Chapter XI: Part 11

We had flattered ourselves, that the uncertain and western gales we met with were owing to the neighbourhood of the continent, from which as we got more distant, we hoped to be relieved by falling in with the eastern trade-wind; but in this too being disappointed, we began at length to despair of the great purpose we had in view. This produced a general dejection among us, as we had at first considered the project as almost infallible, and had indulged ourselves in the most boundless hopes of the advantages we should thence receive. However, our despondency was, in some measure, alleviated by a favourable change of the wind; and, as we now advanced a-pace towards our station, our hopes began again to revive. On the 17th of January, we were advanced to the lat. of 12 deg. 50 min. N. and, on the 26th of January, finding ourselves to the northward of Acapulco, we tacked and stood to the eastward; with a view of making the land; and we expected, by our reckonings, to have fallen in with it on the 28th, yet, though the weather was perfectly clear, we had no sign of it at sunset; about ten at night we discovered a light on the larboard bow, bearing from us N. N. E. and, soon after, the Trial’s prize made the signal for seeing a sail. As we had none of us any doubt but that what we saw was a ship’s light, we were all extremely animated with a firm persuasion that it was the Manilla galleon, that had been so long the object of our wishes. We immediately cast off the Carmelo, and pressed forward with all our canvas, making a signal for the Gloucester to do the same. Thus we chased the light, keeping all our hands at their respective quarters, under an expectation of engaging within half an hour, as we sometimes conceived the chace to be about a mile distant, and at other times to be within reach of our guns. In this constant and eager attention we continued all night, always presuming that another quarter of an hour would bring us up to this Manilla ship, whose wealth we now estimated at round millions: but, when daylight came, we were most vexatiously disappointed, by finding that the light which had occasioned all this expectancy, was only a fire on the shore. At sun-rising, after this mortifying delusion, we found ourselves about nine leagues off land, extending from the N. W. to E. half N. On this land we observed two remarkable hammocks, which bore N. from us, and which a Spanish pilot and two Indians affirmed to be over the harbour of Acapulco; but we found them egregiously mistaken, these being in 17 deg. 56 min. whereas Acapulco lies in 17 deg. only.

Being now in the track of the Manilla galleon, it was a doubt with us, as it was near the end of January, whether she was or was not arrived: but, examining our prisoners about it, they assured us, she was sometimes known to come in after the middle of February; and they endeavoured to persuade us, that the fire we had seen on shore was a proof that she was yet at sea, it being customary, as they said, to make use of these fires as signals for her direction when she continued out longer than ordinary. On this reasoning of our prisoners, we resolved to cruise for her some days, and we accordingly spread our ships at the distance of 12 leagues from the coast, in such a manner that it was impossible she should pass us unobserved; however, not seeing her soon, we were very solicitous to gain some positive intelligence. With this view the Commodore resolved to send a boat under cover of the night into the harbour of Acapulco, to see if the Manilla ship was there or not. To execute this enterprize, the barge was dispatched the 6th of February, carrying a sufficient crew and two officers, as also a Spanish pilot and an Indian. Our barge did not return till the 11th, when the officers acquainted Mr. Anson, that they had mistaken the harbour, and that Acapulco lay a considerable distance more to the eastward, and that, not having a sufficient quantity of provisions for their passage thither, they were obliged to return to make known their disappointment. On this intelligence we made sail to the eastward, and the next day we dispatched the barge, with particular instructions to keep at a sufficient distance not to be seen from the shore. We watched six days without receiving any intelligence, so that we began to be uneasy for her safety; but on the 7th day she returned with advice, that, being at the very place they sought for, though they were then ignorant of their situation, they surprized a fishing canoe with three negroes, who told us that the Manilla galleon arrived at Acapulco on the 9th of January, but that, having delivered her cargo, she was taking in water and provisions in order to return; and that the Viceroy of Mexico had by proclamation fixed her departure from Acapulco to the 14th of March. This last news was most joyfully received by us, since we had no doubt but she must fall into our hands; and it was much more eligible to seize her on her return, than it would have been to have taken her before her arrival, as the species for which she had sold her cargo, and which she would now have on board, would be much more esteemed by us than the cargo itself. Thus we were a second time engaged in an eager expectation of meeting with this Manilla ship, which, by the fame of its wealth, we had been taught to consider as the most desireable capture that was to be made on any part of the ocean.

