FROM OUR DEPARTURE FROM PAITA TO OUR ARRIVAL AT QUIBO
When we got under sail from the coast of Paita (which, as I have
already observed, was about midnight on the 16th of November) we stood
to the westward, and in the morning the commodore gave orders that the
whole squadron should spread themselves to look out for the
_Gloucester_. For we then drew near the station where Captain Mitchel
had been directed to cruise, and we hourly expected to get sight of
him; but the whole day passed without seeing him.
And now a jealousy, which had taken its rise at Paita, 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 appease it. The ground of this animosity was the plunder
gotten at Paita, 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 shown 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 action 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 {194} 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
Paita, 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 among
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.
This important business employed the best part of the day after we came
from Paita. And now, at night, having no sight of the _Gloucester_,
the commodore ordered the squadron to bring to, that we might not pass
her in the dark. The next morning we again looked out for her, and at
ten we saw a sail, to which we gave chace; and at two in the {195}
afternoon we came near enough to discover her to be the _Gloucester_,
with a small vessel in tow. About an hour after we were joined by
them; and then we learnt that Captain Mitchel, in the whole time of his
cruise, had only taken two prizes; one of them being a small snow,
whose cargoe consisted chiefly of wine, brandy, and olives in jars,
with about £7000 in specie; and the other a large boat or launch, which
the _Gloucester's_ barge came up with near the shore. The prisoners on
board this last vessel alledged that they were very poor, and that
their loading consisted only of cotton, though the circumstances in
which the barge surprized them seemed to insinuate that they were more
opulent than they pretended to be, for the _Gloucester's_ people found
them at dinner upon pigeon-pye, served up in silver dishes. However,
the officer who commanded the barge having opened several of the jars
on board, to satisfy his curiosity, and finding nothing in them but
cotton, he was inclined to believe the account the prisoners gave him:
but the cargoe being taken into the _Gloucester_, and there examined
more strictly, they were agreeably surprized to find that the whole was
a very extraordinary piece of false package, and that there was
concealed among the cotton, in every jar, a considerable quantity of
double doubloons and dollars, to the amount on the whole of near
£12,000. This treasure was going to Paita, and belonged to the same
merchants who were the proprietors of the greatest part of the money we
had taken there; so that had this boat escaped the _Gloucester_, it is
probable her cargoe would have fallen into our hands. Besides these
two prizes which we have mentioned, the _Gloucester's_ people told us
that they had been in sight of two or three other ships of the enemy,
which had escaped them; and one of them we had reason to believe, from
some of our intelligence, was of immense value.
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 Fernandes, had
determined with himself to touch in the neighbourhood of Panama, and to
endeavour to get some correspondence overland with the fleet under the
command of Admiral Vernon. For when we departed from England, we left
a large force at Portsmouth {196} 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, and should
have had in our hands an equivalent for any demands, however
extraordinary, which we might have been induced to have made on either
of the branches of the House of Bourbon.
Such were the projects which the commodore revolved in his thoughts at
the island of Juan Fernandes, notwithstanding the feeble condition to
which he was then reduced. And indeed, had the success of our force in
the West Indies been answerable to the general expectation, it cannot
be denied but these views would have been the most prudent that could
have been thought of. But in examining the papers which were found on
board the _Carmelo_, the first prize we took, we learnt (though I then
omitted to mention it) 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, {197} or to the
adjacent coast of Mexico, there to cruise for the Manila galeon, which
we knew was now at sea, bound to the port of Acapulco. And we doubted
not to get on that station time enough to intercept her; for this ship
does not usually arrive at Acapulco till towards the middle of January,
and we were now but in the middle of November, and did not conceive
that our passage thither would cost us above a month or five weeks; so
that we imagined we had near twice as much time as was necessary for
our purpose. Indeed there was a business which we foresaw would
occasion some delay, but we flattered ourselves that it would be
dispatched in four or five days, and therefore could not interrupt our
project. This was the recruiting of our water; for the number of
prisoners we had entertained on board since our leaving the island of
Fernandes had so far exhausted our stock, that it was impossible to
think of venturing upon this passage to the coast of Mexico till we had
procured a fresh supply, especially as at Paita, where we had some
hopes of getting a quantity, we did not find enough for our consumption
during our stay there. It was for some time a matter of deliberation
where we should take in this necessary article; but by consulting the
accounts of former navigators, and examining our 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 buccaneers have pretended they found
water: but none of our prisoners knew anything 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 these legendary writers, of whose
misrepresentations and falsities we had almost daily experience.
Besides, by going to Quibo we were not without hopes that some of the
enemies ships bound to or from Panama might fall into our hands,
particularly such of them as were put to sea before they had any
intelligence of our squadron.
