A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xi Part 23

Besides the care we had taken to prevent the galleon from pa.s.sing us un.o.bserved, we had not been inattentive to the means of engaging her to advantage, when we came up with her: For, considering the thinness of our hands, and the vaunting accounts given by the Spaniards of her size, her guns, and her strength, this was a consideration not to be neglected. As we supposed that none of our s.h.i.+ps but the Centurion and the Gloucester were capable of lying alongside of her, we took on board the Centurion all the hands belonging to the Carmelo and the Carmin, except what were just sufficient to navigate those s.h.i.+ps; and Captain Saunders was ordered to send from the Tryal prize ten Englishmen, and as many negroes, to reinforce the crew of the Gloucester. For the encouragement of our negroes, we promised them, that on their good behaviour they should all have their freedom; and as they had been almost every day trained to the management of the great guns for the two preceding months, they were very well qualified to be of service to us; and from their hopes of liberty, and in return for the usage they had met with amongst us, they seemed disposed to exert themselves to the utmost of their power.

Being thus prepared for the reception of the galleon, we expected, with the utmost impatience, the so-often-mentioned third of March, the day fixed for her departure. And on that day we were all of us most eagerly engaged in looking out towards Acapulco; and we were so strangely prepossessed with the certainty of our intelligence, and with an a.s.surance of her coming out of port, that some or other of us were constantly imagining they discovered one of our cutters returning with a signal. But, to our extreme vexation, both this day and the succeeding night pa.s.sed without any news of the galleon: However, we did not yet despair, but were all heartily disposed to flatter ourselves, that some unforeseen accident had intervened, which might have put off her departure for a few days; and suggestions of this kind occurred in plenty, as we knew that the time fixed by the viceroy for her sailing was often prolonged on the pet.i.tion of the merchants of Mexico. Thus we kept up our hopes, and did not abate of our vigilance; and as the 7th of March was Sunday the beginning of Pa.s.sion-week, which is observed by the Papists with great strictness, and a total cessation from all kinds of labour, so that no s.h.i.+p is permitted to stir out of port during the whole week, this quieted our apprehensions for some days, and disposed us not to expect the galleon till the week following. On the Friday in this week our cutters returned to us, the officers being very confident that the galleon was still in port, and that she could not possibly have come out but they must have seen her. On the Monday morning succeeding Pa.s.sion-week, that is, on the 15th of March, the cutters were again dispatched to their old station, and our hopes were once more indulged in as sanguine prepossessions as before; but in a week's time our eagerness was greatly abated, and a general dejection and despondency took place. It is true, there were some few amongst us who still kept up their spirits, and were very ingenious in finding out reasons to satisfy themselves, that the disappointment had been occasioned by a casual delay of the galleon, which a few days would remove, and not by a total suspension of her departure for the whole season: But these speculations were not relished by the generality of our people; for they were persuaded that the enemy had, by some accident, discovered our being upon the coast, and had therefore laid an embargo on the galleon till the next year. And indeed this persuasion was but too well founded; for we afterwards learnt, that our barge, when sent on the discovery of the port of Acapulco, had been seen from the sh.o.r.e; and that this circ.u.mstance (no embarkations but canoes ever frequenting that coast) was to them a sufficient proof of the neighbourhood of our squadron; on which they stopped the galleon till the succeeding year.

The commodore himself, though he declared not his opinion, was yet in his own thoughts very apprehensive that we were discovered, and that the departure of the galleon was put off; and he had, in consequence of this opinion, formed a plan for possessing himself of Acapulco; for he had no doubt that the treasure remained in the town, though the orders for dispatching the galleon were countermanded.[3]

[Footnote 3: It is unnecessary to detail this plan, as, for sufficient reasons soon discovered, it was not attempted to be executed.--E.]

His scheme was formed on a supposition that the galleon was detained till the next year; but as this was a matter of opinion only, and not founded on intelligence, and there was a possibility that she might still put to sea in a short time, the commodore thought it prudent to continue his cruise upon this station, as long as the necessary attention to his stores of wood and water, and to the convenient season for his future pa.s.sage to China, would give him leave; and therefore, as the cutters had been ordered to remain, before Acapulco till the 23d of March, the squadron did not change its position till that day; when the cutters not appearing, we were in some pain for them, apprehending they might have suffered either from the enemy or the weather; but we were relieved from our concern the next morning, when we discovered them, though at a great distance and to the leeward of the squadron: We bore down to them and took them up and were informed by them, that, conformable to their orders, they had left their station the day before, without having seen any thing of the galleon; and we found, that the reason of their being so far to the leeward of us was a strong current, which had driven the whole squadron to windward.

