_Proceedings at Macao._
The city of Macao, in the road of which we came to an anchor on the
12th of November, is a Portuguese settlement, situated in an island
at the mouth of the river of Canton. It was formerly a very rich and
populous city, and capable of defending itself against the power of
the adjacent Chinese governors: But at present it is much fallen from
its ancient splendour, for though it is inhabited by Portuguese, and
has a governor nominated by the king of Portugal, yet it subsists
merely by the sufferance of the Chinese, who can starve the place,
and dispossess the Portuguese whenever they please: This obliges the
governor of Macao to behave with great circumspection, and carefully
to avoid every circumstance that may give offence to the Chinese.[7]
The river of Canton, at the mouth of which this city lies, is the only
Chinese port, frequented by European ships; and this river is indeed
a more commodious harbour, on many accounts, than Macao: But the
peculiar customs of the Chinese, only adapted to the entertainment of
trading ships, and the apprehensions of the commodore, lest he should
embroil the East-India company with the regency of Canton, if he
should insist on being treated upon a different footing than the
merchantmen, made him resolve to go first to Macao, before he ventured
into the port of Canton. Indeed, had not this reason prevailed with
him, he himself had nothing to fear: For it is certain that he might
have entered the port of Canton, and might have continued there as
long as he pleased, and afterwards have left it again, although the
whole power of the Chinese empire had been brought together to oppose
him.
[Footnote 7: This circumspection has never availed much. The
Portuguese obtained this port and the adjoining territory of about 8
miles in circuit, as a reward for assistance given in extirpating a
pirate who took refuge here. But the ingratitude of the Chinese always
grudged, and often violated, the immunities thus won from their fears.
The city, built after the European model, and originally possessed of
both military strength and commercial consequence, has, through the
carelessness of the Portuguese, and the exactions and insolence of
their neighbours, dwindled into comparative insignificance. According
to Sir George Staunton's account, the population does not now exceed
12000, and more than half is Chinese. In short, Macao is virtually a
Chinese town, where the Portuguese are merely tolerated. The Chinese,
it is certain, require almost any other treatment than condescension
and good manners. The reader will soon see in the narrative how
practicable it is to reduce them to common sense--one of the
ingredients of it they have in a high degree, the desire of
self-preservation. The following quotation from a work recently
published, may amuse him in the mean time, and serves besides to
confirm the statement of the text. "The situation of the Portuguese in
Macao is particularly restrained, and that of their governor extremely
unpleasant to him. Although the latter invariably conducts himself
with the greatest circumspection, cases still arise in which he cannot
give way without entirely sacrificing the honour of his country,
already greatly diminished in the eyes of the Chinese. A few months
only before our arrival (November 1805,) a circumstance happened fully
illustrative of this; an account of which may tend to prove that, if
the Portuguese possessed greater power at Macao, the cowardly Chinese
would not dare to treat them with so little consideration, or, to
speak more correctly, with so much contempt. If Macao were in
the hands of the English, or even of the Spaniards, the shameful
dependence of this possession on the Chinese would soon fall to the
ground; and, with the assistance of their important possessions in the
vicinity of China, either of these nations established in Macao might
bid defiance to the whole empire. A Portuguese resident at Macao
stabbed a Chinese, but being rich, he offered the family of the
deceased a sum of money to suffer the affair to drop. This was agreed
to, and he paid 4000 piastres; scarcely, however, had he given the
money, when the affair was represented to the Chinese magistracy, who
exacted from the governor that the criminal should be instantly given
up. The latter refused, alleging, that, as the deed was committed
in Macao, he was liable to the Portuguese law, according to which he
would be punished if they found him guilty. The Chinese, who wished
to inflict punishment on the Portuguese, immediately on the receipt of
this answer shut up all their booths, and forbade the importation of
provisions into Macao; but the governor, who had two years stock of
provisions for his garrison, (we shall find it was otherwise with
the governor in Anson's time) troubled himself very little with this
threat, and still refused to give up the criminal; in the mean time
his trial went on; he was found guilty of the murder, and immediately
hanged. The Chinese assembled with the intention of endeavouring to
seize the perpetrator of the murder whilst on his way to the scaffold:
The governor collected his troops, loaded the artillery on the
batteries, and awaited the attack; and, alarmed at his decisive
measures, the Chinese withdrew, under the pretence of being
perfectly satisfied with the execution of the murderer, and order
was immediately restored." The work from which this is extracted
is Captain Krusenstern's account of his voyage round the world, in
1803-4-5 and 6; being the first circumnavigation the Russians have
made, and that too under the patronage and by the command of the most
magnanimous and beneficient Alexander, a monarch whom every friend of
humanity must admire and love from the heart, as surpassing even his
liberality in the promotion of useful science and discovery amongst
his own subjects, by the splendour and substantial value of his
services in the best interests of Europe, and the world:
Non possidentem multa vocaveris
Recte beatum: rectius occupat
Nomen beati, qui deorum
Muneribus sapienter uti,
Duramque callet _pauperiem_ pati,
Pejusque leto flagitium timet;
Non ille pro caris _amicis_
Aut patria timidus perire.