As it was the 19th of February when the barge returned, and brought us our intelligence, and the galleon was not to sail till the 3d of March, the Commodore resolved to continue the greatest part of the intermediate time in his present station to the westward of Acapulco, in order to avoid a discovery from the shore. During this interval we were employed in getting all things in readiness to engage; and, when the long-wished-for 3d of March came, we were all so strongly prepossessed with the certainty of our intelligence, and with an assurance of her coming out of port, that some or other of us were constantly imagining that they discovered one of our cutters returning with a signal; but, to our extreme vexation, both this day and the succeeding night passed away without any news of her approach. However, we did not yet despair, nor did we abate of our vigilance: but, after remaining till the 25th of March, we at length concluded, and we afterwards found it to be true, that we had been discovered, and that in consequence an embargo had been laid upon the galleon, and her departure postponed till the next year.

The cutters, having on that day finished their cruise before the harbour, returned to the squadron, and the signal being given for the fleet to join, it was determined to retire to Chequetan, to take in a fresh supply of water, which was then nearly exhausted. In the mean time, a cutter, commanded by Mr. Hughes, Lieutenant of the Trial’s prize, was ordered to continue off the harbour of Acapulco for 24 days, in order that, if the galleon should set sail in that time, we might be speedily informed of it.

On the 5th of April we entered the harbour of Chequetan, in lat. 17 deg. 36 min. N. about 30 leagues to the westward of Acapulco. The watering-place has 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 its 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 farthest part of the lake, which was facilitated by means of canoes which traversed the lake, and brought a number of small casks to the side next the beach; thence the water was started into larger vessels in the boats, and by that contrivance brought on board with very little trouble.

As the country hereabouts, particularly the tract of coast contiguous to Acapulco, appeared to be well peopled and cultivated, we hoped to have easily procured from thence some fresh provisions, and other refreshments, which we now stood much in need of. To facilitate these views, the Commodore, the morning after we came to an anchor, ordered a party of 40 men well armed to march into the country, and to endeavour to discover some town where they were to attempt to set on foot a correspondence with the inhabitants; for, when we had once begun this intercourse, we doubted not but by proper presents we should allure them to bring down to us whatever fruits or fresh provisions were in their power. As our prizes abounded with various sorts of coarse merchandize, which were of little consequence to us, though to them they would be extremely valuable, our people were directed on this occasion to proceed with the greatest circumspection, and to make as little ostentation of hostility as possible; for we were sensible we could find no wealth in those parts worth our notice; and what necessaries we really wanted, we expected would be better, and more abundantly supplied, by an open, amicable traffic, than by violence and force of arms. But this endeavour of opening a commerce with the inhabitants proved ineffectual, and therefore we desisted from any more attempts of the same nature, contenting ourselves with what we could procure for ourselves in the neighbourhood of the port where we lay. We caught fish in abundance; among the rest cavallies, bream, mullets, soals, fiddle-fish, and lobsters; and we here, and in no other place, met with that extraordinary fish called the torpedo, which is in shape very much resembling the fiddle-fish, and is only distinguished from it in appearance by a brown circular spot of about the bigness of a crown-piece, near the center of its back. This fish is, indeed, of a most singular nature, benumbing whoever touches it all over his body, but more particularly that limb which happens to come 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; and it has lately been discovered, that it may be communicated like the electrical shock to a large circle, by means of a certain apparatus much more simple than that which is used in experiments in electricity.

The animals which we met with on shore were chiefly guanoes, with which the country abounds, and which are by some reckoned delicious food. We saw no beasts of prey, except we should esteem that amphibious creature the alligator as such, several of which our people discovered, but none of them very large. It is, however, certain, that there were great numbers of tygers in the woods, though none of them happened to make their appearance while we remained upon the coast. Parrots and pheasants were found in plenty, but by no means proper for food, being dry and tasteless, though they were often killed and eaten, being by some thought preferable to salt provisions.