It afterwards appeared that this prolongation of our cruise was a very prudent measure, and afforded us no contemptible chance of seizing the treasure, on which we had so long fixed our thoughts. For it seems, after the embargo was laid on the galleon, the persons princ.i.p.ally interested in the cargo sent several expresses to Mexico, to beg that she might still be permitted to depart: For as they knew, by the accounts sent from Paita, that we had not more than three hundred men in all, they insisted that there was nothing to be feared from us; for that the galleon (carrying above twice as many hands as our whole squadron) would be greatly an overmatch for us. Though the viceroy was inflexible; yet, on this representation, she was kept ready for the sea for near three weeks after the first order came to detain her.

When we had taken up the cutters, all the s.h.i.+ps being joined, the commodore made a signal to speak with their commanders; and upon enquiry into the stock of fresh water remaining on board the squadron, it was found to be so very slender, that we were under a necessity of quitting our station to procure a fresh supply. It was agreed, that the harbour of Seguataneo or Chequetan being the nearest to us, was, on that account, the most eligible; it was therefore immediately resolved to make the best of our way thither: And that, even while we were recruiting our water, we might not abandon our views upon the galleon, which perhaps, upon certain intelligence of our s.h.i.+p being employed at Chequetan, might venture to slip out to sea; our cutter, under the command of Mr Hughes, the lieutenant of the Tryal prize, was ordered to cruise off the port of Acapulco for twenty-four days, that if the galleon should set sail in that interval, we might be speedily informed of it. In pursuance of these resolutions we endeavoured to ply to the westward, to gain our intended port, but were often interrupted in our progress by calms and adverse currents: In these intervals we employed ourselves in taking out the most valuable part of the cargoes of the Carmelo and Carmin prizes, which two s.h.i.+ps we intended to destroy as soon as we had tolerably cleared them. By the first of April we were so far advanced towards Seguataneo, that we thought it expedient to send out two boats, that they might range along the coast, and discover the watering-place; they were gone some days, and our water being now very short, it was a particular felicity to us that we met with daily supplies of turtle, for had we been entirely confined to salt provisions, we must have suffered extremely in so warm a climate. Indeed our present circ.u.mstances were sufficiently alarming, and gave the most considerate amongst us as much concern as any of the numerous perils we had hitherto encountered; for our boats, as we conceived by their not returning, had not as yet discovered a place proper to water at, and by the leakage of our cask and other accidents, we had not ten days water on board the whole squadron; so that from the known difficulty of procuring water on this coast, and the little reliance we had on the Buccaneer writers, (the only guides we had to trust to) we were apprehensive of being soon exposed to a calamity, the most terrible of any in the long disheartening catalogue of the distresses of a sea-faring life.

But these gloomy suggestions were soon happily ended; for our boats returned on the 5th of April, having discovered a place proper for our purpose, about seven miles to the westward of the rocks of Seguataneo, which, by the description they gave of it, appeared to be the port called by Dampier the harbour of Chequetan. They were ordered out again the next day, to sound the harbour and its entrance, which they had represented as very narrow. At their return they reported the place to be free from any danger; so that on the 7th we stood in, and that evening came to an anchor in eleven fathom. The Gloucester came to an anchor at the same time with us; but the Camelo and the Carmin having fallen to leeward, the Tryal prize was ordered to join them, and to bring them in, which in two or three days she effected.

SECTION XXII.

_A short Account of Chequetan, and of the adjacent Coast and Country._

The harbour of Chequetan lies in the lat.i.tude of 17 36' N. and is about thirty leagues to the westward of Acapulco. It is easy to be discovered by any s.h.i.+p that will keep well in with the land, especially by such as range down coast from Acapulco, and will attend to the following particulars.

There is a beach of sand which extends eighteen leagues from the harbour of Acapulco to the westward, against which the sea breaks with such violence that it is impossible to land in any part of it; but yet the ground is so clean; that s.h.i.+ps, in the fair season, may anchor in great safety at the distance of a mile or two from the sh.o.r.e. The land adjacent to this beach is generally low, full of villages, and planted with a great number of trees; and on the tops of some small eminencies there are several look-out towers, so that the face of the country affords a very agreeable prospect: For the cultivated part, which is the part here described, extends some leagues back from the sh.o.r.e, and there appears to be bounded by the chain of mountains, which stretch to a considerable distance on either side of Acapulco. It is a most remarkable particularity, that in this whole extent, being, as hath been mentioned, eighteen leagues, and containing, in appearance, the most populous and best planted district of the whole coast, there should be neither canoes, boats, nor any other embarkations either for fis.h.i.+ng, coasting, or for pleasure.