To return to Macao: Captain K. strongly expresses his wish that
some European power of sufficient energy and consequence would take
possession of it, before the Portuguese themselves abandon it to the
Chinese. It is evident he alludes to the English. An agreement, it is
very probable, might be readily entered into with the Portuguese
for the possession of that place, which could not fail to prove most
convenient for our eastern commerce. An equivalent may be found among
the West Indian islands; but it is perhaps equally vain and invidious
to speculate on such very distant concerns, when the wonderful events
now occurring in a kingdom so long the torment and the _teacher_ of
nations, arrest the imagination from every trivial selfish pursuit,
and fix the mind undividedly on the operations of the great source of
power, justice, and truth. A new æra commences in the world--May it
be remarkable to all succeeding generations for liberal policy,
disinterestedness, and general benevolence!--E.
12th April, 1814.]
The commodore, not to depart from his usual prudence, no sooner came
to an anchor in Macao road, than he dispatched an officer with his
compliments to the Portuguese governor of Macao, requesting his
excellency, by the same officer, to advise him in what manner it would
be proper to act, to avoid offending the Chinese, which, as there were
then four of our ships in their power at Canton, was a matter
worthy of attention. The difficulty, which the commodore principally
apprehended, related to the duty usually paid by all ships in the
river of Canton, according to their tunnage. For as men of war are
exempted in every foreign harbour from all manner of port charges, the
commodore thought it would be derogatory to the honour of his country
to submit to this duty in China: And therefore he desired the advice
of the governor of Macao, who, being an European, could not be
ignorant of the privileges claimed by a British man of war, and
consequently might be expected to give us the best lights for avoiding
this perplexity. Our boat returned in the evening with two officers
sent by the governor, who informed the commodore, that it was the
governor's opinion, that if the Centurion ventured into the river of
Canton, the duty would certainly be demanded; and therefore, if
the commodore approved of it, he would send him a pilot, who should
conduct us into another safe harbour, called the Typa, which was every
way commodious for careening the ship, (an operation we were resolved
to begin upon as soon as possible) and where the above-mentioned duty
would, in all probability, be never asked for.
This proposal the commodore agreed to, and in the morning we weighed
anchor, and, under the direction of the Portuguese pilot, steered
for the intended harbour. As we entered two islands, which form the
eastern passage to it, we found our soundings decreased to three
fathom and a half: But the pilot assuring us that this was the least
depth we should meet with, we continued our course, till at length the
ship stuck fast in the mud, with only eighteen feet water abaft; and,
the tide of ebb making, the water sewed to sixteen feet, but the ship
remained perfectly upright; we then sounded all round us, and finding
the water deepened to the northward, we carried out our small bower
with two hawsers an end, and at the return of the tide of flood, hove
the ship afloat, and a small breeze springing up at the same instant,
we set the fore top-sail, and, slipping the hawser, ran into the
harbour, where we moored in about five fathom water. This harbour
of the Typa is formed by a number of islands, and is about six miles
distant from Macao. Here we saluted the castle of Macao with eleven
guns, which were returned by an equal number.
The next day the commodore paid a visit in person to the governor, and
was saluted at his landing by eleven guns, which were returned by
the Centurion. Mr Anson's business in this visit was to solicit the
governor to grant us a supply of provisions, and to furnish us with
such stores as were necessary to refit the ship The governor seemed
really inclined to do us all the service he could, and assured the
commodore, in a friendly manner, that he would privately give us all
the assistance in his power; but, at the same time, frankly owned that
he dared not openly furnish us with any thing we demanded, unless we
first procured an order for it from the viceroy of Canton, for that
he neither received provisions for his garrison, nor any other
necessaries, but by permission from the Chinese government; and as
they took care only to furnish him from day to day, he was indeed no
other than their vassal, whom they could at all times compel to submit
to their own terms, only by laying an embargo on his provisions.
