The commodore having taken pilots on board, proceeded with his prize
for the river of Canton, and on the 14th of July cast anchor short of
the Bocca Tigris, which is a narrow passage forming the mouth of that
river. This entrance he proposed to stand through the next day, and to
run up as far as Tiger Island, which is a very safe road, secured from
all winds. But whilst the _Centurion_ and her prize were thus at
anchor, a boat with an officer was sent off from the mandarine
commanding the forts at Bocca Tigris to examine what the ships were and
whence they came. Mr. Anson informed the officer that his own ship was
a man-of-war belonging to the King of Great Britain, and that the other
in company with him was a prize he had taken, that he was going into
Canton river to shelter himself against the hurricanes which were then
approaching, and that as soon as the monsoon shifted he should set sail
for England. The officer then desired an account of what men, guns,
and ammunition were on board, a list of all which he said was to be
sent to the government of Canton. But when these articles were
repeated to him, particularly upon his being told that there were in
the _Centurion_ four hundred firelocks, and between three and four
hundred barrels of powder, he shrugged up his shoulders and seemed to
be terrified with the bare recital, saying that no ships ever came into
Canton river armed in that manner; adding that he durst not set down
the whole of this force, lest it should too much alarm the regency.
After he had finished his enquiries, and was preparing to depart, he
desired to leave two custom-house officers behind him, on which the
commodore told him that though as a man-of-war he was prohibited from
trading, and had nothing to do with customs or duties of any kind, yet
for the satisfaction of the Chinese, he would permit two of their
people to be left on board, who might themselves be {354} witnesses how
punctually he should comply with his instructions. The officer seemed
amazed when Mr. Anson mentioned being exempted from all duties, and
answered that the emperor's duty must be paid by every ship that came
into his ports: and it is supposed that on this occasion private
directions were given by him to the Chinese pilot not to carry the
commodore through the Bocca Tigris, which makes it necessary more
particularly to describe that entrance.
The Bocca Tigris is a narrow passage, little more than musquet-shot
over, formed by two points of land, on each of which there is a fort,
that on the starboard side being a battery on the water's edge, with
eighteen embrasures, but where there were no more than twelve iron
cannon mounted, seeming to be four or six-pounders; the fort on the
larboard side is a large castle, resembling those old buildings which
here in England we often find distinguished by that name; it is
situated on a high rock, and did not appear to be furnished with more
than eight or ten cannon, none of which were supposed to exceed
six-pounders. These are the defences which secure the river of Canton,
and which the Chinese (extremely defective in all military skill) have
imagined were sufficient to prevent an enemy from forcing his way
through.
But it is obvious from the description of these forts that they could
have given no obstruction to Mr. Anson's passage, even if they had been
well supplied with gunners and stores; and therefore, though the pilot,
after the Chinese officer had been on board, refused at first to take
charge of the ship till he had leave from the forts, yet as it was
necessary to get through without any delay, for fear of the bad weather
which was hourly expected, the commodore weighed on the 15th, and
ordered the pilot to carry him by the forts, threatening him that if
the ship ran aground he would instantly hang him up at the yard-arm.
The pilot, awed by these threats, carried the ship through safely, the
forts not attempting to dispute the passage. Indeed the poor pilot did
not escape the resentment of his countrymen, for when he came on shore
he was seized and sent to prison, and was rigorously disciplined with
the bamboo. However, he found means to get at Mr. Anson afterwards, to
desire of him some recompence for the chastisement he had {355}
undergone, and of which he then carried very significant marks about
him; Mr. Anson, therefore, in commiseration of his sufferings, gave him
such a sum of money as would at any time have enticed a Chinese to have
undergone a dozen bastinadings.
Nor was the pilot the only person that suffered on this occasion; for
the commodore soon after seeing some royal junks pass by him from Bocca
Tigris towards Canton, he learnt, on enquiry, that the mandarine
commanding the forts was a prisoner on board them; that he was already
turned out, and was now carrying to Canton, where it was expected he
would be severely punished for having permitted the ships to pass.
Upon the commodore's urging the unreasonableness of this procedure,
from the inability of the forts to have done otherwise, and explaining
to the Chinese the great superiority his ships would have had over the
forts, by the number and size of their guns, the Chinese seemed to
acquiesce in his reasoning, and allowed that their forts could not have
stopped him; but they still asserted that the mandarine would
infallibly suffer for not having done what all his judges were
convinced was impossible. To such indefensible absurdities are those
obliged to submit who think themselves concerned to support their
authority when the necessary force is wanting. But to return.
On the 16th of July the commodore sent his second lieutenant to Canton
with a letter for the viceroy, informing him of the reason of the
_Centurion's_ putting into that port, and that the commodore himself
soon proposed to repair to Canton to pay a visit to his excellency.
The lieutenant was very civilly received, and was promised that an
answer should be sent to the commodore the next day. In the meantime
Mr. Anson gave leave to several of the officers of the galeon to go to
Canton, they engaging their parole to return in two days. When these
prisoners got to Canton, the regency sent for them and examined them,
enquiring particularly by what means they came into Mr. Anson's power.
It luckily happened that on this occasion the prisoners were honest
enough to declare that as the kings of Great Britain and of Spain were
at war they had proposed to themselves the taking of the _Centurion_,
and had bore down upon her with that view, but that the event had been
contrary to their hopes. And being questioned as to their {356} usage
on board, they frankly acknowledged that they had been treated by the
commodore much better than they believed they should have treated him,
had he fallen into their hands. This confession from an enemy had
great weight with the Chinese, who till then, tho' they had revered the
commodore's military 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. But they now changed
their opinions, and regarded him as a more important person; to which
perhaps the vast treasure of his prize might not a little contribute;
the acquisition of wealth being a matter greatly adapted to the esteem
and reverence of the Chinese nation.
In this examination of the Spanish prisoners, though the Chinese had no
reason in the main to doubt of the account which was given them, yet
there were two circumstances which appeared to them so singular as to
deserve a more ample explanation; one of them was the great
disproportion of men between the _Centurion_ and the galeon, the other
was the humanity with which the people of the galeon were treated after
they were taken. The mandarines therefore asked the Spaniards how they
came to be overpowered by so inferior a force? and how it happened,
since the two nations were at war, that they were not put to death when
they fell into the hands of the English? To the first of these
enquiries the Spaniards answered that though they had more men than the
_Centurion_, yet she being intended solely for war, had a great
superiority in the size of her guns, and in many other articles, over
the galeon, which was a vessel fitted out principally for traffic: and
as to the second question, they told the Chinese that amongst the
nations of Europe it was not customary to put to death those who
submitted, though they readily owned that the commodore, from the
natural bias of his temper, had treated both them and their countrymen,
who had formerly been in his power, with very unusual courtesy, much
beyond what they could have expected or than was required by the
customs established between nations at war with each other. These
replies fully satisfied the Chinese, and at the same time wrought very
powerfully in the commodore's favour.
On the 20th of July, in the morning, three mandarines, with a great
number of boats and a vast retinue, came on {357} board the _Centurion_
and delivered to the commodore the Viceroy of Canton's order for a
daily supply of provisions, and for pilots to carry the ships up the
river as far as the second bar; and at the same time they delivered him
a message from the viceroy in answer to the letter sent to Canton. The
substance of the message was that the viceroy desired to be excused
from receiving the commodore's visit during the then excessive hot
weather, because the assembling the mandarines and soldiers necessary
to that ceremony would prove extremely inconvenient and fatiguing; but
that in September when the weather would be more temperate he should be
glad to see both the commodore himself and the English captain of the
other ship that was with him. As Mr. Anson knew that an express had
been dispatched to the court at Pekin with an account of the
_Centurion_ and her prize being arrived in the river of Canton, he had
no doubt but the principal motive for putting off this visit was that
the regency at Canton might gain time to receive the emperor's
instructions about their behaviour on this unusual affair.
When the mandarines had delivered their message they began to talk to
the commodore about the duties to be paid by his ships, but he
immediately told them that he would never submit to any demand of that
kind; that as he neither brought any merchandize thither, nor intended
to carry any away, he could not be reasonably deemed within the meaning
of the emperor's orders, which were doubtless calculated for trading
vessels only, adding that no duties were ever demanded of men-of-war by
nations accustomed to their reception, and that his master's orders
expressly forbade him from paying any acknowledgment for his ships
anchoring in any port whatever.
