governor returned a very civil answer, and granted our request. The next morning we weighed and ran up the harbour, and about noon anchored in five fathom and a half water, in a place they there call Buon Porto; but being still too far from the watering-place, we on the 20th, about eleven in the morning, weighed and ran farther up between St. Katharine’s and the main land of Brazil, and in the afternoon anchored and moored in five fathom water, about two miles from the watering-place; and the same evening our third Lieutenant went ashore with materials for building a tent, to shelter the people who were to be employed in watering. We likewise saluted the Portuguese fort with eleven guns, who returned us the like number.

Our ships beginning to be very sickly, tents were erected on shore, one for every ship, and the sick were sent ashore to them, with surgeons and proper attendance.

The agents for victualling, of which we had two with us, were ordered to procure what fresh provisions we could expend during our stay here, which they accordingly did; but though their meat, which is altogether beef, was both cheap and plenty, it was for the greatest part miserably bad, and scarce fit to be eaten.

The men throughout the whole squadron began now to drop off apace with fevers and fluxes, occasioned chiefly, I believe, by the violent heat of the climate, and the bad air; the country being so very woody that the air must thereby be stagnated, and rendered unhealthful.

We continued here wooding, watering, and overhauling our rigging, till Sunday, Jan. 18, 1741, during which time we had variable uncertain weather, sometimes sea and land breezes, at other times strong gales of wind, with heavy rain, thunder and lightning, but always excessive heat.

While we lay here, we gave our ship a thorough cleansing, smoaked her between decks, in order to destroy the vermin, and washed every part with vinegar, which I mention because it is absolutely necessary in large ships, the stench of so many sick persons being noisome in hot climates.

Dec. 21, I observed an eclipse of the moon, and by comparing the time of the end of it, with a calculation I purposely made of it in the meridian of London, from Sir Isaac Newton’s New Theory of the Moon, I found the place where the ship then lay to be 49 deg. 53 min. to the westward of the meridian of London. The calculation itself, and the time it ended at St. Katharine’s, I have unfortunately lost; but as the longitude is thereby settled, they are of no farther use, and not worth retrieving at the trouble of a new calculation.

Before we arrived at this island, we had received from the descriptions of M. Frezier, a French author, and some other persons who had been on the spot, such accounts as, together with the climate in which it is situated, gave us very great ideas of its fruitfulness, and hopes of a plentiful supply of every thing we wanted for a long run; but we found ourselves miserably mistaken in almost every article we expected.

As here are several fine sandy bays, we had very good fishing with a seine, for mullets, old wives, sting-rays, maids, turbots, and other flat fish, silver fish, bass, a very boney long fish like a bass, but which our seamen call a ten-pounder, and some other sorts. We likewise had fresh beef for present expending plenty enough, but scarce better than the carrion that we gave to our dogs. As for lemons, limes, plantains, bananaes, potatoes, and other roots, fruits, and greens, with which those climates generally abound, which the authors above mentioned aver to be extremely plentiful here, and which we principally depended on for sea-stores, there were so few at the time of our being here, that I believe we could have consumed all that came to our knowledge of those things in one day. The officers, however, no doubt found plenty; as Mr. Walters agrees in his report with Frezier, that there was no want of pine-apples, peaches, grapes, lemons, citrons, melons, apricots, and adds, there were besides potatoes and onions for sea-stores. Sassafrass is here in great plenty, and we cut much of it among other wood for fuel. Guaiacum they report to be very plenty here likewise, but I saw none of it, nor heard of any person who did during our stay. Rum and sugar they have in small quantities, but very indifferent and dear. The inhabitants are a mixture of Portuguese and Indians incorporated together, and appear to be very poor, idle, lazy, ignorant and rude. I believe the original of the Portuguese here was chiefly from felons, who fled hither from other parts of the Brazils to shelter themselves from justice; they never till lately having any government among them, except a Chief chosen from among themselves, who was more like a Captain of thieves and robbers, than the Commander of a colony. At present there are some European Soldiers, and a Governor from Rio Janeiro, whose name was Don Joffe Sylva de Paz, an expert engineer, who, as Mr. Walters observes, understood one branch of his business very well, which is the advantages which new works bring to those who are entrusted with the care of erecting them; for, besides a battery on a neck of land that narrows the channel to a little more than a quarter of a mile, there were three other forts carrying on for the defence of the harbour, none of which were then compleated.

The country, both the main and the island, is mountainous, and all over-grown with thick woods, and those so entangled with the undergrowth of thorny briars, brambles, and the like, that in most places they are scarce penetrable. These woods are reported to be full of very fierce tygers, which makes any excursions into the country dangerous, unless you go well armed, and even then much caution is necessary.

They have here some hogs and fowls, but I believe not very plenty; and in the woods are monkeys, apes, armadilloes, and other wild creatures unknown to me; as also parrots, parroquets, and many other sorts of birds proper to the climate. Alligators are said to be plenty near the shores and in the lakes, but we saw none of them.

The country appears to me to be a good soil, and very capable of improvement, were the inhabitants more civilized and industrious.

This island lies in latitude 27 deg. 30 min. S. longitude, as before determined, 49 deg. 53 min. W. from London; and the variation of the compass 11 deg. 20 min. easterly.

Dec. 27, we discovered a sail in the offing, and the eighteen-oar’d barge was manned, and armed, and sent, under the command of the second Lieutenant of the Centurion, to examine her before she arrived within the protection of the fort. She proved to be a Portuguese brigantine from Rio Grande; but, though the officer behaved to the master with the utmost civility, yet the Governor took offence at our sending our boat, complained of the violation of the peace, and made that a pretence for sending Don Pisarro the most circumstantial intelligence of our force and condition, as we afterwards found by letters intercepted in the South Seas.

January 18, 1741, we left this island, having had a melancholy proof how much the healthiness of this place had been over-rated by former writers; for we found, that, though the Centurion alone had buried no less than 28 men since our arrival, the number of the sick in the same interval had increased to 96; and this very day we had three men die.

Before our departure the Commodore took every precaution to prevent a separation; but considering that, in such boisterous seas as we were about to encounter, he himself might be disabled, he called the officers together, and in a full council so ordered it, that, if but one ship escaped, the expedition should not be abandoned. Proper places of rendezvous were appointed; the time was settled for staying at these places; and, if the Commodore did not arrive in that time, the Captains were ordered to put themselves under the command of the senior, and to proceed without farther delay.

The 22d in the morning, we had very stormy weather, with some thunder, lightning, and rain; and the Trial carried away the head of her main-mast. A thick fog succeeding, we lay to, and soon after lost sight of the Pearl, the Trial, and the Anne pink. In the afternoon we got sight of and joined company with the Trial and the Anne, but the Pearl was still missing.

From hence to February the 13th, very variable weather, mostly foggy from latitude 35, or thereabouts, to latitude 39; the rest a mixture not much unlike our weather in England in the month of October, except that we had pretty often thunder and lightning, which are not so frequent with us in that month. Being past the latitude of 36 degrees to the southward, I observed the current, which had hitherto constantly set southerly, now on the contrary, set to the northward; and the great river of Rio de la Plata being situated in between 35 and 36 degrees south, strengthens my conjecture that those currents are occasioned by the flux and reflux of that mighty river.

February 13, we saw the land from S. by W. to S. half E. appearing plain, with very few risings, and of a very moderate height, our soundings at that time from 46 to 56 fathom, the first mud, the latter stony ground. This day, at four in the evening, we were within about four miles of Cape Blanco on the coast of Patagonia, and in 12 fathom water; on which we hauled off, and ran along the coast, the soundings from 20 to 60 fathom water. At five the next morning we saw the land from W. by N. to S. W. half W. with an opening near the middle; which I believe to be the harbour of Port Desire, so called by Sir John Narborough. The northernmost land in sight is Cape Blanco, and the southermost Penguin Island, so called from the great numbers of penguins about it, of which birds Sir John’s ship’s company killed and salted large quantities for provisions, and which he reports to be very good and wholesome food. Cape Blanco is in the latitude of 47 deg. 10 min. S. longitude from St. Katharine’s 17 deg. 38 min. W. which makes it from London 67 deg. 20 min. W. taking the N. E. point of St. Katharine’s in 49 deg. 42 min. W. to be about 11 minutes to the eastward of the place where the ship lay when I fixed it by observation.

The 17th, in the evening, we anchored about 17 or 18 leagues short of the harbour of Port St. Julian, so called by Sir Francis Drake, who touched there in his voyage round the globe, and where he condemned and executed Mr. Doughty, the next person in command to himself, on pretence of a conspiracy to murder him and ruin the expedition; whence a small island within the harbour is to this day called the Island of True Justice. The next morning we saw a sail at S. by E. which we believing to be the Pearl, made the signal for the return of all cruizers; but she not minding it, as I suppose not seeing it, we ordered the Gloucester to chase, and at two in the afternoon the Gloucester and her chace, which to our great satisfaction proved to be the Pearl, joined us. They informed us, that, on January the 31st, their Commander, Captain Dandy Kidd, died; and that on the 7th instant they were chased by five large ships, which they believed to be Spanish men-of-war, and were some time within gun-shot of them, though they never fired a gun, having endeavoured to decoy the Pearl by hoisting a broad red pendant, like that of the English Commodore, at the Admiral’s main-top-mast head, and hoping by that means to be taken for our Commodore, and so to inveigle and make sure of their prey; Capt. Mitchell, thus decoyed, narrowly escaped them, by running through a space of water, where the tides or currents making a great ripling, the Spaniards, who thought it was rocky and broken ground, were afraid to follow her. These ships we supposed to be the Spanish squadron, commanded by Admiral Pisarro, the same who got so great a name among them for his conduct in bringing home their flota safe into Port Andero the last year, eluding the vigilance of our squadrons who waited for them off Cadiz, and was therefore looked on as the properest person to be sent to intercept us. We should not have been displeased, however, to have met them with our whole force, and did not much doubt to have either destroyed or disabled them. But the time of their destruction was not yet come; their miserable fate shall be related in its proper place.

We were now, being the 18th, sailing along shore for the harbour of St. Julian. I found the tide to set here north and south, about a mile an hour. The time of flowing here on the full and change days is N. E. by E. and S. W. by W. nearest. We sent one of our boats with an officer in-shore, to sound and endeavour to discover the mouth of the harbour. At six in the evening we came to an anchor in 12 fathom water. At eight the Lieutenant returned, having found the harbour. We sent ashore our boats to make farther discoveries, and to endeavour some to get fresh water, and others to procure salt, (of which Sir J. Narborough observed, when he was here, that in February there was enough of it to load 1000 ships) for the use of the squadron in the South Seas. We continued here till the 27th, during which time we stove most of our empty casks, in order to clear our ships as much as possible, and got up and mounted such of our guns as we had before struck down into the hold in order to ease the ships; for now, not knowing how soon we might meet with the Spanish squadron, it was necessary to have them all in readiness. We could find no fresh water here, and but a very small quantity of salt, and no other refreshments whatever; all the country, as far as we could discover, being quite barren and desolate. We got some provisions out of the Anne victualler on board each of the other ships, repaired the Trial’s mast, and assisted her and the victualler to overhaul and new-fix most of their rigging. Having lost the hopes of a supply of water here, we were put to the allowance of one quart a man for one day, and three pints for another, alternately; but, considering our passage had hitherto proved extremely stormy and cold, and a dead time of the year coming on very fast, it was thought proper, in order to keep the people in as good heart as possible, to give them whole allowance of all other provisions, which was ordered accordingly.

Here we farther secured our lower-deck guns, by nailing quoins under the trucks, in case the tackles, breechings, or iron-work, might give way, or fail in the stormy weather which we had much reason to expect.

Here likewise the Commodore removed the Honourable Captain Murray into the Pearl, in the room of Captain Kidd; and Captain Cheap into the Wager in the room of Captain Murray. He advanced Mr. Charles Saunders, his First Lieutenant, to be Commander of the Trial sloop, in the room of Captain Cheap; and made Mr. Piercy Brett, First Lieutenant of the Gloucester, Second Lieutenant of his own ship. The Trial being repaired, and the Pearl, who had thrown about 14 ton of water overboard when chased by the Spaniards, being supplied from the other ships, we made ready to prosecute our voyage.

This harbour of Port St. Julian is a barred harbour, only fit to receive small ships and vessels. We lay off in the road about two miles from the mouth of it. It is not to be seen open from where we lay, one point shutting in another; and before any small ship or vessel pretends to venture into the harbour, they ought to send in their boats at low water, and fix poles or buoys on the ends of the shoals, which, in a manner, block up the passage. The country about it is pretty much on the level, except a few copling hillocks to the northward, and a pretty high one in the bay, which bears W. S. W. from the place where we lay at anchor. The latitude of Port St. Julian is 49 deg. 10 min. S. its longitude from London 69 deg. 48 min. W. and the variation of the compass 17 deg. 20 min. E. We had here uncertain boisterous weather, with much rain, some snow, and generally thick fog, with so much wind and sea as made us ride hard, and hastened our departure from this uneasy situation.

Sir John Narborough and some others write, that they have often seen and conversed with the inhabitants in this and other parts of Patagonia, and have given wonderful descriptions of them; but as we saw none of them, I have nothing to say of that sort, nor indeed do I think there is any thing in this wild part of the world worthy of the least notice.

The 27th, at six in the morning, we made the signal, weighed, and put to sea; but the Gloucester being long in weighing her anchor, and the weather proving thick and hazy, we soon lost sight of her, and at one in the afternoon, tacked, and lay by for her coming up; at seven we fired a gun, a signal for her, and soon after she joined us, having broke her main-yard in the slings.

Previous to our leaving this port, a council was held on board the Centurion, at which all the officers by sea and land attended, when it was proposed by the Commodore, that their first attempt, after their arrival in the South Seas, should be the attack of the town of Baldivia, the principal frontier of the district of Chili. To this proposition the council unanimously agreed; in consequence of which, new instructions were given to the Captains of the squadron, by which they were directed, in case of separation, to rendezvous at the island of Neustra Senoro del Secoro, and there cruise for 10 days; after which, they were ordered to repair to the height of Baldivia, and there between 40 deg. and 40 deg. 30 min. to continue to cruise 14 days longer; and, if in that time they were not joined by the rest of the squadron, they were then to quit that station, and direct their course to the island of Juan Fernandez.

March the 4th, in the morning, we passed by the Streights of Magellan, so near that we saw them very plain; the northernmost point of which, known by the name of Cape Virgin Mary, I found to be in the latitude of 52 deg. 28 min. S. longitude from London 70 deg. 55 min. W. variation of the compass 18 deg. 40 min. E. the soundings, when it bears about S. W. by W. at the distance of eight leagues, from 32 to 50 fathom, the bottom black-grey sand and mud. The afternoon of this day being very bright and clear, with small breezes, inclinable to calm, most of the Captains took the opportunity of 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 Centurion, and which was succeeded by a cloud of smoak. However, they were soon relieved from their apprehensions, by receiving information, that the blast was occasioned by a spark of fire from the forge lighting on some gunpowder, and other combustibles, which the officers on board were preparing for use, in case we should fall in with the Spanish fleet; and that it had been extinguished without any danger to the ship.

The 6th, in the morning, we saw the land of Terra del Fuego, consisting of high craggy hills, towering above each other, mostly covered with snow, with deep horrid vallies, some few scattered trees, no plains, nor one chearful green through all the dismal prospect; so that the whole may not improperly be termed the Land of Desolation; and I much question whether a more dreary aspect is to be seen in any other part of the habitable earth; for voyagers say this is inhabited, but surely its inhabitants must be the most miserable of human beings. This evening we lay by, that we might not overshoot the Streights of Le Maire in the night; though I believe, had we kept on, and passed round Staten Land, a small island or two, which lie to the eastward of those Streights, and together with Terra del Fuego frame them, it would have been more to our advantage than by passing through them.

The 7th, at eight in the morning, we were very near a point of land on Terra del Fuego, called Cape St. James, bearing E. S. E. another called Cape St. Vincent, S. E. half E. the middlemost of the Three Brothers, being three high hills on Terra del Fuego, appearing almost contiguous to each other, S. by W. and a very high Sugar-loaf Hill, called Monte Gorda, farther up in the country, and appearing above them, bore south from us. It is by these marks that you know you are near Strait Le Maire; and indeed we began to open them in this position. By noon we were almost through them, being assisted by a very strong tide with much rippling, and which made to the southward somewhat before 10 o’clock in the morning. The course through is almost directly south, and there are no shoals nor rocks in the passage from whence you may incur any danger; the only thing you have to fear is, the tide’s turning against you while you are in the straits, for in that case you are certainly hurried back again, and can have no passage there till the next turn of the tide. The breadth of this strait may be about six or seven leagues, and its length about seven or eight; which being passed, you enter into a vast open ocean, commonly known by the name of the South Sea. This strait lies in latitude 55 deg. south, longitude from London 67 deg. 30 min. west, variation of the compass 21 deg. 36 min. east, soundings in the straits from 43 to 58 fathom, the bottom black sand and pebble-stones. In passing through here, our joy was increased by the brightness of the sky and the serenity of the weather, which was indeed 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 departure from England. But we here found what was constantly verified by all our observations in these high latitudes, that fair weather was ever the forerunner of a succeeding storm, and that sunshine and tempest followed one another like light and shade. We had scarcely reached the southern extremity of the straits, when the serenity of the sky, which had so much flattered our expectations, was all at once obscured, the wind shifted to the southward, and the sea began to swell to an astonishing height. Before night the tempest arose, and the tide, which had hitherto favoured us, turned furiously against us; so that, instead of pursuing our intended course, we were driven to the eastward, by the united force of wind and current, with so much precipitation, that in the morning we found ourselves seven leagues to the eastward of Streight Le Maire. From this time we had such a continual succession of tempestuous weather as surprized 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 railed 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 reason that this unusual appearance filled us with continual terror; for, had any one of these waves broke fairly over us, it must in all probability have sent us to the bottom. Nor did we escape with terror only; for the ship rolling incessantly gunwale-to, gave us such quick and violent motions, that the men were in perpetual danger of being dashed against the masts or sides of the ship: and though we were extremely careful to secure ourselves from these shocks by grasping at some fixed body, yet many of our people were forced from their holds, some of whom were killed, and others greatly injured; in particular, one of our best seamen was carried over-board 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 themselves, though unattended by any other unfavourable circumstance, were rendered more mischievous to us by their inequality, and the deceitful intervals which they at some times afforded; for, though we were often 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 sail 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, these blasts generally brought with 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 inexpressible difficulty and labour to the working of the ship, benumbing the limbs of the people employed in handing the sails, or handling the ropes, and making them incapable of exerting themselves with their usual activity, and even disabling many by mortifying their toes and fingers.

And now, as it were to add the finishing stroke to our misfortunes, our people began to be universally afflicted with that most terrible, obstinate, and, at sea, incurable disease, the scurvy, which quickly made a most dreadful havock among us, beginning at first to carry off two or three a day, but soon increasing, and at last carrying off eight or ten; and as most of the living were very ill of the same distemper, and the little remainder who preserved their healths better, in a manner, quite worn out with incessant labour, I have sometimes seen four or five dead bodies, some sown up in their hammocks, others not, washing about the decks, for want of help to bury them in the sea. But as the particulars of all the various disasters and sufferings of various kinds that befel us, would be endless, I shall only mention a few.

The 10th, 11th, and 12th, very stormy weather, with snow and sleet, and a very great over-grown sea from the S. W.

The 15th, one William Baker fell overboard and was drowned. The 16th, the Anne pink, which had separated from us the 11th in the storm, again joined us, in lat. 59 deg. 20 min. S.

Part of the 17th, 18th, and 19th, very strong gales, and a great rolling sea from the N. W.

The 18th, we had again strong gales of wind with extreme cold, and at midnight the main-top-sail split, and one of the straps of the main dead-eyes broke.

The 23d, and part of the 24th, a most violent storm of wind, hail, and rain, with a very lofty sea. The 23d, in the evening, we sprung the main-top-sail yard, and split the main-sail into rags, the greatest part of which was blown overboard. On these accidents we furled all our other sails, and lay-to under a mizzen.

The latter part of the 24th proving more moderate, we bent a new main-sail, got down the broken main-top-sail yard, and got up and rigged another in its place.

The 25th, it blew a very hurricane, and reduced us to the necessity of lying-to under our bare poles. As our ship kept the wind better than any of the rest, we were obliged in the afternoon to wear ship; in doing of which, we had no other expedient but clapping the helm a-weather, and manning the fore-shrouds; in the execution of which we had one of our best men canted overboard. We perceived, that, notwithstanding the prodigious agitation of the waves, he swam very strong; and it was with the utmost concern that we found ourselves incapable of assisting him. Indeed we were the more grieved at his unhappy fate, as we lost sight of him struggling with the waves, and conceived, from the manner in which he swam, that he might continue sensible for a considerable time longer of the horror attending his irretrievable situation.

The 26th being somewhat more moderate, we found two of our main-shrouds broke, which we repaired; we likewise bent our main-top-sail, and made sail.

The 30th, in the evening, the Gloucester made a signal of distress; and, on speaking with her, we found she had broke her main-yard in the slings; an accident the more grievous, as it tended unavoidably to delay us in these inhospitable latitudes, where every moment we were in danger of perishing. The weather proving favourable, all the carpenters were ordered on board the Gloucester, and next day she was ready to sail.

The 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th of April, a continued storm of wind and rain; a dreadful sea, and very cold weather. We lowered our yards, furled our courses, and lay by for the most part under a mizzen and mizzen-stay sail. The 3d, about 11 o’clock at night, a raging sea took us on the larboard quarter, where it stove in the quarter gallery, and rushed into the ship like a deluge. For some time it laid the ship down upon her side; but she providentially righted again, though slowly; it threw down and half drowned all the people on the deck, broke one of the straps of the main dead-eyes, and snaped a mizzen and puttock shroud. This was the greatest sea which we had encountered since we came into those parts, and we met with but one such stroke more in the whole voyage; two or three such succeeding must certainly have sent us to the bottom.

The 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, continued very stormy and squally, with snow, hail, rain, and a large sea; the weather continuing very cold.

The 8th, at four in the evening, the Anne pink made a signal of distress; and, on speaking with her, we found she had sprung her fore-stay, and the gammoning of her bowsprit. This was the more unfortunate, as none of the carpenters were yet returned from the Gloucester. Nor was the Anne the only ship that suffered in this storm; the Wager lost her mizzen-mast and main-top-sail yard, owing to the badness of the iron work. In this dilemma we were obliged to bear away till these ships had made all fast.

The 10th, foggy and hazy. This afternoon the Severn and Pearl were far a-stern, and seemed to me to lag designedly. We made a very easy sail all day, and lay by at night, and fired several guns as a signal for them to join us; the weather being pretty moderate, and the wind fair for them, they might have effected it with ease. By the close of the evening we could but just see them, and from that time saw them no more. However, we heard afterwards in the South Seas, by letters taken on board some of the Spanish ships, of their arrival at Rio Janeiro, in the Brazils.

The 15th, the weather proved somewhat more moderate. At half an hour past one in the morning we saw two islands right a-head, at about two leagues distance; we immediately wore our ship, and stood off to the southward. Those islands were very unexpected, as well as unwelcome, we imagining we had been to the westward of all lands and islands of the coast of Terra del Fuego; but we now found our mistake, and that there was a necessity of our standing farther to the southward, in order to get a sufficient westing. Those islands I find to lie in the latitude of 54 deg. 20 min. S. longitude from London 84 deg. 10 min. W. Mr. Walters supposes the land we fell in with on this occasion to be Cape Noir, and a part of Terra del Fuego.

From this time to the 23d we had nothing remarkable, the weather continuing very uncertain and variable, with a large sea and a very cold air; and the 21st, at nine at night, we were in the latitude of 60 deg. 5 min. S. being the greatest south latitude we made during the voyage.