Determined therefore by these reasons for Quibo, we directed our course
northward, being eight sail in company, and consequently having the
appearance of a very {198} formidable fleet; and on the 19th, at
daybreak, we discovered Cape Blanco, bearing S.S.E.½E. seven miles
distant. This cape lies in the latitude of 40° 15' south, and is
always made by ships bound either to windward or to leeward; so that
off this cape is a most excellent station to cruise upon the enemy. By
this time we found that our last prize, the _Solidad_, was far from
answering the character given her of a good sailor; and she and the
_Santa Teresa_ delaying us considerably, the commodore commanded them
both to be cleared of everything that might prove useful to the rest of
the ships, and then to be burnt; and having given proper instructions,
and a rendezvous to the _Gloucester_ and the other prizes, we proceeded
in our course for Quibo, and on the 22d, in the morning, saw the island
of Plata, bearing east, distant four leagues. Here one of our prizes
was ordered to stand close in with it, both to discover if there were
any ships between that island and the continent, and likewise to look
out for a stream of fresh water which was reported to be there, and
which would have saved us the trouble of going to Quibo; but she
returned without having seen any ship, or finding any water. At three
in the afternoon Point Manta bore S.E. by E. seven miles distant; and
there being a town of the same name in the neighbourhood, Captain
Mitchel took this opportunity of sending away several of his prisoners
from the _Gloucester_ in the Spanish launch. The boats were now daily
employed in distributing provisions on board our prizes to complete
their stock for six months: and that the _Centurion_ might be the
better prepared to give the Manila ships (one of which we were told was
of an immense size) a warm reception, the carpenters were ordered to
fix eight stocks in the main and fore-tops, which were properly fitted
for the mounting of swivel guns.
On the 25th we had a sight of the island of Gallo, bearing E.S.E.½E.
four leagues distant; and from hence we crossed the bay of Panama with
a N.W. course, hoping that this would have carried us in a direct line
to the island of Quibo. But we afterwards found that we ought to have
stood more to the westward, for the winds in a short time began to
incline to that quarter, and made it difficult to gain the island.
After passing the equinoctial (which we did on the 22d) and leaving the
neighbourhood of the Cordilleras, and standing more and more towards
the isthmus, where the {199} communication of the atmosphere to the
eastward and the westward was no longer interrupted, we found in very
few days an extraordinary alteration in the climate. For instead of
that uniform temperature where neither the excess of heat or cold was
to be complained of, we had now, for several days together, close and
sultry weather, resembling what we had before met with on the coast of
Brazil, and in other parts between the tropics on the eastern side of
America. We had besides frequent calms and heavy rains, which we at
first ascribed to the neighbourhood of the line, where this kind of
weather is generally found to prevail at all seasons of the year; but
observing that it attended us to the latitude of seven degrees north,
we were at length induced to believe that the stormy season, or, as the
Spaniards call it, the Vandevals, was not yet over; though many
writers, particularly Captain Shelvocke, positively assert that this
season begins in June, and is ended in November, and our prisoners all
affirmed the same thing. But perhaps its end may not be always
constant, and it might last this year longer than usual.
On the 27th, Captain Mitchel having finished the clearing of his
largest prize, she was scuttled and set on fire; but we still consisted
of five ships, and were fortunate enough to find them all good sailors,
so that we never occasioned any delay to each other. Being now in a
rainy climate, which we had been long disused to, we found it necessary
to caulk the decks and sides of the _Centurion_, to prevent the rain
water from running into her.
On the 3d of December we had a view of the island of Quibo, the east
end of which then bore from us N.N.W. four leagues distant, and the
island of Quicara W.N.W. about the same distance. Here we struck
ground with sixty-five fathom of line, the bottom consisting of grey
sand with black specks. When we had thus got sight of the land, we
found the wind to hang westerly; and therefore, night coming on, we
thought it adviseable to stand off till morning, as there are said to
be some shoals in the entrance of the channel. At six the next morning
Point Mariato bore N.E.½N. three or four leagues distant. In
weathering this point all the squadron except the _Centurion_ were very
near it; and the _Gloucester_ being the leewardmost ship, was forced to
tack and stand to the southward, so that we lost sight of her. At
{200} nine, the island of Sebaco bore N.W. by N. four leagues distant;
but the wind still proving unfavourable, we were obliged to ply on and
off for the succeeding twenty-four hours, and were frequently taken
aback. However, at eleven the next morning, the wind happily settled
in the S.S.W., and we bore away for the S.S.E. end of the island, and
about three in the afternoon entered the Canal Bueno, passing round a
shoal which stretches off about two miles from the south point of the
island. This Canal Bueno, or Good Channel, is at least six miles in
breadth; and as we had the wind large, we kept in a good depth of
water, generally from twenty-eight or thirty-three fathom, and came not
within a mile and a half distance of the breakers, though, in all
probability, if it had been necessary, we might have ventured much
nearer without incurring the least danger. At seven in the evening we
anchored in thirty-three fathom muddy ground; the south point of the
island bearing S.E. by S., a remarkable high part of the island W. by
N., and the island Sebaco E. by N. Being thus arrived at this island
of Quibo, the account of the place, and of our transactions there,
shall be referred to the ensuing chapter.
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