THE ATTACK ON PAITA (CONTINUED)--KIND TREATMENT AND RELEASE OF THE
PRISONERS--THEIR GRATITUDE.
These were the transactions of our detachment on shore at Paita the first
night; and now to return to what was done on board the Centurion in that
interval. I must observe that after the boats were gone off we lay by
till one o'clock in the morning, and then, supposing our detachment to be
near landing, we made an easy sail for the bay. About seven in the
morning we began to open the bay, and soon after we had a view of the
town; and though we had no reason to doubt of the success of the
enterprise, yet it was with great joy that we first discovered an
infallible signal of the certainty of our hopes: this was by means of our
perspectives, for through them we saw an English flag hoisted on the
flagstaff of the fort, which to us was an incontestable proof that our
people had got possession of the town. We plied into the bay with as much
expedition as the wind, which then blew off shore, would permit us, and
at eleven the Trial's boat came on board us, laden with dollars and
church-plate; and the officer who commanded her informed us of the
preceding night's transactions, such as we have already related them.
About two in the afternoon we came to an anchor in ten fathoms and a
half, at a mile and a half distance from the town, and were consequently
near enough to have a more immediate intercourse with those on shore.
COLLECTING THE TREASURE.
And now we found that Mr. Brett had hitherto gone on in collecting and
removing the treasure without interruption; but that the enemy had
rendezvoused from all parts of the country on a hill at the back of the
town, where they made no inconsiderable appearance; for, amongst the rest
of their force, there were two hundred horse, seemingly very well armed
and mounted, and, as we conceived, properly trained and regimented, being
furnished with trumpets, drums, and standards. These troops paraded about
the hill with great ostentation, sounding their military music and
practising every art to intimidate us (as our numbers on shore were by
this time not unknown to them), in hopes that we might be induced by our
fears to abandon the place before the pillage was completed. But we were
not so ignorant as to believe that this body of horse, which seemed to be
what the enemy principally depended on, would dare to venture in streets
and among houses, even had their numbers been three times as great; and
therefore, notwithstanding their menaces, we went on, as long as the
daylight lasted, calmly, in sending off the treasure and in employing the
boats to carry on board the refreshments such as hogs, fowls, etc., which
we found here in great abundance. But at night, to prevent any surprise,
the Commodore sent on shore a reinforcement, who posted themselves in all
the streets leading to the parade; and for their greater security they
traversed the streets with barricades six feet high; and the enemy
continuing quiet all night, we at daybreak returned again to our labour
of loading the boats and sending them off.
On the second day of our being in possession of the place, several negro
slaves deserted from the enemy on the hill, and coming into the town,
voluntarily entered into our service. One of these was well known to a
gentleman on board, who remembered him formerly at Panama. And the
Spaniards without the town being in extreme want of water, many of their
slaves crept into the place by stealth and carried away several jars of
water to their masters on the hill; and though some of them were seized
by our men in the attempt, yet the thirst amongst the enemy was so
pressing that they continued this practice till we left the place. And
now, on this second day, we were assured, both by the deserters and by
these prisoners we took, that the Spaniards on the hill, who were by this
time increased to a formidable number, had resolved to storm the town and
fort the succeeding night, and that one Gordon, a Scotch Papist and
captain of a ship in those seas, was to have the command of this
enterprise. But we, notwithstanding, continued sending off our boats, and
prosecuted our work without the least hurry or precipitation till the
evening; and then a reinforcement was again sent on shore by the
Commodore, and Lieutenant Brett doubled his guards at each of the
barricades; and our posts being connected by means of sentinels placed
within call of each other, and the whole being visited by frequent
rounds, attended with a drum, these marks of our vigilance cooled their
resolution and made them forget the vaunts of the preceding day; so that
we passed the second night with as little molestation as we had done the
first.
We had finished sending the treasure on board the Centurion the evening
before, so that the third morning, being the 15th of November, the boats
were employed in carrying off the most valuable part of the effects that
remained in the town. And the Commodore intending to sail this day, he
about ten o'clock, pursuant to his promise, sent all his prisoners,
amounting to eighty-eight, on shore, giving orders to Lieutenant Brett to
secure them in one of the churches under a strict guard till he was ready
to embark his men.
THE BURNING OF PAITA.
