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.