The 23d, very hard gales and squalls, with much rain. This evening we lost sight of the Gloucester, Wager, Trial, and Anne pink, being all the remainder of our squadron, after the defection of the Severn and Pearl. The Wager’s unfortunate catastrophe is well known; the others afterwards joined us at Juan Fernandez, as shall be related in its proper place.

The 24th, 25th, and 26th, the wind being mostly fair, though still blowing hard, we made pretty good runs under an easy sail to the north-westward. The 24th it blew a hurricane, and the men endeavouring to hand the topsails, the clew-lines and bunt-lines broke, and the sheet being half flown, every seam in the fore-topsail was soon split from top to bottom, and the main-topsail shook so strongly in the wind, that it carried away the top lanthorn, 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-topsail beat about the yard with so much fury that it was soon blown to shreds: nor was our attention to our topsails our sole employment; for the mainsail blew loose, which obliged us to lower the yard to secure the sail, and the fore-yard being likewise lowered, we lay to under a mizen. The 25th, we found much of our running rigging broken, which we repaired. The 27th, we bent other topsails in the places of those split. Nothing more remarkable the rest of this month and the first week in the next, but stormy uncertain weather, and great sickness and mortality among our people.

Friday, May 8, at seven in the morning, saw the main land of Patagonia appearing in high mountains covered mostly with snow. We likewise saw several islands, one of which we took to be the Island del Soccoro, so called by Sir John Narborough, in his account of his voyage into those parts; and from the fine description this gentleman had given of this island, (having been there in the very height of summer), this place was appointed for our first general rendezvous in the South Seas. An unhappy appointment it was in its consequences; for when the people, already reduced to the last extremity, found this to be the place of rendezvous, where they had hoped to meet the rest of their companions with joy, and what a miserable part of the world it appeared to be, their grief gave way to despair; they saw no end of their sufferings, nor any door open to their safety. Those who had hitherto been well and in heart, now full of despondency, fell down, sickened, and died; and, to sum up this melancholy part, I verily believe, that our touching on this coast, the long stay we made here, and our hinderance by cross winds, which we should have avoided in a direct course to Juan Fernandez, lost us at least 60 or 70 of as stout and able men as any in the navy. This unspeakable distress was still aggravated by the difficulties we found in working the ship, as the scurvy had by this time destroyed no less than 200 of our men, and had in some degree affected almost the whole crew. It were, indeed, endless to recite minutely the various disasters, fatigues, and terrors, which we encountered on this coast; all these went on increasing till the 22d of May, at which time the fury of all the storms which we had hitherto experienced, 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, about eight in the evening, a mountainous overgrown sea took us on our starboard quarter, and gave us so prodigious a shock, that several of our shrouds broke with the jerk, by which our masts were in danger of coming by the board; our ballast and stores too were so strangely shifted, that the ship heeled afterwards two streaks a-port. Indeed, it was a most tremendous blow, and we were thrown into the utmost consternation, from the apprehension of instantly foundering. Our deplorable situation allowing no longer any room for deliberation, we stood for the island of Juan Fernandez; and, to save time, which was now very precious, our men dying four, five, and six in a day, we endeavoured to hit the island upon a meridian course. On the 28th of May, being nearly in the parallel in which it is laid down, we expected to have seen it, and indeed the Commodore was persuaded that he did see it; but all the other officers being of opinion that it was only a cloud, to which the haziness of the weather gave too much colour, we made sail to the eastward, and by so doing lost near 14 days in recovering our westing again. This was a most fatal disappointment; for in this run we lost about 80 of our men, which, probably, had the Commodore’s advice been attended to, would most of them have been saved.

The 8th of June, at six in the evening, we at length saw the island of Juan Fernandez, bearing N. by E. half E. about 15 or 16 leagues off. The 10th, at two in the morning, we anchored in 56 fathom, close under the N. E. end of the island. At 10 in the morning of the 11th, we with much labour and difficulty weighed our anchor, and at noon happily moored our ship in the Great Bay, about a mile from the shore, in 52 fathom water, to our inexpressible joy, having been from St. Katharine’s in the Brazils to this place 148 days, on such a dreadful and fatal passage as I believe very few other persons ever experienced.

The 11th, at two in the afternoon, the Trial sloop appeared in the offing. 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 like 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 34 of his men; and those who recovered were so universally afflicted with the scurvy, that only himself, his Lieutenant, and three of his men, were able to stand by the sails.

The same day we got out our long-boat, and sent her on shore with materials for building tents for the sick, and with orders to bring on board some water.

The 15th, we sent our pinnace to assist the Trial, she being driven from her anchors to sea, by the violent flaws of wind which blow off the high lands. This and the next day we put ashore 75 sick men, in so weak a condition, that we were obliged to carry them out of the ship in their hammocks, and to convey them afterwards in the same manner from the water-side over a stoney beach to the tents prepared for their reception. In this work of humanity, not only the officers, but the Commodore himself, chearfully lent their assistance.

The 17th, the Trial came again to an anchor, and moored. This day and the next we sent on shore the remainder of our sick people, the whole number now on shore being 135, many of whom, being too far gone in the scurvy, died one after another to the number of not less than sixty.

We now began to send on shore materials for tents for the coopers, sail-makers, and some of the officers; a copper oven which we had with us for baking soft bread for the ship’s company, and the smith’s forge for making or repairing such iron-work as was necessary: and, after a short interval of relaxation, all hands were busily employed, some in cutting large quantities of wood for the ship’s use, some in making charcoal for the smith, and for a farther store; the bakers in baking bread, the coopers in making up and cleaning the casks for water, the sail-makers in mending the sails and making others; some in fishing for the sick, and the rest were otherways employed: and here being very great plenty of fine fish, all taken by the hook, two or three people could never fail to take us as much in about two hours as all the ship’s company could eat: besides this we took great quantities for salting and curing; and some private persons who had hooks and lines fished for themselves, and never failed of enough for their own use, and to give to those who had none. The people on board were employed in cleaning the ship, which was in a very filthy condition, and in stripping the masts, and overhauling the rigging. One of the boatswain’s mates, with some assistants, having run up a rope-walk on shore, was employed in making what small cordage we might want; others in watering, and, in short, in every thing that might contribute to put us in as good a condition, and in as short a time as possible; and as fast as the sick recovered, they were put on the like employments.

At first sight of this island, it appeared with a most unpromising aspect, being extremely mountainous, rugged, and irregular; but, upon our nearer approach, it improved upon us; and when we were landed, we found all the vegetables which are usually esteemed to be peculiarly adapted to the cure of those scorbutic disorders which are contracted by salt diet, and long continuance at sea; for here we found water-cresses and purslain, wild-sorrel, and Sicilian-radishes, in profusion. These vegetables, not to mention the turneps which now abound in every plain, with the fish and flesh we got here, were not only grateful to us in the extreme, but were likewise very refreshing to the sick, and contributed not a little to the recovery of those who were not already too far advanced in the disorder to admit of relief; and to the restoring of others to their wonted vigour, who, though not apparently under the malignancy of the distemper, and its baneful concomitants, were yet greatly debilitated by continual watching and anxiety of mind, from which not a soul on board was exempt.

During the time of our residence here, we found the inland parts of the island no ways to fall short of the sanguine prepossessions we had first entertained in its favour; for the woods, which covered most of the steepest hills, were free from all bushes and underwood, and afforded an easy passage through every part of them; 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 vallies, most of which had a stream of the clearest 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 vallies, where the shades and fragrance of the contiguous woods, the loftiness of the over-hanging 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 productions of unassisted nature may be said to excel all the fictitious descriptions of the most animated imagination. The spot where the Commodore pitched his tent, and where he chose, during his stay, to fix his residence, exceeded in beauty any thing that words can be supposed to represent. It was a delightful little lawn, that lay on an easy ascent at the distance of about half a mile from the sea, and was probably the very spot on which Shelvock twenty years before had pitched his tent. In front there was a large avenue cut through the woods to the sea-side, which slopping to the water with a gentle descent, opened a prospect to 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 of chrystal water, which ran on the right and left of the tent, within an hundred yards distance, and were shaded by the trees that skirted the lawn on either side, and completed the symmetry of the whole. Add to these, the gentle murmuring of the distant brooks, the music of the birds among the myrtles, the sweet aromatic odour of the spice-trees that every where perfumed the air with their fragrance, and you may form in imagination a faint idea of this second paradise, which could only be exceeded by the perfection of the first.

It is astonishing, that, among all the voyagers who have visited this fortunate island before us, and who have obliged the world with descriptions of it, none of them have mentioned a charming little bird that, with its wild, various, and irregular notes, enchants the ear, and makes the woods resound with its melody. This untutored choirister is somewhat less in size than the goldfinch, its plumage beautifully intermixed with red and other vivid colours, and the golden crown upon its head so bright and glowing, when seen in the full light of the sun, that it surpasses all description. These little birds are far from being uncommon or unfamiliar; for they perched upon the branches of the myrtle-trees so near us, and sung so chearfully, as if they had been conscious we were strangers, and came to give us welcome.

There is, besides the above, another little bird, unnoticed by any former writer, and which seems likewise peculiar to the island, and consequently without a name; it is still less than the former in size, but not inferior in beauty, though not so musical; the back, wings, and head, are of a lively green, intermixed with fine shining golden spots, and the belly a snow white ground, with ebony coloured spots, so elegantly varied as no art can imitate. To the catalogue of birds mentioned by former writers as inhabitants of this island, should also be added blackbirds and thrushes very like those in England; and owls, but of a diminutive size.

Of four-footed animals we saw none but dogs, cats, rats, and goats; and of the latter but few, as the dogs of various kinds, greyhounds, mastifs, pointers, spaniels, and mungrels, have thinned them in the plains, and driven them to the inaccessible mountains; yet some were shot by the hunters, and were preferred by them to the best venison. Among those presented to the Commodore were two or three venerable through age, that had been marked more than thirty years before by Selkirk, who trained them for his sport, slit their ears, and turned them loose to graze the mountains.

I remember we had once an opportunity of observing a remarkable dispute betwixt a herd of those animals and a number of dogs; for going in our boat into the eastern bay we perceived some dogs run 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 a hill, where, looking a little farther, we observed upon the ridge of it an herd of goats, which seemed drawn up for their reception. There was a very narrow path skirted on each side by precipices, in which the leader of the herd posted himself fronting the enemy, the rest of the goats being ranged 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 ran up hill with great alacrity, yet when they came within about twenty yards, found they durst not encounter this formidable Goliah, for he would infallibly have driven the first that approached him down the precipice; they therefore quietly laid themselves down, panting, and did not offer to stir while we remained in sight.

These dogs have multiplied prodigiously, and have destroyed most of the cats as well as goats: the rats, however, keep possession, and were very troublesome guests in the night, when they generally paid us their visits. It is not easy to determine in what manner such a multitude of dogs subsist, as they are much more numerous than all the other four-footed creatures upon the island. Our people, indeed, were inclined to think, that they lived in a great measure upon the young sea-lions and seals, and supported their opinion by the report of the sailors, some of whom killed the dogs for food, who said they tasted fishy: and, truly, there is hardly any other way of accounting for the subsistence of these animals; for, as has been said, they have already destroyed all the goats in the accessible parts of the country; so that there now remain only a few among the crags and precipices, where the dogs cannot follow them. These are divided into separate herds of 20 or 30 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, that we discovered, I believe, all their herds, and it was thought, by comparing their numbers, that they scarcely exceeded 200 upon the whole island. The dogs had destroyed the pardellas, too, of which former writers have given a large account, so that there was not one of them to be seen; we found indeed their boroughs in the earth, which leaves no room to doubt of their being found in plenty in Selkirk’s time, as well as cats, of which there is now scarce one alive.

Flesh meat being thus extremely scarce, our people, being tired of fish, though excellent in their kind, at length condescended to eat seals, which, by degrees, they came to relish, and called them lamb. Of these, it being their brooding time, the numbers were incredible;⁠—and likewise of the sea-lion,⁠—these animals have frequently furious battles among themselves, principally about their females; and we were one day surprized by the sight of two animals, which, at first, seemed different from all we had ever observed; but, on a nearer approach, they proved to be two sea-lions that had been goring one another with their tushes, and were covered with blood, with which they plentifully abound. This led us to watch them more closely, and one was observed larger than the rest, and from his driving off other males, and keeping a great number of females to himself, he was by the seamen humorously stiled the Bashaw. To this pre-eminence, however, he had not arrived without many bloody contests; for, on our people’s attacking him in the midst of his seraglio of females, he made a desperate defence, and, when overpowered, the signals of his bravery appeared in numerous scars on every part of his body.

We had now been ten days on this island, when some of our people from an eminence discerned a ship to leeward with her courses even with the horizon, without any other sail abroad than her main-topsail; from which circumstance, it was immediately concluded, that it was one of our own squadron; but the weather being hazy, no definitive conjecture could be formed concerning her. She again disappeared for some days, and we were all thrown into the deepest concern, fearing the weakness of her condition had disabled her from working to windward, and that all her people had perished.

We continued our employ till the 26th, when we again saw the same ship; and, on her nearer approach, could distinguish her to be the Gloucester; and, making no doubt of her being in distress, the Commodore sent our boat on board her with water and refreshments. We found her in a miserable condition, not many above 100 people alive, and almost all those helpless with the scurvy; their water so very short, that they were obliged to allow but one pint a day to a man; and the continual flaws off the land, together with their being disabled in their sails and yards, hindered them from getting into the bay. The next day we sent them a fresh supply of fish, greens, water, and men to help to work the ship; soon after which the flaws drove them off again, and the ship appeared no more till the 30th, when at two in the afternoon she fired a gun, and made a signal of distress. She continued in this manner off and on, sometimes in sight, and sometimes not, till July 23, during which time, though we often relieved the people on board with water and other necessaries, yet their sufferings were insupportable, and their whole complement were reduced to about 96 living persons, all of whom must have perished in a few days more, had not the wind proved favourable to bring them into the bay; but providentially a fresh gale sprung up from the sea, and brought them to an anchor. We immediately sent men on board to assist in mooring the ship, and continued our constant assistance afterwards, during our stay at this place.

The 5th of August, the Commodore sent the Trial sloop to search the island of Little Juan Fernandez, lest any of the squadron should have mistaken that island for the place of rendezvous, and might remain there in expectation of meeting the rest of the fleet.

On the 16th, the Anne pink, which was separated from us with the rest of the squadron the 23d of April, appeared in sight. Her arrival gave us new spirits, she being laden principally with provisions, and we immediately were ordered full allowance of bread. This ship had been about two months in a safe harbour, on the main land, near the same parallel with del Soccoro, where she had been directed by Providence, and where she lay in security, enjoyed plenty, and her people, 16 in number, being once freed from their fears of shipwreck, very soon recovered their wonted vigour, having experienced none of those hardships that were endured by the rest of the fleet. They told us they had seen some Indians, and one time took one of their canoes with a man, a woman, some children, a dog, a cat, &c. and some implements for fishery; but in a day or two the whole family, the dog excepted, made their escape from them in the ship’s small boat, and left them their canoe in her stead. Those Indians, they say, understood a few Spanish words, and probably might have some little correspondence with the southern Spaniards of Chili, or their nearer bordering Indians; or, perhaps, some of the Fathers for propagating the faith may now and then have been among them. The principal refreshments they met with in this port, were wild celery, nettletops, and sorrel; cockles and muscles of an extraordinary size; good store of geese, sheep, and penguins. They judged it to lie in lat. 45 deg. 30 min. S. and it may be known by an island which faces it, and which the inhabitants call Inchin, and by a river in which they found excellent fish.

This vessel, the Anne pink, was the last that joined us at Juan Fernandez. The remaining ships of the squadron were the Severn, the Pearl, and the Wager store-ship. The Severn and Pearl, as has been already observed, parted company off Cape Noir, and, as we afterwards learned, put back to the Brazils; so that of all the ships that came into the South Seas, the Wager was the only ship that was missing. Captain Cheap, who commanded her, knowing the importance of the charge he had in trust, without which no enterprize on shore could be undertaken, was extremely solicitous to reach Baldivia as the last place of rendezvous, and the first to be attacked, before the rest of the squadron should have finished their cruise, that no blame might rest upon him, if the attack of that city should be judged improper to be carried into execution. But, whilst this brave officer was exerting himself in endeavouring to keep clear of the land in making the island of del Soccoro, he had the misfortune to dislocate his shoulder, and thereby to disable himself from prosecuting with vigour the purpose he had in view. The ship being little better than a wreck, the crew in a miserable desponding condition, the officers quite exhausted, the weather cold and stormy, and the wind and currents bearing in-shore, all these unlucky circumstances concurring, so entangled the ship with the land, that all the efforts of the feeble crew could not prevent her from running upon a sunken rock, where she grounded between two small islands, not a musquet-shot from the shore. In this situation she continued entire till every one on board might have reached the land in safety, and might have stored themselves with provisions, and every necessary for their present, subsistence and future escape: but the moment the ship struck, all subordination ceased; one part of the crew got possession of the liquors, intoxicated themselves in a beastly manner, and grew frantic in their cups; another part began to furnish themselves with arms, and to make themselves masters of the money and things of most value on board; while the Captain, and some of the principal officers, endeavoured in vain to maintain their authority, and to preserve a proper discipline among them, in order to effect the deliverance of as many as it was possible from the common danger in which all of them were involved; but the mutinous disposition that prevailed rendered every effort for their preservation ineffectual. Those who remained in possession of the ship and her stores, pointed the cannon, and fired at those who had gained the land; those at land grew riotous for want of provisions; nothing but anarchy and confusion prevailed; and, what added to the catastrophe, a midshipman named Cozens, who had busied himself in opposition to all good government, was, by the Captain, shot dead upon the spot. This put an end at once to all manner of subserviency; and after this every one thought himself at liberty to pursue what scheme he thought best for his own preservation.

Of about 130 persons who reached the shore, 30 died on the place; about 80 others, having converted the long-boat into a schooner, sailed to the southward, attended by the cutter. These, being distressed for want of provisions in re-doubling Cape Horn, and having lost their cutter in a storm, suffered unprecedented hardships in their return to the coast of Brazil, where only 30 of them arrived to give an account of the miserable fate of their companions, several of whom died of hunger; others desired to be set on shore; and some, beginning to be mutinous, they landed and deserted. Of the 19 who were left behind in Wager-Island with the Captain, 16 embarked on board the barge and the yawl, and attempted to escape to the northward; of these one was drowned in the yawl, and four were left on a desart part of the coast, where it is probable they all perished; the remaining 11, after a fruitless attempt to weather a point of land, called by the Spaniards Cape Tresmentes, were forced to return to Wager Island, from whence they first set out, where meeting with a Chiloen Indian, who could speak a little Spanish, they agreed with him to pilot them to Chiloe; but, after coasting along for four days, the Captain and his officers being on shore, five in number, the other six persuaded the Indian to put to sea without them, by which the rest were reduced to the sad necessity of travelling near 600 miles, sometimes by land, and sometimes by water, till at length, after a variety of misfortunes and hardships not to be parallelled in romance, four of them, namely, Captain Cheap, the Hon. Mr. Byron, who lately went round the world, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Campbell, arrived at Chiloe, where they were received by the Spaniards with great humanity. After some stay at Chiloe, the Captain and his three officers were sent to Valparaiso, and thence to St. Jago, the capital of Chili, where they continued above a year; but on advice of a cartel, the Captain, Mr. Byron, and Mr. Hamilton, were permitted to return to Europe; and Mr. Campbell, who in the mean time had changed his religion, chose to embark for Spain; but not meeting there with the encouragement he expected, he soon after returned to England, where he published an account of his adventures, but mentioned not a word of changing his religion, neither does he assign his reason for leaving Spain.

It is very remarkable, that the place where the Wager struck upon the rock, was so near the harbour where the Anne pink found shelter during the winter, that the Wager’s people were within hearing of the pink’s evening and morning gun, yet never had the thought to follow the sound, or to look out for any straggler from their own squadron.

On the 22d, the Trial arrived from searching the island of Little Fernandez, and reported that it lies about 20 leagues due west from this where we lay; that it is about three leagues in compass, being very mountainous, with some woods and good runs of water, with multitudes of goats, fish, sea-lions, and seals, as with us; but no ships were to be seen, nor any marks of any having been there.

While we continued at Juan Fernandez, besides our necessary employments, we likewise began, and pretty far advanced, a wharf for the better landing and embarking such necessaries as we had occasion for. We kept two ovens employed in baking bread for the ships companies, two smith’s forges for repairing old and fitting new iron-work, and made abundance of charcoal for future use. The Commodore likewise ordered the carpenters to take a careful survey of the Anne pink, the master of which set forth, that she was in so rotten a condition, as not to be fit to proceed nor return without very considerable repairs; which representation upon a survey being found to be true, the Commodore purchased her materials at a fair valuation, and ordered her to be broke up, and her crew to be put on board the Gloucester, that ship not having hands enough left to navigate her, much less to fight her, in case of an attack from the enemy.

This island lies in latitude 33 deg. 40 min. S. and longitude 87 deg. 37 min. W. from London; distance from the main continent 105 leagues; compass, by the best accounts of those who had been round it, 12 or 13 leagues. There are two small and very commodious bays within the points, which form the large one where we lay, one to the eastward, the other to the westward of us, and no doubt several others in other parts of the island; variation, by an observation July 2, in the morning, 8 deg. 4. min. half E. ’Twas reported, that the S. W. end of the island is much more flat and level than that where we resided, and the goats more numerous, but wood scarcer.

On Tuesday, Sept. the 8th, at noon, we saw a sail at sea bearing N. E. by E. and, perceiving by our glasses that she could be none of our squadron, nor an English-built ship, we fired a gun as a signal for getting all our people on board; and, having taken several men out of the Trial, bent our sails, set up our rigging, and slipt our small bower cable, at six in the evening we weighed in pursuit of her. In the morning of the next day we got down our stumps, which are generally set up in bad weather instead of top-gallant masts, and in their place got up our top-gallant masts and yards, rigged them, and bent their sails. At eleven the same morning we mustered and quartered the ship’s company. At noon the island of Juan Fernandez bore W. half S. distance eight leagues; the two next days we saw nothing of the chace, nor any thing remarkable.

Saturday, Sept. 12, at five in the morning we saw a sail to windward, which bore down towards us, and at about two leagues distance she hawled up the lee clue-garnet of her foresail, shewed her Spanish colours, and fired a gun, which we supposed to be a signal concerted between her and others which came out in company with her; but we not answering nor regarding it, she hauled close on a wind and stood from us, endeavouring to escape; upon which we gave chace, and it proving sometimes hazy and foggy, we were in danger of losing sight of her. About nine in the morning we tacked, and at noon coming within gun shot, we fired five shot at her rigging to bring her to; but she keeping on her course, we fired four more, on which she struck her colours, and surrendered without making any opposition. This ship happened not to be the same we went out after. She proved a rich merchant-ship, having on board 18,000l. sterling in dollars and plate, with some jewels, and abundance of gold and silver twist; but the bulk of her cargo consisted in sugars and bale goods, most of the latter European, but some the produce of the country. She was called the Nuestra Senora del Monte Carmelo. She was of about 500 tons, was commanded by Don Manuel Zamorra, and had on board 13 passengers, most of them persons of fortune, amongst whom was the son of the Governor of the city of St. Jago, the capital of Chili. She came from Callao, a port of Lima, the capital of the empire of Peru, bound for Valparaiso in Chili, where those ships annually trade, exchanging silver in return for gold and corn, the latter being very scarce in Peru. Some of the prisoners informed us, that, if we had taken her in her return from Chili to Peru, we should have met with as much gold in her as we had now found silver. She had in the whole a-board her 67 persons, many of them Indians and black slaves, who were afterwards very useful to us in assisting towards the ship’s duty. She had been 27 days from Callao, and wanted not above two days sail to compleat her voyage when we took her.