The papah lime, and a little sour plumb, were all the fruits the woods furnished, and of these there were but a scanty portion; nor was there any other useful vegetable, except brook-lime, which, being esteemed an antiscorbutic, was frequently eaten, though from its bitterness it was exceedingly unpalatable.

While we lay at Chequetan, it was resolved, after mature deliberation, to destroy all our prizes, as the whole number of men on board our squadron did not amount to the complement of a fourth-rate man-of-war. It was therefore judged most prudent to set fire to the ships, and to divide the men between the Centurion and Gloucester, now preparing to set sail for China. Besides the necessary repairs for a voyage of such length, the removal of their stores and cargoes into the men-of-war took up so much time, that it was the end of April before we were in a condition to leave the place.

It should have been remarked, that, from this harbour of Chequetan we discovered but one pathway through the woods into the country; and as this was much beaten, we were from that circumstance convinced, that it was not unfrequented by the natives. As it passed by the spring-head, and was the only avenue by which the Spaniards could approach to surprize us, we at some distance beyond the spring-head felled several large trees, and laid them one upon another across the path, and at this barricadoe we constantly kept a guard. We, besides, ordered our men employed in watering, to have their arms always in readiness, in case of an alarm, and to march instantly to this post. And, though our principal intention herein was to prevent our being disturbed by the enemy’s horse, yet it answered another purpose, which was, to hinder our people from straggling singly into the country, where we had reason to believe they would be surprized by the Spaniards, who would doubtless be very 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 pass beyond this post; but, notwithstanding this precaution, we missed one Lewis Legere, who was the Commodore’s cook. As he was a Frenchman and a Roman Catholic, it was at first imagined that he had deserted with a view of betraying all that he knew to the enemy; though 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 transported to Mexico, and thence to Vera Cruz, where he was shipped on board a vessel bound to Old Spain. But, the vessel being obliged, by some accident, to put into Lisbon, Legere escaped on shore, and was by the British Consul sent from thence to England; where he gave the first authentic account of the safety of the Commodore, and of his principal transactions in the South Seas.

The relation he gave of his own seizure, was, that he rambled into the woods, at some distance from the barricadoe where he had first attempted to pass, but had been stopt and threatened to be punished; that his principal view was to gather a quantity of limes for his master’s stores; and that in this occupation he was surprized unawares by four Indians, who stript 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; that afterwards, at Mexico, his treatment was sufficiently severe; so that 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, Legere’s fortune was, upon the whole, extremely singular; as, after the hazards he had run in the Commodore’s squadron, and the severities he had suffered in his long confinement among 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, since he was killed in an insignificant night-brawl, the cause of which could scarcely ever be discovered.

When we were necessitated to proceed to Chequetan to recruit our water, the Commodore considered that our arrival in that harbour would soon be known at Acapulco; and therefore he hoped, that on the intelligence of our being employed in that port, the galleon might put to sea, especially as Chequetan is so very remote from the course generally steered by the galleons: he therefore ordered the cutter, as has already been noticed, 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 certainly a much better sailor 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; however, the Viceroy of Mexico ruined this project, by detaining the galleon in port all the year.

Towards the latter end of April, all things being in readiness for sailing, the Centurion and Gloucester weighed anchor; and, after having gained an offing, the prizes were set on fire, and a canoe fixed to a grapple in the middle of the harbour, with a bottle in it, well corked, inclosing a letter to Mr. Hughes, directing him to go back immediately to his former station before Acapulco, where he would find Mr. Anson, who resolved to cruise for him in that station some days. Indeed, it was no small mortification to us, now we were at sea, and the stormy season approaching, that we were detained by the absence of the cutter, and under a necessity of standing towards Acapulco in search of her. As the time of her cruize had been expired near a fortnight, we suspected that she had been discovered from the shore, 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 he was got clear of the harbour of Chequetan, stood along the coast to the eastward in search of her; and, to prevent her from passing by us in the dark, we brought-to every night, and carried lights which the cutter could not but perceive.