The beach here described is the surest guide for finding the harbour of Chequetan; for five miles to the westward of the extremity of this beach there appears a hummock, which at first makes like an island, and is in shape not very unlike the hill of Petaplan, hereafter mentioned, though much smaller. Three miles to the westward of this hummock is a white rock lying near the sh.o.r.e, which cannot easily be pa.s.sed by un.o.bserved; it is about two cables length from the land, and lies in a large bay about nine leagues over. The westward point of this bay is the hill of Petaplan. This hill, like the forementioned hummock, may be at first mistaken for an island, though it be, in reality, a peninsula, which is joined to the continent by a low and narrow isthmus, covered over with shrubs and small trees. The bay of Seguataneo extends from this hill a great way to the westward; and at a small distance from the hill, and opposite to the entrance of the bay, there is an a.s.semblage of rocks, which are white, from the excrements of b.o.o.bies and tropical birds. Four of these rocks are high and large, and, together with several other smaller ones, are, by the help of a little imagination, pretended to resemble the form of a cross, and are called the White Friars. These rocks bear W. by N.

from Petaplan, and about seven miles to the westward of them lies the harbour of Chequetan, which is still more minutely distinguished by a large and single rock, that rises out of the water a mile and a half distant from its entrance, and bears S. 1/2 W. from the middle of it.[1]

[Footnote 1: In the original are references to some plates, which cannot be given in this work.--E.]

These are the infallible marks by which the harbour of Chequetan may be known to those who keep well in with the land; and I must add, that the coast is no ways to be dreaded from the middle of October to the beginning of May, nor is there then any danger from the winds, though in the remaining part of the year there are frequent and violent tornadoes, heavy rains, and hard gales, in all directions of the compa.s.s. But as to those who keep at any considerable distance from the coast, there is no other method to be taken by them for finding this harbour than that of making it by its lat.i.tude; for there are so many ranges of mountains rising one upon the back of another within land, that no drawings of the appearance of the coast can be at all depended on when off at sea, for every little change of distance, or variation of position, brings new mountains in view, and produces an infinity of different prospects, which would render all attempts of delineating the aspect of the coast impossible.

The harbour is environed on all sides, except to the westward, with high mountains overspread with trees. The pa.s.sage into it is very safe on either side of the rock that lies off the mouth of it, though we, both in coming in and going out, left it to the eastward. The ground without the harbour is gravel mixed with stones, but within it is soft mud: And it must be remembered, that in coming to an anchor a good allowance should be made for a large swell, which frequently causes a great send of the sea; as likewise for the ebbing and flowing of the tide, which we observed to be about five feet, and that it set nearly E. and W.

The watering-place had the appearance of a large standing lake, without any visible outlet into the sea, from which it is separated by a part of the strand. The origin of this lake is a spring, that bubbles out of the ground near half a mile within the country. We found the water a little brackish, but more considerably so towards the sea-side, for the nearer we advanced towards the spring-head, the softer and fresher it proved: This laid us under a necessity of filling all our casks from the furthest part of the lake, and occasioned us some trouble, and would have proved still more difficult had it not been for our particular management, which, for the conveniency of it, deserves to be recommended to all who shall hereafter water at this place. Our method consisted in making use of canoes which drew but little water; for, loading them with a number of small casks, they easily got up the lake to the spring-head, and the small casks being there filled, were in the same manner transported back again to the beach, where some of our hands always attended to start them into other casks of a larger size.

Though this lake, during our continuance there, appeared to have no outlet into the sea, yet there is reason to suppose that in the wet season it overflows the strand, and communicates with the ocean; for Dampier, who was formerly here, speaks of it as a large river. Indeed, there must be a very great body of water ama.s.sed before the lake can rise high enough to overflow the strand, for the neighbouring country is so low, that great part of it must be covered with water before it can run out over the beach.

As the country in the neighbourhood, particularly the tract which we have already described, appeared to be well peopled and cultivated, we hoped thence to have procured fresh provision and other refreshments which we stood in need of. With this view, the morning after we came to an anchor, the commodore ordered a party of forty men, well armed, to march into the country, and to endeavour to discover some town or village, where they were to attempt a correspondence with the inhabitants; for we doubted not if we could have any intercourse with them, but that by presents of some of the coa.r.s.e merchandise, with which our prizes abounded (which, though of little consequence to us, would to them be extremely valuable,) we should allure them to furnish us with whatever fruits or fresh provisions were in their power. Our people were directed on this occasion to proceed with the greatest circ.u.mspection, and to make as little ostentation of hostility as possible; for we were sensible that we could meet with no wealth here worth our notice, and that what necessaries we really wanted we should in all probability be better supplied with by an open amicable traffic, than by violence and force of arms. But this endeavour of opening an intercourse with the inhabitants proved ineffectual, for towards evening, the party which had been ordered to march into the country, returned greatly fatigued with their unusual exercise, and some of them so far spent as to have fainted by the way, and to be obliged to be brought back upon the shoulders of their companions.