On this declaration of the governor, Mr Anson resolved himself to go
to Canton to procure a license from the viceroy; and accordingly hired
a Chinese boat for himself and his attendants; but just as he was
ready to embark, the Hoppo, or Chinese custom-house officer at Macao,
refused to grant a permit to the boat, and ordered the watermen not to
proceed at their peril. The commodore at first endeavoured to prevail
with the hoppo to withdraw his injunction, and to grant a permit; and
the governor of Macao employed his interest with the hoppo to the same
purpose. Mr Anson, finding the officer inflexible, told him the next
day, that if he longer refused to grant the permit, he would man and
arm his own boats to carry him thither; asking the hoppo, at the
same time, who he imagined would dare to oppose him. This threat
immediately brought about what his entreaties had laboured for in
vain: The permit was granted, and Mr Anson went to Canton. On his
arrival there he consulted with the supercargoes and officers of
the English ships, how to procure an order from the viceroy for the
necessaries he wanted; but in this he had reason to suppose, that the
advice they gave him, though doubtless well intended, was yet not the
most prudent; for as it is the custom with these gentlemen never to
apply to the supreme magistrate himself, whatever difficulties they
labour under, but to transact all matters relating to the government
by the mediation of the principal Chinese merchants, Mr Anson was
advised to follow the same method upon this occasion, the English
promising (in which they were doubtless sincere) to exert all their
interest to engage the merchants in his favour. And when the Chinese
merchants were applied to, they readily undertook the management of
it, and promised to answer for its success; but after near a month's
delay, and reiterated excuses, during which interval they pretended
to be often upon the point of completing the business, they at last
(being pressed, and measures being taken for delivering a letter to
the viceroy) threw off the mask, and declared they neither had applied
to the viceroy nor could they; for he was too great a man, they said,
for them to approach on any occasion. And, not contented with having
themselves thus grossly deceived the commodore, they now used all
their persuasion with the English at Canton, to prevent them from
intermeddling with any thing that regarded him, representing to them;
that it would in all probability embroil them with the government, and
occasion them a great deal of unnecessary trouble; which groundless
insinuations had indeed but too much weight with those they were
applied to.
It may be difficult to assign a reason for this perfidious conduct of
the Chinese merchants: Interest indeed is known to exert a boundless
influence over the inhabitants of that empire; but how their interest
could be affected in the present case is not easy to discover, unless
they apprehended that the presence of a ship of force might damp
their Manilla trade, and therefore acted in this manner with a view of
forcing the commodore to Batavia: But it might be as natural in this
light to suppose, that they would have been eager to have got him
dispatched. I, therefore, rather impute their behaviour to the
unparalleled pusillanimity of the nation, and to the awe they are
under of the government; for as such a ship as the Centurion, fitted
for war only, had never been seen in those parts before, she was
the horror of these dastards, and the merchants were in some degree
terrified even with the idea of her, and could not think of applying
to the viceroy (who is doubtless fond of all opportunities of fleecing
them) without representing to themselves the pretences which a hungry
and tyrannical magistrate night possibly find, for censuring their
intermeddling in so unusual a transaction, in which he might pretend
the interest of the state was immediately concerned. However, be this
as it may, the commodore was satisfied that nothing was to be done by
the interposition of the merchants, as it was on his pressing them to
deliver a letter to the viceroy that they had declared they durst
not intermeddle, and had confessed, that, notwithstanding all their
pretences of serving him, they had not yet taken one step towards it.
Mr Anson therefore told them, that he would proceed to Batavia and
refit his ship there; but informed them, at the same time, that this
was impossible to be done, unless he was supplied with a stock of
provisions sufficient for his passage. The merchants on this undertook
to procure him provisions, but assured him that it was what they
durst not engage in openly, but proposed to manage it in a clandestine
manner, by putting a quantity of bread, flour, and other provision, on
board the English ships, which were now ready to sail, and these were
to stop at the mouth of the Typa, where the Centurion's boats were to
receive it. This article, which the merchants represented as a
matter of great favour, being settled, the commodore, on the 16th
of December, returned from Canton to the ship, seemingly resolved to
proceed to Batavia to refit, as soon as he should get his supplies of
provision on board.