We found in this ship, on search among the letters from some merchants in Lima to their friends in Chili, an account of the fate of the Spanish squadron which had been sent after us, viz. that, in attempting to pass the Cape, they had been forced to put back, after encountering the most terrible storms and most pressing famine, being reduced to two ounces of bread and half a pint of water each man a day; that, besides being grievously attacked by the scurvy, which had made greater havock among them than among us, their ships were almost entirely disabled, their masts, sails, yards, rigging and hulls in a manner shattered and torn to pieces; that Admiral Pisarro, and one more of his squadron, after having suffered the greatest extremities, had got, with the utmost difficulty, to Buenos Ayres, on the River Plate; that another of the squadron, a ship of 70 guns, had been entirely lost near Rio Grande, and that two more had never been heard of; that on their return they had seen two large ships pass by very near them, which they supposed to be two ships of our squadron, but the weather proving stormy, and the sea running mountains high, they could not interfere with or attack each other. Those ships of ours we believed to be the Severn and the Pearl, and hoped they were safely arrived at some port of the Brazils. Those letters came over land from Buenos Ayres to Lima, and with them came others containing Admiral Pisarro’s advice and instructions to the Viceroy of Peru concerning us; wherein he told him, that, though he himself had been forced back in such a miserable condition, not having above 80 or 100 of his men living, and his ships in so ill a state, that, till sufficient reinforcements could come to him from Old Spain, he could not possibly come into those seas, yet as the English were a stubborn and resolute people, and daring enough to persist obstinately in the most desperate undertakings, he did believe some of us might possibly get round; but as he experimentally knew what of necessity we must have suffered in that dreadful passage, he made no doubt but we should be in a very weak and defenceless condition; he therefore advised the Viceroy to fit out all the strength of shipping he could, and send them to cruise at the island of Juan Fernandez, where we must of necessity touch to refresh our people, and to repair our ships; and farther advised, that, in case of meeting us, they should not stand to fight or cannonade at a distance, in which possibly we might have the advantage, or make our escape, but should board us at once sword in hand; which must, if well executed, in our weak condition, infallibly prove the means of taking us.

This was a well-laid scheme, and in pursuance of it the Viceroy equipt three ships at Callao, one of 50, one of 30, and one of 20 guns, all double manned with the choicest men they could possibly procure, and sent them to wait for us accordingly. Those ships arrived at Juan Fernandez some time, I think, in May, and continued till about June the 6th, when, imagining that we must be either put back or lost, they quitted their station, and sailed for the port of Conception in Chili, and by this means we luckily missed them: had it happened otherwise, as we arrived there with only our single ship, in such a defenceless condition, and had they put their orders in execution with any tolerable degree of resolution, we must in all human probability have fallen into their hands.

Our prisoners informed us further, that those ships, during their cruise, had met with a storm, in which they had received so much damage, that it must be at least two months before they could again be fit to go to sea. The whole of this intelligence was as favourable as we could have wished; and now we were at no loss to account for the fresh marks we found at Juan Fernandez, of that island’s having been lately visited by some white people.

Sunday the 13th, having got on board most of the prisoners of note, and all the silver, we made sail for Juan Fernandez; and the weather proving very moderate, at six in the evening that island bore N. W. by N. at the distance of five leagues. At three the next morning we fired three guns, as a signal to the ships in the bay. At four we anchored, got in our small bower cable, which we had slipped at leaving the place, and moored our ship.

The 15th we employed in watering, and setting up our rigging, in order to pursue our voyage. And this day, the Commodore being informed that several merchant-ships were now pursuing their trade without fear of any surprize, the Trial was ordered out on a cruise, and proceeded immediately.

The 16th we got up a new top-gallant-mast, and wanting some cordage we were supplied with it from the Gloucester. This and the following days, until the 19th, we spent in getting every thing ready for sea with the utmost expedition.

The 19th we sent 28 of our prisoners on board the Gloucester, she being weakly manned, and those prisoners being good sailors. We likewise supplied the prize with two months provisions of all sorts, at full allowance, for 20 men; put all the guns belonging to the Anne pink on board of her; and, having left orders with Captain Mitchell, of the Gloucester, to burn the pink, together with her useless stores, and appointed him his station off the town of Payta, which is the place where the ships between Lima and Panama generally touch to deliver part of their cargoes to be dispersed through the inland parts of Peru, with orders to sail to that station as soon as possible, we weighed, and took leave of our winter residence, in company with the prize, which the Commodore had fitted up to cruise against the enemy.

The 21st, at four in the evening, we had the last sight of this island, it then bearing from us W. by N. at the distance of 17 leagues. The remaining days, until the 24th, we had variable and uncertain weather, in which we split our main-top-sail and fore-sail, and received some other slight damage.

The 24th, at five in the evening, being somewhat hazy, we saw two sail to windward, on which we cleared ship, in order to be ready to engage, the largest of the two ships bearing down upon us. At seven she came so near, that we haled her in Spanish, and she answered in English, and told us, that she was a prize taken by the Trial, and that her consort was the Trial itself, which was very much disabled. At 11 the next morning, there being a hard gale and high sea, the Trial fired two guns as a signal of distress, and bore away before the wind, and we after her. The same day half an hour past noon we spoke with the Trial, and found she had sprung her main-mast, and that her main-top-mast had come by the board: and as we were all of us standing to the eastward next morning, with a fresh gale at south, she had the additional misfortune to spring her fore-mast; so that now she had not a mast left. This was a great obstruction; for now we had intelligence by the Trial’s prize, that there were many ships at sea richly laden, and that they had no apprehensions of being attacked by us, having received intelligence that our squadron was either put back or destroyed. In the course, therefore, of the 48 hours we were detained in waiting upon the Trial, I am persuaded we missed the taking many valuable prizes. The result was, that a council being called, and all the officers convened together on board our ship, it was there concluded, that in her present condition the Trial could be of no farther service; and the Commodore, being resolved to separate the ships, in order to cruise upon the coast to the greatest advantage, gave orders to Captain Charles Saunders, the Commander, to burn the Trial, and in her room commissioned the Trial’s prize for his Majesty’s service, with the same Commander, officers, and people. This ship, the Trial’s prize, was called by the Spaniards the Nuestra Senora de Arinzazie; but, being now commissioned for his Majesty’s service, she was henceforth called the Trial’s Prize. She was the largest ship we took in those seas, being between five and six hundred tons, and loaded with bale goods, sugar, and other commodities, to a considerable value, and about 5000l. in specie and wrought silver.

The 28th, at nine in the morning, we parted with the Trial and both the prizes.

The 30th we saw the main land of Chili. This day we began to exercise our people with small arms, which was the first time we had done it since we came into those seas, and which we continued at all proper opportunities during the voyage.

On the 1st of October we came in sight of the high land of Valparaiso, bearing N. E. half E. at the distance of about 14 leagues. This city lies in the latitude of 32 deg. 58 min. S. its longitude from London is by my account 80 deg. 37 min. W.

On the 5th, the Commodore, being informed that there were murmurings amongst the people, because the prize-money was not immediately divided, ordered the articles of war to be read; and after that remonstrated to them on the danger of mutiny, and said he had heard the reason of their discontent, but assured them their properties were secured by act of parliament as firmly as any one’s own inheritance, and that the money, plate, &c. were weighed and marked in public; so that any capable person, if he pleased, might take an inventory of the whole. He then read an account of the particulars, and told them they might (if they pleased) make choice of any person to take an inventory for them, or buy their parts. This spread a visible joy, and gave content to every one. We continued cruising off the coast of Valparaiso till the 8th, when at twelve at night we broke the main-top-sail-yard in the slings, on which we unbent the top-sail and got down the broken yard. At ten in the morning we saw the high land of Choapa, and over it the Cordillera mountains, being part of that long ridge of mountains called the Andes, which run from one end of South America to the other, appearing excessively high, with their tops covered with snow.

The 14th we crossed the south Tropic to the northward, and from this time, till we were some degrees to the northward of the Equator, met with nothing but fair weather and a smooth sea.

The 21st, at noon, the high land of Morro Quemado bore E. by N. at the distance of four leagues; and here we continued cruising off and on till Nov. 2, when, about six in the morning, we saw two sail of ships standing towards us; upon which we made a clear ship, and immediately gave them chace, when we soon perceived that they were the Trial and Centurion prizes. As we had the wind of them, we brought to, and waited their coming up, when Captain Saunders came on board, and acquainted the Commodore that he had cleared the Trial pursuant to his orders, and having scuttled her, he remained by her till she sunk; but that it was not till the 4th of October before this was effected, by reason of the great swell and hollow sea; that, during his attendance on the sloop, they were all driven so far to leeward, that they were afterwards obliged to stretch a long way to the westward, to regain the ground they had lost; that in their cruise they had met no prize, nor had seen any vessel on all the coast.

Nov. the 3d, at five in the evening, the island of Asia, in lat. 13 deg. 5 min. S. long. 84 deg. 43 min. W. bore from us N. E. by E. distance five leagues.

The 5th, at four in the evening, we saw the high land of Barranca, bearing N. E. by E. distant eight or nine leagues; and half an hour after we saw a sail to the northward, to whom we gave chace, and cleared our ship for engaging. At 10 in the evening we came up with her, fired eight guns, and took her. She came from Guaiaquil, and was bound for Callao, with timber, cacao, cordage, tobacco, cacao-nuts, and a small trunk with bale goods; all of little value to us, though a very considerable loss to the Spaniards. She was called the Santa Teresa, commanded by Don Bartolo Urrunaga, with between 30 and 40 people on board, passengers included, and five or six women, besides children. Our Third Lieutenant, two other officers, and a party of sailors, were sent on board to command and take care of her; and our other prizes being far a-stern, occasioned by our chasing this ship, we lay by till four the next morning, and fired a gun every hour as a signal for their joining us. This day I find, by the difference of our dead reckoning and observations, a current to set along this coast to the northward of near a mile an hour.

The 7th, we were employed in getting aboard several necessary stores, as planks, cordage, and the like, from our last prize, for the use of the squadron. The sea here appeared for several miles of a blood-red colour, which the prisoners informed us was common in those parts, and of which mention has been made more than once already in this work. This day we found aboard the prize, in specie and plate, 50 pounds averdupois weight.

The 9th, we brought from on board the Teresa 10 serons of cacao, one of wax, and 180 fathom of three and a half rope.

The 10th, we brought from on board our first prize the Carmelo, the following goods, viz. cloth two bales, bays five ditto, sugar 182 loaves, straw mats two, tar one skin, raisins three bales, indigo four serons, cotton cloth one bale, hats two cases, and 25 loose ones, skins one parcel, chocolate one bag, camlet one bale and two parcels, silks one box, lead four pigs, and combs one small parcel.

The 12th, at five in the morning, we saw a sail, to which we gave chace; but there being very little wind, we manned and armed our barge, pinnace, and the Trial’s pinnace, and sent them to take her, and at eight they boarded and took her, and brought her to us at half an hour past 10. She was called the Carmen, commanded by Signior Marcus Marina, and came out of Payta the day before, bound to Callao, laden with iron and cloth, being a very valuable cargo. We found on board an Irishman, named John Williams, who pretended himself a prisoner amongst them, and with much seeming joy entered with us. He informed us, that, amongst other ships in the port of Payta, they left in the road a bark which was taking in 400,000 dollars, with which she would sail for Panama in a day or two at farthest; and the Spanish prisoners being examined, and confirming the intelligence, and farther giving some account of the strength of the place, the Commodore resolved to attack it this very night, and made preparations accordingly. Mr. Thomas Simmers, mate of our ship, with one midshipman and about 10 or 11 men, were sent to command and take care of this last prize. At four in the afternoon, Point Nonura bore E. by S. half S. distant eight leagues. At 10 at night, we sent our barge, pinnace, and Trial’s pinnace, to attack the town of Payta by surprize. They had 49 men well armed, and were commanded by the Lieutenants Brett, Dennis, and Hughes, who had orders, if possible, to secure the Governor of Payta, and send him prisoner on board, in order by that means to procure a supply of provisions, and a ransom for the town. Half an hour after 11 we sounded, and found 43 fathom water, the ground mud, the island of Lobos bearing N. N. E. at the distance of three or four miles. At seven in the morning, Point Onado, being the point that forms the bay of Payta, bore S. S. E. two miles distant; and the town of Payta at the same time began to open in a direct line with it, distant about four miles; soon after which we saw our British colours flying on the castle. At 10, the Trial’s boat came on board, loaded with gold and silver, corn, wrought plate, jewels, and rich moveables. They informed us, that they took the town about two in the morning; and that, though the Spaniards had some time before been apprized of our intent, they yet made a very faint resistance, having fired but two guns from their castle before our men landed, and a few small arms afterwards, when they all quitted the town with the greatest precipitation. The Governor and his family made their escape in so much haste, that his lady was handed out of a window with no other cloaths to cover her but her shift. All the inhabitants fled in the like confusion, except some negro women and children. In this action we lost one man, Peter Obrian, the Commodore’s steward, who was shot through the breast by a musquet-ball; and had two wounded, to wit, Arthur Lusk, a quarter-master, and the Spanish pilot of the Teresa, whom we had made use of as a guide; the first through the fleshy part of the arm near the shoulder, the second through the wrist, but neither dangerously: and I have had it reported from several officers then on shore, that our men ran to the attack, and fired in so irregular a manner, that it was, and still remains a doubt, whether those were not shot by our people rather than by the enemy.

The town of Payta, at the time of the attack, had a fort with eight guns mounted, which commanded the town and harbour; and the balcony of the Governor’s house, which again commanded that fort, together with several other houses, was lined with armed men, of which there might be about 400 in the town; but these people having enjoyed a long peace, and being enervated by the luxury so customary in those parts, their arms in a bad condition, and no person of experience or courage to head them, it is no wonder that they made so small a resistance, and were all driven out of the town in less than half an hour by only 49 men; but I believe the noise of two drums which we made use of, together with the suddenness of the surprize, contributed to intimidate them, and facilitated our success.

On our getting possession of the castle, our commanding-officer very inconsiderately ordered the guns to be thrown over the walls, which accordingly was executed; but some time after reflecting on the ill consequence which might attend that proceeding, he ordered two of them to be got up and re-mounted.

At 11, our barge came on board, loaded with money, plate, and jewels. This town contains about 140 or 150 houses; there are in it two churches, which, together with the Governor’s house and castle, are the only remarkable buildings. There are several large store-houses full of rich European, Asian, and American goods, all which were destroyed when we set the town on fire; of which in its place. The town lies in latitude 5 deg. 3 min. S. and longitude from London 88 deg. 48 min. W. This afternoon we employed ourselves in getting off the plunder, and provisions of hogs and fowls, which were here in great plenty. In the evening we anchored in 10 fathom water, the town bearing from us S. by E. half E. at about three miles distance, not being able to get farther in, by reason of the flaws of wind from off the land.

From this time to the 15th we were employed in getting on board the plunder, which chiefly consisted of rich brocades, laced cloaths, bales of fine linens and woolens, Britannia’s, slays, and the like; together with a great number of hogs, some sheep and fowls, cases of Spanish brandies and wines, a great quantity of onions, olives, sweet-meats, and many other things too tedious to name; all which the sailors hoped would have been equally divided among the ships companies, but they found themselves disappointed.

We found in the road, one ship, two snows, one schooner, and two quarter-gallies, all which we took possession of. The 14th, in the morning, we saw a bark-log, as they call it, being a sort of raft made of the stumps of trees fastened together, overlaid with poles, and covered with small twigs twined mat-wise, with several people in her coming along shore from the southward. She had a sort of mast and sail in her, and at first sight we knew not what to make of her; and none of our own boats being on board, we sent the Carmen’s boat, with Mr. Langdon, a midshipman, who commanded in the second place on board that ship, and some armed people, to pursue them, who perceiving it put on shore, and made their escape over the rocks. Mr. Langdon took their bark-log, which he found to be laden with dried fish, which we suppose they were carrying to Payta for a market. This evening the Spaniards, who had all along appeared in great numbers from the hills, and were now considerably increased, making a shew of warlike preparations, as if they designed in the night to attack our people in the town, they thereupon barricaded the streets, and kept very strict watches, to prevent a surprize. Several negroes delivered themselves up, desiring to be made prisoners, that they might have some food, and more especially water, to keep them from perishing; for the country thereabouts being for many miles round quite barren and sandy, without either water or any other thing necessary for life, and the nearest town to them, named as I think Sancta Cruz, whence relief might be got, being a day and a half or two days journey off, the people who had left the town were in a starving condition, and we had melancholy accounts of several dying among them for want chiefly of water during our small stay; and yet so greatly were they infatuated or frightened, that they never offered to treat for the ransom of the place, which if they had done, I believe it would not have been destroyed; in which case, they might have secured to themselves not only their habitations, but provisions and water enough (till they could have got a fresh recruit), which we should on that condition have readily left them.

The town seems to be very unhappily situated on that and some other accounts, they having no water but what is brought them by land-carriage from several leagues off; so that they are obliged to keep very considerable quantities by them in earthen jars, not only for their own use, but for the ships who frequently touch here, where they likewise often unload, and take in fresh cargoes. They are in the same case as to grain, bread, and almost all other necessaries of life; and lie so open to an enemy, that the town has been often taken and ruined by the English, Dutch, and French; all which inconveniences, one would imagine, should tempt them to change their situation: but then the conveniency of their trade is so great, being the only proper place they can pitch on for a mart between Panama and Peru, that they prefer this lucrative convenience to all other considerations.

Among the slaves who had desired to be entertained in our service, was one, who, having been a slave in Jamaica, had on the death of his master obtained his liberty, and thereupon entered himself a servant to one of the South-Sea Company’s factors, whom he accompanied to Porto Bello and Panama, and there got into the service of a Spanish gentleman, who took a great fancy to him, and with whom he went to Lima in Peru, where this master likewise dying left him a very considerable legacy; but the power being now in the hands of his executors, they not only defrauded him of this legacy, but made him a slave a second time. He was now at Payta with one of his new masters, on his passage from Lima to Panama, when he took this opportunity to come over to us; and being a very handy fellow, and accustomed to wait on gentlemen, he was immediately taken into the Commodore’s service, came with us into England, and, I believe, continued with him till his death. This person gave us some information of the designs of the Spaniards on shore, and told us we had killed one or two of them, and wounded several others; but this account was never, that I know of, farther confirmed.

The 15th, in the morning, we sent on shore all our Spanish, and several of our Indian prisoners, keeping all the blacks and some of the Indians, to assist in working the ships, &c. To the blacks, who were all or most of them slaves, was promised their liberty in England, in case they would stand by and assist us against our enemies the Spaniards; which they all promised very cordially: but we could soon discover, that, notwithstanding their seeming condescension, most of them would have much rather continued in the service of their old masters, than fail to accept of liberty with us; not that I believe those people were in love with slavery, or would not willingly have had their liberty, but then it must be on their own terms, the Spaniards in those parts being in great awe of the Indians, whom, though they have subdued, and seem to have incorporated among them, they dare not trust, but keep these blacks as guards, and use them well. The truth is, those Indians have still preserved, by tradition from father to son, the memory of the great cruelties which the first Spaniards exercised in those parts, and are angry enough at their present hard usage. They look on themselves as the natural lords of the country, and the Spaniards as covetous intruders, and cruel inhuman tyrants; and want only opportunity to make them sensible of their resentment, and to recover their lost country and liberty. ’Tis on this account that the Spaniards are very kind to their black slaves, whom they cherish and encourage highly, and look on them in the same light of a standing militia, always ready to arm against those Indians; so that, though the negroes in all other plantations in the West-Indies are ever ready for revolts and rebellions, these, on the contrary, are always ready to defend their kind masters with their lives. In effect they live very easy, are favoured by the Spaniards, and scorn and insult the poor Indians, who in return hate and detest both them and their masters; that being all that is left in their power.

This day an order was given to Mr. Brett, the then commanding-officer on shore, to burn and destroy the town entirely, the two churches, which stood a little out of the way of the rest, only excepted; the Spaniards, as has been already said, never having made any advance towards treating for its ransom.

But now, before I entirely quit the relation of our transactions at this place, it may, perhaps, be expected, that I should give a more particular account of the booty we made, and of the loss the Spaniards sustained. I have already 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 of this merchandize 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 dollars; and when it is considered, that no small part of the goods we left behind us, 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 ourselves, 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 hands, amounted to upwards of 30,000l. besides several rings, bracelets, and jewels, whose intrinsic value we could not then estimate: and over and above all this, the plunder, which became the property of the immediate captors, 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 account of the signal honour which our national character in those parts has thence received, and the reputation which our Commodore in particular has thereby acquired, merits a distinct and circumstantial discussion. I have already observed, that all the prisoners taken by us were, before our departure, put on shore, and discharged, amongst whom there were some persons of considerable distinction, especially a youth of about 17 years of age, son of the Vice-president of the Council of Chili. As the barbarity of the buccaniers, and the artful uses the ecclesiastics had made of it, had filled the natives of those countries with the most terrible ideas of 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, who, having never been from home before, lamented his captivity in the most moving manner, regretting, in very plaintive terms, his parents, his brothers, his sisters, and his native country; of all which, he was fully persuaded, he had taken his last farewel, believing that he was now devoted for the remaining part of his life to an abject and cruel servitude. Indeed, his companions on board, 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 those 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 most peremptory orders, too, that they should always be treated with the utmost decency and humanity: but, notwithstanding this precaution, it was generally observed, that for the first day or two they did not quit their fears, suspecting the gentleness of their usage to be only preparatory to some unthought-of calamity. However, being at length convinced of our sincerity, they grew perfectly easy in their situation, and remarkably chearful; so that it was often disputable, whether or no they considered their being detained by us as a misfortune: for the youth I have above mentioned, who was near two months on board us, had at last so far conquered his melancholy surmises, and had taken such an affection to Mr. Anson, 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 Payta, 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 benevolence, and occasioned them, likewise, (as mankind are fond of forming general opinions) to entertain very favourable 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 the ladies whom he took in that vessel; for, being informed that there were among them a mother and two daughters of exquisite beauty, who were of quality, he not only gave orders that they should be left in full possession of their own apartments, but also forbid, on the severest penalties, any of the common people on board from approaching them; and, that they might be the more certain of having these orders complied with, or of having the means of complaining if they were not, he permitted the pilot, who in Spanish ships is generally the second person on board, to stay with them as a guardian and protector. These were measures that seemed so different from what might have been expected from an enemy and an heretic, that the Spaniards on board, though they had themselves experienced his beneficence, were surprized at this new instance of it; and the more so, as all this was done without solicitation, and without the interposition of one friend to intercede in their favour. The ladies were so sensible of the obligations they owed him for the care and attention with which he protected them, that they absolutely refused to go on shore at Payta, 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 strongest 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, could not help expressing himself with great thankfulness for the civilities he and his countrymen had found on 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 be forgotten, and such as he should never fail to acknowledge upon all occasions; but that his behaviour to the ladies was so extraordinary, and so extremely honourable, that he doubted if all the regard due to his own ecclesiastical character would be 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 that, both at Lima and at other places, they had given the greatest encomiums to our Commodore; that the jesuit, in particular, as we were told, on his account, interpreted in a lax and hypothetical sense, that article of his church which asserts the impossibility of heretics being saved.⁠—But to return:

After we had finished our business, set the town in flames, and got the treasure on board, Mr. Brett, the officer who commanded the attack, having collected his men together, was directing his march towards the beach where the boats waited to take them on board, when the Spaniards on the hill behind the town, observing his retreat, resolved to try if they could not precipitate his departure, and thereby lay some foundation for future boasting. To this end a party of horse, all picked men singled out for this daring enterprize, marched down the hill with much seeming resolution; so that, had we not entertained a just opinion of their prowess, we might have imagined, that, now we were upon the open beach, with no advantages of situation, they would certainly have charged us: but we presumed, and we were not mistaken, that all this was mere ostentation; for, notwithstanding the pomp and parade they at first came on with, Mr. Brett had no sooner ordered his men to halt and face about, than the enemy stopt their career, and never dared to advance a step farther.

