_The Run from the Coast of Mexico to the Ladrones or Marian Islands._
When we left the coast of America, we stood to the S.W. with a view
of meeting with the N.E. trade-wind, which the accounts of former
writers made us expect at seventy or eighty leagues distance from the
land: We had another reason for standing to the southward, which was
the getting into the latitude of 13° or 14° north; that being
the parallel where the Pacific Ocean is most usually crossed, and
consequently where the navigation is esteemed the safest: This last
purpose we had soon answered, being in a day or two sufficiently
advanced to the south. At the same time we were also farther from the
shore, than we had presumed was necessary for the falling in with
the trade-wind: But in this particular we were most grievously
disappointed; for the wind still continued to the westward, or at best
variable. As the getting into the N.E. trade-wind, was to us a matter
of the last consequence, we stood more to the southward, and made many
experiments to meet with it; but it was seven weeks, from our leaving
the coast, before we got into it. This was an interval, in which we
believed we should well nigh have reached the easternmost parts of
Asia: But we were so baffled with the contrary and variable winds,
which for all that time perplexed us, that we were not as yet advanced
above a fourth part of the way. The delay alone would have been a
sufficient mortification; but there were other circumstances
attending it, which rendered this situation not less terrible, and
our apprehensions perhaps still greater than in any of our past
distresses. For our two ships were by this time extremely crazy;
and many days had not passed, before we discovered a spring in the
fore-mast of the Centurion, which rounded about twenty-six inches of
its circumference, and which was judged to be at least four inches
deep: And no sooner had our carpenters secured this with fishing it,
but the Gloucester made a signal of distress; and we learnt that
she had a dangerous spring in her main-mast, twelve feet below the
trussel-trees; so that she could not carry any sail upon it. Our
carpenters, on a strict examination of this mast, found it so very
rotten and decayed, that they judged it necessary to cut it down as
low as it appeared to have been injured; and by this it was reduced to
nothing but a stump, which served only as a step to the topmast. These
accidents augmented our delay, and occasioned us great anxiety about
our future security: For on our leaving the coast of Mexico, the
scurvy had begun to make its appearance again amongst our people;
though from our departure from Juan Fernandes we had till then enjoyed
a most uninterrupted state of health. We too well knew the effects of
this disease, from our former fatal experience, to suppose that any
thing but a speedy passage could secure the greater part of our crew
from perishing by it: And as, after-being seven weeks at sea, there
did not appear any reasons that could persuade us we were nearer the
trade-wind than when we first set out, there was no ground for us to
suppose but our passage would prove at least three times as long as
we at first expected; and consequently we had the melancholy prospect,
either of dying by the scurvy, or perishing with the ship for want of
hands to navigate her. Indeed, some amongst us were at first willing
to believe, that in this warm climate, so different from what we felt
in passing round Cape Horn, the violence of this disease, and its
fatality, might be in some degree mitigated; as it had not been
unusual to suppose that its particular virulence in that passage
was in a great measure owing to the severity of the weather; but the
havock of the distemper, in our present circumstances, soon convinced
us of the falsity of this speculation; as it likewise exploded some
other opinions, which usually pass current about the cause and nature
of this disease.[1]
[Footnote 1: Some remarks respecting the nature and treatment of
this disease are now given in the original, but being imperfect and
conjectural, are omitted here.--E.]
Our surgeon (who, during our passage round Cape Horn, had ascribed the
mortality we suffered to the severity of the climate) exerted himself
in the present run to the utmost, and at last declared, that all his
measures were totally ineffectual, and did not in the least avail his
patients. When we reached the trade-wind, and it settled between the
north and the east, yet it seldom blew with so much strength, but
the Centurion might have carried all her small sails abroad with the
greatest safety; so that now, had we been a single ship, we might
have run down our longitude apace, and have reached the Ladrones soon
enough to have recovered great numbers of our men, who afterwards
perished. But the Gloucester, by the loss of her main-mast, sailed so
very heavily, that we had seldom any more than our top-sails set, and
yet were frequently obliged to lie to for her: And, I conceive, that
in the whole we lost little less than a month by our attendance upon
her, in consequence of the various mischances she encountered. In all
this run it was remarkable, that we were rarely many days together,
without seeing great numbers of birds; which is a proof that there
are many islands, or at least rocks, scattered all along, at no very
considerable distance from our track. Some indeed there are marked in
a Spanish chart; but the frequency of the birds seems to evince,
that there are many more than have been hitherto discovered: For the
greatest part of the birds we observed were such as are known to roost
on shore; and the manner of their appearance sufficiently made out,
that they came from some distant haunt every morning, and returned
thither again in the evening; for we never saw them early or late;
and the hour of their arrival and departure gradually varied, which we
supposed was occasioned by our running nearer their haunts, or getting
farther from them.