But Mr Anson (who never intended going to Batavia) found, on his
return to the Centurion, that her main-mast was sprung in two places,
and that the leak was considerably increased; so that, upon the whole,
he was fully satisfied, that though he should lay in a sufficient
stock of provisions, yet it would be impossible for him to put to
sea without refitting: For, if he left the port with his ship in her
present condition, she would be in the utmost danger of foundering,
and therefore, notwithstanding the difficulties he had met with, he
resolved at all events to have her hove down before he left Macao. He
was fully convinced, by what he had observed at Canton, that his great
caution not to injure the East India Company's affairs, and the regard
he had shown to the advice of their officers, had occasioned all
his embarrassments. For he now saw clearly, that if he had at first
carried his ship into the river of Canton, and had immediately applied
himself to the mandarines, who are the chief officers of state,
instead of employing the merchants to apply for him, he would, in all
probability, have had all his requests granted, and would have been
soon dispatched. He had already lost a month by the wrong measures
he had been put upon, but he resolved to lose as little more time as
possible; and, therefore, the 17th of December, being the next day
after his return from Canton, he wrote a letter to the viceroy of that
place, acquainting him that he was commander-in-chief of a squadron of
his Britannic majesty's ships of war which had been cruising for two
years past in the South Seas against the Spaniards, who were at war
with the king his master; that, in his way back to England, he had put
into the port of Macao, having a considerable leak in his ship, and
being in great want of provisions, so that it was impossible for
him to proceed on his voyage till his ship was repaired, and he was
supplied with the necessaries he wanted; that he had been at Canton,
in hopes of being admitted to a personal audience of his excellency,
but being a stranger to the customs of the country, he had not been
able to inform himself what steps were necessary to be taken to
procure such an audience, and therefore was obliged to apply to him
in this manner, to desire his excellency to give orders for his being
permitted to employ carpenters and proper workmen to refit his ship,
and to furnish himself with provisions and stores, thereby to enable
him to pursue his voyage to Great Britain with this monsoon, hoping,
at the same time, that these orders would be issued with as little
delay as possible, lest it might occasion his loss of the season, and
he might be prevented, from departing till the next winter.
This letter was translated into the Chinese language, and the
commodore delivered it himself to the hoppo, or chief officer of the
emperor's customs at Macao, desiring him to forward it to the viceroy
of Canton with as much expedition as he could. The officer at first
seemed unwilling to take charge of it, and raised many difficulties
about it, so that Mr Anson suspected him of being in league with the
merchants of Canton, who had always shown a great apprehension of
the commodore's having any immediate intercourse with the viceroy or
mandarines; and, therefore, the commodore, with some resentment, took
back his letter from the hoppo, and told him he would immediately
send, an officer with it to Canton in his own boat, and would give him
positive orders not to return without an answer from the viceroy. The
hoppo, perceiving the commodore to be in earnest, and fearing to be
called to an account for his refusal, begged to be entrusted with the
letter, and promised to deliver it, and to procure an answer as soon
as possible. And now it was soon seen how justly Mr Anson had at last
judged of the proper manner of dealing with the Chinese; for this
letter was written but the 17th of December, as hath been already
observed, and on the 19th in the morning, a mandarine of the first
rank, who was governor of the city of Janson, together with two
mandarines of an inferior class, and a great retinue of officers and
servants, having with them eighteen half gallies, decorated with a
great number of streamers, and furnished with music, and full of men,
came to grapnel a-head of the Centurion; whence the mandarine sent
a message to the commodore, telling him that he (the mandarine) was
ordered by the viceroy of Canton to examine the condition of the ship,
and desiring the ship's boat might be sent to fetch him on board. The
Centurion's boat was immediately dispatched, and preparations were
made for receiving him; for a hundred of the most sightly of the crew
were uniformly drest in the regimentals of the marines, and were drawn
up under arms on the main-deck on his arrival. When he entered the
ship he was saluted by the drums, and what other military music there
was on board; and, passing by the new-formed guard, he was met by the
commodore on the quarter-deck, who conducted him to the great cabin.