When our people arrived at their boats and were ready to go on board, they were for some time retarded by missing one of their number; and being unable, on their mutual enquiries among each other, to inform themselves where he was left, or by what accident 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 off, 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 effectually, that they could scarcely discern him, though they heard his voice. However, the Lieutenant 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 apprehensions of falling into the hands of an enemy, enraged, as they doubtless were, at the pillage and destruction of their town. On enquiring 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 on 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 reduced him into a state of sobriety, and gave him sufficient presence of mind to push through the thickest of the smoke, as the likliest 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.

By the time our people had helped their comrade out of the water, and were making the best of their way to the squadron, the flames had taken possession of every part of the town, and burnt so furiously, both by means of the combustibles that had been distributed for that purpose, and by the slightness 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) could possibly put a stop to it, or prevent the entire destruction of the place, and all the merchandize contained therein. Mr. Brett had the curiosity to delineate its appearance, together with that of the ships in the harbour, as may be seen in the Plate.

Our detachment having now safely joined the squadron, the Commodore prepared to leave the place the same evening. At seven, Cape Blanco, in lat. 4 deg. 28 min. S. and long. 88 deg. 16 min. W. from London, bore from us S. S. E. half E. about seven or eight miles distant. This afternoon and the next day we were employed in taking the most useful and valuable things out of the Santa Teresa and the Payta bark: we likewise designing to take every necessary thing which we conveniently could out of the Santa Teresa, in order to destroy her, and bring our strength into a less compass, we took her in tow, and set the Payta bark on fire with the same view. The next day we destroyed the Santa Teresa in the same manner, having got out of them both some anchors, cables, hawsers, yards, and top-masts, blocks, bales of goods, and several other necessaries.

The 17th at three in the afternoon, the Gloucester, with a prize of hers in tow, joined us. This prize was called the Del Oro, and was chiefly laden with wine; however, out of her and a small boat which they took going along shore, they got, in gold, silver, and wrought plate, to about the value of 17 or 18,000l. These two were all the prizes the Gloucester took in those seas.

On board this prize of the Gloucester were two horses, which being, I suppose, fat, and probably better food than their salt beef or pork, they killed and eat them; and this, I imagine, gave ground to that fiction which one of the spurious accounts of our voyage has given, of our eagerly hunting and eating wild horses, whereas in reality we never saw nor heard of a wild horse during the voyage.

The Gloucester had chaced two or three ships which had escaped her, and one of those touched at Payta; and though they could give no certain account that the ship which had chaced them was an enemy, yet the circumstances they gave were so strong, that it put the people of Payta upon securing their treasure, and the best of their effects, not caring to be too well provided for the profit of such unwelcome visitants.

The 21st, at half past five in the morning, we saw the island of Plata, so called from Sir Francis Drake’s having, as it is said, divided the treasure he took in the South Seas at this place. At two this afternoon the port of Manta bore S. E. by E. distant about eight or nine leagues. We at this time sent six months provisions on board the Carmen; and all the ships had orders, in case of separation, for several rendezvouses on the coast of Mexico, or, in case of not meeting there, to make the best of their way to Macao, in China, where they were to await the arrival of the Commodore.

The 22d, a division was made of the plunder of Payta, and the Commodore not appearing in that affair, it was done at the pleasure, and to the entire satisfaction, of five or six (no doubt) very disinterested officers and, indeed, most things of this nature, during the course of the voyage being managed with the same discretion and honour, no room was left for complaining of particular partialities.

Here, however, we cannot help remarking a very considerable difference between the relation given by Pascoe Thomas, and that given by Mr. Walters; the former having asserted, that the Commodore did not interfere in the distribution; the latter, that it was by his prudent management, that a jealousy, which had arisen between those who were the real captors, and those who remained on board the ship, was accommodated. Mr. Walters’ account will set this matter in a true light: “And now, says he, (while the ships lay-to, in hopes of joining the Gloucester,) a jealousy, which had taken its rise at Payta, 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 Commodore, being made acquainted with it, thought it necessary to interpose his authority to oppose it. The ground of this animosity was the plunder gotten at Payta, which those who had acted on shore had appropriated to themselves, considering it as a reward for the risques they had run, and the resolution they had shewn in that service. But those who had remained on board looked on this as a very partial and unjust procedure, urging, that, had it been left to their choice, they should 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 constantly 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 conjuncture: that, upon the whole, it could not be denied, but that the presence of a sufficient force on board was as necessary to the success of the enterprize, as the action of the others on shore; and, therefore, those who had continued 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 treasure taken in the place (in which there was no doubt but those on board had an equal right), yet as the obstinacy of sailors is not always regulated by the importance of the matter in dispute, the Commodore thought it necessary to put a stop to this ferment betimes. Accordingly, the morning after our leaving Payta, he ordered all hands upon the quarter-deck, where addressing himself to those who had 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 comrades were justly founded; and therefore, 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 the quarter-deck, and that it should be impartially divided amongst the whole crew, 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 diminution of their share, the Commodore added, that, as an encouragement to others who might be hereafter employed 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 affair, 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 satisfaction of the ship’s company: not but there were some few whose selfish dispositions were uninfluenced by the justice of this procedure, and who were incapable of discerning the force of equity, however glaring, when it tended to deprive them of any part of what they had once got into their hands.”

Being now joined by the Gloucester and her prize, it was resolved that we should stand to the northward, and make the best of our way either to Cape St. Lucas on California, or to Cape Corientes on the coast of Mexico. Indeed, the Commodore, when at Juan Fernandez, had determined to touch in the neighbourhood of Panama, and to endeavour to get some correspondence over land with the fleet under the command of Admiral Vernon; for when we departed from England, we left a large force at Portsmouth, which was intended to be sent to the West Indies, there to be employed in an expedition against some of the Spanish settlements. And Mr. Anson, taking it for granted that this enterprize 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 himself, that he might by this means have received a reinforcement of men from the other side, and that, by settling a prudent plan of operations with our Commanders in the West Indies, he might have taken even Panama itself, which would have given to the British nation the possession of that isthmus, whereby we should have been in effect masters of all the treasures of Peru.

Such were the projects which the Commodore revolved in his thoughts, at the island of Juan Fernandez, notwithstanding the feeble condition to which he was then reduced; but in examining the papers which were found on board the Carmelo, the first prize we took, we learned, that our attempt against Carthagena had failed, and that there was no probability that our fleet in that part of the world would engage in any new enterprize that would at all facilitate this plan. Mr. Anson therefore gave over all hopes of being reinforced across the isthmus, and consequently had no inducement at present to proceed to Panama, as he was incapable of attacking the 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 California, or to the adjacent coast of Mexico, there to cruise for the Manilla galleon, which we knew was now at sea, bound to the port of Acapulco; and we doubted not but to get on that station time enough to intercept her: but there was a business which we foresaw would occasion some delay, and that was the recruiting our water, it being impossible to think of venturing upon this passage to the coast of Mexico till we had procured a fresh supply. 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 prisoners, we at last resolved for the island of Quibo, 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 place for watering the squadron. Indeed, there was a small island called Cocos, which was less out of our way than Quibo, where some of the buccaniers had pretended to find water; but none of our prisoners knew any thing of it, and it was thought too dangerous to risque the safety of the squadron, by exposing ourselves to the hazard of not meeting with water when we came there, on the mere authority of those legendary writers, of whose misrepresentations and falsities we had almost daily experience. Determined, therefore, to take in water at Quibo, we directed our course northward, being eight sail in company, and consequently having the appearance of a very formidable fleet; and on the 19th, at day-break, we discovered Cape Blanco, bearing S. S. E. half E. seven miles distant. By this time we found that our last prize, the Solidad, was far from answering the character given of her as a good sailor; and she and the Santa Teresa delaying us considerably, the Commodore commanded them to be cleared of every thing that might prove useful to the rest of the ships, and then to be burnt. And having given proper instructions, and appointed a rendezvous to the Gloucester, and to the prizes, in case of separation, we proceeded in our course for Quibo.

On the 25th, Point Manta bore S. E. by E. at seven miles distance, and there being a town of the same name in the neighbourhood, Captain Mitchell in the Gloucester took the opportunity of setting on shore several of his prisoners. The boats were now daily employed in distributing provisions on board the prizes, to compleat their stock for six months; and that the Centurion might be the better prepared to give the Manilla ship a warm reception, if happily she should fall in our way, the carpenters were ordered to fix eight stocks on the main and fore tops, which were properly fitted for the mounting of swivel guns.

On the 25th we had sight of the island of Gallo; and from hence we crossed the bay of Panama, shaping our course in a direct line for Quibo. Here we found, in a few days, a very considerable alteration in the climate; for, instead of that uniform temperature where neither the excess of heat or cold was prevalent, we had now close and sultry weather, like that we met with on the coast of Brazil. We had, besides, frequent calms and heavy rains, which we at first ascribed to the neighbourhood of the Line, where this kind of weather is observed to obtain at all seasons of the year; but, finding that it attended us for more than seven degrees of north latitude, we began to suspect that the stormy season, or, as the Spaniards call it, the Vandewals, was not yet past; though many writers, particularly Captain Shelvock, assert, that this season begins in June, and ends in November: but, perhaps, its end may not be always regular.

On the 27th, Captain Mitchell having cleared his largest prize, she was likewise set on fire; and now our fleet consisted only of five ships, and we were fortunate enough to find them all good sailors. On the 3d of December we had a view of the island of Quibo, the east end of which bore from us N. N. W. four leagues distant, and the island of Quicara W. N. W. at about the same distance. When we had thus got sight of 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 at the entrance of the channel. At six the next morning, Point Marrato bore N. E. half N. three or four leagues distant. In weathering this point, all the squadron, except the Centurion, were very near it; and the Gloucester, being the leeward-most ship, was forced to tack and stand to the southward; so that we lost sight of her; and, the wind proving unfavourable, we saw her no more till we quitted the island. At seven in the evening we anchored in the Canal Bueno, or Good Channel, which is at least six miles in breadth, muddy ground. Next morning an officer was dispatched on shore to discover the watering-place, who, having found it, returned before noon; and then we sent our long-boat for a load of water, and at the same time weighed and stood further in with our ships, for the convenience of being sooner supplied; so that we were little more than two days in laying in all the wood and water we wanted. Whilst the ship continued here at anchor, the Commodore, 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. In the places where they put on shore, in the course of this expedition, they generally found the soil to be rich, and met with great plenty of excellent water. In particular, near the north-east point of the island, they discovered a natural cascade, which surpassed, as they conceived, every thing of this kind which human art had ever yet produced. It was a river of transparent water, about 40 yards wide, which rolled down a declivity of near 150 feet in length. The channel itself was very irregular, intirely composed of rocks, 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 parts it ran sloping with a rapid but uniform motion, whilst in others it tumbled over ledges of rocks with a perpendicular descent. On the neighbourhood of this stream was a fine wood; and even the huge masses of rock which over-hung the water, and which by their various projections formed the inequalities of the channel, were covered with lofty forest trees. Whilst the Commodore, with those who accompanied him, were attentively viewing this place, and were remarking the different blendings of the water, the rocks, and the wood, there came in sight, as it were to heighten and animate the prospect, a prodigious flight 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, and their variegated plumage; so that some of the spectators cannot refrain from a kind of transport when they recount the beauties which occurred in this extraordinary waterfal.

In three days we compleated our business in this place, and were impatient to depart, that we might arrive time enough on the coast of Mexico, to intercept the galleon; but the wind, being contrary, detained us a night; and next day, when we had gained an offing, while we were hovering about in hopes of getting sight of the Gloucester, we on the 20th descerned a small sail to the northward of us, to which we gave chace, and coming up with her took her. She proved to be a bark from Panama, called the Jesu Nazareno, laden with oakum, rock salt, and a small quantity of money to purchase a cargo of provisions at Cheripe, an inconsiderable village on the continent, which, however, has a good market, from whence future voyagers, in case of necessity, may be plentifully supplied.

On the 12th of September we joined the Gloucester, who informed us, that, in tacking to the southward, on her first approach towards the island, she had sprung her fore-top-mast, which had disabled her from working to windward, and prevented her from joining us sooner. We now scuttled and sunk the Jesu Nazareno, and, on the 12th of December, stood to the westward, having previously delivered fresh instructions for the conduct of the fleet. We had now little doubt of arriving soon enough upon our intended 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, so that it was the 25th of December before we saw the island of Cocos, which, according to our reckoning, was only 100 leagues from the continent, and even then we had the mortification to make so little way, that we did not lose sight of that island again in five days. This island we found to be in the lat. of 5 deg. 20 min. N.

We had flattered ourselves, that the uncertain and western gales we met with were owing to the neighbourhood of the continent, from which as we got more distant, we hoped to be relieved by falling in with the eastern trade-wind; but in this too being disappointed, we began at length to despair of the great purpose we had in view. This produced a general dejection among us, as we had at first considered the project as almost infallible, and had indulged ourselves in the most boundless hopes of the advantages we should thence receive. However, our despondency was, in some measure, alleviated by a favourable change of the wind; and, as we now advanced a-pace towards our station, our hopes began again to revive. On the 17th of January, we were advanced to the lat. of 12 deg. 50 min. N. and, on the 26th of January, finding ourselves to the northward of Acapulco, we tacked and stood to the eastward; with a view of making the land; and we expected, by our reckonings, to have fallen in with it on the 28th, yet, though the weather was perfectly clear, we had no sign of it at sunset; about ten at night we discovered a light on the larboard bow, bearing from us N. N. E. and, soon after, the Trial’s prize made the signal for seeing a sail. As we had none of us any doubt but that what we saw was a ship’s light, we were all extremely animated with a firm persuasion that it was the Manilla galleon, that had been so long the object of our wishes. 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 our hands at their respective quarters, under an expectation of engaging within half an hour, as we sometimes conceived the chace to be about a mile distant, and at other times to be within reach of our guns. In this constant and eager attention we continued all night, always presuming that another quarter of an hour would bring us up to this Manilla ship, whose wealth we now estimated at round millions: but, when daylight came, we were most vexatiously disappointed, by finding that the light which had occasioned all this expectancy, was only a fire on the shore. At sun-rising, after this mortifying delusion, we found ourselves about nine leagues off land, extending from the N. W. to E. half N. On this land we observed two remarkable hammocks, which bore N. from us, and which a Spanish pilot and two Indians affirmed to be over the harbour of Acapulco; but we found them egregiously mistaken, these being in 17 deg. 56 min. whereas Acapulco lies in 17 deg. only.

Being now in the track of the Manilla galleon, it was a doubt with us, as it was near the end of January, whether she was or was not arrived: but, examining our prisoners about it, they assured us, she was sometimes 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 out longer than ordinary. On this reasoning of our prisoners, we resolved to cruise for her some days, and we accordingly spread our ships at the distance of 12 leagues from the coast, in such a manner that it was impossible she should pass us unobserved; however, not seeing her soon, we were very solicitous to gain some positive intelligence. With this view the Commodore resolved to send a boat under cover of the night into the harbour of Acapulco, to see if the Manilla ship was there or not. To execute this enterprize, the barge was dispatched the 6th of February, carrying a sufficient crew and two officers, as also a Spanish pilot and an Indian. Our barge did not return till the 11th, when the officers acquainted Mr. Anson, that they had mistaken the harbour, and that Acapulco lay a considerable distance more to the eastward, and that, not having a sufficient quantity of provisions for their passage thither, they were obliged to return to make known their disappointment. On this intelligence we made sail to the eastward, and the next day we dispatched the barge, with particular instructions to keep at a sufficient distance not to be seen from the shore. We watched six days without receiving any intelligence, so that we began to be uneasy for her safety; but on the 7th day she returned with advice, that, being at the very place they sought for, though they were then ignorant of their situation, they surprized a fishing canoe with three negroes, who told us that the Manilla galleon arrived at Acapulco on the 9th of January, but that, having delivered her cargo, she was taking in water and provisions in order to return; and that the Viceroy of Mexico had by proclamation fixed her departure from Acapulco to the 14th of March. This last news was most joyfully received by us, since we had no doubt but she must 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 species for which she had sold her cargo, and which she would now have on board, would be much more esteemed by us than the cargo itself. Thus we were a second time engaged in an eager expectation of meeting with this Manilla ship, which, by the fame of its wealth, we had been taught to consider as the most desireable capture that was to be made on any part of the ocean.

As it was the 19th of February when the barge returned, and brought us our intelligence, and the galleon was not to sail till the 3d of March, the Commodore resolved to continue the greatest part of the intermediate time in his present station to the westward of Acapulco, in order to avoid a discovery from the shore. During this interval we were employed in getting all things in readiness to engage; and, when the long-wished-for 3d of March came, we were all so strongly prepossessed with the certainty of our intelligence, and with an assurance of her coming out of port, that some or other of us were constantly imagining that they discovered one of our cutters returning with a signal; but, to our extreme vexation, both this day and the succeeding night passed away without any news of her approach. However, we did not yet despair, nor did we abate of our vigilance: but, after remaining till the 25th of March, we at length concluded, and we afterwards found it to be true, that we had been discovered, and that in consequence an embargo had been laid upon the galleon, and her departure postponed till the next year.

The cutters, having on that day finished their cruise before the harbour, returned to the squadron, and the signal being given for the fleet to join, it was determined to retire to Chequetan, to take in a fresh supply of water, which was then nearly exhausted. In the mean time, a cutter, commanded by Mr. Hughes, Lieutenant of the Trial’s prize, was ordered to continue off the harbour of Acapulco for 24 days, in order that, if the galleon should set sail in that time, we might be speedily informed of it.

On the 5th of April we entered the harbour of Chequetan, in lat. 17 deg. 36 min. N. about 30 leagues to the westward of Acapulco. The watering-place has the appearance of a large standing lake, without any visible outlet into the sea, from which it is separated by a part of the strand. The origin of this lake is a spring that bubbles out of the ground, near half a mile within the country. We found its water a little brackish, but more considerably so towards the sea-side; for the nearer we advanced towards the spring-head, the softer and fresher it proved. This laid us under a necessity of filling all our casks from the farthest part of the lake, which was facilitated by means of canoes which traversed the lake, and brought a number of small casks to the side next the beach; thence the water was started into larger vessels in the boats, and by that contrivance brought on board with very little trouble.

As the country hereabouts, particularly the tract of coast contiguous to Acapulco, appeared to be well peopled and cultivated, we hoped to have easily procured from thence some fresh provisions, and other refreshments, which we now stood much in need of. To facilitate these views, the Commodore, the morning after we came to an anchor, ordered a party of 40 men well armed to march into the country, and to endeavour to discover some town where they were to attempt to set on foot a correspondence with the inhabitants; for, when we had once begun this intercourse, we doubted not but by proper presents we should allure them to bring down to us whatever fruits or fresh provisions were in their power. As our prizes abounded with various sorts of coarse merchandize, which were of little consequence to us, though to them they would be extremely valuable, our people were directed on this occasion to proceed with the greatest circumspection, and to make as little ostentation of hostility as possible; for we were sensible we could find no wealth in those parts worth our notice; and what necessaries we really wanted, we expected would be better, and more abundantly supplied, by an open, amicable traffic, than by violence and force of arms. But this endeavour of opening a commerce with the inhabitants proved ineffectual, and therefore we desisted from any more attempts of the same nature, contenting ourselves with what we could procure for ourselves in the neighbourhood of the port where we lay. We caught fish in abundance; among the rest cavallies, bream, mullets, soals, fiddle-fish, and lobsters; and we here, and in no other place, met with that extraordinary fish called the torpedo, which is in shape very much resembling the fiddle-fish, and is only distinguished from it in appearance by a brown circular spot of about the bigness of a crown-piece, near the center of its back. This fish is, indeed, of a most singular nature, benumbing whoever touches it all over his body, but more particularly that limb which happens to come in immediate contact with it. The same effect, too, will be in some degree produced by touching the fish with any thing held in the hand; and it has lately been discovered, that it may be communicated like the electrical shock to a large circle, by means of a certain apparatus much more simple than that which is used in experiments in electricity.

The animals which we met with on shore were chiefly guanoes, with which the country abounds, and which are by some reckoned delicious food. We saw no beasts of prey, except we should esteem that amphibious creature the alligator as such, several of which our people discovered, but none of them very large. It is, however, certain, that there were great numbers of tygers in the woods, though none of them happened to make their appearance while we remained upon the coast. Parrots and pheasants were found in plenty, but by no means proper for food, being dry and tasteless, though they were often killed and eaten, being by some thought preferable to salt provisions.

The papah lime, and a little sour plumb, were all the fruits the woods furnished, and of these there were but a scanty portion; nor was there any other useful vegetable, except brook-lime, which, being esteemed an antiscorbutic, was frequently eaten, though from its bitterness it was exceedingly unpalatable.

While we lay at Chequetan, it was resolved, after mature deliberation, to destroy all our prizes, as the whole number of men on board our squadron did not amount to the complement of a fourth-rate man-of-war. It was therefore judged most prudent to set fire to the ships, and to divide the men between the Centurion and Gloucester, now preparing to set sail for China. Besides the necessary repairs for a voyage of such length, the removal of their stores and cargoes into the men-of-war took up so much time, that it was the end of April before we were in a condition to leave the place.

It should have been remarked, that, from this harbour of Chequetan we discovered but one pathway through the woods into the country; and as this was much beaten, we were from that circumstance convinced, that it was not unfrequented by the natives. As it passed by the spring-head, and was the only avenue by which the Spaniards could approach to surprize us, we at some distance beyond the spring-head felled several large trees, and laid them one upon another across the path, and at this barricadoe we constantly kept a guard. We, besides, ordered our men employed in watering, to have their arms always in readiness, in case of an alarm, and to march instantly to this post. And, though our principal intention herein was to prevent our being disturbed by the enemy’s horse, yet it answered another purpose, which was, to hinder our people from straggling singly into the country, where we had reason to believe they would be surprized by the Spaniards, who would doubtless be very 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 centinels, to let no person whatever pass beyond this post; but, notwithstanding this precaution, we missed one Lewis Legere, who was the Commodore’s cook. As he was a Frenchman and a Roman Catholic, 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 transported to Mexico, and thence to Vera Cruz, where he was shipped on board a vessel bound to Old Spain. But, the vessel being obliged, by some accident, to put into Lisbon, Legere escaped on shore, and was by the British Consul sent from thence to England; where he gave the first authentic account of the safety of the Commodore, and of his principal transactions in the South Seas.

The relation he gave of his own seizure, was, that he rambled into the woods, at some distance from the barricadoe where he had first attempted to pass, but had been stopt and threatened to be punished; that his principal view was to gather a quantity of limes for his master’s stores; and that in this occupation he was surprized unawares by four Indians, who stript him naked, and carried him in that condition to Acapulco, exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, which at that time of the year shone with its greatest violence; that afterwards, at Mexico, his treatment was sufficiently severe; so that the whole course of his captivity was a continued instance of the hatred which the Spaniards bear to all those who endeavour to disturb them in the peaceable possession of the coasts of the South Seas. Indeed, Legere’s fortune was, upon the whole, extremely singular; as, after the hazards he had run in the Commodore’s squadron, and the severities he had suffered in his long confinement among the enemy, a more fatal disaster attended him on his return to England; for though, when he arrived in London, some of Mr. Anson’s friends interested themselves 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 ever be discovered.

When we were necessitated to proceed to Chequetan to recruit our water, the Commodore considered that our arrival in that harbour would soon be known at Acapulco; and therefore he hoped, that on the intelligence of our being employed in that port, the galleon might put to sea, especially as Chequetan is so very remote from the course generally steered by the galleons: he therefore ordered the cutter, as has already been noticed, to cruise twenty-four days off the port of Acapulco, and her Commander was directed, on perceiving the galleon under sail, to make the best of his way to the Commodore at Chequetan. As the Centurion was certainly a much better sailor than the galleon, Mr. Anson, in this case, resolved to have got to sea as soon as possible, and to have pursued the galleon across the Pacific Ocean; however, the Viceroy of Mexico ruined this project, by detaining the galleon in port all the year.

