_Our Cruise off the Port of Acapulco for the Manilla Ship._
I have already mentioned, that the return of our barge from the port
of Acapulco, where she had surprised three negro fishermen, gave us
inexpressible satisfaction, as we learnt from our prisoners, that the
galleon was then preparing to put to sea, and that her departure was
fixed, by an edict of the viceroy of Mexico, to the 14th of March,
N.S. that is, to the 3d of March, according to our reckoning.
Having satisfied ourselves upon this head, we indulged our curiosity
in enquiring after other news; when the prisoners informed us, that
they had received intelligence at Acapulco, of our having plundered
and burnt the town of Paita; and that, on this occasion, the governor
of Acapulco had augmented the fortifications of the place, and had
taken several precautions to prevent us from forcing our way into the
harbour; that in particular, he had placed a guard on the island which
lies at the harbour's mouth, and that this guard had been withdrawn
but two nights before the arrival of our barge: So that had the barge
succeeded in her first attempt, or had she arrived at the port the
second time two days sooner, she could scarcely have avoided being
seized on, or if she had escaped, it must have been with the loss of
the greatest part of her crew, as she would have been under the fire
of the guard, before she had known her danger.
The withdrawing of this guard was a circumstance that greatly
encouraged us, as it seemed to demonstrate, not only that the enemy
had not as yet discovered us, but likewise that they had now no
farther apprehensions of our visiting their coast, indeed the
prisoners assured us, that they had no knowledge of our being in those
seas, and that they had therefore flattered themselves, that, in
the long interval since our taking of Paita, we had steered another
course. But we did not consider the opinion of these negro prisoners
so authentic a proof of our being hitherto concealed, as the
withdrawing of the guard from the harbour's mouth, which being the
action of the governor, was of all arguments the most convincing, as
he might be supposed to have intelligence, with which the rest of the
inhabitants were unacquainted.
Satisfied therefore that we were undiscovered, and that the time was
fixed for the departure of the galleon from Acapulco, we made all
necessary preparations, and waited with the utmost impatience for the
important day. As this was the 3d of March, and it was the 19th of
February when the barge returned and brought us our intelligence, the
commodore resolved to continue the greatest part of the intermediate
time on his present station, to the westward of Acapulco, conceiving
that in this situation there would be less danger of his being seen
from the shore, which was the only circumstance that could deprive us
of the immense treasure, on which we had at present so eagerly fixed
our thoughts. During this interval, we were employed in scrubbing and
cleansing our ships, in bringing them into their most advantageous
trim, and in regulating the orders, signals, and stations to be
observed, when we should arrive off Acapulco, and the time of the
departure of the galleon should draw nigh.
On the first of March, we made the high lands, usually called the paps
over Acapulco, and got with all possible expedition into the situation
prescribed by the commodore's orders. The distribution of our squadron
on this occasion, both for the intercepting the galleon, and for the
avoiding a discovery from the shore, was so very judicious, that it
well merits to be distinctly described.
The Centurion brought the paps over the harbour to bear N.N.E., at
fifteen leagues distance, which was a sufficient offing to prevent our
being seen by the enemy. To the westward of the Centurion there was
stationed the Carmelo, and to the eastward were the Tryal prize, the
Gloucester, and the Carmin: These were all ranged in a circular line,
and each ship was three leagues distant from the next; so that the
Carmelo and the Carmin, which were the two extremes, were twelve
leagues distant from each other: And as the galleon could, without
doubt, be discerned at six leagues distance from either extremity,
the whole sweep of our squadron, within which nothing could pass
undiscovered, was at least twenty-four leagues in extent; and yet
we were so connected by our signals, as to be easily and speedily
informed of what was seen in any part of the line: And, to render this
disposition still more complete, and to prevent even the possibility
of the galleon's escaping us in the night, the two cutters belonging
to the Centurion and the Gloucester were both manned and sent in
shore; and were ordered to lie all day at the distance of four or five
leagues from the entrance of the port, where they could not possibly
be discovered; but they were directed in the night to stand nearer
to the harbour's mouth, and as the light of the morning came on, to
return back again to their day-posts. When the cutters should first
discover the Manilla ship, one of them was to return to the squadron,
and to make a signal, whether the galleon stood to the eastward or
to the westward; whilst the other was to follow the galleon at a
distance, and if it grew dark, to direct the squadron in their chace,
by shewing false fires.