Here the mandarine explained his commission, declaring, that
his business was to examine all the particulars mentioned in the
commodore's letter to the viceroy, and to confront them with the
representation that had been given of them; that he was particularly
instructed to inspect the leak, and had for that purpose brought with
him two Chinese carpenters; and that, for the greater regularity and
dispatch or his business, he had every head of enquiry separately
wrote down on a sheet of paper, with a void space opposite to it,
where he was to insert such information and remarks thereon as he
could procure by his own observation.
This mandarine appeared to be a person of very considerable parts,
and endowed with more frankness and honesty than is to be found in the
generality of the Chinese. After the proper enquiries had been made,
particularly about the leak, which the Chinese carpenters reported to
be as dangerous as it had been represented, and consequently that
it was impossible for the Centurion to proceed to sea without being
refitted, the mandarine expressed himself satisfied with the account
given in the commodore's letter. And this magistrate, as he was more
intelligent than any other person of his nation that came to our
knowledge, so likewise was he more curious and inquisitive, viewing
each part of the ship with particular attention, and appearing greatly
surprised at the largeness of the lower-deck guns, and at the weight
and size of the shot. The commodore, observing his astonishment,
thought this a proper opportunity to convince the Chinese of the
prudence of granting him a speedy and ample supply of all he wanted:
With this view he told the mandarine, and those who were with him,
that, besides the demands he made for a general supply, he had a
particular complaint against the proceedings of the custom-house of
Macao; that at his first arrival the Chinese boats had brought on
board plenty of greens, and variety of fresh provisions for daily use,
for which they had always been paid to their full satisfaction, but
that the custom-house officers at Macao had soon forbid them, by which
means he was deprived of those refreshments which were of the utmost
consequence to the health of his men after their long and sickly
voyage; that as they, the mandarines, had informed themselves of his
wants, and were eye-witnesses of the force and strength of his
ship, they might be satisfied it was not for want of power to supply
himself, that he desired the permission of the government to purchase
what provisions he stood in need of; that they must be convinced that
the Centurion alone was capable of destroying the whole navigation of
the port of Canton, or of any other port in China, without running the
least risk from all the force the Chinese could collect; that it
was true this was not the manner of proceeding between nations in
friendship with each other, but it was likewise true that it was
not customary for any nation to permit the ships of their friends to
starve and sink in their ports, when those friends had money to supply
their wants, and only desired liberty to lay it out; that they must
confess he and his people had hitherto behaved with great modesty and
reserve, but that, as his wants were each day increasing, hunger
would at last prove too strong for any restraint, and necessity was
acknowledged in all countries to be superior to every other law, and
therefore it could not be expected that his crew would long continue
to starve in the midst of that plenty to which their eyes were every
day witnesses. To this the commodore added, (though perhaps with a
less serious air,) that if by the delay of supplying him with fresh
provisions his men should be reduced to the necessity of turning
cannibals, and preying upon their own species, it was easy to be
foreseen, that, independent of their friendship to their comrades,
they would, in point of luxury, prefer the plump well-fed Chinese to
their own emaciated shipmates. The first mandarine acquiesced in the
justness of this reasoning, and told the commodore that he should that
night proceed for Canton; that on his arrival a counsel of mandarines
would be summoned, of which he himself was a member, and that by being
employed in the present commission, he was of course the commodore's
advocate; that, as he was fully convinced of the urgency of Mr Anson's
necessity, he did not doubt but on his representation the counsel
would be of the same opinion; and that all that was demanded would
be amply and speedily granted. And with regard to the commodore's
complaint of the custom-house of Macao, he undertook to rectify that
immediately by his own authority; for, desiring a list to be given him
of the quantity of provision necessary for the expense of the ship
for a day, he wrote a permit under it, and delivered it to one of his
attendants, directing him to see that quantity sent on board early
every morning; and this order, from that time forwards, was punctually
complied with.[8]
[Footnote 8: Captain Krusenstern, in his very interesting work already
referred to, relates an anecdote, which it may amuse the reader to
compare with the reasoning of Commodore Anson's now given:
"An English brig (The Harrier) of eighteen guns, sent by Captain Wood,
commanding a squadron on that station, to demand indemnification for
a Spanish prize stranded on the coast of China, and plundered by the
natives, had the audacity, in defiance of the laws of China, which
prohibit ships of war going up the Tigris, to force her way as high as
Whampoa. Two mandarines, as usual, went aboard the brig at the mouth
of the river, to enquire what her cargo was. The captain shewed them a
cannon-ball, on which they instantly retired.
