Volume Xi Part 26 (1/2)
[Footnote 8: Captain Krusenstern, in his very interesting work already referred to, relates an anecdote, which it may amuse the reader to compare with the reasoning of Commodore Anson's now given:
”An English brig (The Harrier) of eighteen guns, sent by Captain Wood, commanding a squadron on that station, to demand indemnification for a Spanish prize stranded on the coast of China, and plundered by the natives, had the audacity, in defiance of the laws of China, which prohibit s.h.i.+ps of war going up the Tigris, to force her way as high as Whampoa. Two mandarines, as usual, went aboard the brig at the mouth of the river, to enquire what her cargo was. The captain shewed them a cannon-ball, on which they instantly retired.
”The brig,” says K. ”had found her way to Whampoa without a pilot; and the captain, with a guard of twelve men, proceeded to Canton to demand the payment of the sum (30,000.) This daring conduct threw the viceroy into astonishment, and perhaps occasioned him some terror; for nothing but the excessive cowardice of the Chinese could have deterred him from noticing the affront. They, indeed, shewed a disposition after the captain had quitted Canton of avenging themselves, but this altogether in their customary manner; and I was a.s.sured, that the viceroy, as indemnification for this insult of the English captain, had imposed a heavy fine upon the Kohong (a company of merchants possessing the monopoly of the European trade,) although the members of this body could have no concern in the transaction.” Capt. K. is decidedly of opinion, that nothing but resolute conduct will overcome the fickleness and knavery of the Chinese. He pays a high compliment to our countrymen, especially Mr Drummond, president of the factory, who interfered in his behalf when at Whampoa, and with effect, when they could easily have thwarted his plan, and embroiled his government with that of China. ”That they pursued a very different line of conduct,” says he, ”will appear by the above account of their proceedings; nor can I sufficiently rejoice at the zeal and eagerness manifested by them in this business. Had we been detained only twenty-four-hours longer (he had applied for leave to depart, which was granted with much difficulty, and actually revoked a day after he had gone,) we must have fallen into the absolute power of these savages, who have been emboldened by an useless moderation, not only to call the polite nations of Europe barbarians, but also to treat them as such.”--E.]
When this weighty affair was thus in some degree regulated, the commodore invited him and his two attendant mandarines to dinner, telling them at the same time, that if his provisions, either in kind or quant.i.ty, were not what they might expect, they must thank themselves for having confined him to so hard an allowance. One of his dishes was beef, which the Chinese all dislike, though Mr Anson was not apprized of it; this seems to be derived from the India superst.i.tion, which for some ages past has made a great progress in China. However, his guests did not entirely fast; for the three mandarines completely finished the white part of four large fowls. But they were extremely embarra.s.sed with their knives and forks, and were quite incapable of making use of them: So that, after some fruitless attempts to help themselves, which were sufficiently awkward, one of the attendants was obliged to cut their meat in small pieces for them.
But whatever difficulty they might have in complying with the European manner of eating, they seemed not to be novices in drinking. The commodore excused himself in this part of the entertainment, under the pretence of illness; but there being another gentleman present, of a florid and jovial complexion, the chief mandarine clapped him on the shoulder, and told him by the interpreter, that certainly he could not plead sickness, and therefore insisted on his bearing him company; and that gentleman perceiving, that after they had dispatched four or five bottles of Frontiniac, the mandarine still continued unruffled, he ordered a bottle of citron-water to be brought up, which the Chinese seemed much to relish; and this being near finished, they arose from table in appearance cool and uninfluenced by what they had drank, and the commodore having, according to custom, made the mandarine a present, they all departed in the same vessels that brought them.