The trade-wind continued to favour us without any fluctuation, from
the end of June till towards the end of July. But on the 26th of July,
being then, as we esteemed, about three hundred leagues distant from
the Ladrones, we met with a westerly wind, which did not come about
again to the eastward in four days time. This was a most dispiriting
incident, as it at once damped all our hopes of speedy relief,
especially too as it was attended with a vexatious accident to the
Gloucester: For in one part of these four days the wind-flatted to a
calm, and the ships rolled very deep; by which means the Gloucester's
forecap split, and her top-mast came by the board, and broke her
fore-yard directly in the slings. As she was hereby rendered incapable
of making any sail for some time, we were obliged, as soon as a gale
sprung up, to take her in tow; and near twenty of the healthiest and
ablest of our seamen were taken from the business of our own ship, and
were employed for eight or ten days together on board the Gloucester
in repairing her damages: But these things, mortifying as we thought
them, were but the beginning of our disasters; for scarce had our
people finished their business in the Gloucester, before we met with
a most violent storm in the western board, which obliged us to lie to.
In the beginning of this storm our ship sprung a leak, and let in
so much water, that all our people, officers included, were employed
continually in working the pumps: And the next day we had the vexation
to see the Gloucester, with her top-mast once more by the board; and
whilst we were viewing her with great concern for this new distress,
we saw her main-top mast, which had hitherto served as a jury
main-mast, share the same fate. This completed our misfortunes, and
rendered them without resource; for we knew the Gloucester's crew
were so few and feeble, that without our assistance they could not
be relieved: And our sick were now so far increased, and those that
remained in health so continually fatigued with the additional duty of
our pumps, that it was impossible for us to lend them any aid. Indeed
we were not as yet fully apprized of the deplorable situation of
the Gloucester's crew; for when the storm abated, (which during its
continuance prevented all communication with them) the Gloucester bore
up under our stern; and Captain Mitchel informed the commodore, that
besides the loss of his masts, which was all that had appeared to
us, the ship had then no less than seven feet of water in her hold,
although his officers and men had been kept constantly at the pump for
the last twenty-four hours.
This last circumstance was indeed a most terrible accumulation to the
other extraordinary distresses of the Gloucester, and required, if
possible, the most speedy and vigorous assistance; which captain
Mitchel begged the commodore to send him: But the debility of our
people, and our own immediate preservation, rendered it impossible for
the commodore to comply with his request. All that could be done was
to send our boat on board for a more particular condition of the ship;
and it was soon suspected that the taking her people on board us, and
then destroying her, was the only measure that could be prosecuted in
the present emergency, for the security of their lives and our own.
Our boat soon returned with a representation of the state of the
Gloucester, and of her several defects, signed by Captain Mitchel and
all his officers; by which it appeared, that she had sprung a leak by
the stern-post being loose, and working with every roll of the ship,
and by two beams a midships being broken in the orlope; no part of
which the carpenters reported was possible to be repaired at sea. That
both officers and men had worked twenty-four hours at the pump without
intermission, and were at length so fatigued, that they could continue
their labour no longer; but had been forced to desist, with seven feet
of water in the hold, which covered their cask, so that they could
neither come at fresh water, nor provision: That they had no mast
standing, except the fore-mast, the mizen-mast, and the mizen
top-mast, nor had they any spare masts to get up in the room of those
they had lost: That the ship was besides extremely decayed in every
part, for her knees and clamps were all worked quite loose, and her
upper works in general were so loose, that the quarter-deck was
ready to drop down: And that her crew was greatly reduced, for there
remained alive on board her no more than seventy-seven, men, eighteen
boys, and two prisoners, officers included; and that of this whole
number, only sixteen men and eleven boys were capable of keeping the
deck, and several of these very infirm.