By 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 compassionate concern for our shipmates, and for what it was apprehended they might have suffered, was in itself a misfortune, which in our present scarcity of hands we were greatly interested in; since the crew of the cutter were the flower of our people, purposely picked out for this service, as 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 on board, some of them of quality. The Commodore, therefore, wrote a letter to the Governor of Acapulco, telling him, that he would release them all, provided the Governor returned the cutter’s crew. This letter was dispatched by a Spanish officer, of whose honour we had a high opinion, and who was furnished with a launch belonging to one of our prizes, and a crew of Spaniards, who gave their parole for their return. The Spanish officer, too, besides the Commodore’s letter, carried with him a joint petition, signed by all the rest of the prisoners, beseeching the Governor to acquiesce in the terms proposed for their liberty. But while we were thus contriving their release, the centinel called out from the masthead, that he saw a boat under sail at a considerable distance to the south-eastward, which, to our unspeakable joy, upon her nearer approach, we found was our own cutter, the wan and meagre countenances of whole crew, the length of their beards, and the feeble and hollow tone of their voices, convinced us that they had suffered much greater hardships than could be expected from even the severities of a Spanish prison. They were obliged to be helped into the ship, and were immediately put to bed; where, by rest, and nourishing diet, with which they were plentifully supplied from the Commodore’s table, they recovered their health and vigour. And now we learnt that they had kept the sea the whole time of their absence, which was above six weeks; that, when they had finished their cruise, and had just begun to ply to the westward, in order to join the squadron, a strong adverse current had forced them upwards of 80 leagues to leeward, where they found every where so great a surf, that there was no possibility of landing; that they passed some days in the most dreadful situation, without water, having no other means left them to allay their thirst than sucking the blood of the turtles which they caught; that at last, giving up all hopes of succour, the heat of the climate too 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 soon after a most unexpected incident happily relieved them; for there fell so heavy a rain, that, on spreading their sails horizontally, and putting bullets in the centers of them, they caught as much water as filled 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 him in less than 50 hours from that time, after having been absent in the whole full 43 days.

And now having, to our entire satisfaction, got on board our people, and the season of the year for sailing to Asia being far (we found it too far) advanced, the Commodore resolved not to wait for any return from Acapulco, but gave orders to equip two large prize launches, to carry on shore the Spanish and Indian prisoners, both from ourselves and the Gloucester; and, having given them provisions and all necessaries for Panama, whither they intended to sail, about four in the evening they left us, to the number of about 60 persons, having first, though enemies, observed the custom of sea-faring people at parting, and wished us a prosperous voyage.

From the 6th of May, the day we took our departure, we met with little remarkable for above a month, except that the true trade-wind, which is said never to fail at about sixty or seventy leagues from the shore of Mexico at the farthest, was so far from answering our expectations, that we had nothing but cross winds, squalls, rain, thunder and lightning, till by account we were 600 leagues to the westward of Acapulco, having been above 40 days in getting so far. The 9th, we found the foremast sprung in a dangerous manner, and thereupon fished and secured it very strongly.

The 22d, in the evening, we sprung a leak, making 12 inches water in a watch, and on a search found it to be on the larboard side, abreast the main hatch-way, and not quite under water. The carpenters soon stopt it with very little trouble.

The 11th of June, we found a current to set to the southward, about 24 miles a day, but could not discover whether to the east or west, for want of opportunity to try it. This was by account about 450 leagues from Acapulco; and, much about this time, abundance of scorbutic symptoms, such as blackness in the skin, hard nodes in the flesh, shortness of breath, and a general lassitude and weakness of all the parts, began to prevail, almost universally, among our people. This, with the great mortality we experienced from this distemper in our Cape Horn passage, and the time we might still expect to be at sea, having yet 1800 leagues to those islands called, by Sir Francis Drake, the Ladrones, or Islands of Thieves, from the thievish disposition of the inhabitants, but by the Spaniards the Marian Islands, where only we could expect our next refreshments; and no trade-wind being yet settled;--these considerations, I say, gave us dreadful apprehensions of what this passage might terminate in; and the event shewed that we had but too much reason for them.