After their departure, the commodore with great impatience expected the resolution of the council, and the necessary licences for his refitment. For it must be observed, as hath already appeared from the preceding narration, that he could neither purchase stores nor necessaries with his money, nor did any kind of workmen dare to engage themselves to work for him, without the permission of the government first obtained. And in the execution of these particular injunctions, the magistrates never fail of exercising great severity, they, notwithstanding the fustian eulogiums bestowed on them by the catholic missionaries and their European copiers, being composed of the same fragile materials with the rest of mankind, and often making use of the authority of the law, not to suppress crimes, but to enrich themselves by the pillage of those who commit them; for capital punishments are rare in China, the effeminate genius of the nation, and their strong attachment to lucre, disposing them rather to make use of fines; and hence arises no inconsiderable profit to those who compose their tribunals: Consequently prohibitions of all kinds, particularly such as the alluring prospect of great profit may often tempt the subject to infringe, cannot but be favourite inst.i.tutions in such a government. But to return:
Some time before this, Captain Saunders took his pa.s.sage to England on board a Swedish s.h.i.+p, and was charged with dispatches from the commodore; and soon after, in the month of December, Captain Mitchel, Colonel Cracherode, and Mr Ta.s.sel, one of the agent-victuallers, with his nephew Mr Charles Harriot, embarked on board some of our company's s.h.i.+ps; and I, having obtained, the commodore's leave to return home, embarked with them.
Whilst we lay here at Macao, we were informed by some of the officers of our Indiamen, that the Severn and Pearl, the two s.h.i.+ps of our squadron, which had separated from us off Cape Noir, were safely arrived at Rio Janeiro on the coast of Brazil. I have formerly taken notice, that at the time of their separation, we apprehended them to be lost. And there were many reasons which greatly favoured this suspicion: For we knew that the Severn in particular was extremely sickly; and this was the more obvious to the rest of the s.h.i.+ps, as, in the preceding part of the voyage, her commander, Captain Legg, had been remarkable for his exemplary punctuality in keeping his station, till, for the last ten days before his separation, his crew was so diminished and enfeebled, that with his utmost efforts it was not possible for him to maintain it. Whatever was the cause of it, the Severn was by much the most sickly of the squadron: For before her departure from St Catharines, she buried more men than any of them, insomuch that the commodore was obliged to recruit her with a number of fresh hands; and the mortality still continuing, she was supplied with men a second time at sea, after our setting sail from St Julians; and, notwithstanding these different reinforcements, she was at last reduced to the distressed condition I have already mentioned.
Notwithstanding the favourable disposition of the mandarine governor of Janson, at his leaving Mr Anson, several days were elapsed before he had any advice from him; and Mr Anson was privately informed there were great debates in council upon his affair; partly perhaps owing to its being so unusual a case, and in part to the influence, as I suppose, of the French at Canton: For they had a countryman and fast friend residing on the spot, who spoke the language very well, and was not unacquainted with the venality of the government, nor with the persons of several of the magistrates, and consequently could not be at a loss for means of traversing the a.s.sistance desired by Mr Anson. And this opposition of the French was not merely the effect of national prejudice or contrariety of political interests, but was in good measure owing to their vanity, a motive of much more weight with the generality of mankind, than any attachment to the public service of their community: For, the French pretending their Indiamen to be men of war, their officers were apprehensive that any distinction granted to Mr Anson, on account of his bearing the king's commission, would render them less considerable in the eyes of the Chinese, and would establish a prepossession at Canton in favour of s.h.i.+ps of war, by which they, as trading vessels, would suffer in their importance: And I wish the affectation of endeavouring to pa.s.s for men of war, and the fear of sinking in the estimation of the Chinese, if the Centurion was treated in a different manner from themselves, had been confined to the officers of the French s.h.i.+ps only.[9] However, notwithstanding all these obstacles, it should seem that the representation of the commodore to the mandarines of the facility with which he could right himself, if justice were denied him, had at last its effect: For, on the 6th of January, in the morning, the governor of Janson, the commodore's advocate, sent down the viceroy of Canton's warrant for the refitment of the Centurion, and for supplying her people with all they wanted; and the next day a number of Chinese smiths and carpenters went on board to agree for the work. They demanded at first to the amount of a thousand pounds sterling for the necessary repairs of the s.h.i.+p, the boats, and the masts: This the commodore seemed to think an unreasonable sum, and endeavoured to persuade them to work by the day; but that proposal they would not hearken to; so it was at last agreed, that the carpenters should have to the amount of about six hundred pounds; and that the smiths should be paid for their iron-work by weight, allowing them at the rate of three pounds a hundred nearly for the small work, and forty-six s.h.i.+llings for the large.