They had marched in all, as they conceived, about ten miles, in a beaten road, where they often saw the fresh dung of horses or mules.

When they had got about five miles from the harbour, the road divided between the mountains into two branches, one running to the east and the other to the west. After some deliberation about the course they should take, they agreed to pursue the eastern road, which, when they had followed for some time, led them at once into a large plain or savannah; on one side of which they discovered a centinel on horseback with a pistol in his hand: It was supposed that when they first saw him he was asleep, but his horse startled at the glittering of their arms, and, turning round suddenly, rode off with his master, who was very near being unhorsed in the surprise, but he recovered his seat, and escaped with the loss of his hat and his pistol, which he dropped on the ground. Our people ran after him, in hopes of discovering some village or habitation, but as he had the advantage of being on horseback, they soon lost sight of him. However, they were unwilling to come back without making some discovery, and therefore still followed the track they were in; but the heat of the day increasing, and finding no water to quench their thirst, they were first obliged to halt, and then resolved to return; for, as they saw no signs of plantations or cultivated land, they had no reason to believe that there was any village or settlement near them: But, to leave no means untried of procuring some intercourse with the people, the officers stuck up several poles in the road, to which were affixed declarations, written in Spanish, encouraging the inhabitants to come down to the harbour and to traffic with us, giving the strongest a.s.surances of a kind reception, and faithful payment for any provisions they should bring us. This was doubtless a very prudent measure, but it produced no effect; for we never saw any of them during the whole time of our continuance at this port of Chequetan.

But had our men, upon the division of the path, taken the western road instead of the eastern, it would soon have led them to a village or town, which, in some Spanish ma.n.u.scripts, is mentioned as being in the neighbourhood of this port, and which we afterwards learnt was not above two miles from that turning.

And on this occasion I cannot help mentioning another adventure which happened to some of our people in the bay of Petaplan, as it may help to give the reader a just idea of the temper of the inhabitants of this part of the world. Some time after our arrival at Chequetan, Lieutenant Brett was sent by the commodore, with two of our boats under his command, to examine the coast to the eastward, particularly to make observations on the bay and watering-place of Petaplan. As Mr Brett with one of the boats was preparing to go on sh.o.r.e towards the hill of Petaplan, he, accidentally looking across the bay, perceived, on the opposite strand, three small squadrons of horse parading upon the beach, and seeming to advance towards the place where he proposed to land. On sight of this he immediately put off the boat, though he had but sixteen men with him, and stood over the bay towards them; and he soon came near enough to perceive that they were mounted on very sightly horses, and were armed with carbines and lances. On seeing him make towards them they formed upon the beach, and seemed resolved to dispute his landing, firing several distant shot at him as he drew near; till at last, the boat being arrived within a reasonable distance of the most advanced squadron, Mr Brett ordered his people to fire, upon which this resolute cavalry instantly ran in great confusion into the wood. In this precipitate flight one of their horses fell down and threw his rider; but whether he was wounded or not we could not learn, for both man and horse soon got up again, and followed the rest. In the mean time the other two squadrons, who were drawn up at a great distance behind, out of the reach of our shot, were calm spectators of the rout of their comrades; for they had halted on our first approach, and never advanced afterwards. It was, doubtless, fortunate for our people that the enemy acted with so little prudence, and exerted so little spirit, for had they concealed themselves till our men had landed, it is scarcely possible but the whole boat's crew must have fallen into their hands, since the Spaniards were not much short of two hundred in number. However, the discovery of so considerable a force collected in this bay of Petaplan, obliged us constantly to keep a boat or two before it; for we were apprehensive that the cutter, which we had left to cruise off Acapulco, might, on her return, be surprised by the enemy, if she did not receive timely information of her danger.

After our unsuccessful attempt to engage the people of the country to furnish us with the necessaries we wanted, we were obliged to be contented with what we could procure in the neighbourhood of the port. We caught fish here in tolerable quant.i.ties, especially when the smoothness of the water permitted us to hale the seyne. Amongst the rest, we got here cavallies, breams, mullets, soles, fiddle-fish, sea eggs, and lobsters; and here, and in no other place, met with that extraordinary fish called the Torpedo, or numbing fish, which is in shape very like the fiddle-fish, and is not to be known from it but by a brown circular spot of about the bigness of a crown-piece near the centre of its back; perhaps its figure will be better understood when I say it is a flat fish, much resembling the thorn-back. This fish is of a most singular nature, productive of the strangest effects on the human body; for whoever handles it, or happens even to set his foot upon it, is presently seized with a numbness all over him, but more distinguishable in that limb which was in immediate contact with it.