The mandarines being thus cut short on the subject of the duty, they
said they had another matter to mention, which was the only remaining
one they had in charge; this was a request to the commodore that he
would release the prisoners he had taken on board the galeon; for that
the Viceroy of Canton apprehended the emperor, his master, might be
displeased if he should be informed that persons, who were his allies
and carried on a great commerce with his subjects, were under
confinement in his dominions. Mr. Anson himself was extremely desirous
to get rid of the {358} Spaniards, having on his first arrival sent
about an hundred of them to Macao, and those who remained, which were
near four hundred more, were, on many accounts, a great incumbrance to
him. However, to inhance the favour, he at first raised some
difficulties; but permitting himself to be prevailed on, he at last
told the mandarines that to show his readiness to oblige the viceroy he
would release the prisoners, whenever they, the Chinese, would order
boats to fetch them off. This matter being thus adjusted, the
mandarines departed; and on the 28th of July, two Chinese junks were
sent from Canton to take on board the prisoners and to carry them to
Macao. And the commodore, agreeable to his promise, dismissed them
all, and directed his purser to allow them eight days' provision for
their subsistence during their sailing down the river: since, before
they were dispatched, the _Centurion_ was arrived at her moorings,
above the second bar, where she and her prize proposed to continue till
the monsoon shifted.
Though the ships, in consequence of the viceroy's permit, found no
difficulty in purchasing provisions for their daily consumption, yet it
was impossible that the commodore could proceed to England without
laying in a large quantity both of provisions and naval stores for his
use during the voyage. The procuring this supply was attended with
much perplexity; for there were people at Canton who had undertaken to
furnish him with biscuit and whatever else he wanted; and his linguist,
towards the middle of September, had assured him from day to day that
all was ready and would be sent on board him immediately. But a
fortnight being elapsed, and nothing brought, the commodore sent to
Canton to enquire more particularly into the reasons of this
disappointment: and he had soon the vexation to be informed that the
whole was an illusion; that no order had been procured from the viceroy
to furnish him with his sea stores, as had been pretended; that there
was no biscuit baked, nor any one of the articles in readiness, which
had been promised him; nor did it appear that the contractors had taken
the least step to comply with their agreement. This was most
disagreeable news, and made it suspected that the furnishing the
_Centurion_ for her return to Great Britain might prove a more
troublesome matter than had been hitherto imagined; especially too as
the month of September {359} was nearly ended without Mr. Anson's
having received any message from the Viceroy of Canton.
And here perhaps it might be expected that a satisfactory account
should be given of the motives of the Chinese for this faithless
procedure. However, as I have already, in a former chapter, made some
kind of conjectures about a similar event, I shall not repeat them
again in this place; but shall content myself with observing that after
all it may perhaps be impossible for an European, ignorant of the
customs and manners of that nation, to be fully apprized of the real
incitements to this behaviour. Indeed, thus much may undoubtedly be
asserted, that in artifice, falsehood, and an attachment to all kinds
of lucre many of the Chinese are difficult to be paralleled by any
other people. But then the particular application of these talents,
and the manner in which they operate on every emergency, are often
beyond the reach of a foreigner's penetration: so that though it may be
surely concluded that the Chinese had some interest in thus amusing the
commodore, yet it may not be easy to assign the individual views by
which they were influenced. And that I may not be thought too severe
in ascribing to this nation a fraudulent and selfish turn of temper, so
contradictory to the character given of them in the legendary accounts
of the Romish missionaries, I shall here mention an extraordinary
transaction or two which I conceive will be some kind of confirmation
of what I have advanced.
When the commodore lay first at Macao, one of his officers, who had
been extremely ill, desired leave of him to go on shore every day on a
neighbouring island, imagining that a walk upon the land would
contribute greatly to the restoring of his health. The commodore would
have dissuaded him from it, suspecting the tricks of the Chinese, but
the officer continued importunate, in the end the boat was ordered to
carry him thither. The first day he was put on shore he took his
exercise and returned without receiving any molestation or even seeing
any of the inhabitants; but the second day he was assaulted just after
his arrival by a great number of Chinese who had been hoeing rice in
the neighbourhood, and who beat him so violently with the handles of
their hoes that they soon laid him on the ground incapable of
resistance; after which they robbed him, taking from him his sword, the
hilt of which was silver, his money, his watch, {360} gold-headed cane,
snuff-box, sleeve buttons, and hat, with several other trinkets. In
the meantime, the boat's crew, who were at a little distance and had no
arms of any kind with them, were incapable of giving him any relief;
till at last one of them flew on the fellow who had the sword in his
possession, and wresting it out of his hands, drew it, and with it was
preparing to fall on the Chinese, some of whom he could not have failed
of killing. But the officer, perceiving what he was about, immediately
ordered him to desist, thinking it more prudent to submit to the
present violence than to embroil his commander in an inextricable
squabble with the Chinese Government by the death of their subjects:
which calmness in this gentleman was the more meritorious as he was
known to be a person of an uncommon spirit and of a somewhat hasty
temper. By this means the Chinese speedily recovered the possession of
the sword, when they perceived it was prohibited to be made use of
against them, and carried off their whole booty unmolested. No sooner
were they gone than a Chinese on horseback, very well dressed, and who
had the air and appearance of a gentleman, came down to the seaside
and, as far as could be understood by his signs, seemed to censure the
conduct of his countrymen and to commiserate the officer, being
wonderfully officious to assist in getting him on board the boat: but
notwithstanding this behaviour, it was shrewdly suspected that he was
an accomplice in the theft, and time fully made out the justice of
those suspicions.
When the boat returned on board, and the officer reported what had
passed to the commodore, he immediately complained of it to the
mandarine who attended to see his ship supplied; but the mandarine
coolly observed that the boat ought not to have gone on shore,
promising, however, that if the thieves could be found they should be
punished: though it appeared plain enough by his manner of answering
that he would never give himself any trouble in searching them out.
However, a considerable time afterwards, when some Chinese boats were
selling provisions to the _Centurion_, the person who had wrested the
sword from the Chinese came with eagerness to the commodore to assure
him that one of the principal thieves was then in a provision boat
alongside the ship; and the officer who had been robbed, viewing the
fellow on this report, and well remembering his {361} face, orders were
immediately given to seize him; and he was accordingly secured on board
the ship where strange discoveries were now made.
This thief on his being first apprehended expressed so much fright in
his countenance that it was feared he would have died on the spot; the
mandarine too who attended the ship had visibly no small share of
concern on the occasion. Indeed he had reason enough to be alarmed,
since it was soon apparent that he had been privy to the whole robbery;
for the commodore declaring that he would not deliver up the thief, but
would himself order him to be shot, the mandarine immediately put off
the magisterial air, with which he had at first pretended to demand
him, and begged his release in the most abject manner. But the
commodore seeming to be inflexible, there came on board, in less than
two hours' time, five or six of the neighbouring mandarines, who all
joined in the same entreaty, and with a view of facilitating their
suit, offered a large sum of money for the fellow's liberty. Whilst
they were thus soliciting it was discovered that the mandarine, the
most active amongst them, and who was thence presumed to be most
interested in the event, was the very gentleman who rode up to the
officer just after the robbery and who pretended to be so much
displeased with the villainy of his countrymen. On further inquiry it
was also found that he was the mandarine of the island, and that he had
by the authority of his office ordered the peasants to commit that
infamous action. This easily accounted for his extraordinary vigilance
in the present conjuncture; since, as far as could be collected from
the broken hints which were casually thrown out, it seemed that he and
his brethren, who were every one privy to the transaction, were
terrified with the fear of being called before the tribunal at Canton,
where the first article of their punishment would be the stripping them
of all they were worth; though their judges (however fond of inflicting
a chastisement so lucrative to themselves) were perhaps of as tainted a
complexion as the delinquents. Mr. Anson was not displeased to have
caught the Chinese in this dilemma; he entertained himself for some
time with their perplexity, rejecting their money with scorn, appearing
inexorable to their prayers, and giving out that the thief should
certainly be shot; but as he then foresaw that he should be forced
{362} to take shelter in their ports a second time, when the influence
he might hereby acquire over the magistrates would be of great service
to him, he at length permitted himself to be persuaded, and as a favour
released his prisoner; though not till the mandarine had collected and
returned all that had been stolen from the officer, even to the
minutest trifle.