[Footnote 9: This sly insinuation, it is pretty evident from the preceding narrative, is directed against some of the English merchants.--E.]
This being regulated, the commodore exerted himself to get this most important business completed; I mean the heaving down the Centurion, and examining the state of her bottom: For this purpose the first lieutenant was dispatched to Canton to hire two country vessels, called in their language junks, one of them being intended to heave down by, and the other to serve as a magazine for the powder and ammunition: At the same time the ground was smoothed on one of the neighbouring islands, and a large tent was pitched for lodging the lumber and provisions, and near a hundred Chinese caulkers were soon set to work on the decks and sides of the s.h.i.+p. But all these preparations, and the getting ready the careening gear, took up a great deal of time; for the Chinese caulkers, though they worked very well, were far from being expeditions; and it was the 26th of January before the junks arrived; and the necessary materials, which were to be purchased at Canton, came down very slowly, partly from the distance of the place, and partly from the delays and backwardness of the Chinese merchants. And in this interval Mr Anson had the additional perplexity to discover that his fore-mast was broken asunder above the upper deck partners, and was only kept together by the fishes which had been formerly clapt upon it.
However, the Centurion's people made the most of their time, and exerted themselves the best they could; and as, by clearing the s.h.i.+p, the carpenters were enabled to come at the leak, they took care to secure that effectually, whilst the other preparations were going forwards. The leak was found to be below the fifteen-foot mark, and was princ.i.p.ally occasioned by one of the bolts being wore away and loose in the joining of the stem where it was scarfed.
At last all things being prepared, they, on the 22d of February, in the morning, hove out the first course of the Centurion's starboard side, and had the satisfaction to find that her bottom appeared sound and good; and, the next day (having by that time completed the new sheathing of the first course) they righted her again, to set up anew the careening rigging which stretched much. Thus they continued heaving down, and often righting the s.h.i.+p from a suspicion of their careening tackle, till the 3d of March; when, having completed the paying and sheathing the bottom, which proved to be every where very sound, they for the last time righted the s.h.i.+p to their great joy, for not only the fatigue of careening had been considerable, but they had been apprehensive of being attacked by the Spaniards, whilst the s.h.i.+p was thus incapacitated for defence. Nor were their fears altogether groundless; for they learnt afterwards by a Portuguese vessel, that the Spaniards at Manilla had been informed that the Centurion was in the Typa, and intended to careen there; and that thereupon the governor had summoned his council, and had proposed to them to endeavour to burn her whilst she was careening, which was an enterprise, which, if properly conducted, might have put them in great danger: They were farther told that this scheme was not only proposed, but resolved on; and that a captain of a vessel had actually undertaken to perform the business for forty thousand dollars, which he was not to receive unless he succeeded; but the governor pretending that there was no treasure in the royal chest, and insisting that the merchants should advance the money, and they refusing to comply with the demand, the affair was dropped: Perhaps the merchants suspected that the whole was only a pretext to get forty thousand dollars from them; and indeed this was affirmed by some who bore the governor no good will, but with what truth it is difficult to ascertain.
As soon as the Centurion was righted, they took in her powder and gunner's stores, and proceeded in getting in their guns as fast as possible, and then used their utmost; expedition in repairing the fore-mast, and in completing the other articles of her refitment.