Towards the latter end of April, all things being in readiness for sailing, the Centurion and Gloucester weighed anchor; and, after having gained an offing, the prizes were set on fire, and a canoe fixed to a grapple in the middle of the harbour, with a bottle in it, well corked, inclosing a letter to Mr. Hughes, directing him to go back immediately to his former station before Acapulco, where he would find Mr. Anson, who resolved to cruise for him in that station some days. Indeed, it was no small mortification to us, now we were at sea, and the stormy season approaching, that we were detained by the absence of the cutter, and under a necessity of standing towards Acapulco in search of her. As the time of her cruize had been expired near a fortnight, we suspected 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 enterprize. However, this being only conjecture, the Commodore, as soon as he was got clear of the harbour of Chequetan, stood along the coast to the eastward in search of her; and, to prevent her from passing by us in the dark, we brought-to every night, and carried lights which the cutter could not but perceive.

By the 2d of May we were advanced within three leagues of Acapulco; and, having seen nothing of our boat, we gave her over for 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 greatly interested in; since the crew of the cutter were the flower of our people, purposely picked out for this service, as 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 taken 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 prisoners on board, some of them of quality. The Commodore, therefore, wrote a letter to the Governor of Acapulco, telling him, that he would release them all, provided the Governor returned the cutter’s crew. This letter was dispatched by a Spanish officer, of whose honour we had a high opinion, and who was furnished with a launch belonging to one of our prizes, and a crew of Spaniards, 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, beseeching the Governor to acquiesce in the terms proposed for their liberty. But while we were thus contriving their release, the centinel called out from the masthead, that he saw a boat under sail at a considerable distance to the south-eastward, which, to our unspeakable joy, upon her nearer approach, we found was our own cutter, the wan and meagre countenances of whole crew, the length of their beards, and the feeble and hollow tone of their voices, convinced us that they had suffered much greater hardships than could be expected from even the severities of a Spanish prison. They were obliged to be helped into the ship, and were immediately put to bed; where, by rest, and nourishing diet, with which they were plentifully supplied from the Commodore’s table, they recovered their health and vigour. And now we learnt that they had kept the sea the whole time of their absence, which was above six weeks; that, when they had finished their cruise, and had just begun to ply to the westward, in order to join the squadron, a strong adverse current had forced them upwards of 80 leagues to leeward, where they found every where so great a surf, that there was no possibility of landing; that they passed some days in the most dreadful situation, without water, having no other means left them to allay their thirst than sucking the blood of the turtles which they caught; that at last, giving up all hopes of succour, the heat of the climate too augmenting their necessities, and rendering their sufferings insupportable, they abandoned themselves to despair, fully persuaded that they should perish by the most terrible of all deaths; but that soon after a most unexpected incident happily relieved them; for there fell so heavy a rain, that, on spreading their sails horizontally, and putting bullets in the centers of them, they caught as much water as filled their casks; that immediately upon this fortunate supply, they stood to the westward in quest of the Commodore, and being now luckily favoured by a strong current, they joined him in less than 50 hours from that time, after having been absent in the whole full 43 days.

And now having, to our entire satisfaction, got on board our people, and the season of the year for sailing to Asia being far (we found it too far) advanced, the Commodore resolved not to wait for any return from Acapulco, but gave orders to equip two large prize launches, to carry on shore the Spanish and Indian prisoners, both from ourselves and the Gloucester; and, having given them provisions and all necessaries for Panama, whither they intended to sail, about four in the evening they left us, to the number of about 60 persons, having first, though enemies, observed the custom of sea-faring people at parting, and wished us a prosperous voyage.

From the 6th of May, the day we took our departure, we met with little remarkable for above a month, except that the true trade-wind, which is said never to fail at about sixty or seventy leagues from the shore of Mexico at the farthest, was so far from answering our expectations, that we had nothing but cross winds, squalls, rain, thunder and lightning, till by account we were 600 leagues to the westward of Acapulco, having been above 40 days in getting so far. The 9th, we found the foremast sprung in a dangerous manner, and thereupon fished and secured it very strongly.

The 22d, in the evening, we sprung a leak, making 12 inches water in a watch, and on a search found it to be on the larboard side, abreast the main hatch-way, and not quite under water. The carpenters soon stopt it with very little trouble.

The 11th of June, we found a current to set to the southward, about 24 miles a day, but could not discover whether to the east or west, for want of opportunity to try it. This was by account about 450 leagues from Acapulco; and, much about this time, abundance of scorbutic symptoms, such as blackness in the skin, hard nodes in the flesh, shortness of breath, and a general lassitude and weakness of all the parts, began to prevail, almost universally, among our people. This, with the great mortality we experienced from this distemper in our Cape Horn passage, and the time we might still expect to be at sea, having yet 1800 leagues to those islands called, by Sir Francis Drake, the Ladrones, or Islands of Thieves, from the thievish disposition of the inhabitants, but by the Spaniards the Marian Islands, where only we could expect our next refreshments; and no trade-wind being yet settled;⁠—these considerations, I say, gave us dreadful apprehensions of what this passage might terminate in; and the event shewed that we had but too much reason for them.

The 14th, at five in the evening, the Gloucester, having sprung the head of her main-mast, 12 feet below the trussel-trees, fired a gun as a signal of distress; on which we brought to, and waited for her; and, after enquiring into, and hearing the cause, we sent them on board two carpenters to assist in fishing and securing it; but the carpenters in concert, having viewed and considered the damage, reported, the next day, that the mast was unfit to stand, and would not bear repairing; but that it must be shortened 26 feet from the head, and the top-mast be set on the stump. This, therefore, was concluded on, and ordered accordingly.

The 23d, we found our own main-top-mast sprung in the wake of the cap; whereupon, we reefed it 20 inches, that is, we lowered it so much, and secured it there, and fleeted and set up the shrouds and back-stays.

The 24th, in the evening, we got the top-mast down, and put up another in its place, and a man falling overboard, we brought the ship to, and took him up safe; likewise, the slings of our crossjack-yards being broke, we fixed new ones, and the next day got up the fore-top-gallant mast and yard.

The 27th, we made the Gloucester signal, and sent our boat on board of her.

The 28th, we received from the Gloucester half an anchor-stock, for a farther security to the fore-mast.

The 29th, the Gloucester finished her jury-mast, and made sail on it. Nothing farther remarkable till

July 1st, we had fresh gales, and cloudy weather, with some lightning.

The 2d, we unbent the fore-sail, and bent another. We had, not only now, but for almost our whole passage, abundance of birds of prey, also flying fish, which are their proper food, and vast quantities of skipjacks, albicores, &c. whereof we took a great number, which contributed much to our refreshment after the loss of the tortoises, that generally leave all ships about twenty or thirty leagues off the land. I think this the more worthy of notice, because Dampier, Rogers, Cook, Cowley, and most other voyagers, some of whom have been not only once, but several times on this voyage, have reported, that they never saw a fish or fowl in this whole run. I will not say, as Mr. Cook frequently does, when any other person’s account does not happen to square exactly with what himself has observed, viz. “What credit is to be given to such authors?” never making allowances for contingencies which might or might not happen, and which would better have displayed his own impartiality, than a dogmatical condemnation of every other person, without examination. For my part, I readily believe and conclude, that this difference in our observations and accounts is really occasioned by the different seasons of the year in which we happened to perform this passage; it being a known truth, and confirmed by the experience of thousands in all ages, that most fish have their different seasons for their different rendezvouses.

The 10th, we saw three gannets, or, as they call them in Scotland, soland geese; being, by what I can learn from the most intelligent of that nation whom I have conversed with, and who often have opportunity to observe them in several different parts, of one and the same species; we likewise saw some sea weeds; both which circumstances made us imagine that some islands or shoals were not far off, those fowls never being observed to fly very far out to sea.

The 10th, we unbent the fore top-sail, and bent another.

The 12th, at noon, we were, by my account, 180 deg. 11 min. to the westward of the meridian of London, which is just 11 min. more than half round the globe, for which reason I note it. We were at this time, by my account, 1429 leagues distant from the port of Acapulco.

From this time till the 16th we had fresh gales, with squalls and rain.

The 17th and 18th, we had moderate and cloudy weather.

The 19 and 20th, fresh gales, with abundance of rain. We made this observation, that, with rainy weather, or even slight transient showers, the fish bit more freely, and were caught in greater numbers, than with fair weather; which made our fishermen the more attentive at such times. It was likewise remarked, that the Gloucester, when they could find opportunity to fish, had always much greater success than we; whether their fishermen had more art than ours, or whatever else occasioned it, the fact is true. They had also a better way of disposing of them, when taken, if I may be allowed to judge, than we; for Capt. Mitchell constantly ordered several boys, who were very dexterous at it, to catch fish for the ship’s company, especially the sick; and those were very justly and regularly divided among them: whereas our fishermen were left at liberty to make their advantage of what they took, and to prey upon their suffering shipmates; and they took care not to overslip the opportunity, for the least fish you could purchase of them would cost you a bottle of brandy; which, at this time, was worth four, or perhaps six, and sometimes even eight shillings, or half a guinea; and you must be very thankful, and acknowledge yourself to be highly obliged into the bargain, or else expect none next time, and very often fail of it notwithstanding. About this time our people began to die very fast, and, I believe, above five parts out of six of the ship’s company were ill, and expected to follow in a short time. Those, whose breath was any ways affected, dropt off immediately; but those, who were attacked first in the more remote parts of the body, languished generally a month or six weeks; the distemper advancing, in the mean time, towards the lungs, by a very regular and sensible approach. As I was myself one of those who were severely afflicted in this latter manner, I shall give such an account of its progress, as I found by experience in myself, and corroborated by the similar report of my fellow-sufferers. I was first taken, about the beginning of this month, with a slight pain on the joint of my left great toe; but, having hurt that a little while before, I imagined it to be the effect of that hurt, and minded it the less⁠—(but here I shall observe, once for all, that if ever any part of the body had received a bruise, strain, or contusion, if not perfectly cured, the scurvy was sure to attack that part first); but, in a little time, a large black spot appearing on the part affected, with very intense pains at the bone, gave me to understand my case. I now took physic often, by way of prevention, but to little purpose: several hard nodes now began to rise in my legs, thighs, and arms, and not only many more black spots appeared in the skin, but those spread, till my legs and thighs were for the most part as black as a negroe; and this accompanied with such excessive pains in the joints of the knees, ancles, and toes, as I thought, before I experienced them, that human nature could never have supported. It next advanced to the mouth; all my teeth were presently loose, and my gums, over-charged with extravasated blood, fell down almost quite over my teeth: this occasioned my breath to smell much, yet without affecting my lungs; but, I believe, one week more at sea would have ended me, and less than a month more, all the rest. One thing was very remarkable, and likewise universal, which was, that, when the distemper had far prevailed, if the afflicted person lay quiet in his hammock, he seemed to be perfectly well and hearty; but, if he was removed out of it, on any necessity, he immediately fainted away; and this was always a sure sign of the party’s dissolution.

Since our passing Cape Horn, our surgeon, Henry Ettrick, who was a very good practical surgeon, had been very busy in digesting a theory of scurvies, wherein he enumerated many cases very particularly, having been allowed to open and examine as many bodies as were abundantly sufficient for that purpose. His system was principally grounded on the observations made on a long passage in a very cold climate. He took abundance of pains to prove, by many instances, that the tone of the blood was broken by the cold nipping air, and rendered so thin, as to be unfit for circulation, or any other of the uses of life; and being thus deprived of a proper force and vigour, stagnation and death must necessarily ensue. From this supposition, he had laid it down as an infallible rule, that food of a glutinous nature, such as salt fish, bread, and several sorts of grain, were alone proper on such voyages. As for liquids, I know not which he had pitched on, as the most salutary, on this occasion. But this passage, in a very hot climate, where the symptoms were not only more dreadful, but the mortality much more quick and fatal, in proportion to the number of people, put our scheming doctor to a sad non-plus: he could not account for this on the same principles with the other; nay, they must be, in a manner, diametrically opposite. All this obliged him at last (though he was still endeavouring to reconcile contradictions), to own, that, though some of the concurrent causes of this disease were plain enough, yet the grand cause was certainly the long continuance at sea, or an entire secret; and that no cure but the shore would ever be effectual. The Commodore, on this great mortality, having by him a quantity of Ward’s pills and drops, in order to experience whether they would be of any use, first tried them on himself, and then gave what he had left to the surgeon, to administer to such of the sick people as were willing to take them. The surgeon would not recommend them to any person, but several took them; though I know of none who believed they were of any service to them. They worked most people who took them very violently, both by vomit and stool: after which, as several told me, they would seem to be a little easier, tho’ weaker, for perhaps a day or two, but then they always relapsed, and became worse than before; and this, together with the inefficacy of all that our surgeons could do in the case, sufficiently shewed the vanity of attempting the cure of this distemper at sea.

And here, before I quit this subject, I shall endeavour to remove a prejudice, under which the afflicted have long severely suffered; and that is, from the notion generally prevalent, that none but the lazy are attacked with this disorder; whereas, the direct contrary is the truth; our experience having abundantly shewn, that the most laborious, active, stirring persons were oftenest seized with this disease; and the continuation of their labour, instead of curing, only helped to kill them the sooner.

Many undeniable instances might be given of this in our voyage; and, if future voyagers will give themselves the trouble of observing this hereafter, I am certain that the event will correspond with my assertion; nor does this distemper, in a general way, incline people to indolence, till it is come to that height, that, at the least motion, the person is ready to faint. It is certain, that, if the person afflicted desires to lengthen out his life as long as he can, his best way is to stir as little as possible. This I have seen verified by many instances.

The 23d and 24th, we reefed and repaired our rigging, which had suffered much in the variable weather.

The 26th, being, according to our reckoning, 300 leagues from the Ladrones, we met with a westerly wind, which did not come about again in four days. This was a most dispiriting incident, as we were all that while forced to lie to, the current insensibly driving us out of our course.

The 27th, our gunner, Henry Kipps, died of the scurvy, being one of the most able-bodied men, as well as the most active in the ship: he had taken Ward’s medicines once or twice.

On the 28th, we had calms with much rain, and received from the Gloucester 20 casks of flour, and four of groats. Having here an occasion of mentioning flour, it may not be amiss to take notice, that since our departure from Juan Fernandez, the principal officers had always soft bread new baked, the biscuit being so much worm-eaten, it was scarce any thing but dust, and a little blow would reduce it to that state immediately. Our beef and pork were likewise very rusty and rotten; and the surgeon endeavoured to persuade us from eating it, alledging it was, though a slow, yet a sure poison; but very little other food being to be had, we were reduced to a very deplorable condition.

The 29th, in the morning, the Gloucester’s fore-cap splitting, her fore-top-mast came by the board, and, in its fall, meeting with the fore-yard, broke it in the slings. As she was hereby rendered incapable of making any sail for some time, we were under a necessity, as soon as a gale sprung up, to take her in tow, and near 20 of the healthiest and ablest of our seamen were removed from the duty of our own ship, and were continued eight or ten days together to assist in repairing her damages; but these things, mortifying as we thought them, were only the commencement of our misfortunes; for, scarce had our people finished their business in the Gloucester before we met with a most violent storm from the western board, which obliged us to lie to. This storm lasted from the 10th to the 13th of August, attended with rain, thunder, and lightning, and such a lofty and dangerous sea as I have seldom seen, and could not have believed in latitudes between the Tropics, especially for such a long duration. Most of the time we lay to, we drove to the northward; abundance of our people died daily; and, the ship proving very leaky, every person who could stir, the principal officers not excepted, was obliged to take his turn at the pumps, and all little enough to keep us above water.

The 13th of August, at 10 in the morning, the Gloucester made a signal of distress, and, being to windward, bore down towards us; but we observed she was long in wearing, rolled very much, and made bad steerage. About half an hour after noon they spoke with us, and told us that they were so leaky that they must quit their ship; that they had seven feet water in the hold; and that all the men they had capable of stirring were quite exhausted with pumping, and could work no longer. This was an additional misfortune, and seemed to be without resource; for, whilst the Gloucester’s crew were thus enfeebled, our own sick were now so much increased, and those who still remained in health so over-fatigued with labour, that it was impossible for us to lend them any aid: all, therefore, that could be done was to send our boat on board for a more particular account of the ship’s condition; as it was soon suspected, that the taking her people on board us, and then destroying the Gloucester, was the only measure that could be prosecuted in the present emergency both for the preservation of their lives and of our own.

Our boat soon returned with a representation of the melancholy state of the Gloucester, and of her several defects, signed by Capt. Mitchell and all his officers; by which it appeared, that the ship was decayed in every part; that her crew was greatly reduced; that there remained alive no more than 77 men, officers included, 18 boys, and two prisoners; that of the whole number, only 16 men and 11 boys were capable of keeping the deck, and several of these very infirm; that the water was so deep in the hold, that those who were yet alive were starving, and could neither come at fresh water nor provisions.

From this representation, which was in no one instance exaggerated, the Commodore sent immediately an order to Capt. Mitchell, to bring his people on board the Centurion, and to take out such stores as could most easily be come at, among which he was very desirous of saving two cables, and a steel-anchor; but the ship rolled so much, and the men were so excessively fatigued, that it was with the greatest difficulty the prize-money was secured (the prize-goods amounting to many thousand pounds being abandoned): nor could any more provisions be got at, than five casks of flour (three of which were spoiled by the salt-water), a small quantity of brandy, and some living stock. Even this little business was so languishingly performed, that two days were wasted in the execution, during which time three or four of the sick perished on being moved.

As the weather was now calm, and we were uncertain how far distant we might be from Guam, a settlement in possession of the enemy, to whom the wreck of such a ship with guns and ammunition on board would have been a very valuable acquisition, the Commodore judged the most effectual way to prevent her from falling into their hands was to set on fire: and accordingly, as soon as the Captain and his Officers had quitted her, the combustibles placed for that purpose were lighted, and she continued burning the whole night, and at six the next morning she blew up. Thus perished his Majesty’s ship the Gloucester; and now, it might have been expected, that, being freed from the embarrassment in which her frequent disasters had involved us, we should have proceeded on our way much brisker than we had hitherto done. However, we were soon taught, that our anxieties were not yet to be relieved.

We were at this time in the utmost distress; the ship considerably lumbered with prize-goods, and the small room we had left thronged with the sick, whose numbers were now very much increased with those from the Gloucester; the dirt, nauseousness, and stench, almost every where intolerable; more people daily disabled with the disease; no sign of land, nor but very little wind, and that not fair but variable; very bad provisions and water, and the ship very leaky; and, though we discovered the leak to be in her bows on each side the stern, it lay in such a manner that we could not stop it, nay the attempting it rather made it worse. In this distress we made the best of every little spurt of wind.

Nothing farther remarkable happened till Sunday the 22d, when, about eight in the evening, we discovered two islands, one bearing W. half S. and the other S. W. by W. at the distance of about 10 leagues. We were overjoyed at this sight, and stood toward them with all our sail; but, there being little wind, we did not get near them till the next day about noon, when being about three miles off the largest and most promising of them, which appeared very hilly and full of trees, we sent on shore one of our Lieutenants in the cutter to make discoveries, who returned at nine in the evening, and gave us but a very indifferent account of the shore. The trees were mostly cocoa-nut-trees, of which there were prodigious quantities; about 60 cocoa-nuts they brought on board with them, but they could find no water, nor any good place to anchor in: on this account it was thought fit to stand further to the southward, for some more proper place. This was a severe disappointment to most of the sick, who, on the sight of land, (or hearing that we were so near it) had begun sensibly to revive: but as persons in such circumstances are soon driven to despond, when an aid they had depended upon deserts them, so this disappointment destroyed our hopes, and increased our dejection. We feared, that, if we met with more islands in the same run, they might be either as bad, worse, or inhabited by our enemies the Spaniards, who, in our weak condition, might easily be able to hinder us from proper refreshments: add to this, how near many of us were to death, and how little we could expect to survive any time in searching for other islands. I know not whether these were the general thoughts of the sick, but I must own they were mine, and made our situation at that time appear ten times worse to me than at any other in the whole course of our voyage. I was indeed very ill, and my illness might possibly occasion every thing to appear in its worst light, yet I never was one of those who were frightened at the apprehension, or even the visible approach of death; it had no unreasonable terrors in any of its prospects to me; and I always could, and I hope always shall be ready to meet it with calmness and perfect resignation: but I believe the healthiest and stoutest at that time had probably the greatest apprehensions; and I have since heard it from many of those, that they expected all to have perished, had we been so little as three weeks longer at sea; and I much question whether they were not right in that imagination.

On the 26th, at five in the morning, we saw three other islands, bearing from S. E. by S. to N. E. the middlemost of the three, which was the largest, due E.

The 27th, at three in the afternoon, being got pretty near the shore of the middlemost island, we sent our cutter and pinnace in-shore for discovery. At four the pinnace came off, and brought with her an Indian paroo, with a Spaniard and four Indians, whom they took in her. They likewise told us, that they had in-shore a small bark of about 16 tons, and between 20 and 30 more people on the island, all of whom had been sent there from Guam to kill cattle and hogs, and make jerked beef, and cacao-nut-oil, &c. for the Spanish garrison there; and that there are constantly people sent on that account, who, after some months stay at that place, are relieved by fresh parties for the same purpose. We secured both bark and paroo, together with all the Indians who fell into our hands, to hinder their carrying intelligence of us to the Spaniards at Guam. One of those Indians was a carpenter by trade, and his father was one of the principal builders at Manilla. This young man, having been ill used by the Governor at Guam, voluntarily entered with us, and became one of our carpenter’s crew, and proved a very useful handy fellow.

The Spaniard being examined as to the state of the island we were now approaching, the account he gave surprized even our most sanguine hopes; and, tho’ uninhabited, he said, it wanted none of those accommodations with which the best cultivated countries are furnished. On mustering up our whole force, as we drew near, all the hands we could collect capable of any kind of duty, even on the most pressing occasions, amounted to no more than 71 men, officers included. This number, inconsiderable as it may seem, were all of the united crews of the Centurion, Gloucester, and Trial, that could move without being assisted, notwithstanding that, when we left England, they consisted of near 1000 men.

When we had entered the road, our first business, after furling the sails and securing the ship, was to provide an hospital on shore for the sick; but the officer and seamen who were sent upon this service, returned joyfully, and acquainted us, that the Indians on shore had saved them that trouble, and had provided for us better than we could have done for ourselves; for, having erected a number of little cabbins for their accommodation during their residence on the island, and one in particular, which they made use of by way of storehouse to stow their provisions in, there could be nothing more suitably adapted for the reception both of the sick and the healthy than these erections. Accordingly, we instantly began sending ashore as many of the sick as could possibly be conveyed, among which number I myself was one; I say, as many as could possibly be conveyed; for we were all so extremely feeble and helpless, that we were no otherwise to be landed than by being carried in our hammocks, both in and out of the boats, on mens shoulders, in which service both the Commodore himself and his officers very humanely assisted; and, indeed, they were almost the only persons on board capable of performing it; the healthiest seamen being so much enfeebled, that they had but just strength enough left to help themselves.