But notwithstanding this instance of the good intelligence between the
magistrates and criminals, the strong addiction of the Chinese to lucre
often prompts them to break through this awful confederacy, and puts
them on defrauding the authority that protects them of its proper quota
of the pillage. For not long after the above-mentioned transaction
(the former mandarine, attendant on the ship, being in the meantime
relieved by another) the commodore lost a top-mast from his stern,
which, on the most diligent enquiry, could not be traced out. As it
was not his own, but had been borrowed at Macao to heave down by, and
was not to be replaced in that part of the world, he was extremely
desirous to recover it, and published a considerable reward to any who
would bring it him again. There were suspicions from the first of its
being stolen, which made him conclude a reward was the likeliest method
of getting it back. Hereupon, soon after, the mandarine informed him
that some of his, the mandarine's, attendants had found the top-mast,
desiring the commodore to send his boats to fetch it, which, being
done, the mandarine's people received the promised reward. It seems
the commodore had told the mandarine that he would make him a present
besides on account of the care he had taken in directing it to be
searched for; and accordingly Mr. Anson gave a sum of money to his
linguist to be delivered to the mandarine; but the linguist knowing
that the Chinese had been paid, and ignorant that a further present had
been promised, kept the money himself. However, the mandarine fully
confiding in Mr. Anson's word, and suspecting the linguist, he took
occasion, one morning, to admire the size of the _Centurion's_ masts,
and thence on a pretended sudden recollection he made a digression to
the top-mast which had been lost, and asked Mr. Anson if he had not got
it again. Mr. Anson presently perceived the bent of this conversation,
and enquired of him if he had not received the money from the linguist,
and finding he {363} had not, he offered to pay him upon the spot. But
this the mandarine refused, having now somewhat more in view than the
sum which had been detained. For the next day the linguist was seized,
and was doubtless mulcted of whatever he had gotten in the commodore's
service, which was supposed to be little less than two thousand
dollars; being besides so severely bastinadoed that it was wonderful he
escaped with his life. And when he was upbraided by the commodore (to
whom he afterwards came a-begging) with his folly in risquing this
severe chastisement, and the loss of all he was worth, for the lucre of
fifty dollars, the present of which he defrauded the mandarine, he had
no other excuse to make than the strong bias of his nation to
dishonesty, replying in his broken jargon, "Chinese man very great
rogue truly, but have fashion, no can help."
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 the Chinese made use of to augment the weight of what they sold
to the _Centurion_ were almost incredible. One time a large quantity
of fouls and ducks being bought for the ship's store, the greatest part
of them presently died. This spread a general alarm on board, it being
apprehended that they had been killed by poison; but on examination it
appeared that it was only owing to their being crammed with stones and
gravel to increase their weight, the quantity thus forced into most of
the ducks being found to amount to ten ounces in each. The hogs too,
which were bought ready killed of the Chinese butchers, had water
injected into them for the same purpose; so that a carcass hung up all
night that the water might drain from it, had lost above a stone of its
weight. And when, to avoid this cheat, the hogs were bought alive, it
was discovered that the Chinese gave them salt to increase their
thirst, and having thus excited them to drink great quantities of
water, they then took measures to prevent them from discharging it
again by urine, and sold the tortured animal in this inflated state.
When the commodore first put to sea from Macao, they practised an
artifice of another kind; for as the Chinese never scruple eating any
food that dies of itself, they contrived by some secret practices that
great part of his live sea-store should die in a short time after it
{364} was put on board, hoping to make a second profit of the dead
carcasses which they expected would be thrown overboard; and two-thirds
of the hogs dying before the _Centurion_ was out of sight of land, many
of the Chinese boats followed her only to pick up the carrion. These
instances may serve as a specimen of the manners of this celebrated
nation, which is often recommended to the rest of the world as a
pattern of all kinds of laudable qualities. But to return.
The commodore, towards the end of September, having found out (as has
been said) that those who had contracted to supply him with sea
provisions and stores had deceived him, and that the viceroy had not
invited him to an interview according to his promise, he saw it would
be impossible for him to surmount the difficulties he was under without
going to Canton and visiting the viceroy. And therefore, on the 27th
of September, he sent a message to the mandarine who attended the
_Centurion_, to inform him that he, the commodore, intended, on the 1st
of October, to proceed in his boat to Canton: adding that the day after
he got there he should notify his arrival to the viceroy, and should
desire him to fix a time for his audience. This message being
delivered to the mandarine, he returned no other answer than that he
would acquaint the viceroy with the commodore's intentions. In the
meantime all things were prepared for this expedition: and the boat's
crew which Mr. Anson proposed to take with him were cloathed in an
uniform dress, resembling that of the watermen on the Thames; they were
in number eighteen and a coxswain; they had scarlet jackets and blue
silk waistcoats, the whole trimmed with silver buttons, besides silver
badges on their jackets and caps. As it was apprehended, and even
asserted, that the payment of the customary duties for the _Centurion_
and her prize would be demanded by the regency of Canton, and would be
insisted on previous to their granting a permission to victual the ship
for her future voyage, the commodore, who was resolved never to
establish so dishonourable a precedent, took all possible precaution to
prevent the Chinese from facilitating the success of their unseasonable
pretensions by having him in their power at Canton. And therefore the
better to secure his ship and the great treasure on board her against
their projects, he appointed his first lieutenant, Mr. Brett, to be
captain of the _Centurion_ under {365} him, giving him proper
instructions for his conduct; directing him particularly, if he, the
commodore, should be detained at Canton on account of the duties in
dispute, to take out the men from the _Centurion's_ prize and to
destroy her, and then to proceed down the river through the Bocca
Tigris with the _Centurion_ alone, and to remain without that entrance
till he received further orders from Mr. Anson.
These necessary steps being taken, which were not unknown to the
Chinese, it should seem as if their deliberations were in some sort
perplexed thereby. It is reasonable to imagine that they were in
general very desirous of getting the duties to be paid them; not
perhaps solely in consideration of the amount of those dues, but to
keep up their reputation for address and subtlety, and to avoid the
imputation of receding from claims on which they had already so
frequently insisted. However, as they now foresaw that they had no
other method of succeeding than by violence, and that even against this
the commodore was prepared, they were at last disposed, I conceive, to
let the affair drop rather than entangle themselves in an hostile
measure which they found would only expose them to the risque of having
the whole navigation of their port destroyed without any certain
prospect of gaining their favourite point.
But though there is reason to conclude that these were their thoughts
at that time, yet they could not depart at once from the evasive
conduct to which they had hitherto adhered. Since when the commodore,
on the morning of the 1st of October, was preparing to set out for
Canton, his linguist came to him from the mandarine who attended the
ship, to tell him that a letter had been received from the Viceroy of
Canton, desiring the commodore to put off his going thither for two or
three days. The reality of this message was not then questioned; but
in the afternoon of the same day, another linguist came on board, who
with much seeming fright told Mr. Anson that the viceroy had expected
him up that day; that the council was assembled, and the troops had
been under arms to receive him; and that the viceroy was highly
offended at the disappointment, and had sent the commodore's linguist
to prison, chained, supposing that the whole had been owing to the
linguist's negligence. This plausible tale gave the commodore great
concern, and made him apprehend that there was some {366} treachery
designed him which he could not yet fathom. And though it afterwards
appeared that the whole was a fiction, not one article of it having the
least foundation, yet for reasons best known to themselves this
falshood was so well supported by the artifices of the Chinese
merchants at Canton, that three days afterwards the commodore received
a letter signed by all the supercargoes of the English ships then at
that place, expressing their great uneasiness about what had happened,
and intimating their fears that some insult would be offered to his
boat if he came thither before the viceroy was fully satisfied of the
mistake. To this letter Mr. Anson 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
resolution, 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 sent
their boats to augment his retinue. As he passed by Wampo, where the
European vessels lay, he was saluted by all of them but the French, and
in the evening he arrived safely at Canton. His reception in that
city, and the most material transactions from henceforward, till the
expedition was brought to a period by the return of the _Centurion_ to
Great Britain, shall be the subject of the ensuing chapter.