"The brig," says K. "had found her way to Whampoa without a pilot; and
the captain, with a guard of twelve men, proceeded to Canton to
demand the payment of the sum (£30,000.) This daring conduct threw the
viceroy into astonishment, and perhaps occasioned him some terror; for
nothing but the excessive cowardice of the Chinese could have deterred
him from noticing the affront. They, indeed, shewed a disposition
after the captain had quitted Canton of avenging themselves, but this
altogether in their customary manner; and I was assured, that the
viceroy, as indemnification for this insult of the English captain,
had imposed a heavy fine upon the Kohong (a company of merchants
possessing the monopoly of the European trade,) although the members
of this body could have no concern in the transaction." Capt. K. is
decidedly of opinion, that nothing but resolute conduct will overcome
the fickleness and knavery of the Chinese. He pays a high compliment
to our countrymen, especially Mr Drummond, president of the factory,
who interfered in his behalf when at Whampoa, and with effect, when
they could easily have thwarted his plan, and embroiled his government
with that of China. "That they pursued a very different line of
conduct," says he, "will appear by the above account of their
proceedings; nor can I sufficiently rejoice at the zeal and eagerness
manifested by them in this business. Had we been detained only
twenty-four-hours longer (he had applied for leave to depart, which
was granted with much difficulty, and actually revoked a day after
he had gone,) we must have fallen into the absolute power of these
savages, who have been emboldened by an useless moderation, not only
to call the polite nations of Europe barbarians, but also to treat
them as such."--E.]
When this weighty affair was thus in some degree regulated, the
commodore invited him and his two attendant mandarines to dinner,
telling them at the same time, that if his provisions, either in
kind or quantity, were not what they might expect, they must thank
themselves for having confined him to so hard an allowance. One of his
dishes was beef, which the Chinese all dislike, though Mr Anson
was not apprized of it; this seems to be derived from the India
superstition, which for some ages past has made a great progress
in China. However, his guests did not entirely fast; for the three
mandarines completely finished the white part of four large fowls. But
they were extremely embarrassed with their knives and forks, and were
quite incapable of making use of them: So that, after some fruitless
attempts to help themselves, which were sufficiently awkward, one of
the attendants was obliged to cut their meat in small pieces for them.
But whatever difficulty they might have in complying with the European
manner of eating, they seemed not to be novices in drinking. The
commodore excused himself in this part of the entertainment, under the
pretence of illness; but there being another gentleman present, of a
florid and jovial complexion, the chief mandarine clapped him on the
shoulder, and told him by the interpreter, that certainly he could not
plead sickness, and therefore insisted on his bearing him company; and
that gentleman perceiving, that after they had dispatched four or five
bottles of Frontiniac, the mandarine still continued unruffled, he
ordered a bottle of citron-water to be brought up, which the Chinese
seemed much to relish; and this being near finished, they arose from
table in appearance cool and uninfluenced by what they had drank,
and the commodore having, according to custom, made the mandarine a
present, they all departed in the same vessels that brought them.
After their departure, the commodore with great impatience expected
the resolution of the council, and the necessary licences for his
refitment. For it must be observed, as hath already appeared from
the preceding narration, that he could neither purchase stores nor
necessaries with his money, nor did any kind of workmen dare to engage
themselves to work for him, without the permission of the government
first obtained. And in the execution of these particular injunctions,
the magistrates never fail of exercising great severity, they,
notwithstanding the fustian eulogiums bestowed on them by the catholic
missionaries and their European copiers, being composed of the same
fragile materials with the rest of mankind, and often making use
of the authority of the law, not to suppress crimes, but to enrich
themselves by the pillage of those who commit them; for capital
punishments are rare in China, the effeminate genius of the nation,
and their strong attachment to lucre, disposing them rather to make
use of fines; and hence arises no inconsiderable profit to those
who compose their tribunals: Consequently prohibitions of all kinds,
particularly such as the alluring prospect of great profit may often
tempt the subject to infringe, cannot but be favourite institutions in
such a government. But to return:
Some time before this, Captain Saunders took his passage to England
on board a Swedish ship, and was charged with dispatches from the
commodore; and soon after, in the month of December, Captain Mitchel,
Colonel Cracherode, and Mr Tassel, one of the agent-victuallers, with
his nephew Mr Charles Harriot, embarked on board some of our company's
ships; and I, having obtained, the commodore's leave to return home,
embarked with them.