The next day, being the 29th, the remainder of the sick were brought on shore, of whom 21 soon died; but the greatest part of the rest recovered surprizingly. As soon as I was capable of stirring about, I found the island to lie in lat. 14 deg. 58 min. N. [Walters says 15 deg. 8 min.] and in long. 223 deg. 35 min. W. from London, being, according to my reckoning, 117 deg. 7 min. W. from Acapulco. [Walters says 114 deg. 50 min.] And here it is observable, how writers of the first characters for veracity differ in their accounts of the same places, by writing them at different periods. The description of this island of Tinian by Commodore Byron, who lately visited it in his voyage round the world, bears no similitude to that we are now about to recite; nor can any one conceive how an interval of only 30 years could occasion so remarkable an alteration. But to proceed:

The soil, upon examination, we found to be every where dry and healthy; and being withal somewhat sandy, it was thereby the less disposed to a rank and over-luxuriant vegetation: and hence the meadows and woods were neater and smoother than is usual in hot climates. The vallies and hills were most beautifully diversified by the mutual encroachments of woods and lawns, which skirted each other, and traversed the island in large tracts. The woods consisted of tall and well-spread trees, some celebrated for their beauty, and some for their fruit; whilst the lawns were generally crouded with herds of cattle, of which it was not uncommon to see thousands feeding in a herd, and, being all milk-white, it is no wonder that such an appearance excited our longings, and increased our impatience, to kill and eat. Add to these, the innumerable swarms of poultry that crouded the woods, and, by their frequent crowings, gave us in idea the pleasing apprehension of being in the neighbourhood of farms and villages; and we even fancied, that in the covert of the woods we should find such concealed. The cattle we had sight of were computed at 10,000; and, besides these and the poultry, we likewise found abundance of wild hogs, which were excellent food, but fierce, and not easily mastered. At first we killed them by shooting; but, our ammunition failing, owing to an incident, we at last hunted them down with dogs, several of which joined us on the island, and, being trained to the sport by the Indians, readily enough followed us, and afforded us good diversion. In their conflicts with the bears, some indeed were killed; but those that came off victorious, were still more eager to engage in every new pursuit.

This island was no less fortunate to us in its vegetable than its animal productions; more particularly abounding in such fruits and plants as were best adapted to the cure of that disease by which we had been so dreadfully debilitated. In the woods cocoa-nuts were to be gathered without number; and, what is remarkable, cabbages grew on the same trees. There were, besides, guavas, limes, sweet and sour oranges, and, what is common to all the Tropical islands, bread-fruit. In the plains we found water-melons, dandelion, creeping-purslain, mint, scurvy-grass, and sorrel; all which, together with the fresh-meats of the place, were such salutary refreshments, that the sick, who were at death’s-door when they landed, before they had been a week on shore, put on very different countenances, and with their new complexions received a fresh recruit of spirits.

Amidst such a variety of provisions as the land furnished, it was thought unnecessary to indulge ourselves in those offered us by the sea. From fish, therefore, we wholly refrained; and the rather, as some we caught at our first arrival surfeited those who eat of them. This, however, was not regretted, as beef, pork, poultry, and wild-fowl, were in such plenty, that, except the trouble of bringing them from a considerable distance sometimes, there was no difficulty attending their procurement. It were, indeed, an endless task to recount all the excellencies and delicacies we met with in this delightful island: nor is it easy to say which to prefer where every thing is worthy of admiration; the neatness of its lawns, the stateliness, freshness, and fragrance of its woods, the happy inequality of its surface, and the variety and elegance of the views it afforded,⁠—all these conspired to charm the sight, while at the same time the excellency of its productions could not fail to gratify the appetite. And these advantages were greatly enhanced by the healthiness of the climate, by the almost constant cool breezes that prevailed, and by the frequent gentle showers that seemed to fall just to refresh the earth, and add to its fertility; for these, instead of the long-continued rains that in other countries fill the air with noxious vapours, and overflow the earth with wasteful inundations, seemed just enough to purify the air, and to refresh the soil; which was observable enough by the effect it had in increasing our appetites, and promoting our digestion. This effect was, indeed, remarkable, since those amongst our officers, who were at all other times spare and temperate eaters, were here in appearance transformed into gluttons; for instead of one reasonable flesh-meal a day, they were scarcely satisfied with three: and yet our digestion so well corresponded to the keenness of our appetites, that we were neither disordered nor even loaded by this uncommon repletion; for, after having made a large beef breakfast, it was not long before we began to consider the approach of dinner as a very desirable, and even somewhat tardy event.

The principal inconveniences that attended our residence upon this island arose from the vast number of musketos and other troublesome flies, by which we were perpetually teized; there was likewise a venomous little insect, that, like the sheep-ticks in England, would bury its head in the skin, and, if not instantly removed, would cause an inflammation.

Running water there was none in the island; but that defect was supplied by a large lake, or lagoon, almost in the center of it, to which the cattle, in times of drought, generally resorted; but the freshness of their pasture, and the copious dews and gentle showers that often moistened it, rendered that resource almost unnecessary. There were, besides, springs of excellent water, and near the surface wells might every where be dug, whose waters, in any other place, would not have been complained of.

But the great danger we had to dread remains to be told. During four months in the year, that is, from the middle of June to the middle of October, when the western monsoons prevail, the winds, about the full and change of the moon, are variable, and blow with such fury, that the stoutest cables afford no security to ships riding at anchor in the road: and what adds to the danger is the rapidity of the tide, which sets to the S. E. and occasions such a hollow and over-grown sea as is not to be conceived; insomuch that, though we were in a sixty-gun ship, we were under the dreadful apprehension of being pooped by it. During the rest of the year the weather is constantly settled, and ships have nothing to fear, if their cables are well armed, which otherwise will suffer from the foulness of the ground.

From the 29th of August, when our sick were all put on shore, to the 12th of September, when the Commodore himself landed, those who remained on board were chiefly employed in mooring and securing the ship, in shifting her guns to come at her leaks, and in cackling the cables, to prevent their being galled by the friction against the rocky bottom. At the same time an anchor and cable were put on board the Spanish bark, her own being only a heavy log of wood, and a rope made of bass; and some barrels of powder to be dried and recovered, which by long keeping was become moist.

From the 12th to the 18th, the hands were continually shifting, those who were so well recovered as to be capable of duty were sent on board, and those who had born the burden of the labour were relieved and sent on shore.

On the 19th, the weather began to alter, and to threaten a storm: on that day, the next, and the 21st, it blew hard; however, we rode it out, and flattered ourselves that the prudence of our measures had secured us from accidents. On the 22d, the hurricane came on, and our only hope of safety seemed to depend on our putting out to sea; but the Commodore was on shore, and all communication with the land absolutely cut off. At five in the afternoon, the small bower parted, and the ship sprung off to the best bower. As night approached, the violence of the storm increased; yet, notwithstanding its inexpressible fury, the rapidity of the tide was such as to prevail over it, and to force the ship before it, as it were, in despight of its utmost rage. It was now that the sea broke all round us in a most tremendous manner; and that a large tumbling swell threatened to ingulph us in its bosom: the long-boat, which was moored a-stern, was on a sudden canted so high that it broke the transum of the Commodore’s gallery, and would, doubtless, have risen as high as the tafferel, had it not been for the stroke, which stove the boat to pieces; but yet the poor boat-keeper, though much 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. In this extremity, Mr. Saumarez, our First Lieutenant, who commanded in the absence of the Commodore, ordered guns to be fired, and lights to be shewn, as signals of distress; and, in a short time after, the night being excessively dark, the storm raging, the thunder roaring, and nothing to be seen but the blue lightning flashing through the rain, we were driven to sea, and, by this catastrophe, the whole crew, both by sea and land, reduced to a state of despair; those on shore concluding they had now no means left them ever to get home; whilst those on board, being utterly unprepared to struggle with the fury of such seas and winds, expected each moment to be their last. In this state of despondency, while those on board were every moment in expectation of being dashed against the rocks of Aiguigan, an island at about three leagues from Tinian, those on shore were persuaded the ship could not survive the storm, the whole channel between the two islands appearing from the land like one continued breach, the sea swelling, breaking, and roaring, like mountains rolling over mountains, and forming the most awful and terrifying sight that the mind of man can possibly conceive. Indeed, the condition of those on board was truly pitiable; they were in a leaky ship, with three cables in their hawses, to one of which hung their only remaining anchor; they had not a gun on board lashed; nor a port barred in; their shrouds were loose; and their fore-top-mast unrigged; and they had struck their fore and main yards down before the hurricane came on, so that there was no sail they could set except the mizzen: to add to their misfortunes, they were no sooner at sea, than, by the labouring of the ship, whole floods of water rushed in through the hawse-holes, ports, and scuppers; which, with the usual leakage, kept the pumps constantly at work. Persuaded that their destruction was inevitable, sinking, however, was only their secondary concern; they judged, by the driving of the ship, that they were making towards the land, and that, in the darkness of the night, they should no otherwise perceive it than by striking upon it; but day-light relieved them from that uneasy apprehensions, and shewed them that the island they so much dreaded was at a considerable distance, and that a strong northern current had proved the means of their preservation. It was not, however, till after three days that the turbulent weather that had driven them from Tinian began to abate; when every man in the ship was so worn out with fatigue, that they found it impossible to man the pumps, and hand the sails at the same time. They had twice attempted to heave up the main and fore yards, in which they had as often miscarried by the breaking of the jeers, and in the last effort one of their best men perished. During all this time the ship was driving to leeward, and dragging her sheet anchor, the only one she had left, with two cables an end at her bows. This was a circumstance of the greatest consequence, and required a speedy remedy; for, though upon a third exertion of their whole force, they had replaced their yards, they durst not, while the anchor continued in that situation, venture to spread their canvas. Some rest and refreshment became necessary before a work of such labour could be proposed to a feeble and diminished crew, who hardly consisted of 100 men. It was, therefore, five days after their departure before they could secure their anchor; and now they set their courses, and, for the first time, stood to the eastward, in hopes of soon regaining the island, and rejoining their Commander and the rest of their company: but in this they were unhappily disappointed; for having run, as they thought, the distance necessary for making the island, and being in full expectation of seeing it, they found themselves bewildered by the irregularity of the currents, and knew not what course to steer, till, after several days uncertainty, they came at last in sight of Guam, from whence they directed their course with infinite labour to Tinian, the wind being constantly against them, and the tide variable. This severe employment held till the 11th of October, when, after nineteen days absence, they appeared again in the offing, and were reinforced from the shore, to the inexpressible joy of the whole crew.

A few days after the ship was driven off, some of the people on shore cried out, A sail! and this spread a general joy, supposing it to be the Centurion returning; but presently a second sail was decried, which wholly destroyed the first conjecture, and made it difficult to guess who they were. The Commodore turning his glass towards them, saw they were two boats; and instantly concluding that the Centurion was gone to the bottom, and that those were her boats returning with the remains of her people, this sudden suggestion wrought so powerfully upon him, that, to conceal his emotion, he was obliged to retire to his tent, where he past some bitter moments in the firm persuasion that all his hopes were now at an end, and that, instead of distressing the enemy, he must himself with his people fall a prey to their relentless cruelty. He was, however, soon relieved from this mortifying thought, they appearing, upon their nearer approach, to be Indian proas directing their course towards the bay, with a view, as was supposed, to relieve their countrymen, or to take on board their provisions. On this intelligence, the Commodore ordered his people to conceal themselves; but the proas, after advancing within a quarter of a mile of the shore, lay by for the space of a few hours, and probably observing some change in the appearance of the place, which might raise their suspicion that an enemy lay in ambush, they got again under sail, and steered to the southward.

After this incident an opinion began generally to prevail, that the Centurion would never more appear at this island; and that she was either lost, or forced upon the coast of China, from whence, in her crazy condition, it would be impossible for her ever to return. Though the Commodore did not apparently give into this opinion, yet he was not without his fears; and, therefore, to provide against the worst, he proposed cutting asunder the Indian bark which they took on their first arrival, and lengthening her in such a manner as to be capable of taking on board all who were then upon the island, and following the ship, if peradventure she should be driven to Mocao. After some hesitation, owing to the difficulty attending the execution, the men were at length prevailed upon to engage in the work, and the Commodore by his example encouraged their diligence; for, being always at work by day-break himself, it was thought a disgrace to be idle when their Chief was employed. It fortunately happened, that the carpenters both of the Gloucester and Trial were on shore, and that they had brought for safety their chests of tools with them. The smith, too, was on shore with his forge, but his bellows was still in the ship. This defect occasioned some delay; but was soon supplied by the ingenuity of his shipmates, one or other of them never being at a loss for expedients on such occasions: they limed a fresh hide for leather, the carpenters shaped out a wooden frame, and a gun barrel served for a nozel. The smith being now in readiness to prepare the iron-work, some were employed in cutting down trees, and sawing them into plank, whilst the main-body were busied in digging out a draw-dock to receive the bark, and in laying of ways to heave her up and down. All, in short, were variously employed; and the work went on successfully for 16 days, in which time the bark was sawn asunder, her two parts separated, and placed at the proper distance from each other; and, the materials being all in readiness before-hand, they proceeded with no small dispatch in the enlargement, insomuch that they fixed the 5th of November as the day when they should be ready to depart. The alacrity with which this business was carried on, left no room for reflection among the common sailors, though their superiors were not without their fears. They had no sea-provisions, except some jerked beef, which the Indians had prepared and abandoned when they fled, and they had a run of 600 leagues before they could presume upon a supply; they had no bread, and the bread-fruit on the island could not be preserved at sea; they wanted salt; and, what was still a more necessary article in their present situation, they wanted ammunition for their defence, in case of an attack from the enemy; for, upon the strictest search, no more than 90 charges of powder could be collected, which was short of one round a-piece for each of the company; they were, too, in an unknown sea, and wanted instruments to direct their course: in short, though the common men had no other thought but how they should get on board, the officers foresaw a thousand difficulties, which were almost insurmountable to human apprehension, but which they carefully concealed, that the main business might not be retarded.

But, in the midst of these gloomy apprehensions, which, the nearer the time of their departure approached, still became the more serious, and when all hope of seeing the Centurion at Tinian had subsided, one of the Gloucester’s men, being upon a hill at a distance looking out for cattle, perceived, as he fancied, something like a ship in the clouds, which, on steadily observing it, seemed to move slowly towards the land. It was not long before he was sensible of its approach, and persuading himself it was the Centurion, he in an extasy ran towards the landing-place, crying to his comrades, The ship! The ship! This being heard by the nearest, was echoed from mouth to mouth till it reached the spot where the Commodore was at work, who, on hearing the joyful news, threw down his axe, and joined in the general transport. In a few hours the Centurion appeared in the offing, and a boat with 18 men was sent off to reinforce her, and to carry fresh meats, fruits, and refreshments, for the crew. In the afternoon of the 11th of October she happily cast anchor, the Commodore went instantly aboard, and the joy and congratulations on that occasion were equally sincere and mutual.

The labour of the artificers was now at an end, and another kind of employment succeeded, which was that of laying in water for the remainder of the voyage. Now also hunting, shooting, setting, and every device that could be contrived to catch live cattle, hogs, and poultry, for stores, took place; while, at the same time, the Commodore and Officers amused themselves with traversing the island, and examining more minutely its several parts. In one of these excursions, being on a rising ground, they observed, in a valley beneath them, the appearance of a small thicket, which, by attending to it, seemed to have a progressive motion, as indeed it had; but was no other than a parcel of cocoa-bushes trailed upon the ground by persons concealed beneath them. From this uncommon circumstance, it was immediately concluded, that the Indians, whose boat they had surprized upon their first arrival, must be the persons who were dragging the bushes, and that it could not be far to the place of their concealment; they therefore kept their eye upon them, and traced them to their cell; but, to their surprize, when they came to enter it, they found it abandoned, though all things were ready prepared for dinner, and stood smoaking hot on a table of turf. The officers, having in vain endeavoured to track them, returned, and, with an appetite increased by the keenness of the pursuit, sat down to that meal which the poor hungry savages had abandoned. It consisted of salted spareribs, cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit; all which they found ready drest, and in quantity as much as they all could eat.

On the third day after the second arrival of the ship, the Commodore being on board, a sudden gust of wind arose, and again brought home our anchor, and drove us out to sea. Our chief officers were now all on board; and only about 70 of our men, with a midshipman or two to command them, were employed on shore in filling water and catching cattle. Of these about 30 came off to us in the cutter, and the eighteen-oared barge was sent for the rest; but they not being in readiness, and the ship quickly driving out of sight, it was no longer in their power to join us. However, as the weather soon proved favourable, and we were now stronger and healthier than at our first disaster, in about five days we regained the road, and anchored safe in our former station. On our return we found the Spanish bark restored to her old dimensions, and the parts brought together, and in good forwardness to be compleated; for the few remaining people, despairing of the return of the ship, had determined to follow her to her destined port. We now laboured indefatigably to get in our water, in order to sail, in which service two of our men employed in the well unfortunately perished; for the sides of the well being loose earth, by the carelessness of those above, in not properly attending the filling, the bank gave way by the weight of a heavy cask, and both that and the bank fell in upon them together. Some other misfortunes happened through haste in rafting the casks to the ship; yet, notwithstanding, being such as are generally accounted trifling on board a man of war, our watering went on so successfully, that by the 20th of October it was compleated; and on that day leave was given for a man from each mess to go ashore, and gather as many oranges, lemons, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits of the island, as should be sufficient for us all while at sea. This being accomplished, the Spanish bark set on fire, the men returned on board, and the boats hoisted in, on the 21st we set sail; and the wind being fair, and the weather moderate, nothing remarkable happened till we arrived on the coasts of China, except that while we were passing by the rocks of Vele Rete, near the south end of the island Formosa, we were alarmed by a cry of fire on the forecastle, which brought the whole crew together in the utmost confusion, so that it was difficult for some time to reduce them to order; but, as soon as discipline took place, and a proper examination could be made, it was found to proceed from the furnace, where the bricks, being over-heated, had begun to communicate the fire to the wood-work, which, had it not been timely discovered, might have been of the most dreadful consequence; but, as it fell out, it was extinguished with the greatest facility, and the brick-work so secured, that no accident of the like kind could again happen.

From the island of Formosa we directed our course so as to fall in with the coast of China, to the eastward of Pedro Blanco, as that rock is generally esteemed the best direction for ships bound to Mocao; and, on the 6th of November we fell in with it, when we were presently surrounded by an incredible number of fishing-boats, which covered the surface of the sea as far as the eye could reach. Nor was this swarm of fishing vessels peculiar to that place; for, as we ran on to the westward, we found them as abundant on every other part of the coast. From among these we had no sort of doubt of procuring a pilot to Mocao; but, when we thought ourselves near it, though we tempted them with shewing them bags of Spanish dollars, for which, it is said, a Chinese would sell his father, yet not one of them would venture to come on board us, nor give us the least intelligence; neither did our ship, the like of which, so armed and fitted, had never before appeared upon their coasts, seem to excite in them any curiosity: they continued their fishing with the same apparent indifference as if any trading ship had been passing by; and, when we made them signals, they disregarded them as much, though they certainly understood them, as if we had been only in sport. The next day, however, about two in the afternoon, as we were standing to the westward within two leagues of the shore, still surrounded as before, we observed that a boat a-head of us waved a red flag, and blew a horn. This we apprehended was a signal for us, and accordingly we hoisted out our cutter, and sent to know the meaning of it; when we presently discovered our mistake, and that it was only the usual notice to leave off fishing, which the whole fleet instantly obeyed. Being thus disappointed, we kept on our cruise till we came to a group of islands, round the westernmost of which we were directed to pass, and then to haul up. While we were thus employed, a Chinese pilot came on board, and in broken Portuguese undertook to pilot us into harbour for 30 dollars, and on the 12th of November anchored us safe in Mocao-road; where the first thing we did was to salute the fort, and to send to the Portuguese Governor to advise with his Excellency in what manner to behave to avoid giving offence to the Chinese. The difficulty the Commodore principally apprehended related to the port charges usually paid by ships in the river Canton, from which charges men-of-war are exempted in every port of Europe, and which the Commodore was determined not to be forced to pay in this. In the evening the boat returned with two officers, who delivered it as the Governor’s opinion, that, if the Centurion ventured into the river of Canton, the duty would most certainly be expected; and, therefore, if the Commodore approved of it, he would send a pilot to conduct the ship into another harbour, called the Typa, where it was probable the port charges would never be demanded. To this proposal the Commodore agreed, the pilot was sent, and the ship safely moored.

Next day the Commodore paid a visit in person to the Governor, to solicit a supply of provisions, and of naval stores to refit the ship. The Governor very frankly acquainted the Commodore, that he durst not openly furnish either the one or the other; for that he himself neither received provisions for his garrison but from day to day, by permission from the Chinese government, nor any thing else but what his present necessities required: however, he assured the Commodore in a friendly manner, that he would give him all the assistance in his power. On this declaration, the Commodore determined to go to Canton himself, to procure a licence from the Viceroy to purchase a supply, and, with this view, hired a Chinese boat for himself and his attendants to carry them into port: but just as they were ready to embark, the Hoppo refused to grant them a permit; nor would he, notwithstanding all the interest the Commodore could make, withdraw the prohibition, till he was threatened to be compelled to it by force. This operated when fair means had failed; a permit was next day sent on board, and the Commodore proceeded to the English factory to consult with the principal officers there about the cautions that were to be used, lest the factory should suffer by violent measures, which he was solicitous to avoid. They advised him to transact the business by the mediation of the Chinese merchants, who at first undertook to accomplish it; but, after trifling with him more than a month, they declared they durst not interfere in it. The merchants then undertook to procure him provisions clandestinely; but that would not suffice. Upon his return, he found the ship so much out of repair, that she could not proceed without being hove down; he, therefore, next day wrote a letter to the Viceroy, acquainting him, that he was Commodore of a squadron of his Britannic Majesty’s ships that had been cruising in the South Seas against the Spaniards, who were at war with his nation; that his ship was leaky; that his people were in want of provisions; that he had put into Mocao, a friendly port, for a supply, but that, being a stranger to the customs of the country, he had been unable to succeed; and, therefore, requested, that he might be permitted to employ workmen to repair his ship, and that he might be supplied with provisions at the accustomed rates at which the articles he stood in need of were generally sold. Another difficulty was now started as to the delivery of this letter, the Hoppo at first refusing to intermeddle with it; but, on the Commodore’s expressing some resentment, and threatening to convey it to Canton by his own messengers, he at length undertook not only to deliver it, but to procure an answer: accordingly, though the letter was only dated on the 17th of December, on the 19th a Mandarine of the first rank, together with two others of an inferior class, and their attendants, having in their retinue 18 half gallies, decorated with streamers, and furnished with bands of music, came to a grapple a-head of the Centurion, whence the Mandarine sent in form to acquaint the Commodore, that he came by order of the Viceroy to examine the condition of the ship, and to report the same as it should appear to him upon a just survey. On this message, preparations were instantly made to receive him; in particular, a hundred of the most sightly men on board, uniformly dressed in the regimentals of the marines, were drawn up under arms on the main-deck against his arrival. When he entered the ship, he was saluted by the drums and military music, and conducted by some of the principal officers to the quarter-deck, where he was received in state by the Commodore, and then introduced to the great cabbin, where he explained his commission, and presented the persons he had brought with him to take the survey. The Mandarine appeared to be a person of superior abilities, and endowed with a frankness and honesty not usually to be met with among the ordinary ranks of Chinese officers; and, being an eye-witness of the dangerous state of the leaks, and of the necessity there was for a thorough repair, he expressed his entire acquiescence in the report that had been given, and promised to lay the same immediately before the council upon his return. He was exceeding curious in inspecting the ship, in examining her guns, and poising her great shot. He exprest his astonishment at her strength and her magnitude; and the Commodore, to increase his wonder, and shew his own power, let him know how easy it would be for him to destroy the whole navigable force of China, and lay the city of Canton in ruins; but, nevertheless, he assured him, that not the least violence should be offered, provided his wants were supplied upon reasonable terms.

At the same time the Commodore complained of the behaviour of the officers at Mocao, who had prohibited the country people from selling provisions to his company, though they had paid for what they purchased in sterling silver. The Mandarine heard the complaint without emotion, but said it should be remedied for the future. After the business was over, dinner was ordered, and the Commodore apologised for the meanness of the fare from the difficulty he had to procure better: but the two inferior Mandarines, who were the only persons of their retinue permitted to sit at table with them, shewed no dislike to any thing set before them, except the beef, to which they have the same dislike as the Jews have to pork, from an early prejudice derived from their ancestors; of this the Commodore was not apprized, nor were they offended at its being set before them. They were, indeed, very aukward at the use of knives and forks, and it was found necessary to introduce their own servants to carve for them, before they could make an end of their dinners. But if they were deficient in their manner of eating, they were no novices in putting about the glasses; for there was not an officer at table that durst engage with them. Seeing they were fond of Frontiniac, and that they presently emptied four or five bottles of it without any effect, the Commodore ordered a bottle of Citron water to be brought up, which, on tasting, they liked, and, the Commodore excusing himself on account of an illness he had not yet recovered, they clapped a ruddy-faced officer on the shoulder, and desired him to pledge them, saying, by their interpreter, they were sure he could not plead illness for declining his glass. When the bottle was out, they all rose from table, without appearing to be in the least disordered, and, after the usual ceremonies, departed, very well pleased with their entertainment.