The same effect, too, will be, in some degree, produced by touching the fish, with any thing held in the hand; for I myself had a considerable degree of numbness conveyed to my right arm through a walking cane, which I rested on the body of the fish for some time, and I make no doubt but I should have been much more sensibly affected had not the fish been near expiring when I made the experiment: For it is observable that this influence acts with most vigour when the fish is first taken out of the water, and entirely ceases when it is dead, so that it may be then handled, or even eaten, without any inconvenience. I shall only add that the numbness of my arm on this occasion did not go off on a sudden, as the accounts of some naturalists gave me reason to expect, but diminished gradually, so that I had some sensation of it remaining till the next day.

To the account given of the fish we met with here, I must add, that though turtle now grew scarce, and we met with none in this harbour of Chequetan, yet our boats, which, as I have mentioned, were stationed off Petaplan, often supplied us therewith; and though this was a food that we had now been so long as it were confined to, (for it was the only fresh provisions which we had tasted for near six months,) yet we were far from being cloyed with it, or finding that the relish we had of it at all diminished.

The animals we met with on sh.o.r.e were princ.i.p.ally guanos, with which the country abounds, and which are by some reckoned delicious food.

We saw no beasts of prey here, except alligators, several of which our people discovered, but none of them very large. However, we were satisfied there were tygers in the woods, though none of them came in sight; for we every morning found the beach near the watering-place imprinted with their footsteps: But we never apprehended any mischief from them, for they are by no means so fierce as the Asiatic or African tyger, and are rarely, if ever, known to attack mankind. Birds were in sufficient plenty, especially pheasants of different kinds, some of them of an uncommon size, but they were very dry and tasteless food. Besides these we had a variety of smaller birds, particularly parrots, which we often killed for food.

The fruits and vegetable refreshments at this place were neither plentiful, nor of the best kinds: There were, it is true, a few bushes scattered about the woods, which supplied us with limes, but we scarcely could procure enough for our present use; and these, with a small plumb of an agreeable acid, called in Jamaica the hog-plumb, together with another fruit called a papah, were the only fruits to be found in the woods. Nor is there any other useful vegetable here worth mentioning, except brook-lime: This indeed grew in great quant.i.ties near the fresh-water banks; and, as it was esteemed an antis...o...b..tic, we fed upon it frequently, though its extreme bitterness made it very unpalatable.

By all that has been said, it will appear that the conveniences of this port of Chequetan, particularly in the articles of refreshment, are not altogether such as might be desired: But, upon the whole, it is a place of considerable consequence, as the only secure harbour in a vast extent of coast, except Acapulco.

SECTION XXIII.

_Account of Proceedings at Chequetan and on the adjacent Coast, till our setting sail for Asia._

The next morning, after our coming to an anchor in the harbour of Chequetan, we sent about ninety of our men well armed on sh.o.r.e, forty of whom were ordered to march into the country, as has been mentioned, and the remaining fifty were employed to cover the watering-place, and to prevent any interruption from the natives.

Here it was agreed, after mature consultation, to destroy the Tryal's prize, as well as the Carmelo and Carmin whose fate had been before resolved on. Indeed the s.h.i.+p was in good repair and fit for the sea; but as the whole numbers...o...b..ard our squadron did not amount to the complement of a fourth-rate man of war, we found it was impossible to divide them into three s.h.i.+ps, without rendering them incapable of navigating in safety in the tempestuous weather we had reason to expect on the coast of China, where we supposed we should arrive about the time of the change of the monsoons.

During our stay here there happened an incident, which, as it proved the means of convincing our friends in England of our safety, which for some time they were in doubt about, I shall beg leave particularly to recite. I have observed, that from this harbour of Chequetan there was but one path-way which led through the woods into the country.

This we found much beaten, and were thence convinced that it was well known to the inhabitants. As it pa.s.sed by the spring-head, and was the only avenue by which the Spaniards could approach us, we, at some distance beyond the spring-head, felled several large trees, and laid them one upon the other across the path; and at this barricado we constantly kept a guard: And we besides ordered our men employed in watering to have their arms ready, and, in case of any alarm, to march instantly to this post. Though our princ.i.p.al intention was to prevent our being disturbed by any sudden attack of the enemy's horse, yet it answered another purpose, which was not in itself less important; this was to hinder our own people from straggling singly into the country, where we had reason to believe they would be surprised by the Spaniards, who would doubtless be extremely solicitous to pick up some of them, in hopes of getting intelligence of our future designs.

