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.