{367}
CHAPTER X
PROCEEDINGS AT THE CITY OF CANTON, AND THE RETURN OF THE "CENTURION" TO
ENGLAND
When the commodore arrived at Canton, he was visited by the principal
Chinese merchants, who affected to appear very much pleased that he had
met with no obstruction in getting thither, and who thence pretended to
conclude that the viceroy was satisfied about the former mistake, the
reality of which they still insisted on. In the conversation which
passed upon this occasion, they took care to insinuate that as soon as
the viceroy should be informed that Mr. Anson was at Canton, which they
promised should be done the next morning, they were persuaded a time
would be immediately appointed for the visit, which was the principal
business that had brought the commodore to that city.
The next day the merchants returned to Mr. Anson and told him that the
viceroy was then so fully employed in preparing his dispatches for
Pekin that there was no getting admittance to him at present, but that
they had engaged one of the officers of his court to give them
information as soon as he should be at leisure, when they proposed to
notify Mr. Anson's arrival and to endeavour to fix the audience. The
commodore was already too well acquainted with their artifices not to
perceive that this was a falshood, and had he consulted only his own
judgment, he would have applied directly to the viceroy by other hands.
But the Chinese merchants had so far prepossessed the supercargoes of
our ships with chimerical fears that they, the supercargoes, were
extremely apprehensive of being embroiled with the government, and of
suffering in their interest, if those measures were taken which
appeared to Mr. Anson at that time to be the most prudential: and
therefore, lest the malice and double dealing of the Chinese might have
given rise to some sinister incident, which would be afterwards laid at
his door, he resolved to continue passive as long as it should appear
{368} that he lost no time by thus suspending his own opinion. In
pursuance of this resolution, he proposed to the English that he would
engage not to take any immediate step himself for getting admittance to
the viceroy, provided the Chinese, who contracted to furnish his
provisions, would let him see that his bread was baked, his meat
salted, and his storee prepared with the utmost dispatch. But if by
the time when all was in readiness to be shipped off, which it was
supposed would be in about forty days, the merchants should not have
procured the government's permission to send it on board, then the
commodore was determined to apply to the viceroy himself. These were
the terms Mr. Anson thought proper to offer to quiet the uneasiness of
the supercargoes; and, notwithstanding the apparent equity of the
conditions, many difficulties and objections were urged; nor would the
Chinese agree to the proposal till the commodore had consented to pay
for every article he bespoke before it was put in hand. However, at
last, the contract being past, it was some satisfaction to the
commodore to be certain that his preparations were now going on; and
being himself on the spot, he took care to hasten them as much as
possible.
During this interval, in which the stores and provisions were getting
ready, the merchants continually entertained Mr. Anson with accounts of
their various endeavours to procure a licence from the viceroy and
their frequent disappointments. This was now a matter of amusement to
the commodore, as he was fully satisfied there was not one word of
truth in anything they said. But when all was compleated, and wanted
only to be shipped, which was about the 24th of November, at which
time, too, the N.E. monsoon was set in, he then resolved to demand an
audience of the viceroy, as he was persuaded that, without this
ceremony, the grant of a permission to take his stores on board would
meet with great difficulty. On the 24th of November, therefore, Mr.
Anson sent one of his officers to the mandarine who commanded the guard
of the principal gate of the city of Canton with a letter directed to
the viceroy. When this letter was delivered to the mandarine, he
received the officer who brought it very civilly, and took down the
contents of it in Chinese, and promised that the viceroy should be
immediately acquainted with it; but told the officer it was not {369}
necessary he should wait for an answer, because a message would be sent
to the commodore himself.
When Mr. Anson first determined to write this letter, he had been under
great difficulties about a proper interpreter, as he was well aware
that none of the Chinese usually employed as linguists could be relied
on, but he at last prevailed with Mr. Flint, an English gentleman
belonging to the factory, who spoke Chinese perfectly well, to
accompany his officer. This person, who upon that occasion and many
others was of singular service to the commodore, had been left at
Canton, when a youth, by the late Captain Rigby. The leaving him there
to learn the Chinese language was a step taken by that captain merely
from his own persuasion of the considerable advantages which the East
India Company might one day receive from an English interpreter, and
tho' the utility of this measure has greatly exceeded all that was
expected from it, yet I have not heard that it has been to this hour
imitated: but we imprudently choose, except in this single instance, to
carry on the vast transactions of the port of Canton either by the
ridiculous jargon of broken English, which some few of the Chinese have
learnt, or by the suspected interpretation of the linguists of other
nations.
Two days after the sending the above-mentioned letter, a fire broke out
in the suburbs of Canton. On the first alarm Mr. Anson went thither
with his officers and his boat's crew to aid the Chinese. When he came
there, he found that it had begun in a sailor's shed, and that by the
slightness of the buildings, and the aukwardness of the Chinese, it was
getting head apace. However, he perceived that by pulling down some of
the adjacent sheds it might easily be extinguished; and particularly
observing that it was then running along a wooden cornice, which blazed
fiercely, and would immediately communicate the flame to a great
distance, he ordered his people to begin with tearing away the cornice.
This was presently attempted, and would have been soon executed, but in
the meantime he was told that as there was no mandarine there, who
alone has a power to direct on these occasions, the Chinese would make
him, the commodore, answerable for whatever should be pulled down by
his command. Hereupon Mr. Anson and his attendants desisted, and he
sent them to the English factory, to assist in securing the company's
treasure and effects, as it was easy {370} to foresee that no distance
was a protection against the rage of such a fire, where so little was
done to put a stop to it; since all the while the Chinese contented
themselves with viewing it, and now and then holding one of their idols
near it, which they seemed to expect should check its progress.
Indeed, at last, a mandarine came out of the city, attended by four or
five hundred firemen. These made some feeble efforts to pull down the
neighbouring houses, but by that time the fire had greatly extended
itself and was got amongst the merchants' warehouses, and the Chinese
firemen, wanting both skill and spirit, were incapable of checking its
violence, so that its fury increased upon them, and it was feared the
whole city would be destroyed. In this general confusion the viceroy
himself came thither, and the commodore was sent to, and was intreated
to afford his assistance, being told that he might take any measures he
should think most prudent in the present emergency. Upon this message
he went thither a second time, carrying with him about forty of his
people, who, in the sight of the whole city, exerted themselves after
so extraordinary a manner as in that country was altogether without
example. For, behaving with the agility and boldness peculiar to
sailors, they were rather animated than deterred by the flames and
falling buildings amongst which they wrought; whence it was not
uncommon to see the most forward of them tumble to the ground on the
roofs and amidst the ruins of houses which their own efforts brought
down under them. By their resolution and activity the fire was soon
extinguished, to the amazement of the Chinese: and it fortunately
happened too, that the buildings being all on one floor, and the
materials slight, the seamen, notwithstanding their daring behaviour,
escaped with no other injuries than some considerable bruises.
The fire, though at last thus luckily extinguished, did great mischief
during the time it continued, for it consumed a hundred shops and
eleven streets full of warehouses, so that the damage amounted to an
immense sum; and one of the Chinese merchants, well known to the
English, whose name was Succoy, was supposed, for his own share, to
have lost near two hundred thousand pounds sterling. It raged indeed
with unusual violence, for in many of the warehouses there were large
quantities of camphire, which greatly added to its fury, and produced a
column of exceeding white flame, which {371} blazed up into the air to
such a prodigious height that it was distinctly seen on board the
_Centurion_, though she was at least thirty miles distant.
Whilst the commodore and his people were labouring at the fire, and the
terror of its becoming general still possessed the whole city, several
of the most considerable Chinese merchants came to Mr. Anson to desire
that he would let each of them have one of his soldiers (for such they
stiled his boat's crew, from the uniformity of their dress) to guard
their warehouses and dwelling-houses, which, from the known dishonesty
of the populace, they feared would be pillaged in the tumult. Mr.
Anson granted them this request, and all the men that he thus furnished
behaved much to the satisfaction of the merchants, who afterwards
highly applauded their great diligence and fidelity.
By this means, the resolution of the English in mastering the fire, and
their trusty and prudent conduct where they were employed as
safeguards, was the general subject of conversation amongst the
Chinese. And the next morning many of the principal inhabitants waited
on the commodore to thank him for his assistance, frankly owning to him
that he had preserved their city from being totally consumed, as they
could never have extinguished the fire of themselves. Soon after, too,
a message came to the commodore from the viceroy, appointing the 30th
of November for his audience, which sudden resolution of the viceroy,
in a matter that had been so long agitated in vain, was also owing to
the signal services performed by Mr. Anson and his people at the fire;
of which the viceroy himself had been in some measure an eye-witness.