And being thus employed, they were alarmed on the 10th of March, by a Chinese fisherman, who brought them intelligence that he had been on board a large Spanish s.h.i.+p off the grand Ladrone, and that there were two more in company with her: He added several particulars to his relation, as that he had brought one of their officers to Macao; and that, on this, boats went off early in the morning from Macao to them: And the better to establish the belief of his veracity, he said he desired no money if his information should not prove true. This was presently believed to be the fore-mentioned expedition from Manilla, and the commodore immediately fitted his cannon and small arms in the best manner he could for defence; and having; then his pinnace and cutter in the offing, who had been ordered to examine a Portuguese vessel which was getting under sail, he sent them the advice he had received, and directed them to look out strictly: But no such s.h.i.+ps ever appeared, and they were soon satisfied the whole of the story was a fiction; though it was difficult to conceive what reason could induce the fellow to be at such extraordinary pains to impose on them.
It was the beginning of April before they had new-rigged the s.h.i.+p, stowed their provisions and water on board, and had fitted her for the sea; and before this time the Chinese grew very uneasy, and extremely desirous that she should be gone; either not knowing, or pretending not to believe, that this was a point the commodore was as eagerly set on as they could be. On the 3d of April, two mandarine boats came on board from Macao to urge his departure; and this having been often done before, though there had been no pretence to suspect Mr Anson of any affected delays, he at this last message answered them in a determined tone, desiring them to give him no further trouble, for he would go when he thought proper, and not before. On this rebuke the Chinese (though it was not in their power to compel him to be gone) immediately prohibited all provisions from being carried on board him, and took such care that their injunctions should be complied with, that from that time forwards nothing could be purchased at any rate whatever.
On the 6th of April, the Centurion weighed from the Typa, and warped to the southward; and by the 15th, she was got into Macao road, completing her water as she pa.s.sed along, so that there remained now very few articles more to attend to, and her whole business being finished by the 19th, she, at three in the afternoon of that day, weighed and made sail, and stood to sea.
SECTION x.x.x.
_From Macao to Cape Espiritu Santo; the taking of the Manilla Galleon, and returning back again._
The commodore was now got to sea, with his s.h.i.+p very well refitted, his stores replenished, and an additional stock of provisions on board: His crew too was somewhat reinforced; for he had entered twenty-three men during his stay at Macao, the greatest part of which were Lascars or Indian sailors, and some few Dutch. He gave out at Macao that he was bound to Batavia, and thence to England; and though the westerly monsoon was now set in, when that pa.s.sage is considered as impracticable, yet, by the confidence he had expressed in the strength of his s.h.i.+p, and the dexterity of his people, he had persuaded not only his own crew, but the people at Macao likewise, that he proposed to try this unusual experiment; so that there were many letters put on board him by the inhabitants of Canton and Macao for their friends at Batavia.
But his real design was of a very different nature: For he knew, that instead of one annual s.h.i.+p from Acapulco to Manilla, there would be this year in all probability two; since, by being before Acapulco, he had prevented one of them from putting to sea the preceding season.
He therefore resolved to cruise for these returning vessels off Cape Espiritu Santo, on the island of Samal, which is the first land they always make in the Philippine Islands. And as June is generally the month in which they arrive there, he doubted not but he should get to his intended station time enough to intercept them. It is true, they were said to be stout vessels, mounting forty-four guns a-piece, and carrying above five hundred hands, and might be expected to return in company; and he himself had but two hundred and twenty-seven hands on board, of which near thirty were boys: But this disproportion of strength did not deter him, as he knew his s.h.i.+p to be much better fitted for a sea-engagement than theirs, and as he had reason to expect that his men would exert themselves in the most extraordinary manner, when they had in view the immense wealth of these Manilla galleons.