The commodore, on the perusal of this melancholy representation,
presently ordered them a supply of water and provisions, of which
they seemed to be in immediate want, and at the same time sent his
own carpenter on board them, to examine into the truth of every
particular; and it being found, on the strictest enquiry, that the
preceding account was in no instance exaggerated, it plainly appeared,
that there was no possibility of preserving the Gloucester any longer,
as her leaks were irreparable, and the united hands on board both
ships, capable of working, would not be able to free her, even if
our own ship should not employ any part of them. What then could be
resolved on, when it was the utmost we ourselves could do to manage
our own pumps? Indeed there was no room for deliberation; the only
step to be taken was, the saving the lives of the few that remained on
board the Gloucester, and getting out of her as much as was possible
before she was destroyed. And therefore the commodore immediately
sent an order to Captain Mitchel, as the weather was now calm and
favourable, to send his people on board the Centurion as expeditiously
as he could; and to take out such stores as he could get at, whilst
the ship could be kept above water. And as our leak required less
attention, whilst the present easy weather continued, we sent our
boats with as many men as we could spare, to Captain Mitchel's
assistance.
The removing the Gloucester's people on board us, and the getting out
such stores as could most easily be come at, gave us full employment
for two days. Mr Anson was extremely desirous to have gotten two of
her cables and an anchor, but the ship rolled so much, and the men
were so excessively fatigued, that they were incapable of effecting
it; nay, it was even with the greatest difficulty that the
prize-money, which the Gloucester had taken in the South-Seas, was
secured, and sent on board the Centurion: However, the prize-goods
on board her, which amounted to several thousand pounds in value, and
were principally the Centurion's property, were entirely lost; nor
could any more provision be got out than five casks of flour, three
of which were spoiled by the salt-water. Their sick men, amounting
to near seventy, were removed into boats with as much care as the
circumstances of that time would permit; but three or four of them
expired as they were hoisting them into the Centurion.
It was the 15th of August, in the evening, before the Gloucester was
cleared of every thing that was proposed to be removed; and though
the hold was now almost full of water, yet, as the carpenters were of
opinion that she might still swim for some time, if the calm should
continue, and the water become smooth, she was set on fire; for we
knew not how near we might now be to the island of Guam, which was in
the possession of our enemies, and the wreck of such a ship would have
been to them no contemptible acquisition. When she was set on fire,
Captain Mitchel and his officers left her, and came on board the
Centurion: And we immediately stood from the wreck, not without some
apprehensions (as we had now only a light breeze) that if she blew
up soon, the concussion of the air might damage our rigging; but she
fortunately burnt, though very fiercely, the whole night, her guns
firing successively, as the flames reached them. And it was six in the
morning, when we were about four leagues distant, before she blew up;
the report she made upon this occasion was but a small one, but there
was an exceeding black pillar of smoke, which shot up into the air to
a very considerable height.
Thus perished his majesty's ship the Gloucester. And now it might have
been expected, that, being freed from, the embarrassments which her
frequent disasters had involved us in, we would proceed on our way
much brisker than, we had hitherto done, especially as we had received
some small addition to our strength, by the taking on board the
Gloucester's crew; but our anxieties were not yet to be relieved; for,
notwithstanding all that we had hitherto suffered, there remained much
greater distresses, which we were still to struggle with. For the late
storm, which had proved so fatal to the Gloucester, had driven us to
the northward of our intended course; and the current setting the same
way, after the weather abated, had forced us still a degree or two
farther, so that we were now in 17° 1/4 of north latitude, instead of
being in 13° 1/2, which was the parallel we proposed to keep, in order
to reach the island of Guam: And as it had been a perfect calm for
some days since the cessation of the storm, and we were ignorant how
near we were to the meridian of the Ladrones, and supposed ourselves
not to be far from it, we apprehended that we might be driven to the
leeward of them by the current, without discovering them: In this
case, the only land we could make would be some of the eastern parts
of Asia, where, if we could arrive, we should find the western monsoon
in its full force, so that it would be impossible for the stoutest
best-manned ship to get in. And this coast being removed between
four and five hundred leagues farther, we, in our languishing
circumstances, could expect no other than to be destroyed by the
scurvy, long before the most favourable gale could carry us to such a
distance: For our deaths were now extremely alarming, no day passing
in which we did not bury eight or ten, and sometimes twelve of our
men; and those, who had hitherto continued healthy, began to fall
down apace. Indeed we made the use we could of the present calm, by
employing our carpenters in searching after the leak, which was now
considerable, notwithstanding the little wind we had: The carpenters
at length discovered it to be in the gunner's fore store-room, where
the water rushed in under the breast-hook, on each side of the stein;
but though they found where it was, they agreed that it was impossible
to stop it, till we should get into port, and till they could come at
it on the outside: However, they did the best they could within board,
and were fortunate enough to reduce it, which was a considerable
relief to us.