The 14th, at five in the evening, the Gloucester, having sprung the head of her main-mast, 12 feet below the trussel-trees, fired a gun as a signal of distress; on which we brought to, and waited for her; and, after enquiring into, and hearing the cause, we sent them on board two carpenters to assist in fishing and securing it; but the carpenters in concert, having viewed and considered the damage, reported, the next day, that the mast was unfit to stand, and would not bear repairing; but that it must be shortened 26 feet from the head, and the top-mast be set on the stump. This, therefore, was concluded on, and ordered accordingly.

The 23d, we found our own main-top-mast sprung in the wake of the cap; whereupon, we reefed it 20 inches, that is, we lowered it so much, and secured it there, and fleeted and set up the shrouds and back-stays.

The 24th, in the evening, we got the top-mast down, and put up another in its place, and a man falling overboard, we brought the ship to, and took him up safe; likewise, the slings of our crossjack-yards being broke, we fixed new ones, and the next day got up the fore-top-gallant mast and yard.

The 27th, we made the Gloucester signal, and sent our boat on board of her.

The 28th, we received from the Gloucester half an anchor-stock, for a farther security to the fore-mast.

The 29th, the Gloucester finished her jury-mast, and made sail on it. Nothing farther remarkable till

July 1st, we had fresh gales, and cloudy weather, with some lightning.

The 2d, we unbent the fore-sail, and bent another. We had, not only now, but for almost our whole passage, abundance of birds of prey, also flying fish, which are their proper food, and vast quantities of skipjacks, albicores, &c. whereof we took a great number, which contributed much to our refreshment after the loss of the tortoises, that generally leave all ships about twenty or thirty leagues off the land. I think this the more worthy of notice, because Dampier, Rogers, Cook, Cowley, and most other voyagers, some of whom have been not only once, but several times on this voyage, have reported, that they never saw a fish or fowl in this whole run. I will not say, as Mr. Cook frequently does, when any other person’s account does not happen to square exactly with what himself has observed, viz. “What credit is to be given to such authors?” never making allowances for contingencies which might or might not happen, and which would better have displayed his own impartiality, than a dogmatical condemnation of every other person, without examination. For my part, I readily believe and conclude, that this difference in our observations and accounts is really occasioned by the different seasons of the year in which we happened to perform this passage; it being a known truth, and confirmed by the experience of thousands in all ages, that most fish have their different seasons for their different rendezvouses.

The 10th, we saw three gannets, or, as they call them in Scotland, soland geese; being, by what I can learn from the most intelligent of that nation whom I have conversed with, and who often have opportunity to observe them in several different parts, of one and the same species; we likewise saw some sea weeds; both which circumstances made us imagine that some islands or shoals were not far off, those fowls never being observed to fly very far out to sea.

The 10th, we unbent the fore top-sail, and bent another.

The 12th, at noon, we were, by my account, 180 deg. 11 min. to the westward of the meridian of London, which is just 11 min. more than half round the globe, for which reason I note it. We were at this time, by my account, 1429 leagues distant from the port of Acapulco.

From this time till the 16th we had fresh gales, with squalls and rain.

The 17th and 18th, we had moderate and cloudy weather.