Whilst we lay here at Macao, we were informed by some of the officers
of our Indiamen, that the Severn and Pearl, the two ships of our
squadron, which had separated from us off Cape Noir, were safely
arrived at Rio Janeiro on the coast of Brazil. I have formerly taken
notice, that at the time of their separation, we apprehended them
to be lost. And there were many reasons which greatly favoured this
suspicion: For we knew that the Severn in particular was extremely
sickly; and this was the more obvious to the rest of the ships, as,
in the preceding part of the voyage, her commander, Captain Legg, had
been remarkable for his exemplary punctuality in keeping his station,
till, for the last ten days before his separation, his crew was so
diminished and enfeebled, that with his utmost efforts it was not
possible for him to maintain it. Whatever was the cause of it, the
Severn was by much the most sickly of the squadron: For before her
departure from St Catharines, she buried more men than any of them,
insomuch that the commodore was obliged to recruit her with a number
of fresh hands; and the mortality still continuing, she was supplied
with men a second time at sea, after our setting sail from St Julians;
and, notwithstanding these different reinforcements, she was at last
reduced to the distressed condition I have already mentioned.
Notwithstanding the favourable disposition of the mandarine governor
of Janson, at his leaving Mr Anson, several days were elapsed before
he had any advice from him; and Mr Anson was privately informed there
were great debates in council upon his affair; partly perhaps owing
to its being so unusual a case, and in part to the influence, as I
suppose, of the French at Canton: For they had a countryman and fast
friend residing on the spot, who spoke the language very well, and
was not unacquainted with the venality of the government, nor with the
persons of several of the magistrates, and consequently could not be
at a loss for means of traversing the assistance desired by Mr
Anson. And this opposition of the French was not merely the effect of
national prejudice or contrariety of political interests, but was in
good measure owing to their vanity, a motive of much more weight with
the generality of mankind, than any attachment to the public service
of their community: For, the French pretending their Indiamen to be
men of war, their officers were apprehensive that any distinction
granted to Mr Anson, on account of his bearing the king's commission,
would render them less considerable in the eyes of the Chinese, and
would establish a prepossession at Canton in favour of ships of war,
by which they, as trading vessels, would suffer in their importance:
And I wish the affectation of endeavouring to pass for men of war, and
the fear of sinking in the estimation of the Chinese, if the Centurion
was treated in a different manner from themselves, had been confined
to the officers of the French ships only.[9] However, notwithstanding
all these obstacles, it should seem that the representation of the
commodore to the mandarines of the facility with which he could right
himself, if justice were denied him, had at last its effect: For,
on the 6th of January, in the morning, the governor of Janson, the
commodore's advocate, sent down the viceroy of Canton's warrant for
the refitment of the Centurion, and for supplying her people with
all they wanted; and the next day a number of Chinese smiths and
carpenters went on board to agree for the work. They demanded at first
to the amount of a thousand pounds sterling for the necessary repairs
of the ship, the boats, and the masts: This the commodore seemed to
think an unreasonable sum, and endeavoured to persuade them to work
by the day; but that proposal they would not hearken to; so it was at
last agreed, that the carpenters should have to the amount of about
six hundred pounds; and that the smiths should be paid for their
iron-work by weight, allowing them at the rate of three pounds a
hundred nearly for the small work, and forty-six shillings for the
large.
[Footnote 9: This sly insinuation, it is pretty evident from
the preceding narrative, is directed against some of the English
merchants.--E.]
This being regulated, the commodore exerted himself to get this most
important business completed; I mean the heaving down the Centurion,
and examining the state of her bottom: For this purpose the first
lieutenant was dispatched to Canton to hire two country vessels,
called in their language junks, one of them being intended to heave
down by, and the other to serve as a magazine for the powder and
ammunition: At the same time the ground was smoothed on one of the
neighbouring islands, and a large tent was pitched for lodging the
lumber and provisions, and near a hundred Chinese caulkers were
soon set to work on the decks and sides of the ship. But all these
preparations, and the getting ready the careening gear, took up a
great deal of time; for the Chinese caulkers, though they worked very
well, were far from being expeditions; and it was the 26th of January
before the junks arrived; and the necessary materials, which were
to be purchased at Canton, came down very slowly, partly from the
distance of the place, and partly from the delays and backwardness
of the Chinese merchants. And in this interval Mr Anson had the
additional perplexity to discover that his fore-mast was broken
asunder above the upper deck partners, and was only kept together by
the fishes which had been formerly clapt upon it.