The Commodore now impatiently expected the licence he had requested; but it was several days before it passed the necessary forms, chiefly owing to the intrigues of a Frenchman, who, having the advantage of speaking the language fluently, was at no loss in traversing the measures of the friendly Mandarine in favour of Mr. Anson; but a repetition of the threats already referred to, produced, at last, the desired effect. On the 6th of January, the licence was received, and the carpenters were set to work; but, previous to this, the prohibition was taken off, and provisions were every day brought to the ship in plenty.

It was, however, the beginning of April before the repairs could be compleated, and the Chinese began to be very uneasy at their long stay. They had frequently sent messages to the Commodore to hasten his departure, not knowing or believing that he was no less in earnest to be gone, than they were to be freed from the dread of his stay. At length, on the 3d of April, two Mandarines came on board from Mocao, with a peremptory command addressed to the Commodore, requiring him to depart; to which he made answer, in a determined tone, that he would go when he thought proper, and not when they presumed to command him. After this rebuke, however, all communication was forbidden, and no more provisions were suffered to go on board; and so strictly were those injunctions carried into execution, that from thenceforwards nothing could be purchased at any rate whatever. On the 6th of April, the Centurion weighed, and warped to the southward; and, by the 15th, she was safe in Mocao road, having compleated her water as she passed along. On the 19th, she again weighed anchor, and put to sea.

But long before this, that is, some time in November, Captain Saunders, Commander of the Tryal’s prize, took passage on board a Swedish ship with dispatches from the Commodore to the government. And soon after, that is, about the middle of December, Captain Mitchell, Col. Crackerode, Mr. Taswell, with his nephew Mr. Charles Herriot, and the Rev. Mr. Walter, embarked on board the company’s ships on their return home. About this time we received the first news of the safe arrival of the Severn and Pearl (the two ships of our squadron that parted from us in doubling Cape Horn) at Rio Janeiro, on the coast of Brazil. The Severn had been remarkable for the extraordinary sickness that had been more fatal on board her than on board of any other in the whole squadron, insomuch that her hands had been twice recruited from the Centurion during her voyage to the straits of Le Maire; and yet when she parted company she wanted hands to navigate her in a storm, which was the reason of her return. It was from the knowledge of this uncommon mortality that prevailed among the crew, that the Commodore concluded the Severn to be lost. The news, therefore, of her and the Pearl’s safety was received with the greater pleasure, as we had long entertained an opinion that both of them had perished. But to return from this digression:

From the 1st to the 15th of April, we had stormy weather, with heavy rains and such amazing and terrifying claps of thunder and flashes of lightning as nothing of the kind I had ever seen or heard bore any proportion to. This was upon the breaking-up of the easterly monsoon, when such storms are usual in the country, accompanied sometimes with dreadful gusts of wind, called here by the name of Tuffoons, of the effects of which the Chinese relate very wonderful stories.

While we were warping out of the harbour, the Commodore went on shore to Mocao, to take leave of the Portuguese Governor, who had, to the utmost of his power, behaved in a very friendly manner; and, at his coming from the fort, he was saluted with 15 guns.

During our stay we had entered about 20 fresh hands, being chiefly Lascars, Persians, and Dutchmen; so that our whole complement, when we sailed, amounted to 224 men and boys, among whom were some of all nations, languages, and religions.

Being now at sea, we were some time in a state of uncertainty what course the Commodore intended to steer. He gave out at Mocao, that he was bound to Batavia, and thence to England; but his real design was very different. The project the Commodore had resolved upon in his own mind, was, to cruise for the annual ship from Acapulco to Manilla; and, not discouraged by his former disasters, he determined again to risque the casualties of the Pacific Ocean, and to take his station off Cape Spirito Santo on the island of Jamal, being the first land the Acapulco ships always make in approaching the Philippines.

Being now at sea, it was no longer necessary to conceal this project; he, therefore, summoned all his people on the quarter-deck, and in a short, but spirited speech, informed them of his design; which was received by them with the most expressive tokens of general approbation: and such a confidence of succeeding diffused itself through all the ship’s company, that the Commodore, who had taken some Chinese sheep to sea with him for his own provision, enquiring one day of his butcher, why he had lately seen no mutton at his table? the man replied dryly, that in truth there were only two sheep left, and these, with his honour’s leave, he proposed to reserve for the entertainment of the General of the galleons.

When the Centurion left the port of Mocao, she stood for some days to the westward; and, on the first of May, passed the island of Formosa; and, steering to the southward, on the 4th in the evening they came in sight of the Bashee Islands, which they suspected to be wrong laid down by Dampier, and from observation found them 25 leagues too far to the westward. On the 20th of May, they came in sight of Espirito Santo. As it was known there were centinels placed upon the Cape to make signals to the Acapulco ships, the Commodore immediately tacked, and ordered the top-gallant-sails to be taken in, to prevent a discovery: and this being the station in which he proposed to cruise, he fixed the limits between the latitude of 12 deg. 50 min. N. and 13 deg. 5 min. the Cape itself lying in 12 deg. 40 min. N. and in 4 deg. of east longitude from Psotel Tobago Xima. It was now the time when the Manilla ship was every hour expected; for they seldom or never fail of making land in the month of June, and sometimes sooner, and it was now the last day of May, according to their stile, when the Commodore took his station.

It were tedious to entertain the reader with the various conjectures, surmises, doubts, and anxieties, that agitated the minds of the people on board, from the day they came in sight of the Cape till the day that Mr. Charles Proby, a midshipman, called out from the mast-head, A sail! This was on the 20th of June, just one month after their arrival at the Cape. There did not remain a doubt but that it was one of the galleons (for two were expected this year, as none had been permitted to sail the year preceding); and the Commodore accordingly stood towards her. At half after seven in the morning, they could see her from the deck, at which time she fired a gun to leeward, and took in her top-gallant-sails, as a signal, as it was then supposed, to her consort; but in reality, as a signal to her own people to prepare for action. The Commodore was surprized to see her steadily pursue her course, and was now in no fear of losing sight of her, as at noon he could fetch her wake. Her consort not appearing, it was concluded they had parted company; and it now became visible, that the galleon did not intend to fly, but to fight. Every preparation had been previously made on board the Centurion, and all hands properly instructed; so that every man on board repaired to his post with as much regularity and unconcern as if preparing for a review. Thirty of the best marksmen lined the tops; two men placed themselves at a gun to load them; and gangs of ten men each were appointed to go from gun to gun, to run them out, and fire them as fast as they were loaded. A constant running fire was by this means kept up, and no interval allowed for the enemy to stand to their guns in safety, as is common when whole broadsides are discharged at once.

About one in the afternoon, the galleon 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. About the same time the Centurion hoisted her broad pendant and colours, being within gun-shot of the enemy; and the Commodore, seeing them clearing their decks of their cattle and lumber, gave orders to fire the chace-guns, to disturb them in their work. The galleon returned the fire with two of her stern guns, one of which carried away one of our fore-shrouds, and our forestay tackle, which could not have been done by an ordinary ball. The Centurion setting her sprit-sail fore and aft for boarding, the galleon, out of a bravado, did the same. Soon after, the Centurion shot a-breast of the enemy within pistol shot, and now the engagement became hot. For the first half hour the Centurion over-reached the galleon, and lay on her bow, and, by the wideness of her ports, could traverse almost all her guns upon the enemy, whilst the galleon could only bring a part of hers to bear upon the Centurion in return. In the heat of the action, the mats with which the galleon had stuffed her netting took fire, and burnt violently, blazing up near as high as the mizzen-top. This accident threw the enemy into the utmost terror, and also alarmed the Commodore, for fear the galleon should be burnt, and for fear he himself might suffer by being closely grappled by her. Happily, however, that danger was averted, and the fire extinguished, by cutting away the netting, and letting the whole tumble into the sea. All this while the Commodore kept his first advantageous position, firing with great regularity and briskness; while at the same time the galleon’s decks lay open to our top-men, who, having at their first volley driven the Spaniards from their tops, made prodigious havock with their small arms, killing or wounding every officer but one that appeared upon the quarter-deck, and wounding in particular the General of the galleon himself. Thus the action continued for more than half an hour; but then the Centurion lost the superiority of her situation, and came close alongside of the galleon, when the enemy continued their fire with great activity for near an hour longer; yet, even in this position, the Commodore’s grape-shot swept their decks so effectually, and the number of the dead and wounded became so considerable, that they began to fall into great confusion, especially as the General, who was the life of the action, was no longer able to exert himself. The disorder was so great, that their officers were seen from the Centurion running about to prevent the desertion of their men from their posts: but all their endeavours were in vain; for, after having, as a last effort, fired five or six guns with more judgment than usual, they yielded up the contest; and, the galleon’s colours being singed off the ensign-staff at the beginning of the engagement, she struck the standard at the main top-gallant-mast-head; but even this office would have been at the peril of the man’s life, had not the Commodore, observing what he was about, given express orders to leave off firing.

The Commodore, when the action was ended, resolved to make the best of his way with his prize to the river Canton, being in the mean time fully employed in securing his prisoners, and in removing the treasure from on board the galleon into the Centurion. His first business was to commission the ship, and put her under the command of proper officers: Lieut. Saumarez was appointed Captain, and was immediately ordered on board to take possession of his charge.

But, just as the galleon had struck, the officer who commanded between decks came up, seemingly to congratulate the Commodore on his conquest, but at the same time privately whispered to him, that the Centurion was dangerously on fire near the powder-room. It seems one of the lads, called powder-monkies, being heedless, a cartridge that he was carrying blew up in his hands; this fired another, and that three of the lower-deck guns on the off side of the ship, which being happily loaded and laid down for service, and the ports hauled up to vent the smoke, they did not occasion the least mischief; however, the cartridges and guns together raised such a smother, that it was at first doubtful whether it proceeded from the explosion, or from a part of the ship being on fire. In fact, upon examination, it was found to proceed from both; for, part of a cartridge having fallen between the planks of the cieling, close aft by the scuttle of the Chaplain’s cabbin, not only a considerable smoke issued out, but a very sensible heat, and, had it not been immediately extinguished, the consequence would have been dreadful: to be brief, a few pails of water seasonably applied did more than all the water of the ocean could have effected after an hour’s delay.

This alarm being thus happily subsided, we draughted out 50 of our people (of whom myself was one) to board and man the prize. I had heard we had killed them 60 men, and wounded as many more, and expected to have seen the horrid spectacle of mangled limbs, dead carcasses, and decks covered with blood; but no such spectacle appeared; a party having been properly stationed, during the time of action, to wash away the blood, and to throw the dead over-board. We found, however, many desperately wounded, and among them the General, who had received a musket-ball in his breast, and was so ill, or pretended to be so ill, that it was judged unsafe to move him from his cabbin; but all the other officers, together with the passengers of note, were sent on board the Centurion. Among the latter was an old gentleman, Governor of Guam, who was going to Manilla to renew his commission, and who had scarce mounted the Centurion’s side before he was received with open arms by Mr. Crooden, Captain of marines, who 36 years before, at the battle of Almanza, had been his prisoner, and honourably used by him. These two renewed their old acquaintance, and Captain Crooden had a long-wished-for opportunity of returning the favours he had formerly received, and which he gratefully remembered.

The ship, upon examination, was found to contain to the value of more than a million and a half of dollars, was called the Nuestra Signora de Cabadonga, Don Jeronimo de Montero Commander, by nation a Portuguese, and accounted the most intrepid officer employed in the Spanish mercantile service: and, indeed, in my opinion, he was more brave than prudent; for, surely, no wise man, intrusted with such a cargo, six leagues to the windward of a man-of-war purposely stationed to intercept him, would have borne down upon his enemy, and braved him to his teeth, when, with the advantage of the wind, he might have gone safe to port, from whence he was not more than 10 or 12 leagues distant, and where he might then have set his pursuer at defiance.

His galleon was indeed larger than the man-of-war, was pierced for 64 guns, but had only 36 mounted, most of them 12 pounders, and 17 of them brass: she had, besides, 28 peteraroes, in her gunwale, quarters, and tops, carrying each a 4 lb. ball; and, before the engagement, she mustered 640 men capable of bearing arms, officers and passengers included. She was, besides, well furnished with small arms, and was particularly provided against boarding, both by her close quarters, and by a strong network of two-inch rope laced over her waste, and fortified with half-pikes placed in the manner of cheveaux de frize; but, notwithstanding all her defences, she had 64 men killed, and 84 wounded, whilst the Centurion had only two men killed, and a Lieutenant and 16 men wounded, all of whom recovered, one man only excepted.

And how the Commodore learnt from some of the prisoners, that the other ship, which he had kept in the port of Acapulco the year before, instead of returning in company with this, as was expected, had sailed earlier in the season than usual, and was probably got into Manilla before the Centurion set sail from Mocao; so that, notwithstanding our present success, we had reason to regret the loss of time occasioned by the delays of the Chinese, which prevented our taking two rich prizes instead of one; though, to say the truth, it would not have been an easy talk to dispose of the prisoners, which, even as it fell out, was a matter that gave the Commodore no small disquietude; for they were above double the number of our own people; and some of them observed, when they were brought aboard, how slenderly we were manned; and the General himself could not help expressing his indignation to be thus beaten by a handful of boys. It was therefore necessary for our own preservation to prevent their rising; and that could not be securely effected without exercising a degree of severity which in any other circumstances could not have been justified on the principles of humanity; for there was no method practicable but that of stowing the men in the holds of the two ships; and as for the officers, 17 in number, they were confined in the First Lieutenant’s cabbin, under a guard of six men, first depriving them of their arms, and then keeping a strict watch on all their motions. Indeed, the sufferings of the common men, such of them in particular who were not employed in navigating the ship, were much to be pitied; for, the weather being extremely hot, the stench of the holds loathsome beyond conception, and their allowance of water but just sufficient to keep them alive, being only a pint a day for each man, it was next to a miracle that not a man of them died during their confinement, except five of the wounded, who expired the very night they were brought aboard the Centurion. Thus circumstanced, the motives of humanity, as well as interest, strongly urged the Commodore to hasten his return to China; and the prize being much damaged, both in her hull and rigging, it was found necessary to take her in tow for the quicker dispatch.

On the 21st of June it blew a storm, which continued till the 25th, when the sea ran mountains high: in this storm the Centurion lost her long-boat, and the prize a launch.

On the 2d of July we passed between the Bashee Islands, though the rippling of the sea seemed to indicate breakers or rocky ground; but the wind being so far to the northward as to render it difficult to weather them, we risqued the danger to shorten the voyage. On the 8th of July we made the coast of China, and on she 11th came to an anchor off the city of Mocao; from thence we proceeded to the river of Canton, where we met with the usual obstructions from the custom-house officers, and where the Commodore was again obliged, as it were, resolutely to force his way to his intended station. The officer who came to take the dimensions of his ships, in the usual manner, seemed astonished when he talked of being exempted from the accustomed rates, and gave him to understand that the Emperor’s duty must be paid by every ship that came into his ports; and the pilot had private instructions not to carry the ships through the Bocca Tygris, or narrow pass that forms the entrance into the river of Canton, till security was given for the accustomed charges.

And here it may be necessary just to mention, that this pass, not more than a quarter of a mile in breadth, is defended by two forts on the opposite sides; but these the Commodore disregarding, and being determined to enter the river without delay, as the stormy season was approaching, he caused the pilot to be brought before him, and in a determined tone threatened to hang him to the yard-arm, if he did not instantly take charge of the ship, and carry her safe, without striking ground, through the Bocca Tygris into the open river. The poor pilot performed his office, but did not escape punishment for what he could not help. He was instantly seized on being released from the Centurion, committed to prison, and rigorously disciplined with the bamboo. However, he found means to get access to the Commodore afterwards, to supplicate a recompence, who, ever ready to reward the sufferers in his service, gave him such a sum as more than contented him for his whipping. Nor was the poor pilot the only sufferer; for the Governors of the forts were both displaced for not preventing what it was in vain for them to attempt to oppose, and for not doing what all the council must know was impossible to be done.

On the 16th, the Commodore sent his Second Lieutenant to Canton, with a letter to the Viceroy, assigning his reasons for putting into that port, demanding a licence for purchasing provisions and stores, and intimating an intention of waiting upon his Excellency in person to make his acknowledgements. The Lieutenant was civilly received, and promised an answer the next day. In the mean time, the principal officers of the prize desired permission to go to Canton on their parole, which was readily granted. These no sooner arrived, than they were called before the magistracy, and examined; when they generously and frankly acknowledged, that they fell into the hands of the Commodore by the chance of war, and that though they were prisoners, they were notwithstanding at liberty to treat for their release; they said farther, that it was not the custom among European nations to put prisoners to death; but that the laws of war authorized much severer treatment than they had hitherto met with from their conquerors. This confession from an enemy had great weight with the Chinese, who, till then, though they had revered the Commodore’s naval force, had yet suspected his morals, and had considered him rather as a lawless free-booter, than as one commissioned by the state for the revenge of public injuries.

On the 20th of July, three Mandarines with their retinue came on board, and brought the Viceroy’s permit for a daily supply of provisions, and for pilots to carry the ships up the river as high as the second bar; and, at the same time, they delivered a message from the Viceroy, in answer to that part of the Commodore’s letter which related to his visiting his Excellency; the substance of which message was, that the Viceroy wished the Commodore to defer his visit till the hot season was over, but that, in September, when the weather would be more temperate, he should be glad to receive him. This the Commodore looked upon as a finesse, knowing an express was sent up to the Emperor’s court at Peking; whence the real motive for putting off the visit seemed to be to gain time to receive the Emperor’s instructions concerning the ceremony to be observed at his reception. The Mandarines, having dispatched this part of their commission, next entered upon the business of the port charges; whereupon the Commodore at once cut them short, by telling them, that, as he did not come to trade, he was not to be treated upon the same footing with trading ships; that his Britannic Majesty’s ships never paid customs in the ports of Europe, nor ever would be subject to any pecuniary imposts in any other port whatever. Finding nothing to be gained on this head, they told the Commodore, that they had still another matter in charge, and that was the release of the prisoners taken on board the galleon; for that the Emperor would never permit the subjects of princes with whom he was in alliance to be held in bondage in his dominions, nor could the Viceroy answer it to his Sovereign if he suffered it; and that, therefore, his Excellency hoped that the Commodore would give immediate orders for their release.

Though nothing could be more agreeable to the Commodore, who wanted much to be rid of the incumbrance, than this requisition, yet, to inhance the favour, he at first raised difficulties; but at length suffered himself to be prevailed upon by their intreaties, and concluded, by assuring them, that, to shew his readiness to oblige, he would deliver up the prisoners whenever the Viceroy would please to order boats to fetch them. Matters being thus adjusted, the Mandarines departed: and, in a few days, two Chinese junks were sent from Canton to carry them to Mocao, under the direction of one Captain Fial, Commander of a Spanish merchant-man, to whose ship we gave chace in our passage from the Bashee Islands to Mocao, but lost sight of her in the night.

To this gentleman the General of the galleon, and all his officers, except one who accompanied us to England, were delivered up. And now I have occasion to mention the General, I cannot help relating an affair which gave us on board the prize a great deal of concern, and sufficiently shewed the meanness of his spirit, and his beggarly craft. I have already taken notice of his being wounded in the engagement, and of his being indulged with the use of his own cabbin till he was fit to be removed. The Commodore, over and above this indulgence, sent him a surgeon from his own ship, upon a complaint that the Spanish surgeon on board the galleon was quite ignorant in his profession; but at the same time he sent an officer to demand his commission. Pretending to the officer that he was unable to move, he referred him to a small box in a locker of his private cabbin, in which, he said, it was, and likewise a sword-belt set with diamonds of great value, his own property; but, upon search, neither the commission nor the belt could be found: and, as some of our people had been rummaging both that and other parts of the ship, he protested, that, if they could not be there found, they must have been taken away and concealed. Under colour of this concealment, though he never produced his commission, he all along received the most humane and gentlemanlike treatment that the most worthy officer could desire or expect; and such was continued till his departure, when neither his chests, of which he had two very large ones, nor any of his trunks or cases were suffered to be searched: but every thing which he claimed as his personal effects were delivered to him with the greatest care and punctuality though, as I was afterwards informed, he had many valuable ventures concealed, which ought to have been delivered up as prize to the captors; but, as that was never examined into, he carried them off with the rest, and, it was supposed, was not the least among the gainers by the capture of his ship. He persisted, however, to the last in the loss of his commission and belt, and, though there were none on board on whom he could charge the theft, yet the Commodore sufficiently expressed his displeasure against the whole by the prohibition he laid upon us, as soon as the prize came to an anchor in the river, by which all communication was cut off between us and the country people, and no boat suffered to come near us but our own; by which severe order we were entirely debarred from purchasing our own provisions and necessaries from the Chinese, which the people in the Centurion were at full liberty to do; neither could we employ the Chinese tradesmen to supply us with apparel, of which we stood greatly in need, though in that too the Centurion’s people were indulged: and all this for no other reason, that was ever assigned, but that, if the jewels the General had lost were concealed, the Commodore was determined the secreter should have no opportunity of disposing of them without being discovered. Had this precaution been taken, as it ought, for the satisfaction of those who suffered under the severity of the censure, and had the effects of the Spanish General been properly inspected, the secreter would have been publickly exposed; for, when we afterwards fell down to Mocao with the ships, where we sold the prize, I was myself told by an Irish priest, that the General had both his commission and his belt; that he made no secret of the matter at Mocao; and that he had offered the jewels (being only made up by way of blind) among the merchants for sale.

But to return: during our stay in the river Canton, our people were employed in repairing the Centurion, over-hauling her sails and rigging, cleansing and ventilating her decks and quarters below, and in paying and decorating her hull; insomuch, that when she came to sail, she had more the appearance of a ship newly fitted out, than one that had been a three-years voyage in traversing the globe. While these things were doing on board the Centurion, we in the prize were busied in rummaging for treasure, till about the latter end of August, when we made a full end of our search, and found, upon account of the captors, in specie, 1,278,546 dollars, and 1,324 of wrought plate and virgin silver. The jewels we found were not then valued.

At the same time that the inferior officers and seamen were employed in these different services, the Commodore had a still more important business in hand. He knew it was impossible for us to proceed to Europe without an ample supply of provisions and other sea stores; and, though we were furnished with a daily allowance, yet no order had been obtained for victualling us for our intended voyage. Application had indeed been made, and terms agreed upon with the contractors to furnish whatever was necessary; and they had undertaken to procure the Viceroy’s permission for the delivery but when, about the middle of September, the proper officer was sent to enquire what forwardness these things were in, he found that neither the baker had begun to bake the bread, nor the butcher to kill the oxen, nor was the least step taken to comply with any one article of the agreement. We could no otherwise account for this faithless procedure of the Chinese, than by supposing they meant to starve us into a compliance with their accustomed demands for port charges, with which the Commodore was determined never to acquiesce. Indeed, it was suspected, that the contractors themselves had some interest in promoting the delay, though it was not easy to penetrate the views by which they were influenced, as it may with truth be asserted, that in artifice, falshood, and attachment to all kinds of lucre, the Chinese, as a nation, are not to be paralleled by any other people under the sun. 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 buying provisions in China being by weight, the tricks made use of to make them heavy are almost incredible. At one time a number of fowls and ducks being bought for the ship’s store, the greatest part of them presently died, which spread a general alarm on board lest they, should have died of poison; but, on examination, it was discovered that they had been crammed with small stones and gravel to increase their weight. The hogs, too, bought of the Chinese butchers ready killed, were found to have had water injected into the carcases for the same purpose; and when, to avoid this cheat, the hogs were bought alive, it was found that salt had been given them to increase their thirst, that methods had been used to suppress their urine, and that the tortured animals had been sold in that inflated state. Mr. Walter adds⁠—[for it is on his authority that these instances are reported]⁠—that, as the Chinese never scruple to eat the animals that die of themselves, they contrived, by their secret practices, when the Commodore put to sea, that part of his live sea-store should die in a short time after it was put on board: in order, therefore, to make a second profit of the dead carcases which they expected would be thrown over-board, they followed in boats to pick up the carrion; and, accordingly, two thirds of the hogs dying before they were out of sight of land, their labour could not be in vain.