The fixing this business of the audience was on every account a
circumstance with which Mr. Anson was much pleased, since he was
satisfied the Chinese Government would not have determined this point
without having agreed among themselves to give up their pretensions to
the duties they claimed, and to grant him all he could reasonably ask.
For, as they well knew the commodore's sentiments, it would have been a
piece of imprudence, not consistent with their refined cunning, to have
admitted him to an audience only to have contested with him. Being
therefore himself perfectly easy about the result of this visit, he
made the necessary preparations against the day, and engaged Mr. Flint,
whom I have {372} mentioned before, to act as interpreter in the
conference: and Mr. Flint, in this affair as in all others, acquitted
himself much to the commodore's satisfaction, repeating with great
boldness, and doubtless with exactness, whatever was given him in
charge, a part which no Chinese linguist would have performed with any
tolerable fidelity.
At ten o'clock in the morning, on the day appointed, a mandarine came
to the commodore to let him know that the viceroy was prepared, and
expected him, on which the commodore and his retinue immediately set
out. As soon as he entered the outer gate of the city, he found a
guard of two hundred soldiers ready to receive him; these attended him
to the great parade before the emperor's palace, where the viceroy then
resided. In this parade, a body of troops, to the number of ten
thousand, were drawn up under arms, who made a very fine appearance,
they being all of them new cloathed for this ceremony. Mr. Anson, with
his retinue, having passed through the middle of them, he was then
conducted to the great 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. Here there was a vacant seat
prepared for the commodore, in which he was placed on his arrival. He
was ranked the third in order from the viceroy, there being above him
only the two chiefs of the law and of the treasury, who in the Chinese
Government have precedence of all military officers. When the
commodore was seated, he addressed himself to the viceroy by his
interpreter, and began with reciting the various methods he had
formerly taken to get an audience; adding that he imputed the delays he
had met with to the insincerity of those he had employed, and that he
had therefore no other means left than to send, as he had done, his own
officer with a letter to the gate. On the mention of this the viceroy
interrupted the interpreter, and bid him assure Mr. Anson that the
first knowledge they had of his being at Canton was from that letter.
Mr. Anson then proceeded, and told him that the subjects of the King of
Great Britain trading to China had complained to him, the commodore, of
the vexatious impositions both of the merchants and inferior
custom-house officers, to which they were frequently necessitated to
submit, by reason of the difficulty of getting access to the
mandarines, who alone could grant them redress. {373} That it was his,
Mr. Anson's, duty, as an officer of the King of Great Britain, to lay
before the viceroy these grievances of the British subjects, which he
hoped the viceroy would take into consideration, and would give orders
that hereafter there should be no just reason for complaint. Here Mr.
Anson paused, and waited some time in expectation of an answer, but
nothing being said, he asked his interpreter if he was certain the
viceroy understood what he had urged; the interpreter told him he was
certain it was understood, but he believed no reply would be made to
it. Mr. Anson then represented to the viceroy the case of the ship
_Haslingfield_, which, having been dismasted on the coast of China, had
arrived in the river of Canton but a few days before. The people on
board this vessel had been great sufferers by the fire; the captain in
particular had all his goods burnt, and had lost besides, in the
confusion, a chest of treasure of four thousand five hundred tahel,
which was supposed to be stolen by the Chinese boatmen. Mr. Anson
therefore desired that the captain might have the assistance of the
government, as it was apprehended the money could never be recovered
without the interposition of the mandarines. And to this request the
viceroy made answer that, in settling the emperor's customs for that
ship, some abatement should be made in consideration of her losses.
And now the commodore having dispatched the business with which the
officers of the East India Company had entrusted him, he entered on his
own affairs, acquainting the viceroy that the proper season was already
set in for returning to Europe, and that he wanted only a licence to
ship off his provisions and stores, which were all ready; and that as
soon as this should be granted him, and he should have gotten his
necessaries on board, he intended to leave the river of Canton and to
make the best of his way for England. The viceroy replied to this that
the licence should be immediately issued, and that everything should be
ordered on board the following day. And finding that Mr. Anson had
nothing farther to insist on, the viceroy continued the conversation
for some time, acknowledging in very civil terms how much the Chinese
were obliged to him for his signal services at the fire, and owning
that he had saved the city from being destroyed: then observing that
the _Centurion_ had been a good while on their coast, he closed his
discourse by wishing the commodore {374} a prosperous voyage to Europe,
after which the commodore, thanking him for his civility and
assistance, took his leave.
As soon as the commodore was out of the hall of audience, he was much
pressed to go into a neighbouring apartment, where there was an
entertainment provided; but finding, on enquiry, that the viceroy
himself was not to be present, he declined the invitation and departed,
attended in the same manner as at his arrival, only on his leaving the
city he was saluted with three guns, which are as many as in that
country are ever fired on any ceremony. Thus the commodore, to his
great joy, at last finished this troublesome affair, which, for the
preceding four months, had given him much disquietude. Indeed he was
highly pleased with procuring a licence for the shipping off his stores
and provisions, as thereby he was enabled to return to Great Britain
with the first of the monsoons, and to prevent all intelligence of his
being expected: but this, though a very important point, was not the
circumstance which gave him the greatest satisfaction, for he was more
particularly attentive to the authentic precedent established on this
occasion, by which his Majesty's ships of war are for the future
exempted from all demands of duty in any of the ports of China.
In pursuance of the promises of the viceroy, the provisions were begun
to be sent on board the day succeeding the audience, and four days
after, the commodore embarked at Canton for the _Centurion_. And now
all the preparations for putting to sea were pursued with so much
vigilance, and were so soon compleated, that the 7th of December the
_Centurion_ and her prize unmoored and stood down the river, passing
through the Bocca Tigris on the 10th. On this occasion I must observe
that the Chinese had taken care to man the two forts on each side of
that passage with as many men as they could well contain, the greatest
part of them armed with pikes and matchlock musquets. These garrisons
affected to shew themselves as much as possible to the ships, and were
doubtless intended to induce Mr. Anson to think more reverently than he
had hitherto done of the Chinese military power. For this purpose they
were equipped with extraordinary parade, having a great number of
colours exposed to view; and on the castle in particular there was laid
considerable heaps of large stones, and a soldier of unusual size,
dressed in very sightly armour, stalked about on {375} the parapet with
a battle-ax in his hand, endeavouring to put on as important and
martial an air as possible, though some of the observers on board the
_Centurion_ shrewdly suspected, from the appearance of his armour, that
instead of steel it was composed only of a particular kind of
glittering paper.
The _Centurion_ and her prize being now without the river of Canton,
and consequently upon the point of leaving the Chinese jurisdiction, I
beg leave, before I quit all mention of the Chinese affairs, to subjoin
a few remarks on the disposition and genius of that celebrated people.
And though it may be supposed that observations made at Canton only, a
place situated in a corner of the empire, are very imperfect materials
on which to found any general conclusions, yet as those who have had
opportunities of examining the inner parts of the country have been
evidently influenced by very ridiculous prepossessions, and as the
transactions of Mr. Anson with the regency of Canton were of an
uncommon nature, in which many circumstances occurred different perhaps
from any which have happened before, I hope the following reflections,
many of them drawn from these incidents, will not be altogether
unacceptable to the reader.
That the Chinese are a very ingenious and industrious people is
sufficiently evinced from the great number of curious manufactures
which are established amongst them, and which are eagerly sought for by
the most distant nations; but though skill in the handicraft art seems
to be the most valuable qualification of this people, yet their talents
therein are but of a second-rate kind, for they are much outdone by the
Japanese in those manufactures which are common to both countries, and
they are in numerous instances incapable of rivalling the mechanic
dexterity of the Europeans. Indeed, their principal excellency seems
to be imitation, and they accordingly labour under that poverty of
genius which constantly attends all servile imitators. This is most
conspicuous in works which require great truth and accuracy, as in
clocks, watches, fire-arms, etc., for in all these, though they can
copy the different parts, and can form some resemblance of the whole,
yet they never could arrive at such a justness in their fabric as was
necessary to produce the desired effect. If we pass from those
employed in manufactures to artists of a {376} superior class, as
painters, statuaries, etc., in these matters they seem to be still more
defective; their painters, though very numerous and in great esteem,
rarely succeeding in the drawing or colouring of human figures, or in
the grouping of large compositions; and though in flowers and birds
their performances are much more admired, yet even in these some part
of the merit is rather to be imputed to the native brightness and
excellency of the colours than to the skill of the painter, since it is
very unusual to see the light and shade justly and naturally handled,
or to find that ease and grace in the drawing which are to be met with
in the works of European artists. In short, there is a stiffness and
minuteness in most of the Chinese productions which are extremely
displeasing: and it may perhaps be truly asserted that these defects in
their arts are entirely owing to the peculiar turn of the people,
amongst whom nothing great or spirited is to be met with.
