_Transactions in the River of Canton._
The commodore, having taken pilots on board, proceeded with his prize
for the river of Canton; and on the 14th of July, came to an 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 came 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 ship was
a ship 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 coming on; and that as soon as the monsoon shifted, he should
proceed 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 when he was 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 the 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 witnesses
how punctually he should comply with his instructions. The officer
seemed amazed when Mr Anson mentioned being exempted from all duties,
and told him, that the emperor's duty must be paid by all ships
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 any 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 undergone, and of which he then carried very
significant marks about him; and Mr Anson, 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; and
the commodore urging the unreasonableness of this procedure, from
the inability of the forts to have done otherwise, 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.
On the 16th of July the commodore sent his second lieutenant to
Canton, with a letter to 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 the viceroy. The
lieutenant was very civilly received, and was promised that an answer
should be sent to the commodore the next day. In the mean time Mr
Anson gave leave to several of the officers of the galleon 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 had fallen into Mr Anson's
power. And 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: However, they 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, though
they had revered the commodore's power, had yet suspected his morals,
and had considered him rather as a lawless freebooter, than as one
commissioned by the state for the revenge of public injuries. But
they now changed their opinion, 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 estimation 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 galleon; the other
was the humanity with which the people of the galleon 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 came into the hands of the English. To the first of
these enquiries the Spaniards replied, that though they had more hands
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 galleon, 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 board the Centurion, and
delivered to the commodore the viceroy of Canton's order for a daily
supply of provisions, and for pilots lo 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 merchandise thither, nor
intended to carry any away, he could not be reasonably deemed to
be 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 forbad him from paying any
acknowledgement 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 galleon; 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 was himself extremely desirous
to get rid of the Spaniards, having, on his first arrival, sent about
an hundred of them to Macao, and those who remained, near four hundred
more, were, on many accounts, a great incumbrance to him. However,
to enhance 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 send 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 ordered his purser
to send with them eight days provision for their subsistence, during
their sailing down the river; this being dispatched, the Centurion
and her prize came to her moorings, above the second bar, where they
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 for the commodore to proceed to England; without
laying in a large quantity both of provisions and stores for his use,
during the voyage: The procuring this supply was attended with much
embarrassment; 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 being 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 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 was nearly elapsed, without
Mr Anson's having received any message from the viceroy of Canton.
And here perhaps it might be expected that some satisfactory account
should be given of the motives of the Chinese for this faithless
procedure. But 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 observe, that after all, it may perhaps be
impossible for an European, ignorant of the customs and manners of
that nation, to be fully apprised 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 combination of these talents, and the manner in which they
are applied in particular emergencies, are often beyond the reach of
a foreigner's penetration: So that though it may be safely 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 Roman
missionaries, I shall here mention an extraordinary transaction or
two, which I hope 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, suspecting the tricks of the Chinese, but the
officer continuing importunate, in the end the boat was ordered to
carry him. 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, soon 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, gold-headed cane, snuff box,
sleeve-buttons, and hat, with several other trinkets: In the mean time
the boat's crew, who were at some little distance, and had no arms of
any kind with them, were incapable of giving him any assistance;
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 commodore 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 recovered the
possession of the sword, which they soon perceived 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 shore, 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 evinced the justice of those suspicions.
When the boat returned on board, and 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 replied,
that the boat ought not to have gone on shore, promising, however,
that if the thieves could be found out, 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 great 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 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 apprehended, expressed so much fright in his
countenance, that it was feared he would have died upon 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 evinced 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 be had at first pretended to
demand him, and begged his release in the most abject manner; and the
commodore appearing 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, who was
the most active amongst them, and who seemed to be most interested in
the event, was the very gentleman who came to the officer just after
the robbery, and who pretended to be so much displeased with the
villainy of his countrymen. And, on further enquiry, it was 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:
And it seemed, as far as could be collected from the broken hints
which were casually thrown out, that he and his brethren, who were all
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; and 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 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, but 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 inclination 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 mean time, relieved by another,) the commodore lost a top-mast
from his stern, which, after the most diligent enquiry, could not be
traced: 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: Accordingly, soon after, the
mandarine told him that some of his, the mandarine's people, 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;
but the commodore told the mandarine that he would make him a present
besides for 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 people
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, 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 had not, he offered to pay it 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 all he had gotten in the commodore's service,
which was supposed to be little less than two thousand dollars; he
was, besides, so severely bastinadoed with the bamboo, that it was
with difficulty he escaped with life; and when he was upbraided by
the commodore (to whom he afterwards came begging) with his folly in
risking all he had suffered for fifty dollars (the present intended
for 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 all things in China being by
weight, the tricks made use of by the Chinese to increase the weight
of the provision they sold to the Centurion, were almost incredible.
One time a large quantity of fowls and ducks being bought for the
ship's use, the greatest part of them presently died. This alarmed the
people on board with the apprehensions 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 for the water to drain
from it, hath lost above a stone of its weight; and when, to avoid
this cheat, the hogs were bought alive, it was found that the Chinese
gave them salt to increase their thirst, and having by this means
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 object to the eating of any food that dies of
itself, they took care; by some secret practices, that great part
of his live sea-store should die in a short time after it 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.
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 sent to him according to his promise, saw it would be impossible
for him to surmount the embarrassment he was under, without going
himself 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; to which the
mandarine returned no other answer, than that he would acquaint the
viceroy with the commodore's intentions. In the mean time all things
were prepared for this expedition; and the boat's crew in particular,
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, and with
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 the granting a permission for
victualling 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 unreasonable pretensions, by having him in their
power at Canton; and, therefore, for the security of his ship, and
the great treasure on board her, he appointed his first lieutenant,
Mr Brett, to be captain of the Centurion under 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
embarrassed 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
risk of having the whole navigation of their port destroyed, without
any certain prospect of gaining their favourite point.
However, though there is reason to imagine that these were their
thoughts at that time, yet they could not depart at once from the
evasive conduct to which they had hither to adhered. For 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 his 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: 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 counsel
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 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 falsehood 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 at
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 about the mistake. To this letter Mr Anson replied,
that he did not believe there had been any 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 an
insult, as well knowing it would be properly returned.
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,
came to form his retinue; and, as he passed by Whampoa, where the
European vessels lay, he was saluted by all of them but the French,
and in the evening arrived safely at Canton.