The 19 and 20th, fresh gales, with abundance of rain. We made this observation, that, with rainy weather, or even slight transient showers, the fish bit more freely, and were caught in greater numbers, than with fair weather; which made our fishermen the more attentive at such times. It was likewise remarked, that the Gloucester, when they could find opportunity to fish, had always much greater success than we; whether their fishermen had more art than ours, or whatever else occasioned it, the fact is true. They had also a better way of disposing of them, when taken, if I may be allowed to judge, than we; for Capt. Mitchell constantly ordered several boys, who were very dexterous at it, to catch fish for the ship’s company, especially the sick; and those were very justly and regularly divided among them: whereas our fishermen were left at liberty to make their advantage of what they took, and to prey upon their suffering shipmates; and they took care not to overslip the opportunity, for the least fish you could purchase of them would cost you a bottle of brandy; which, at this time, was worth four, or perhaps six, and sometimes even eight shillings, or half a guinea; and you must be very thankful, and acknowledge yourself to be highly obliged into the bargain, or else expect none next time, and very often fail of it notwithstanding. About this time our people began to die very fast, and, I believe, above five parts out of six of the ship’s company were ill, and expected to follow in a short time. Those, whose breath was any ways affected, dropt off immediately; but those, who were attacked first in the more remote parts of the body, languished generally a month or six weeks; the distemper advancing, in the mean time, towards the lungs, by a very regular and sensible approach. As I was myself one of those who were severely afflicted in this latter manner, I shall give such an account of its progress, as I found by experience in myself, and corroborated by the similar report of my fellow-sufferers. I was first taken, about the beginning of this month, with a slight pain on the joint of my left great toe; but, having hurt that a little while before, I imagined it to be the effect of that hurt, and minded it the less--(but here I shall observe, once for all, that if ever any part of the body had received a bruise, strain, or contusion, if not perfectly cured, the scurvy was sure to attack that part first); but, in a little time, a large black spot appearing on the part affected, with very intense pains at the bone, gave me to understand my case. I now took physic often, by way of prevention, but to little purpose: several hard nodes now began to rise in my legs, thighs, and arms, and not only many more black spots appeared in the skin, but those spread, till my legs and thighs were for the most part as black as a negroe; and this accompanied with such excessive pains in the joints of the knees, ancles, and toes, as I thought, before I experienced them, that human nature could never have supported. It next advanced to the mouth; all my teeth were presently loose, and my gums, over-charged with extravasated blood, fell down almost quite over my teeth: this occasioned my breath to smell much, yet without affecting my lungs; but, I believe, one week more at sea would have ended me, and less than a month more, all the rest. One thing was very remarkable, and likewise universal, which was, that, when the distemper had far prevailed, if the afflicted person lay quiet in his hammock, he seemed to be perfectly well and hearty; but, if he was removed out of it, on any necessity, he immediately fainted away; and this was always a sure sign of the party’s dissolution.

Since our passing Cape Horn, our surgeon, Henry Ettrick, who was a very good practical surgeon, had been very busy in digesting a theory of scurvies, wherein he enumerated many cases very particularly, having been allowed to open and examine as many bodies as were abundantly sufficient for that purpose. His system was principally grounded on the observations made on a long passage in a very cold climate. He took abundance of pains to prove, by many instances, that the tone of the blood was broken by the cold nipping air, and rendered so thin, as to be unfit for circulation, or any other of the uses of life; and being thus deprived of a proper force and vigour, stagnation and death must necessarily ensue. From this supposition, he had laid it down as an infallible rule, that food of a glutinous nature, such as salt fish, bread, and several sorts of grain, were alone proper on such voyages. As for liquids, I know not which he had pitched on, as the most salutary, on this occasion. But this passage, in a very hot climate, where the symptoms were not only more dreadful, but the mortality much more quick and fatal, in proportion to the number of people, put our scheming doctor to a sad non-plus: he could not account for this on the same principles with the other; nay, they must be, in a manner, diametrically opposite. All this obliged him at last (though he was still endeavouring to reconcile contradictions), to own, that, though some of the concurrent causes of this disease were plain enough, yet the grand cause was certainly the long continuance at sea, or an entire secret; and that no cure but the shore would ever be effectual. The Commodore, on this great mortality, having by him a quantity of Ward’s pills and drops, in order to experience whether they would be of any use, first tried them on himself, and then gave what he had left to the surgeon, to administer to such of the sick people as were willing to take them. The surgeon would not recommend them to any person, but several took them; though I know of none who believed they were of any service to them. They worked most people who took them very violently, both by vomit and stool: after which, as several told me, they would seem to be a little easier, tho’ weaker, for perhaps a day or two, but then they always relapsed, and became worse than before; and this, together with the inefficacy of all that our surgeons could do in the case, sufficiently shewed the vanity of attempting the cure of this distemper at sea.

And here, before I quit this subject, I shall endeavour to remove a prejudice, under which the afflicted have long severely suffered; and that is, from the notion generally prevalent, that none but the lazy are attacked with this disorder; whereas, the direct contrary is the truth; our experience having abundantly shewn, that the most laborious, active, stirring persons were oftenest seized with this disease; and the continuation of their labour, instead of curing, only helped to kill them the sooner.