Mr. Brett was at the same time ordered to set the whole town on fire,
except the two churches (which by good fortune stood at some distance
from the other houses), and then he was to abandon the place and to come
on board. These orders were punctually complied with, for Mr. Brett
immediately set his men to work to distribute pitch, tar, and other
combustibles (of which great quantities were found here) into houses
situated in different streets of the town, so that, the place being fired
in many quarters at the same time, the destruction might be more violent
and sudden, and the enemy, after our departure, might not be able to
extinguish it. These preparations being made, he in the next place
ordered the cannon which he found in the fort to be nailed up; and then,
setting fire to those houses which were most windward, he collected his
men and marched towards the beach, where the boats waited to carry them
off. And the part of the beach where he intended to embark being an open
place without the town, the Spaniards on the hill, perceiving he was
retreating, resolved to try if they could not precipitate his departure.
For this purpose a small squadron of their horse, consisting of about
sixty, picked out as I suppose for this service, marched down the hill
with much seeming resolution; so that, had we not been prepossessed with
a juster opinion of their prowess, we might have suspected that, now we
were on the open beach with no advantage of situation, they would
certainly have charged us. But we presumed (and we were not mistaken)
that this was mere ostentation; for, notwithstanding the pomp and parade
they advanced with, Mr. Brett had no sooner ordered his men to halt and
face about, but the enemy stopped their career and never dared to advance
a step farther.
Our detachment under Lieutenant Brett having safely joined the squadron,
the Commodore prepared to leave the place the same evening.
ENGLISH HUMANITY.
There remains, before I take leave of this place, another particularity
to be mentioned, which, on account of the great honour which our national
character in those parts has thence received, and the reputation which
our Commodore in particular has thereby acquired, merits a distinct and
circumstantial discussion. It has been already related that all the
prisoners taken by us in our preceding prizes were put on shore and
discharged at this place; amongst which there were some persons of
considerable distinction, particularly a youth of about seventeen years
of age, son of the Vice-President of the Council of Chili. As the
barbarity of the buccaneers, and the artful use the ecclesiastics had
made of it, had filled the natives of those countries with the most
terrible ideas of the English cruelty, we always found our prisoners at
their first coming on board us, to be extremely dejected and under great
horror and anxiety. In particular, this youth whom I last mentioned,
having never been from home before, lamented his captivity in the most
moving manner, regretting in very plaintive terms his parents, his
brothers, his sisters, and his native country, of all which he was fully
persuaded he had taken his last farewell, believing that he was now
devoted for the remaining part of his life to an abject and cruel
servitude; nore was he singular in his fears, for his companions on
board, and indeed all the Spaniards that came into our power, had the
same desponding opinion of their situation. Mr. Anson constantly exerted
his utmost endeavours to efface these inhuman impressions they had
received of us, always taking care that as many of the principal people
among them as there was room for should dine at his table by turns, and
giving the strictest orders, too, that they should at all times and in
every circumstance be treated with the utmost decency and humanity. But,
notwithstanding this precaution, it was generally observed that for the
first day or two they did not quit their fears, but suspected the
gentleness of their usage to be only preparatory to some unthought-of
calamity. However, being confirmed by time, they grew perfectly easy in
their situation and remarkably cheerful, so that it was often disputable
whether or no they considered their being detained by us as a misfortune.
For the youth I have above mentioned, who was near two months on board
us, had at last so far conquered his melancholy surmises, and had taken
such an affection to Mr. Anson, and seemed so much pleased with the
manner of life, totally different from all he had ever seen before, that
it is doubtful to me whether if his opinion had been taken, he would not
have preferred a voyage to England in the Centurion to the being set on
shore at Paita, where he was at liberty to return to his country and his
friends.
This conduct of the Commodore to his prisoners, which was continued
without interruption or deviation, gave them all the highest idea of his
humanity and benevolence, and induced them likewise (as mankind are fond
of forming general opinions) to entertain very favourable thoughts of the
whole English nation.
All the prisoners left us with the strongest assurances of their grateful
remembrance of his uncommon treatment. A Jesuit, in particular, whom the
Commodore had taken, and who was an ecclesiastic of some distinction,
could not help expressing himself with great thankfulness for the
civilities he and his countrymen had found on board, declaring that he
should consider it as his duty to do Mr. Anson justice at all times.