The treachery of the contractors being now discovered, the Commodore determined to renew his former requisition for an audience with the Viceroy. With this view, he notified his intention to the proper Mandarine, and desired that he would fix the time with the Viceroy when he would be pleased to receive him at the same time giving him to understand, that, on the first of October, he intended to proceed in his boat to Canton. The Mandarine returned for answer, that he would acquaint the Viceroy with the Commodore’s intentions. As it was apprehended, that the payment of the customary duties would be demanded at this interview, the Commodore took the necessary precautions to prevent the Chinese from facilitating the success of their pretensions by having him in their power at Canton, and, therefore, gave the command of the Centurion to his First Lieut. Mr. Brett (now Sir Piercy), with orders, if he should be detained, to lie at the mouth of the river, and suffer no ship or boat to pass or repass till he was released, by which the whole navigation of the river would be immediately obstructed.

This being known to the Chinese, they were now more than ever embarrassed in their deliberations. The morning of the 1st of October arrived, and just as the boats crew, eighteen in number, which the Commodore proposed to take with him, appeared in their uniform, namely, scarlet jackets and blue silk waistcoats, the whole trimmed with silver, with silver badges on their jackets and caps, his linguist came to him from the Mandarine, to tell him, that a letter had been received from the Viceroy, desiring the Commodore to defer his intended purpose for two or three days, which not being doubted, the men were ordered to be undrest, and the preparations were all laid aside; but, in the afternoon of the same day, another linguist came on board, seemingly in a great panic, informing him, that the Viceroy had expected him up that day; that the council was assembled, and the troops under arms to receive him; and that the Viceroy was highly incensed at the disappointment, and had sent the Commodore’s linguist to prison, chained, supposing him to be the sole cause of the contempt. This plausible tale gave the Commodore great uneasiness, not at that time suspecting any imposition; and though it afterwards appeared to be all a mere farce, yet the falshood was so well supported by the artifices of the Chinese merchants, that three days afterwards the Commodore received a letter, signed by all the Supercargoes of the English ships then at the place, expressing their uneasiness at what had happened, and intimating their fears that some insult would be offered to his boat, if he attempted to come to Canton before the Viceroy was fully satisfied of the mistake. To this letter the Commodore replied, that he did not believe there had been a mistake, but was persuaded it was a forgery of the Chinese to prevent his visiting the Viceroy; that, therefore, he would certainly come up to Canton on the 13th 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 13th of October, the Commodore continuing firm to his resolutions, 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 were sent to augment his retinue. As he passed by Wampo where the European vessels lay, he was saluted by all of them except the French, and in the evening he arrived safely at Canton.

The Chinese merchants, who affected to appear very much pleased that he had met with no opposition in his way, pretended that the Viceroy was then so fully employed in preparing his dispatches for Peking, that there was no getting admittance to him; but that they had engaged one of the officers of his court, as soon as he was at leisure, to notify the Commodore’s arrival, and endeavour to fix the audience. Though the Commodore knew this to be a falsehood, yet he suffered himself to be persuaded by the European Supercargoes not to appear to doubt it, provided the Chinese merchants would undertake that his bread should be baked, his meat salted, and his stores in readiness, within the space of 40 days; after which time, if the least article was pretended to be forgotten, he would force his way to the Viceroy, and prefer his complaint. During the interval, while the contractors were endeavouring in earnest to fulfil the terms of the agreement on their part, (which by the way they insisted should be paid for in advance on his), a fire broke out in the suburbs of Canton, which on the first alarm might easily have been extinguished, by pulling down some of the adjoining sheds; which the Commodore with his officers and crew observing, were instantly about to carry into execution but they were told, that whatever they pulled down they must build up again at their own expence, and that none but a Mandarine must presume to direct upon such occasions. The Commodore, on this admonition, dispatched his people to the English factory to assist them in securing their effects, as it was easy to foresee that no distance was safe from fire, where the common-people contented themselves with gazing at it, and now-and-then holding up an idol or two to extinguish it. At length, however, a Mandarine came out of the city, with 4 or 500 firemen, who made some very feeble efforts to pull down the neighbouring houses; but by this time the fire had extended itself, and had spread among the merchants warehouses, where the Chinese firemen had neither spirit nor skill to encounter it; so that it was feared the whole city would have been laid in ashes. In this emergency, the Viceroy vouchsafed to make his appearance, and a message was sent to the Commodore requesting his assistance. Accordingly, he hastened a second time, with about 40 of his people, to the place where the fire raged with the most violence, and in sight of the whole city performed such daring, and, to the people who beheld them, such astonishing feats, that they looked upon them as salamanders, and cried out, that they could live in fire. In truth, it was no uncommon thing to see the boldest and most active among them tumble on the roofs amidst the ruins of the houses which their own efforts had brought down under them. And thus, by their resolution and agility, the fire was very soon subdued, to the astonishment of the Chinese who were spectators of the wonders they performed. On this occasion the Swedish was the only European factory that suffered; yet on my arrival in England, to my no small diversion, I read in the Paris Gazette, that the city of Canton had been almost wholly destroyed; and that, in particular, the English, Dutch, Danish, and Portuguese factories, had been burnt down, and almost all their effects consumed; but that the French factory had providentially escaped, their goods being all shipped before the conflagration reached the quarter allotted for their residence.

This signal assistance gained the Admiral much respect; he was the next day waited upon by the principal inhabitants with presents and thanks; and soon after, a message came from the Viceroy appointing the 30th of November for the day of audience. Being highly pleased with this last intimation, he instantly gave orders for the necessary preparations; and engaged Mr. Flint, a gentleman belonging to the English factory, for his interpreter, who, being trained up from his infancy among the Chinese, spoke their language fluently, and who was not afraid to declare with boldness what the Admiral delivered him in charge, a part which the Chinese interpreters would not have dared to have performed with equal fidelity.

On the day appointed, at 10 o’clock, the Commodore and his retinue set out; and, as he entered the outer gate of the city, he was met by a guard of 200 soldiers, who conducted him to the great parade before the Emperor’s palace, in which the Viceroy then resided, where a body of troops to the number of 10,000 were drawn up under arms, who made a fine appearance, being all new cloathed for this ceremony. Through the middle of this body the Commodore with his retinue marched to the 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 Mandarines attending. He was seated the third in order from the Viceroy, the chiefs of the law and treasury being the only persons seated above him. He then, addressing himself to the Viceroy by his interpreter, complained to him of the delays he had met with, the insincerity of those he had employed, the vexatious impositions of the officers of the customs, the grievances of the British subjects, and, finally, the loss sustained by the Haslingfield Indiaman, who had arrived there dismasted but a few days before the fire happened, by which the crew had been great sufferers, and the Captain in particular, who had lost a chest of treasure value 4500 tahel. To the latter article the Commodore received for answer, that, in, settling the Emperor’s customs with that ship, the Captain should be considered. To the other complaints, the Commodore received no answer at all. And having now gone through the several articles he had in charge from the company, he entered next upon his own affairs, and particularly concerning the licence to ship off his provisions and stores, which, he said, were all ready, and the season for sailing was now set in. The Viceroy replied to this, that the licence should be immediately issued, and that every thing should be ordered on board the following day. The business being now at an end, the Viceroy continued the conversation for some time on matters of indifference and curiosity; and, after observing that the Centurion had been long on their coast, he concluded with acknowledgments for the services the Commodore had rendered the Chinese nation by the activity of his people at the late fire, and with wishing him a prosperous voyage to Great Britain. Thus happily concluded this long-expected audience; and, in pursuance of the Viceroy’s promises, the provisions were begun to be shipped the very next day: and now all the preparations for putting to sea were pursued with so much expedition, that by the 9th the Centurion and her prize were ready to unmoor, and on the 10th passed through the Bocca Tygris into the open road, and on the 12th anchored before the town of Mocao. While they lay here, the Portuguese merchants entered into treaty with the Commodore for the purchase of the prize, for which they would give no more than 6000 dollars, though worth double that sum; but the impatience of the Commodore to be gone, that he might himself be the messenger of his own good fortune, and thereby prevent the enterprizes of the enemy to intercept him, prevailed upon him to conclude the bargain; and, she being delivered on the 15th of December, and the money received, in the afternoon of the same day he hoisted sail, and took his departure for his native home. On the 3d of January he came to an anchor on Prince’s Island, in the straits of Sunda, where he staid the best part of five days to wood and water, and on the 8th weighed and continued his course. From this time till the 20th we had foul and stormy weather, so bad that I thought it impossible to meet with such in latitudes so near the Equator; and the wind blowing directly against us, we were driven pretty near the coast of New Holland; and, had it continued blowing from the same quarter, with equal violence, for 48 hours longer, we should have found it difficult to have cleared that coast; but, on the 21st, the wind abated, and the weather became moderate. On the 24th the trade-wind set in, and we then proceeded on our passage with the highest alacrity.

On the 22d of February, at half after four in the morning, I discovered a comet to the eastward, near the horizon, being, as I judged, lately emerged from the sun’s rays. Its tail was at this time about 10 degrees in length; but in less than a fortnight it increased and extended itself to near 40 degrees. Its head appeared very large and bright; and, on a nice inspection, I have perceived it when the sun has been about a diameter above the horizon. The next time I observed its distance from the planet Venus to be 26 deg. 50 min. following the order of the planets; but not having instruments proper for taking altitudes without a very obvious sensible horizon, I was prevented from making more satisfactory observations. From this time, till the 6th of March, we had pleasant weather, with few exceptions; but on that and the three following days, being near the Cape of Good Hope, we had some boisterous storms; yet, when we arrived at Table-bay, on the 11th, the Dutch knew not that any such had happened. We found riding here two English East-Indiamen, the Salisbury and Warwick, each of which saluted us with 13 guns, and we returned 11. We also found five Dutch ships, one of which having, as Admiral, a flag at his main-top-mast-head, saluted us with 9 guns, to which we returned 7. At 11 at night we parted our best bower cable and hawser, both of which were very rotten, and the next day moored again with others purchased from the Dutch. Here the Commodore continued till the beginning of April, highly delighted with the place, and during his stay entered about 40 new men. On the 3d of May, having compleated our water and provisions, we on that day weighed and put to sea. On the 19th of April we passed within sight of the island of St. Helena, which, however, we did not visit. On the 26th we caught on board the ship a snake that measured in length six feet and two inches, which our surgeon, on examination, pronounced to be perfectly harmless. It was supposed to be brought on board with our wood, at Prince’s Island, in the straits of Sunda. The 30th, being before the wind, with a fine breeze, and a gentle rain, a violent and sudden squall took us a-head, threw all the ship’s sails a-back, carried away her fore-top-sail yard, split the fore-sail, the fore-top-sail, the fore-top-gallant-sail, and the mizzen and mizzen-top sail. During this squall the ship laid down very much, and we were in the utmost danger of our masts coming by the board; but providentially we escaped without further damage.

The 9th of June, in the evening, it being a thick fog, we on a sudden saw a ship close by us; we fired a shot, and brought her to. She proved an English ship from Amsterdam, bound for Philadelphia or Carolina, with Palatine emigrants. She gave us the first notice of a war with France, and proceeded on her voyage. The 10th of June we came into soundings. The 11th, at half past eleven in the morning, we discovered three sail, and at one in the afternoon spoke with one of them, being a Dutch ship from Dublin. At the same time, the second, being pretty near us, shewed Dutch colours. The third, who had been in chace of the others the whole day, perceiving we designed to speak with her, stood from us with all the sail she could crowd. We gave chace to her for about three hours, when, finding we did not gain upon her, we resumed our former course. On the 12th, in the morning, the fog clearing up, we perceived the Lizard Point: but that the signal perils, which had so often threatened us, and from which we had been more than once providentially delivered, might be discoverable to the last, we were afterwards told that there was a French fleet of considerable force cruising in the chops of the Channel, through the middle of which we had this night sailed without being perceived.

On the 13th, between the Isle of Portland and the Isle of Wight, we saw a ship towing another which was disabled in her masts. This ship proved the Salamander privateer, with a French prize. The 14th, at eleven in the morning, we anchored at the back of the Isle of Wight, and in the evening weighed, and again anchored at Spithead.⁠—Thus we finished a long and perilous voyage, which had lasted three years and nine months, after having by its events, as Mr. Walter observes, strongly evinced this important truth, That though prudence, intrepidity, and perseverance, united, are not exempted from the blows of adverse fortune, yet, in a long series of transactions, they usually rise superior to its power, and in the end rarely fail of proving successful.”

[Having now brought this celebrated voyage to a conclusion, it may, perhaps, be expected that we should give some account of the Spanish squadron, which we have more than once had occasion to mention, and which was so near intercepting the Commodore at first setting out, that, had the Spanish Admiral cruised to the eastward of the island of Madeira, instead of the westward of it, the two fleets must have certainly met; and, in that case, whatever had been the event of the action, the progress of the voyage must have been effectually prevented.

This squadron was composed of the following ships: the Asia, of 66 guns, 700 men, commanded by Don Joseph Pizarro, as Admiral; the Guipuscoa, 74 guns, 700 men; the Hermione, 54 guns, 500 men; the Esperanza, 50 guns, 450 men; the Estevan, 40 guns, 350 men; and a patache of 20 guns, 120 men; and over and above this complement, they had on board an old Spanish regiment of foot, intended to reinforce their garrisons in the South Seas, and to counterbalance the land forces that it was known were intended to be put on board the Commodore.

When this fleet had cruised, as has been said, to the leeward of Madeira, till they were in a manner certain that the Commodore had either passed by, or deferred his voyage, their Admiral determined to pursue his instructions, and continue his course to the South Seas; but first, it was necessary to steer to the coast of Brazil to recruit his provisions, being victualled only for four months, and more than two of the four being already elapsed.

Accordingly, about the beginning of November, 1740, he quitted his station off the Madeiras, and, on the 5th of January following, arrived at the river of Plate; where coming to an anchor in the bay of Maldando, he sent immediately to Buenos Ayres for a supply.

While they lay here, they received intelligence, by the treachery of the Portuguese Governor of St. Catherine’s, of the Commodore’s arrival at that port, and of the weak condition he was then in; but, whatever were his reasons, Pizarro declined making any other use of this intelligence, than hastening his preparations to double the cape, which he hoped to effect before the Commodore was in readiness to follow him. With this view, after refreshing his crew, and recruiting his water, he instantly set sail without waiting for his provisions (which, however, arrived a day or two after he set sail), rightly concluding, that, if he got the start of the Commodore in the South Seas, he should not only alarm the coast, but so strengthen the forts against the attacks of the enemy, as effectually to baffle their designs, by depriving them of the means of procuring necessaries. But, notwithstanding this precipitation, the Commodore put to sea four days before him, and, in some part of the passage round the Cape, the fleets were so near each other, that the Pearl, as has been said, being separated in a storm, ran within gun-shot of the Asia before she found her mistake.

It was with the utmost difficulty, and not without considerable rewards, that the Spanish sailors were prevailed upon to undertake the passage round Cape Horn at that tempestuous season: however, being once engaged, they continued to persevere, till by the latter end of February they had run the length of the Cape, and were turning to the westward, when a storm arose, in which the Guipuscoa, Hermiona, and Esperanza, lost sight of the Admiral, and on the 6th of March the Guipuscoa was separated from the other two. On the 7th the storm increased, and by its irresistible violence drove the whole squadron to the eastward, and, after several unsuccessful efforts, obliged them to return to the coast of Brazil, where the Asia took shelter in the river of Plate, and about the middle of May was joined by the Esperanza and Estevan; the Hermiona having, as was supposed, foundered at sea, as she was never more heard of, and the Guipuscoa being run ashore and sunk on the coast of Brazil. The patache, we should have observed, was condemned before they quitted the coast of Brazil, and her crew distributed among the other ships; so that, of the six ships of which this squadron originally consisted, there now only remained three, and those in a most miserable condition; for, though it does not appear, that the Spaniards were so severely visited with that most fatal disease the sea-scurvy, which carried off so many of the English in this passage, yet they were reduced by famine to such infinite distress, that rats, when they could be caught, were sold for four dollars a-piece; and a sailor, who died on board, had his death concealed for several days by his brother, who during that time lay in the same hammock with the dead corpse, only to receive the dead man’s allowance.

In this dreadful situation, they were alarmed by the discovery of a conspiracy among the soldiers on board the Asia, to murder the Admiral, and all the ship’s crew, originating from no other motive but that of appropriating the whole stock of provisions to the conspirators own proper use. But this plot was prevented, when just upon the point of execution, by means of the priest on board, who, having taken the confession of one of the conspirators as he lay at the point of death, pursued proper measures to defeat their bloody purposes, and to bring three of the ringleaders to condign punishment.

But, though this combination failed of its effect, there were other distresses that multiplied upon them, and which could not be prevented. Hunger and thirst, the most dreadful of all other calamities, daily became more grievous; the ships grew continually more and more leaky, and the men less able to stand at the pumps; nothing was to be seen but despondency in every countenance; nothing heard but lamentations and complaints, which were embittered by the absolute impossibility of relieving them. Under the weight of these affecting circumstances, the Asia was near sinking, when she arrived at Monte Vedio with scarce half her crew alive. The Estevan, when she anchored in the bay of Barragan, had in like manner lost about the same number of her hands; but, what was still worse, and is almost incredible, the Esperanza, out of a crew of 450 seamen which she brought from Spain, had only 58 that reached the shore, and the whole regiment of soldiers, 60 men only excepted, perished.

Being now in want of all kinds of necessaries, masts, yards, rigging, provisions, and money, Pizarro dispatched an express over land to St. Jago, in Chili, to be from thence forwarded to the Viceroy of Peru, desiring a remittance of 200,000 dollars; and what must astonish the reader is, that the Indian who was charged with this dispatch, though in the depth of winter, when the Cordilleras are judged impassable by reason of the snow, was only 13 days in his journey from Buenos Ayres to St. Jago, places distant from each other 300 Spanish leagues. At the same time an advice-boat was sent with a letter of credit to Rio Janeiro, to purchase what was wanting of the Portuguese; but neither the one nor the other of these dispatches succeeded to the wish of the Spanish Admiral. The Viceroy, instead of 200,000 dollars, sent him only 100,000; and the Portuguese, instead of furnishing him with masts and yards, the principal articles of naval stores that he wanted, spared him only some pitch, tar, and cordage, with which he was obliged to be contented: but a more mortifying disappointment he had still to suffer; for a carpenter, whom, after the return of the money, he had trusted with a considerable sum, and whom he had sent up into the country of Puraguay to cut masts, instead of prosecuting the business with which he was entrusted, married in the country, and settled out of his reach, refusing to return.

In this dilemma, the only thing that could be done, was, to shift the mails of the Esperanza into the Asia, and to fit up the Estevan with what spare masts and yards they could muster, and with these two ships to hazard a second attempt to double Cape Horn, as it was now summer, and the weather less severe. But a certain fatality seemed to preside over every part of this unfortunate expedition. The Estevan, as she was coming down the river Plate, ran on a shoal and beat off her rudder; and the Asia, though she proceeded alone with moderate weather and a favourable gale, yet when she came to the height of Cape Horn, and was tacking to change her course to the westward, by some misconduct in wearing the ship, rolled away her masts, and was a second time forced back to the river of Plate; from whence Pizarro undertook to cross the continent by land, and with some difficulty accomplished his design.

By this time Don Mindinuetta, Captain of the Guipuscoa, wrecked, as has been said, on the coast of Brazil, arrived, with those of his crew who escaped, at the place of general rendezvous; and, finding the Esperanza without masts, applied a second time to the Portuguese, by whose assistance he completed her repair, and, in 1742, doubled the Cape, and arrived in the South Seas, where he was met by Pizarro, who claimed the command of the Esperanza, which Mindinuetta disputing, an irreconcileable quarrel arose between the two Commanders, which the Viceroy of Peru in vain endeavoured to reconcile. In 1745, they both returned over land to the coast of Brazil, where they found the Asia still in a shattered condition. This ship, however, they determined to carry to Europe, and, with this view, they fitted her up in the best manner they could; and, having manned her partly with Portuguese, partly with English prisoners, and partly with Spaniards, together with some Indians whom they forced out of the country, they set sail from Monte Vedio for Europe about the beginning of November; but they had not been long at sea before the Indians, eleven in number, formed a conspiracy to destroy the Spaniards, and to regain their liberty, in which they had hopes of being joined by the English and Portuguese, whom the Spaniards used with great insolence. At the head of this conspiracy was their Chief Orellana; and one evening, about nine o’clock, he and his companions came all together on the quarter-deck, and drew towards the door of the great cabbin. The boatswain immediately reprimanded them, and ordered them to be gone; on this Orellana spoke to his followers in his native language, when four of them drew off, two towards each gangway, and the Chief and the remaining six seemed to be slowly quitting the quarter-deck. When the detached Indians had taken possession of the gang-way, Orellana placed his hands hollow to his mouth, and bellowed out the war-cry used by those savages. This was the signal for beginning the massacre; accordingly, the six, with their Chief, who remained on the quarter-deck, falling suddenly on the Spaniards who were intermingled with them, laid near forty of them at their feet, of which above twenty were killed on the spot, and the rest disabled. Many of the officers, in the beginning of the tumult, pushed into the great cabbin, where they put out the lights, and barricadoed the door; whilst of the rest, some endeavoured to escape along the gang-ways into the forecastle, where the Indians placed on purpose stabbed the greatest part of them as they attempted to pass by; others threw themselves into the waste, and thought themselves fortunate to lie concealed amongst the cattle; but the greatest part escaped up the main-shrouds, and sheltered themselves either in the tops or the rigging; and though the Indians attacked only the quarter-deck, yet the watch in the forecastle finding their communication cut off, in the utmost terror likewise gave all over for lost, and in great confusion ran up into the rigging of the fore-mast and bowsprit. But when the Indians had intirely cleared the quarter-deck, the tumult in a great measure subsided; for, not being joined, as they expected, by either the English or Portuguese, they could not pursue their advantage by carrying the disorder into those quarters to which they had driven the Spaniards, who thereby gained time for recollection; and, on finding none concerned in the plot but the Indians, they resolved to attack them in their turn on the quarter-deck. With this view, Pizarro and his officers ventured to half-open the cabbin-door, which Orellana attempting to force, was shot dead by Mindinuetta; on which his faithful followers, abandoning all thoughts of further resistance, instantly leaped into the sea. Thus was this insurrection quelled, and the Spaniards suffered afterwards quietly to proceed on their voyage; and, about the beginning of 1746, they arrived safe in Spain, after having been absent between four and five years.

By this unfortunate expedition the naval force of Spain was much weakened: they lost in it 3000 of their best sailors, one whole regiment of veteran soldiers, four stout ships of war, and a patache; for we have observed that the Hermiona foundered at sea; the Guipuscoa was stranded and sunk on the coast of Brazil; the St. Estevan was condemned and broke up in the river of Plate; and the Esperanza, being carried into the South Seas, was unable to redouble the Cape, or to return back; so that the Asia alone may be regarded as all the remains of that squadron with which Pizarro first put to sea.