Besides the care we had taken to prevent the galleon from passing us
unobserved, we had not been inattentive to the means of engaging her
to advantage, when we came up with her: For, considering the thinness
of our hands, and the vaunting accounts given by the Spaniards of her
size, her guns, and her strength, this was a consideration not to be
neglected. As we supposed that none of our ships but the Centurion
and the Gloucester were capable of lying alongside of her, we took
on board the Centurion all the hands belonging to the Carmelo and the
Carmin, except what were just sufficient to navigate those ships;
and Captain Saunders was ordered to send from the Tryal prize
ten Englishmen, and as many negroes, to reinforce the crew of the
Gloucester. For the encouragement of our negroes, we promised them,
that on their good behaviour they should all have their freedom; and
as they had been almost every day trained to the management of the
great guns for the two preceding months, they were very well qualified
to be of service to us; and from their hopes of liberty, and in return
for the usage they had met with amongst us, they seemed disposed to
exert themselves to the utmost of their power.
Being thus prepared for the reception of the galleon, we expected,
with the utmost impatience, the so-often-mentioned third of March, the
day fixed for her departure. And on that day we were all of us most
eagerly engaged in looking out towards Acapulco; and we were so
strangely prepossessed with the certainty of our intelligence, and
with an assurance of her coming out of port, that some or other of us
were constantly imagining they discovered one of our cutters returning
with a signal. But, to our extreme vexation, both this day and the
succeeding night passed without any news of the galleon: However,
we did not yet despair, but were all heartily disposed to flatter
ourselves, that some unforeseen accident had intervened, which might
have put off her departure for a few days; and suggestions of this
kind occurred in plenty, as we knew that the time fixed by the viceroy
for her sailing was often prolonged on the petition of the merchants
of Mexico. Thus we kept up our hopes, and did not abate of our
vigilance; and as the 7th of March was Sunday the beginning of
Passion-week, which is observed by the Papists with great strictness,
and a total cessation from all kinds of labour, so that no ship is
permitted to stir out of port during the whole week, this quieted our
apprehensions for some days, and disposed us not to expect the galleon
till the week following. On the Friday in this week our cutters
returned to us, the officers being very confident that the galleon was
still in port, and that she could not possibly have come out but they
must have seen her. On the Monday morning succeeding Passion-week,
that is, on the 15th of March, the cutters were again dispatched
to their old station, and our hopes were once more indulged in as
sanguine prepossessions as before; but in a week's time our eagerness
was greatly abated, and a general dejection and despondency took
place. It is true, there were some few amongst us who still kept
up their spirits, and were very ingenious in finding out reasons to
satisfy themselves, that the disappointment had been occasioned by a
casual delay of the galleon, which a few days would remove, and not
by a total suspension of her departure for the whole season: But these
speculations were not relished by the generality of our people; for
they were persuaded that the enemy had, by some accident, discovered
our being upon the coast, and had therefore laid an embargo on the
galleon till the next year. And indeed this persuasion was but too
well founded; for we afterwards learnt, that our barge, when sent on
the discovery of the port of Acapulco, had been seen from the
shore; and that this circumstance (no embarkations but canoes
ever frequenting that coast) was to them a sufficient proof of the
neighbourhood of our squadron; on which they stopped the galleon till
the succeeding year.
The commodore himself, though he declared not his opinion, was yet in
his own thoughts very apprehensive that we were discovered, and that
the departure of the galleon was put off; and he had, in consequence
of this opinion, formed a plan for possessing himself of Acapulco;
for he had no doubt that the treasure remained in the town, though the
orders for dispatching the galleon were countermanded.[3]
[Footnote 3: It is unnecessary to detail this plan, as, for sufficient
reasons soon discovered, it was not attempted to be executed.--E.]