This project the commodore had resolved on in his own thoughts, ever since his leaving the coast of Mexico. And the greatest mortification which he received, from the various delays he had met with in China, was his apprehension, lest he might be thereby so long r.e.t.a.r.ded as to let the galleons escape him. Indeed, at Macao it was inc.u.mbent on him to keep these views extremely secret; for there being a great intercourse and a mutual connection of interests between that port and Manilla, he had reason to fear, that if his designs were discovered, intelligence would be immediately sent to Manilla, and measures taken to prevent the galleons from falling into his hands: But being now at sea, and entirely clear of the coast, he summoned all his people on the quarter-deck, and informed them of his resolution to cruise for the two Manilla s.h.i.+ps, of whose wealth they were not ignorant. He told them he should chuse a station, where he could not fail of meeting with them; and though they were stout s.h.i.+ps, and full manned, yet, if his own people behaved with their accustomed spirit, he was certain he should prove too hard for them both, and that one of them at least could not fail of becoming his prize: He further added, that many ridiculous tales had been propagated about the strength of the sides of these s.h.i.+ps, and their being impenetrable to cannon-shot; that these fictions had been princ.i.p.ally invented to palliate the cowardice of those who had formerly engaged them; but he hoped there were none of those present weak enough to give credit to so absurd a story: For his own part, he did a.s.sure them upon his word, that, whenever he met with them, he would fight them so near, that they should find, his bullets, instead of being stopped by one of their sides, should go through them both.
This speech of the commodore's was received by his people with great joy: For no sooner had he ended, than they expressed their approbation, according to naval custom, by three strenuous cheers, and all declared their determination to succeed or perish, whenever the opportunity presented itself. And now their hopes, which, since their departure from the coast of Mexico, had entirely subsided, were again revived; and they all persuaded themselves, that, notwithstanding the various casualties and disappointments they had hitherto met with, they should yet be repaid the price of their fatigues, and should at last return home enriched with the spoils of the enemy: For, firmly relying on the a.s.surances of the commodore, that they should certainly meet with the vessels, they were all of them too sanguine to doubt a moment of mastering them; so that they considered themselves as having them already in their possession. And this confidence was so universally spread through the whole s.h.i.+p's company, that, the commodore having taken some Chinese sheep to sea with him for his own provision, and one day enquiring of his butcher, why, for some time past, he had seen no mutton at his table, asking him if all the sheep were killed, the butcher very seriously replied, that there were indeed two sheep left, but that, if his honour would give him leave, he proposed to keep those for the entertainment of the general of the galleons.
When the Centurion left the port of Macao, she stood for some days to the westward; and, on the first of May, they saw part of the island of Formosa; and, standing thence to the southward, they, on the 4th of May, were in the lat.i.tude of the Bashee islands, as laid down by Dampier; but they suspected his account of inaccuracy, as they found that he had been considerably mistaken in the lat.i.tude of the south end of Formosa: For this reason they kept a good look-out, and about seven in the evening discovered from the mast-head five small islands, which were judged to be the Bashees, and they had afterwards a sight of Bottle Tobago Xima. By this means they had an opportunity of correcting the position of the Bashee islands, which had been hitherto laid down twenty-five leagues too far to the westward: For, by their observations, they esteemed the middle of these islands to be in 21 4' north, and to bear from Botel Tobago Xima S.S.E. twenty leagues distant, that island itself being in 21 57' north.[1]
[Footnote 1: The Bashee Islands were so called by Dampier from the name of a liquor used by the natives. Four of them are inhabited, and are tolerably fertile, producing sugar canes, pine apples, plantaines, potatoes, &c. and having some hogs and goats. The inhabitants, who are reckoned a harmless and peaceable race, are said to resemble the j.a.panese, and probably are derived from them. The unfortunate Peyreuse visited one of the most northerly of these islands, and found its lat.i.tude to be 21 9' 13” N. Arrowsmith's map lays them down very particularly. The pa.s.sage betwixt Formosa and these islands is held very dangerous on account of the rock called Vele Rete, the precise situation of which is matter of discord among the navigators. Captain Krusenstern went through this pa.s.sage during the night, and that a stormy one too, with perfect safety, keeping the middle of the channel, and having men continually on the look-out. He seems to prefer the position of Vele Rete and its reef of rocks, (of about two miles circuit,) as given by Broughton, according to whose observations the lat.i.tude is 21 43' 24”, and the longitude 239 15'.--E.]