To avoid this inconvenience, the strictest orders were given to the centinels, to let no person whatever pa.s.s beyond their post: But, notwithstanding this precaution, we missed one Lewis Leger, who was the commodore's cook; and as he was a Frenchman, and suspected to be a papist, it was by some imagined that he had deserted with a view of betraying all that he knew to the enemy; but this appeared by the event to be an ill-grounded surmise, for it was afterwards known that he had been taken by some Indians, who carried him prisoner to Acapulco, from whence he was transferred, to Mexico, and then to Vera Cruz, where he was s.h.i.+pped on board a vessel bound to Old Spain: And the vessel being obliged by some accident to put into Lisbon, Leger escaped on sh.o.r.e, and was by the British consul sent from thence to England; where he brought the first authentic account of the safety of the commodore, and of what he had done in the South Seas. The relation he gave of his own seizure was, that he had rambled into the woods at some distance from the barricade, where he had first attempted to pa.s.s, but had been stopped and threatened to be punished; that his princ.i.p.al view was to get a quant.i.ty of limes for his master's store; and that in this occupation he was surprised by four Indians, who stripped him naked, and carried him in that condition to Acapulco, exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, which at that time of the year shone with its greatest violence: And afterwards at Mexico his treatment in prison was sufficiently severe, and the whole course of his captivity was a continued instance of the hatred which the Spaniards bear to all those who endeavour to disturb them in the peaceable possession of the coasts of the South Seas. Indeed, Leger's fortune was upon the whole extremely singular; for after the hazards he had run in the commodore's squadron, and the severities he had suffered in his long confinement amongst the enemy, a more fatal disaster attended him on his return to England: For though, when he arrived in London, some of Mr Anson's friends interested themselves in relieving him from the poverty to which his captivity had reduced him, yet he did not long enjoy the benefit of their humanity, for he was killed in an insignificant night brawl, the cause of which could scarcely be discovered.

And here I must observe, that though the enemy never appeared in sight during our stay in this harbour; yet we perceived that there were large parties encamped in the woods about us; for we could see their smokes, and could thence determine that they were posted in a circular line surrounding us at a distance; and just before our coming away they seemed, by the increase of their fires, to have received a considerable reinforcement.

Towards the latter end of April, the unloading of our three prizes, our wooding and watering, and, in short, all our proposed employments at the harbour of Chequetan were completed: So that, on the 27th of April, the Tryal's prize, the Carmelo, and the Carmin, all which we intended to destroy, were towed on sh.o.r.e and scuttled, and a quant.i.ty of combustible materials were distributed in their upper works; and the next morning the Centurion and the Gloucester weighed anchor, but as there was but little wind, and that not in their favour, they were obliged to warp out of the harbour. When they had reached the offing, one of the boats was dispatched back again to set fire to our prize, which was accordingly executed. And a canoe was left fixed to a grapnel in the middle of the harbour, with a bottle in it well corked, inclosing a letter to Mr Hughes, who commanded the cutter, which was ordered to cruise before the port of Acapulco, when we came off that station. And on this occasion I must mention more particularly than I have yet done, the views of the commodore in leaving the cutter before that port.

When we were necessitated to make for Chequetan to take in our water, Mr Anson considered that our being in that harbour would soon be known at Acapulco; and therefore he hoped, that on the intelligence of our being employed in port, the galleon might put to sea, especially as Chequetan is so very remote from the course generally steered by the galleon: He therefore ordered the cutter to cruise twenty-four days off the port of Acapulco, and her commander was directed, on perceiving the galleon under sail, to make the best of his way to the commodore at Chequetan. As the Centurion was doubtless a much better sailer than the galleon, Mr Anson in this case resolved to have got to sea as soon as possible, and to have pursued the galleon across the Pacific Ocean: And supposing he should not have met with her in his pa.s.sage, (which considering that he would have kept nearly the same parallel, was not very improbable,) yet he was certain of arriving off Cape Espiritu Santo, on the island of Samal, before her; and that being the first land she makes on her return to the Philippines, we could not have failed to have fallen in with her, by cruising a few days in that station. But the viceroy of Mexico ruined this project by keeping the galleon in the port of Acapulco all that year.

The letter left in the canoe for Mr Hughes, the commander of the cutter, the time of whose return was now considerably elapsed, directed him to go back immediately to his former station before Acapulco, where he would find Mr Anson, who resolved to cruise for him there for a certain number of days; after which it was added, that the commodore would return to the southward to join the rest of the squadron. This last article was inserted to deceive the Spaniards, if they got possession of the canoe, (as we afterwards learnt they did) but could not impose on Mr Hughes, who well knew that the commodore had no squadron to join, nor any intention of steering back to Peru.