His scheme was formed on a supposition that the galleon was detained
till the next year; but as this was a matter of opinion only, and not
founded on intelligence, and there was a possibility that she might
still put to sea in a short time, the commodore thought it prudent
to continue his cruise upon this station, as long as the necessary
attention to his stores of wood and water, and to the convenient
season for his future passage to China, would give him leave; and
therefore, as the cutters had been ordered to remain, before Acapulco
till the 23d of March, the squadron did not change its position till
that day; when the cutters not appearing, we were in some pain for
them, apprehending they might have suffered either from the enemy or
the weather; but we were relieved from our concern the next morning,
when we discovered them, though at a great distance and to the leeward
of the squadron: We bore down to them and took them up and were
informed by them, that, conformable to their orders, they had left
their station the day before, without having seen any thing of the
galleon; and we found, that the reason of their being so far to
the leeward of us was a strong current, which had driven the whole
squadron to windward.
It afterwards appeared that this prolongation of our cruise was a very
prudent measure, and afforded us no contemptible chance of seizing the
treasure, on which we had so long fixed our thoughts. For it seems,
after the embargo was laid on the galleon, the persons principally
interested in the cargo sent several expresses to Mexico, to beg
that she might still be permitted to depart: For as they knew, by the
accounts sent from Paita, that we had not more than three hundred men
in all, they insisted that there was nothing to be feared from us;
for that the galleon (carrying above twice as many hands as our whole
squadron) would be greatly an overmatch for us. Though the viceroy was
inflexible; yet, on this representation, she was kept ready for the
sea for near three weeks after the first order came to detain her.
When we had taken up the cutters, all the ships being joined, the
commodore made a signal to speak with their commanders; and upon
enquiry into the stock of fresh water remaining on board the squadron,
it was found to be so very slender, that we were under a necessity of
quitting our station to procure a fresh supply. It was agreed, that
the harbour of Seguataneo or Chequetan being the nearest to us, was,
on that account, the most eligible; it was therefore immediately
resolved to make the best of our way thither: And that, even while
we were recruiting our water, we might not abandon our views upon the
galleon, which perhaps, upon certain intelligence of our ship being
employed at Chequetan, might venture to slip out to sea; our cutter,
under the command of Mr Hughes, the lieutenant of the Tryal prize, was
ordered to cruise off the port of Acapulco for twenty-four days, that
if the galleon should set sail in that interval, we might be speedily
informed of it. In pursuance of these resolutions we endeavoured
to ply to the westward, to gain our intended port, but were often
interrupted in our progress by calms and adverse currents: In these
intervals we employed ourselves in taking out the most valuable part
of the cargoes of the Carmelo and Carmin prizes, which two ships we
intended to destroy as soon as we had tolerably cleared them. By the
first of April we were so far advanced towards Seguataneo, that we
thought it expedient to send out two boats, that they might range
along the coast, and discover the watering-place; they were gone some
days, and our water being now very short, it was a particular felicity
to us that we met with daily supplies of turtle, for had we been
entirely confined to salt provisions, we must have suffered
extremely in so warm a climate. Indeed our present circumstances were
sufficiently alarming, and gave the most considerate amongst us
as much concern as any of the numerous perils we had hitherto
encountered; for our boats, as we conceived by their not returning,
had not as yet discovered a place proper to water at, and by the
leakage of our cask and other accidents, we had not ten days water
on board the whole squadron; so that from the known difficulty of
procuring water on this coast, and the little reliance we had on
the Buccaneer writers, (the only guides we had to trust to) we were
apprehensive of being soon exposed to a calamity, the most terrible
of any in the long disheartening catalogue of the distresses of a
sea-faring life.
But these gloomy suggestions were soon happily ended; for our boats
returned on the 5th of April, having discovered a place proper for our
purpose, about seven miles to the westward of the rocks of Seguataneo,
which, by the description they gave of it, appeared to be the port
called by Dampier the harbour of Chequetan. They were ordered out
again the next day, to sound the harbour and its entrance, which they
had represented as very narrow. At their return they reported the
place to be free from any danger; so that on the 7th we stood in, and
that evening came to an anchor in eleven fathom. The Gloucester came
to an anchor at the same time with us; but the Camelo and the Carmin
having fallen to leeward, the Tryal prize was ordered to join them,
and to bring them in, which in two or three days she effected.