We had hitherto considered the calm which succeeded the storm, and
which continued for some days, as a very great misfortune; since the
currents were driving us to the northward of our parallel, and we
thereby risqued the missing of the Ladrones, which we now conceived
ourselves to be very near. But when a gale sprung up, our condition
was still worse; for it blew from the S.W. and consequently was
directly opposed to the course we wanted to steer: And though it
soon veered to the N.E. yet this served only to tantalize us, for it
returned back again in a very short time to its old quarter. However,
on the 22d of August we had the satisfaction to find that the
current was shifted; and had set us to the southward: And the 23d, at
day-break, we were cheered with the discovery of two islands in the
western board: This gave us all great joy, and raised our drooping
spirits; for before this an universal dejection had seized us, and
we almost despaired of ever seeing land again: The nearest of these
islands we afterwards found to be Anatacan; we judged it to be full
fifteen leagues from us, and it seemed to be high land, though of
an indifferent length: The other was the island of Serigan; and had
rather the appearance of a high rock, than a place we could hope to
anchor at. We were extremely impatient to get in with the nearest
island, where we expected to meet with anchoring-ground, and an
opportunity of refreshing our sick: But the wind proved so variable
all day, and there was so little of it, that we advanced towards it
but slowly; however, by the next morning we were got so far to the
westward, that we were in view of a third island, which was that of
Paxaros, though marked in the chart only as a rock. This was small and
very low land, and we had passed within less than a mile of it, in the
night, without seeing it: And now at noon, being within four miles
of the island of Anatacan, the boat was sent away to examine the
anchoring-ground and the produce of the place; and we were not a
little solicitous for her return, as we then conceived our fate to
depend upon the report we should receive: For the other two islands
were obviously enough incapable of furnishing us with any assistance,
and we knew not then that there were any others which we could reach.
In the evening the boat came back, and the crew informed us that there
was no place for a ship to anchor, the bottom being every where foul
ground, and all, except one small spot, not less than fifty fathom
in depth; that on that spot there was thirty fathom, though not above
half a mile from the shore; and that the bank was steep, and could
not be depended on: They farther told us, that they had landed on the
island, but with some difficulty, on account of the greatness of the
swell; that they found the ground was every where covered with a kind
of cane, or rush; but that they met with no water, and did not believe
the place to be inhabited; though the soil was good, and abounded with
groves of cocoa-nut trees.
This account of the impossibility of anchoring at this island,
occasioned a general melancholy on board; for we considered it as
little less than the prelude to our destruction; and our despondency
was increased by a disappointment we met with the succeeding night;
for, as we were plying under top-sails, with an intention of getting
nearer to the island, and of sending our boat on shore to load with
cocoa-nuts for the refreshment of our sick, the wind proved squally,
and blew so strong off shore, as to drive us so far to the southward,
that we dared not to send off our boat. And now the only possible
circumstance, that could secure the few that remained alive from
perishing, was the accidental falling in with some other of the
Ladrone islands, better prepared for our accommodation; and as our
knowledge of these islands was extremely imperfect, we were to trust
entirely to chance for our guidance; only as they are all of them
usually laid down near the same meridian, and we had conceived those
we had already seen to be part of them, we concluded to stand to the
southward, as the most probable means of falling in with the next.
Thus, with the most gloomy persuasion of our approaching destruction,
we stood from the island of Anatacon, having all of us the strongest
apprehensions (and those not ill founded) either of dying of the
scurvy, or of perishing with the ship, which, for want of hands to
work her pumps, might in a short time be expected to founder.