If we next examine the Chinese literature (taking our accounts from the
writers who have endeavoured to represent it in the most favourable
light), we shall find that on this head their obstinacy and absurdity
are most wonderful; since though, for many ages, they have been
surrounded by nations to whom the use of letters was familiar, yet
they, the Chinese alone, have hitherto neglected to avail themselves of
that almost divine invention, and have continued to adhere to the rude
and inartificial method of representing words by arbitrary mark--a
method which necessarily renders the number of their characters too
great for human memory to manage, makes writing to be an art that
requires prodigious application, and in which no man can be otherwise
than partially skilled; whilst all reading and understanding of what is
written is attended with infinite obscurity and confusion, as the
connexion between these marks and the words they represent cannot be
retained in books, but must be delivered down from age to age by oral
tradition--and how uncertain this must prove in such a complicated
subject is sufficiently obvious to those who have attended to the
variation which all verbal relations undergo when they are transmitted
thro' three or four hands only. Hence it is easy to conclude that the
history and inventions of past ages recorded by these perplexed symbols
must frequently prove unintelligible, and consequently the learning and
boasted antiquity {377} of the nation must, in numerous instances, be
extremely problematical.
However, we are told by many of the missionaries that tho' the skill of
the Chinese in science is confessedly much inferior to that of the
Europeans, yet the morality and justice taught and practised by them
are most exemplary: so that from the description given by some of these
good fathers, one should be induced to believe that the whole empire
was a well-governed affectionate family, where the only contests were
who should exert the most humanity and social virtue. But our
preceding relation of the behaviour of the magistrates, merchants, and
tradesmen at Canton sufficiently refutes these Jesuitical fictions.
Beside, as to their theories of morality, if we may judge from the
specimens exhibited in the works of the missionaries, we shall find
them frequently employed in recommending ridiculous attachment to
certain frivolous points, instead of discussing the proper criterion of
human actions, and regulating the general conduct of mankind to one
another on reasonable and equitable principles. Indeed, the only
pretension of the Chinese to a more refined morality than their
neighbours is founded not on their integrity or beneficence, but solely
on the affected evenness of their demeanor, and their constant
attention to suppress all symptoms of passion and violence. But it
must be considered that hypocrisy and fraud are often not less
mischievous to the general interests of mankind than impetuosity and
vehemence of temper: since these, though usually liable to the
imputation of imprudence, do not exclude sincerity, benevolence,
resolution, nor many other laudable qualities. And perhaps, if this
matter was examined to the bottom, it would appear that the calm and
patient turn of the Chinese, on which they so much value themselves,
and which distinguishes the nation from all others, is in reality the
source of the most exceptionable part of their character; for it has
been often observed by those who have attended to the nature of
mankind, that it is difficult to curb the more robust and violent
passions without augmenting, at the same time, the force of the selfish
ones. So that the timidity, dissimulation, and dishonesty of the
Chinese may, in some sort, be owing to the composure and external
decency so universally prevailing in that empire.
Thus much for the general disposition of the people: but {378} I cannot
dismiss this subject without adding a few words about the Chinese
Government, that too having been the subject of boundless panegyric.
And on this head I must observe that the favourable accounts often
given of their prudent regulations for the administration of their
domestic affairs are sufficiently confuted by their transactions with
Mr. Anson, as we have seen that their magistrates are corrupt, their
people thievish, and their tribunals venal and abounding with artifice.
Nor is the constitution of the empire, or the general orders of the
state, less liable to exception, since that form of government which
does not in the first place provide for the security of the public
against the enterprizes of foreign powers is certainly a most defective
institution: and yet this populous, this rich and extensive country, so
pompously celebrated for its refined wisdom and policy, was conquered
about an age since by a handful of Tartars; and even now, through the
cowardice of the inhabitants, and the want of proper military
regulations, it continues exposed not only to the attempts of any
potent state, but to the ravages of every petty invader. I have
already observed, on occasion of the commodore's disputes with the
Chinese, that the _Centurion_ alone was an overmatch for all the naval
power of that empire. This perhaps may appear an extraordinary
position, but it is unquestionable, for I have examined two of the
vessels made use of by the Chinese. The first of these is a junk of
about a hundred and twenty tuns burthen, and was what the _Centurion_
hove down by; these are most used in the great rivers, tho' they
sometimes serve for small coasting voyages. The other junk is about
two hundred and eighty tuns burthen, and is of the same form with those
in which they trade to Cochinchina, Manila, Batavia, and Japan, tho'
some of their trading vessels are of a much larger size; its head is
perfectly flat, and when the vessel is deep laden, the second or third
plank of this flat surface is oft-times under water. The masts, sails,
and rigging of these vessels are ruder than the built, for their masts
are made of trees, no otherwise fashioned than by barking them and
lopping off their branches. Each mast has only two shrouds of twisted
rattan, which are often both shifted to the weather side; and the
halyard, when the yard is up, serves instead of a third shroud. The
sails are of mat, strengthened every three feet by an horizontal rib of
bamboo; {379} they run upon the mast with hoops, and when they are
lowered down they fold upon the deck. These traders carry no cannon,
and it appears from this whole description that they are utterly
incapable of resisting any European armed vessel. Nor is the state
provided with ships of considerable force, or of a better fabric, to
protect their merchantmen: for at Canton, where doubtless their
principal naval power is stationed, we saw no more than four men-of-war
junks, of about three hundred tuns burthen, being of the make already
described, and mounted only with eight or ten guns, the largest of
which did not exceed a four-pounder. This may suffice to give an idea
of the defenceless state of the Chinese Empire. But it is time to
return to the commodore, whom I left with his two ships without the
Bocca Tigris, and who, on the 12th of December, anchored before the
town of Macao.
Whilst the ships lay there, the merchants of Macao finished their
purchase of the galeon, for which they refused to give more than 6000
dollars: this was greatly short of her value, but the impatience of the
commodore to get to sea, to which the merchants were no strangers,
prompted them to insist on these unequal terms. Mr. Anson had learnt
enough from the English at Canton to conjecture that the war with Spain
was still continued, and that probably the French might engage in the
assistance of Spain before he could arrive in Great Britain; and
therefore, knowing that no intelligence could come to Europe of the
prize he had taken and the treasure he had on board till the return of
the merchantmen from Canton, he was resolved to make all possible
expedition in getting back, that he might be himself the first
messenger of his own good fortune, and might thereby prevent the enemy
from forming any projects to intercept him. For these reasons, he, to
avoid all delay, accepted of the sum offered for the galeon, and she
being delivered to the merchants the 15th of December 1743, the
_Centurion_ the same day got under sail on her return to England. On
the 3d of January she came to anchor at Prince's Island in the
Streights of Sunda, and continued there wooding and watering till the
8th, when she weighed and stood for the Cape of Good Hope, where, on
the 11th of March, she anchored in Table Bay.
The Cape of Good Hope is situated in a temperate climate, where the
excesses of heat and cold are rarely known, and the Dutch inhabitants,
who are numerous, and who here {380} retain their native industry, have
stocked it with prodigious plenty of all sorts of fruits and provision,
most of which, either from the equality of the seasons, or the
peculiarity of the soil, are more delicious in their kind than can be
met with elsewhere: so that by these, and by the excellent water which
abounds there, this settlement is the best provided of any in the known
world for the refreshment of seamen after long voyages. Here the
commodore continued till the beginning of April, highly delighted with
the place, which, by its extraordinary accommodations, the healthiness
of its air, and the picturesque appearance of the country, the whole
enlivened too by the addition of a civilized colony, was not disgraced
on a comparison with the vallies of Juan Fernandes and lawns of Tinian.
During his stay he entered about forty new men, and having, by the 3d
of April 1744, compleated his water and provision, he, on that day,
weighed and put to sea. The 19th of April they saw the island of St.