Being now in the offing of Chequetan, bound cross the vast Pacific Ocean in our way to China, we were impatient to run off the coast as soon as possible; for as the stormy season was approaching apace, and as we had no further views in the American seas, we had hoped that nothing would have prevented us from standing to the westward, the moment we got out of the harbour of Chequetan: And it was no small mortification to us, that our necessary employment there had detained us so much longer than we expected; and now we were farther detained by the absence of the cutter, and the standing towards Acapulco in search of her. Indeed, as the time of her cruise had been expired near a fortnight, we suspected that she had been discovered from the sh.o.r.e; and that the governor of Acapulco had thereupon sent out a force to seize her, which, as she carried but six hands, was no very difficult enterprize. However, this being only conjecture, the commodore, as soon as we got clear of the harbour of Chequetan, stood along the coast to the eastward in search of her: And to prevent her from pa.s.sing by us in the dark, we brought to every night; and the Gloucester, whose station was a league within us towards the sh.o.r.e, carried a light which the cutter could not but perceive if she kept along sh.o.r.e, as we supposed she would do; and as a farther security, the Centurion and the Gloucester alternately showed two false fires every half hour.

By Sunday, the 2d of May, we were advanced within three leagues of Acapulco, and having seen nothing of our boat, we gave her over for lost, which, besides the compa.s.sionate concern for our s.h.i.+pmates, and for what it was apprehended they might have suffered, was in itself a misfortune in our present scarcity of hands, we were all greatly interested in: For the crew of the cutter, consisting of six men and the lieutenant, were the very flower of our people, purposely picked out for this service, and known to be every one of them of tried and approved resolution, and as skilful seamen as ever trod a deck.

However, as it was the general belief among us that they were taken and carried into Acapulco, the commodore's prudence suggested a project which we hoped would recover them. This was founded on our having many Spanish and Indian prisoners in our possession, and a number of sick negroes, who could be of no service to us in the navigating of the s.h.i.+p. The commodore therefore wrote a letter the same day to the governor of Acapulco, telling him that he would release them all, provided the governor returned the cutter's crew; and the letter was dispatched the same afternoon by a Spanish officer, of whose honour we had a good opinion, and who was furnished with a launch belonging to one of our prizes, and a crew of six other prisoners who all gave their parole for their return. The officer, besides the commodore's letter, carried with him a pet.i.tion signed by all the prisoners, beseeching his excellency to acquiesce in the terms proposed. From a consideration of the number of our prisoners, and the quality of some of them, we did not doubt but the governor would readily comply, and therefore we kept plying on and off the whole night, intending to keep well in with the land, that we might receive an answer at the limited time, which was the next day, being Monday: But both on the Monday and Tuesday we were driven so far off sh.o.r.e, that we could not hope to receive any answer; and on the Wednesday morning we found ourselves fourteen leagues from the harbour of Acapulco; but as the wind was now favourable, we pressed forwards with all our sail, and did not doubt of getting in with the land in a few hours. Whilst we were thus standing in, the man at the mast-head called out that he saw a boat under sail at a considerable distance to the south-eastward: This we took for granted was the answer of the governor to the commodore's message, and we instantly edged towards it; but when we drew nearer, we found to our unspeakable joy that it was our own cutter. While she was still at a distance, we imagined that she had been discharged out of the port of Acapulco by the governor; but when she drew nearer, the wan and meagre countenances of the crew, the length of their beards, and the feeble and hollow tone of their voices, convinced us that they had suffered much greater hards.h.i.+ps than could be expected from even the severities of a Spanish prison. They were obliged to be helped into the s.h.i.+p, and were immediately put to bed, and with rest, and nouris.h.i.+ng diet, which they were plentifully supplied with, from the commodore's table, they recovered their health and vigour apace. We learnt that they had kept the sea the whole time of their absence; that when they finished their cruise before Acapulco, and had just begun to ply to the westward in order to join the squadron, a strong adverse current had forced them down the coast to the eastward in spite of all their efforts; that at length their water being all expended, they were obliged to search the coast farther on to the eastward, in quest of some convenient landing-place, where they might get a fresh supply; that in this distress they ran upwards of eighty leagues to leeward, and found every where so large a surf, that there was not the least possibility of their landing; that they pa.s.sed some days in this dreadful situation without water, and having no other means left them to allay their thirst than sucking the blood of the turtle which they caught; and at last, giving up all hopes of relief, the heat of the climate augmenting their necessities, and rendering their sufferings insupportable, they abandoned themselves to despair, fully persuaded that they should perish by the most terrible of all deaths; but that they were soon after happily relieved by a most unexpected incident, for there fell so heavy a rain, that by spreading their sails horizontally, and by putting bullets in the centres of them to draw them to a point, they caught as much water as filled all their casks; that immediately upon this fortunate supply they stood to the westward in quest of the commodore; and being now luckily favoured by a strong current, they joined us in less than fifty hours, from the time they stood to the westward, after having been absent from us full forty-three days. Those who have an idea of the inconsiderable size of a cutter belonging to a sixty-gun s.h.i.+p, (being only an open boat about twenty-two feet in length,) and who will attend to the various accidents to which she was exposed during a six weeks continuance alone, in the open ocean, on so impracticable and dangerous a coast, will readily own that her return to us, after all the difficulties which she actually experienced, and the hazards to which she was each hour exposed, was little short of miraculous.