However, the Centurion's people made the most of their time, and
exerted themselves the best they could; and as, by clearing the ship,
the carpenters were enabled to come at the leak, they took care to
secure that effectually, whilst the other preparations were going
forwards. The leak was found to be below the fifteen-foot mark, and
was principally occasioned by one of the bolts being wore away and
loose in the joining of the stem where it was scarfed.
At last all things being prepared, they, on the 22d of February, in
the morning, hove out the first course of the Centurion's starboard
side, and had the satisfaction to find that her bottom appeared sound
and good; and, the next day (having by that time completed the new
sheathing of the first course) they righted her again, to set up
anew the careening rigging which stretched much. Thus they continued
heaving down, and often righting the ship from a suspicion of their
careening tackle, till the 3d of March; when, having completed the
paying and sheathing the bottom, which proved to be every where very
sound, they for the last time righted the ship to their great joy, for
not only the fatigue of careening had been considerable, but they had
been apprehensive of being attacked by the Spaniards, whilst the ship
was thus incapacitated for defence. Nor were their fears altogether
groundless; for they learnt afterwards by a Portuguese vessel, that
the Spaniards at Manilla had been informed that the Centurion was
in the Typa, and intended to careen there; and that thereupon the
governor had summoned his council, and had proposed to them to
endeavour to burn her whilst she was careening, which was an
enterprise, which, if properly conducted, might have put them in great
danger: They were farther told that this scheme was not only
proposed, but resolved on; and that a captain of a vessel had actually
undertaken to perform the business for forty thousand dollars, which
he was not to receive unless he succeeded; but the governor pretending
that there was no treasure in the royal chest, and insisting that the
merchants should advance the money, and they refusing to comply with
the demand, the affair was dropped: Perhaps the merchants suspected
that the whole was only a pretext to get forty thousand dollars from
them; and indeed this was affirmed by some who bore the governor no
good will, but with what truth it is difficult to ascertain.
As soon as the Centurion was righted, they took in her powder and
gunner's stores, and proceeded in getting in their guns as fast as
possible, and then used their utmost; expedition in repairing the
fore-mast, and in completing the other articles of her refitment.
And being thus employed, they were alarmed on the 10th of March, by a
Chinese fisherman, who brought them intelligence that he had been on
board a large Spanish ship off the grand Ladrone, and that there were
two more in company with her: He added several particulars to his
relation, as that he had brought one of their officers to Macao; and
that, on this, boats went off early in the morning from Macao to them:
And the better to establish the belief of his veracity, he said he
desired no money if his information should not prove true. This was
presently believed to be the fore-mentioned expedition from Manilla,
and the commodore immediately fitted his cannon and small arms in the
best manner he could for defence; and having; then his pinnace and
cutter in the offing, who had been ordered to examine a Portuguese
vessel which was getting under sail, he sent them the advice he had
received, and directed them to look out strictly: But no such ships
ever appeared, and they were soon satisfied the whole of the story
was a fiction; though it was difficult to conceive what reason could
induce the fellow to be at such extraordinary pains to impose on them.
It was the beginning of April before they had new-rigged the ship,
stowed their provisions and water on board, and had fitted her for the
sea; and before this time the Chinese grew very uneasy, and extremely
desirous that she should be gone; either not knowing, or pretending
not to believe, that this was a point the commodore was as eagerly set
on as they could be. On the 3d of April, two mandarine boats came on
board from Macao to urge his departure; and this having been often
done before, though there had been no pretence to suspect Mr Anson
of any affected delays, he at this last message answered them in a
determined tone, desiring them to give him no further trouble, for he
would go when he thought proper, and not before. On this rebuke the
Chinese (though it was not in their power to compel him to be gone)
immediately prohibited all provisions from being carried on board him,
and took such care that their injunctions should be complied with,
that from that time forwards nothing could be purchased at any rate
whatever.
On the 6th of April, the Centurion weighed from the Typa, and warped
to the southward; and by the 15th, she was got into Macao road,
completing her water as she passed along, so that there remained now
very few articles more to attend to, and her whole business being
finished by the 19th, she, at three in the afternoon of that day,
weighed and made sail, and stood to sea.