Helena, which, however, they did not touch at, but stood on their way,
and arriving in soundings about the beginning of June, they, on the
10th of that month, spoke with an English ship bound for Philadelphia,
from whom they received the first intelligence of a French war. By the
12th of June they got sight of the Lizard, and the 15th, in the
evening, to their infinite joy, they came safe to an anchor at
Spithead. But that the signal perils which had so often threatned them
in the preceding part of the enterprize might pursue them to the very
last, Mr. Anson learnt on his arrival that there was a French fleet of
considerable force cruising in the chops of the Channel, which, from
the account of their position, he found the _Centurion_ had ran
through, and had been all the time concealed by a fog. Thus was this
expedition finished, when it had lasted three years and nine months,
after having, by its event, 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.
{381}
INDEX
Acapulco, 3, 13, 177, 178, 197, 208, 209, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216-238,
239, 242, 247, 249, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 283, 310, 339, 341,
349
Aguigan Island, 289
Alexander VI., Pope, 216
Alvoredo Island, 45, 48
Anatacan, Island of, 278, 279
Andes, or Cordilleras Mountains, The, 32, 71, 89, 103, 105, 170, 173,
198
_Anna_, 41, 43, 57, 62, 66, 74, 78, 83, 123-159, 163
Araucos (Chilian Indian tribe), 92, 260, 261
_Argyle_, 13, 14
_Arranzazu_, 161
_Asia_, 27 _et seq._, 147
Atlantic Ocean, 40, 77
Azores, 216
Bahia del todos Santos, 44, 170
Balchen, Admiral, 15, 18, 19, 26
Baldivia, 73, 85, 93, 104, 139, 140, 257, 258, 262, 265
Bamboo, Island of, 321
Barbadoes, 42
Barragan, Bay of, 30
Barranca, 166
Bashee Islands, 317, 341, 351
Batan, Island of, 229
Batavia, 327, 339, 378
Birriborongo, 229
Blanco, Cape, 64, 91, 94, 198
Bland, Colonel, 12, 15
Boccadero, The, 222
Bocca Tigris, 353, 354, 355, 365, 379
Bon Port, Bay of, 45, 49
Botel Tobago Xima Island, 317, 341, 342
Boyne, Battle of the, 101
Brazen Head, 24
Brazil, 29, 31, 38, 40, 44, 45, 48, 50, 52, 53, 55, 86, 91, 96, 141,
169, 170, 199, 257, 333
Brett, Lieut, (afterwards Capt.) Piercy, 9, 113, 166, 174, 178, 179,
180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188, 189, 243, 244, 255, 300, 312,
365
Buenavista. _See_ Tinian
Buenos Ayres, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 43, 52, 54, 59, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
126, 147
Butusan, 229
Byron, Hon. Mr., 145, 146
Cabite, 219, 222, 229
Cabouce, Island of, 321
Cadiz, 175, 220, 221
California, 195, 196, 219, 222, 223, 225, 226
Callao, 126, 155, 156, 157, 159, 161, 163-167, 175, 177, 178, 188, 218,
219, 259, 263, 264
Campbell (midshipman), 145, 146, 147
Canal Bueno, 200
Canton, 310, 323, 324, 326, 328, 329, 330, 334, 335, 339, 353, 380
Canton, River, 62, 256, 321, 323, 324, 351, 353-380
Cape of Good Hope, 216, 218, 379
Carthagena, 196
Catanduanas, 229
Cathcart, Lord, 18, 19, 26
Cavendish, Sir Thomas, 219
_Centurion_, H.M.S., 12, 19, 22, 25, 44, 47, 59, 64, 65, 66, 73, 74,
100, 101, 102, 123, 125, 128, 129, 130, 151, 153, 155, 158, 160, 163,
164, 165, 166, 168, 182, 185, 187, 189, 190, 191, 198, 199, 231, 232,
250, 251, 252, 255, 268, 271, 274, 275, 281, 288, 294-315, 324, 325,
326, 327, 330, 334, 335, 336, 339, 341, 344-352, 355, 356, 361, 367,
371, 373, 374, 375, 378, 379
Channel English, 18
Charles II., 67, 92, 94
Cheap, Lieut. (afterwards Capt.) David, 25, 66, 73, 138-147
Chequetan Harbour, 205, 236, 237, 238, 239-256
Cheripe, 206
Chili, 5, 13, 32, 33, 73, 105, 113, 149, 152, 155, 163, 258, 259, 261,
265
Chiloe Island, 104, 138, 140, 145, 146
China, 13, 59, 62, 225, 235, 248, 252, 256, 295, 316, 323, 324, 325,
332, 335, 340, 372, 374
Chonos, Islands of, 134
Clipperton, Capt., 179
Cochinchina, 378
Cocos Island, 197, 208, 209
Colan, 177
Columbus, Christopher, 52
_Concord_, 76
Cordilleras, The. _See_ Andes
Corientes, Cape, 195, 208, 227
Coromandel, 221
Cowley, Capt., 91
Cozens (midshipman), 141, 142
Cracherode, Lieut.-Col. Mordaunt, 22, 73, 333
Cumberland Bay, 112
Dampier, William, 237, 242, 285, 341
Delango, Cape, 351
Dennis, Lieut., 167
Desire, Port, 67
Downs, The, 94
_Dragon_, H.M.S., 20, 23
Drake, Sir Francis, 94
_Duchess of Bristol_, 257
_Duke of Bristol_, 257
East India Company, 43, 323, 327, 369, 373
East Indies, 13, 55, 173, 216, 314
_Elizabeth_, 9
Elliot (surgeon), 145, 146
_Esperanza_, 27 _et seq._
Espiritu Santo, Cape, 225, 228, 251, 339, 341, 344, 349
Ethiopic Ocean, 40, 44
Falkland Islands, 91, 92
Fonchiale, 24
Formosa, Island of, 309, 317, 318, 341
France, 266
Frezier, Amedée Francis, 7, 48, 50, 76, 84, 91, 94, 95, 264
Frio, Cape, 44
Gallicia, 38
Gallo, Island of, 198
Gasparico, Island of, 228
Gerard, Mr. (master of the _Anna_), 149, 151
_Gloucester_, H.M.S., 14, 22, 25, 43, 64, 65, 74, 75, 81, 82, 83,
123-131, 151, 158, 159, 163, 164, 174, 175, 193, 194, 195, 198, 199,
205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 231, 232, 238, 250, 252, 255, 256, 268, 271,
272, 273, 274, 275, 281, 298, 301
Gordon, Lieut., 301
Grafton's Island, 351
Gravesend, 94
Guaiaquil, 167, 187, 264
Guam, Island of, 228, 274, 275, 279, 280, 281, 284, 286, 290, 295, 305,
308, 309, 310, 311, 314
_Guipuscoa_, 27 _et seq._
Halley, Dr. Edmund, 4, 40, 91, 94-97
Hamilton, Lieut., 143, 145
_Haslingfield_, 373
_Hermiona_, 27 _et seq._
_History of Plants_, 285
Holland, 52
Horn, Cape, 12, 15, 18, 21, 28, 29, 33, 47, 58, 61, 66, 74, 78, 102,
121, 149, 157, 159, 170, 208-215, 257, 268, 270
Hudson's Bay, 169
Hughes, Lieut., 160, 188, 237, 251
_Incarnation_, 76
Inchin, Island of, 132
_Industry_, 41
Jalapay, Port of, 347
Janson, 335
Japan, 315
Java Head, 12
_Jesu Nazareno_, 206, 207
Jesuits, The, 220, 221, 226, 314
Juan Fernandes, Island of, 62, 73, 90, 92, 98-131, 138, 141, 144,
148-176, 195, 196, 205, 257, 268, 282, 380
Kepple, Hon. Mr. 181
Kidd, Capt. Dandy, 22, 25, 64