I cannot finish this article without remarking how little reliance navigators ought to have on the accounts of the Buccaneer writers: For though in this run eighty leagues to the eastward of Acapulco, she found no place where it was possible for a boat to land, yet those writers have not been ashamed to feign harbours and convenient watering-places within these limits, thereby exposing such as should confide in their relations to the risk of being destroyed by thirst.

Having received our cutter, the sole object of our coming a second time before Acapulco, the commodore resolved not to lose a moment's time longer, but to run off the coast with the utmost expedition, both as the stormy season on the coast of Mexico was now approaching apace, and as we were apprehensive of having the westerly monsoon to struggle with when we came upon the coast of China; and therefore he no longer stood towards Acapulco, as he now wanted no answer from the governor; but yet he resolved not to deprive his prisoners of the liberty which he had promised them; so that they were all immediately embarked in two launches which belonged to our prizes, those from the Centurion in one launch, and those from the Gloucester in the other. The launches were well equipped with masts, sails, and oars, and, lest the wind might prove unfavourable, they had a stock of water and provisions put on board them sufficient for fourteen days. There were discharged thirty-nine persons from on board the Centurion, and eighteen from the Gloucester, the greatest part of them Spaniards, the rest Indians and sick negroes: But as our crews were very weak, we kept the mulattoes and some of the stoutest of the negroes, with a few Indians, to a.s.sist us; but we dismissed every Spanish prisoner whatever. We have since learnt, that these two launches arrived safe at Acapulco, where the prisoners could not enough extol the humanity with which they had been treated; and that the governor, before their arrival, had returned a very obliging answer to the commodore's letter, and had attended it with a present of two boats laden with the choicest refreshments and provisions which were to be got at Acapulco; but that these boats not having found our s.h.i.+ps, were at length obliged to put back again, after having thrown all their provisions overboard in a storm which threatened their destruction.

The sending away our prisoners was our last transaction on the American coast; for no sooner had we parted with them, than we and the Gloucester made sail to the S.W., proposing to get a good offing from the land, where we hoped, in a few days, to meet with the regular trade-wind, which the accounts of former navigators had represented as much brisker and steadier in this ocean, than in any other part of the globe: For it has been esteemed no uncommon pa.s.sage to run from hence to the eastermost parts of Asia in two months; and we flattered ourselves that we were as capable of making an expeditious pa.s.sage as any s.h.i.+ps that had ever run this course before us; so that we hoped soon to gain the coast of China, for which we were now bound. And conformable to the general idea of this navigation given by former voyagers, we considered it as free from all kinds of embarra.s.sment of bad weather, fatigue, or sickness; and consequently we undertook it with alacrity, especially as it was no contemptible step towards oar arrival at our native country, for which many of us by this time began to have great longings. Thus, on the 6th of May, we, for the last time, lost sight of the mountains of Mexico, persuaded, that in a few weeks we should arrive at the river of Canton in China, where we expected to meet with many English s.h.i.+ps, and numbers of our countrymen; and hoped to enjoy the advantages of an amicable, well-frequented port, inhabited by a polished people, and abounding with the conveniences and indulgences of a civilized life, which for near twenty months had never been once in our power.

[It is judged advisable to omit altogether the next section of the original, as occupied by mere reckoning on the advantages "which might have been expected from the squadron, had it arrived in the South Seas in good time." They are in part specified at the beginning.]

SECTION XXIV.

_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 lat.i.tude 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 circ.u.mstances 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 s.h.i.+ps were by this time extremely crazy; and many days had not pa.s.sed, before we discovered a spring in the fore-mast of the Centurion, which rounded about twenty-six inches of its circ.u.mference, and which was judged to be at least four inches deep: And no sooner had our carpenters secured this with fis.h.i.+ng 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 pa.s.sage could secure the greater part of our crew from peris.h.i.+ng 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 pa.s.sage 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 peris.h.i.+ng with the s.h.i.+p 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.sage was in a great measure owing to the severity of the weather; but the havock of the distemper, in our present circ.u.mstances, soon convinced us of the falsity of this speculation; as it likewise exploded some other opinions, which usually pa.s.s current about the cause and nature of this disease.[1]