Ladrones. _See_ Marian Islands
Lantoon, Island of, 322
Lantoon, Peak of, 322
_Lark_, H.M.S., 22
Leger, Lewis, 249, 250
Legg, Capt. the Hon. Edward, 22, 73, 173, 333
Lema, Islands of, 321, 351
Le Maire, Straits, 29, 61, 193-208, 85, 87, 88, 94, 95, 98, 100, 104,
107
Lezo, Don Blaso de, 5
Lima, 30, 32, 115, 165, 170, 175, 178, 188, 191, 259, 264
_Lion_, H.M.S., 9
Lisbon, 54, 56, 249
Lizard, The, 380
Lobos de la Mar Island, 174
Lobos de Tierra Island, 174
Loo, 24
Luconia, Island of, 12, 218, 219
Macao, 62, 208, 294, 295, 309, 317, 318, 319, 321, 323-338, 339, 340,
341, 349, 358, 359, 362, 363, 379
Madera, 24, 25, 40, 44, 156
Magellan, Ferdinand, 217, 218, 310
Magellan, Straits of, 66, 67, 70, 71, 75, 83, 92, 94, 95, 96, 99, 141,
142
Maldonado, Bay of, 28
Manila, 3, 4, 12, 13, 214, 216-229, 336, 339, 340, 342, 349, 378
Manta, 205
Marian Islands, 218, 276, 277, 310, 313, 315, 321, 322, 337
Mariato, Point, 199
Masa Fuero, Island of, 128, 148
Masaqura Island, 48
Mentero, General Don Jeronimo de, 348
Mexico, 4, 5, 175, 176, 188, 197, 205, 206, 214, 219, 220, 221, 225,
226, 227, 234, 236, 249, 250, 251, 255, 256, 257, 268, 271, 340, 352
Mindinuetta, Don Joseph, 30 _et seq._
Mitchel, Capt. Matthew, 22, 73, 123, 128, 159, 165, 193, 195, 199, 272,
273, 274, 275, 333
Monmouth Island, 351
Montegorda, 76
Monte Vedio, 30, 33, 34
Morena, Marcos, 174
Morro Solar, 264
Morro Veijo, 166
Murray, Capt. Hon. George, 66, 73
Narborough, Sir John, 61, 65, 67, 71, 92, 93-97
Nasca, 163, 164
Newcastle, Duke of (Secretary of State), 14
Newfoundland, 120
New Guinea, 314
Noir, Cape, 84, 138, 216-229, 333
Norris, Sir John, 14
Norris, Capt. Richard, 24
Nostra Senora del Socoro Island, 61, 73, 102, 139
_Nuestra Senora del Carmin_, 174, 189, 209, 231, 232, 237, 238, 248, 250
_Nuestra Senora del Monte Carmelo_, 155, 158-166, 189, 196, 209, 210,
231, 232, 237, 238, 248, 250
_Nuestra Signora de Cabadonga_, 348
Orellana (Indian chief), 5, 34 _et seq._, 71
Pacific Ocean, 3, 77, 83, 88, 92, 99, 102, 218, 227, 251, 252, 266,
267, 314, 339
Paita, 159, 163, 165, 175-200, 205, 230, 236, 265, 269
Panama, 5, 13, 21, 163, 164, 174, 175, 177, 178, 184, 196, 197, 206,
259, 263
Panama, Bay of, 198, 203, 263
Paragua, 33
Parrot Island, 48
Patagonia, 63, 66, 67, 70, 71, 91, 92
Patinho, Don Joseph, 221
Paulists, The, 56, 57
Paxaros, Island of, 277
Paz, Brigadier Don Jose Sylva de, 43, 51, 52, 58, 86
_Pearl_, H.M.S., 13, 21, 23, 62, 77, 84, 130, 132-147, 156, 333, 334
Pedro Blanco, 318, 320, 321
Pekin, 357, 367
Pepys's Island, 91
Peru, 5, 13, 96, 152, 156, 157, 162, 163, 164, 173, 174, 196, 218, 220,
221, 252, 257, 259, 264
Petaplan, Bay of, 240, 243, 244, 265
Petaplan, Hill of, 240, 244, 245
Philadelphia, 380
Philippine Islands, 12, 218, 222, 310, 339, 352
Pisco, 163
Piura, 175, 177, 183
Pizarro, Don Joseph, 5, 26, 27 _et seq._, 59, 74, 126, 154, 156, 157,
260, 265, 352
Plata, Island of, 198
Plate, River, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 44, 51, 52, 63, 66, 86, 87, 96, 157
Plymouth, 20
Porto Bello, 196
Portsmouth, 9, 15, 18, 187, 195, 312
Portugal, 51, 52, 56, 323
_Prince Frederick_, H.M.S., 19
Prince's Island, 379
Quibo, Island of, 197, 198, 199, 201-207, 208, 238, 240
Quicara, Island of, 199, 240
Quito, 155
Ram Head, The, 23
Realeijo, 177
Rigby, Capt., 369
Rio de Patas, 31, 53
Rio Grande, 53, 57, 58, 143
Rio Janeiro, 32, 33, 44, 87, 333
Rogers, Woodes, 91
Rota Island, 228, 286, 300, 310
_St. Albans_, H.M.S., 20, 22
St. Antonio, Island of, 46, 48
St. Bartholomew, Cape, 76, 95, 228
St. Catherine's, 18, 28, 32, 40, 44, 45, 160-192, 73, 87, 95, 156, 170,
171, 333
_St. Estevan_, 27 _et seq._
St. Gallen Island, 166
St. Helena Island, 380
St. Helens, 11, 14, 18, 19, 24, 43, 44, 151, 266
St. Jago, 25, 32, 40, 146, 147, 259
St. James, Cape, 76
St. Juan, Fort, 48
St. Julian, Bay of, 66
St. Julian, Port, 61, 65, 67, 71, 74, 96, 97, 156, 334
St. Lucas, Cape, 225, 226, 227, 228
St. Petersburgh, 170, 171
St. Thomas, Cape, 44
St. Vincent, Cape, 76
Salt, Lieut., 64
Samal, Island of, 228, 251, 339
San Ignatio de Agana, 310
Santa Fee, 5
_Santa Teresa de Jesus_, 167, 181, 190, 198
Saumarez, Lieut., 66, 155, 163, 168, 292, 349
Saunders, Capt. Charles, 66, 110, 129, 160, 163, 164, 165, 168, 333
Saypan Island, 279, 310
Sebaco, Island of, 200
Seguateneio, 213, 236, 237, 240
Selkirk, Alexander, 116, 117, 120
Serigan, Island of, 276
_Severn_, H.M.S., 13, 22, 64, 65, 84, 130, 132-147, 173, 333
Sevil, 217
Shelvocke, Capt., 199
_Solidad_, 188, 189, 198
Sonsonnate, 177
Sonsonnate, Bay of, 176
_South Sea Castle_, H.M.S., 23
South Sea Company, 21
Spain, 7, 11, 12, 28, 29, 70, 93, 117, 146, 147, 218, 219, 265, 266,
345, 352, 355, 379
Spanish squadron, 27 _et seq._
Spice Islands, 217, 218
Spithead, 14, 24, 380
Staten-land, 30, 76, 78, 87, 92
Sunda, Straits of, 379
Supata Island, 351
Table Bay, 379
Terra del Fuego, 75, 76, 83, 84, 85, 92, 94, 95, 98, 102
Three Brothers, The, 76
Tiger Island, 353
Tinian, Island of, 279, 282, 286, 289, 294-302, 303, 304, 305, 306,
307-322, 380
Torbay, 20
Tres Marias Island, 208
_Tryal_, H.M.S., 13, 25, 43, 58, 59, 62, 65, 66, 73, 74, 77, 82, 109,
110, 121, 122, 123, 128, 130, 148 151, 153, 158, 159-165, 174, 178,
182, 188, 210, 231, 232, 237, 238, 248, 250, 281, 298
Typa, Harbour of, 324, 336
Urrunaga, Bartolome, 167
Valparaiso, 146, 154, 155, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165
Vanderas, Valley of, 225
Vele Rete, 317
Vera Cruz, 249
Verd, Cape de, Islands, 25, 26, 40
Vernon, Admiral, 195
Vesputio, Americus, 52
Virgin Mary, Cape, 74, 94
_Wager_, H.M.S., 13, 17, 18, 23, 43, 78, 82, 132-147, 153
Wager, Sir Charles, 12, 13, 14, 15, 65, 94
Wampo, 366
West Indies, 27, 173, 174, 196, 220
Williams, John, 175
_Winchester_, H.M.S., 20, 23
Wood, Capt., 96, 97
Wood's Mount, 65, 74
Zamorra, Don Manuel, 155
THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH
End of Project Gutenberg's A Voyage Round the World, by George Anson