Many undeniable instances might be given of this in our voyage; and, if future voyagers will give themselves the trouble of observing this hereafter, I am certain that the event will correspond with my assertion; nor does this distemper, in a general way, incline people to indolence, till it is come to that height, that, at the least motion, the person is ready to faint. It is certain, that, if the person afflicted desires to lengthen out his life as long as he can, his best way is to stir as little as possible. This I have seen verified by many instances.

The 23d and 24th, we reefed and repaired our rigging, which had suffered much in the variable weather.

The 26th, being, according to our reckoning, 300 leagues from the Ladrones, we met with a westerly wind, which did not come about again in four days. This was a most dispiriting incident, as we were all that while forced to lie to, the current insensibly driving us out of our course.

The 27th, our gunner, Henry Kipps, died of the scurvy, being one of the most able-bodied men, as well as the most active in the ship: he had taken Ward’s medicines once or twice.

On the 28th, we had calms with much rain, and received from the Gloucester 20 casks of flour, and four of groats. Having here an occasion of mentioning flour, it may not be amiss to take notice, that since our departure from Juan Fernandez, the principal officers had always soft bread new baked, the biscuit being so much worm-eaten, it was scarce any thing but dust, and a little blow would reduce it to that state immediately. Our beef and pork were likewise very rusty and rotten; and the surgeon endeavoured to persuade us from eating it, alledging it was, though a slow, yet a sure poison; but very little other food being to be had, we were reduced to a very deplorable condition.

The 29th, in the morning, the Gloucester’s fore-cap splitting, her fore-top-mast came by the board, and, in its fall, meeting with the fore-yard, broke it in the slings. As she was hereby rendered incapable of making any sail for some time, we were under a necessity, as soon as a gale sprung up, to take her in tow, and near 20 of the healthiest and ablest of our seamen were removed from the duty of our own ship, and were continued eight or ten days together to assist in repairing her damages; but these things, mortifying as we thought them, were only the commencement of our misfortunes; for, scarce had our people finished their business in the Gloucester before we met with a most violent storm from the western board, which obliged us to lie to. This storm lasted from the 10th to the 13th of August, attended with rain, thunder, and lightning, and such a lofty and dangerous sea as I have seldom seen, and could not have believed in latitudes between the Tropics, especially for such a long duration. Most of the time we lay to, we drove to the northward; abundance of our people died daily; and, the ship proving very leaky, every person who could stir, the principal officers not excepted, was obliged to take his turn at the pumps, and all little enough to keep us above water.

The 13th of August, at 10 in the morning, the Gloucester made a signal of distress, and, being to windward, bore down towards us; but we observed she was long in wearing, rolled very much, and made bad steerage. About half an hour after noon they spoke with us, and told us that they were so leaky that they must quit their ship; that they had seven feet water in the hold; and that all the men they had capable of stirring were quite exhausted with pumping, and could work no longer. This was an additional misfortune, and seemed to be without resource; for, whilst the Gloucester’s crew were thus enfeebled, our own sick were now so much increased, and those who still remained in health so over-fatigued with labour, that it was impossible for us to lend them any aid: all, therefore, that could be done was to send our boat on board for a more particular account of the ship’s condition; as it was soon suspected, that the taking her people on board us, and then destroying the Gloucester, was the only measure that could be prosecuted in the present emergency both for the preservation of their lives and of our own.

Our boat soon returned with a representation of the melancholy state of the Gloucester, and of her several defects, signed by Capt. Mitchell and all his officers; by which it appeared, that the ship was decayed in every part; that her crew was greatly reduced; that there remained alive no more than 77 men, officers included, 18 boys, and two prisoners; that of the whole number, only 16 men and 11 boys were capable of keeping the deck, and several of these very infirm; that the water was so deep in the hold, that those who were yet alive were starving, and could neither come at fresh water nor provisions.

From this representation, which was in no one instance exaggerated, the Commodore sent immediately an order to Capt. Mitchell, to bring his people on board the Centurion, and to take out such stores as could most easily be come at, among which he was very desirous of saving two cables, and a steel-anchor; but the ship rolled so much, and the men were so excessively fatigued, that it was with the greatest difficulty the prize-money was secured (the prize-goods amounting to many thousand pounds being abandoned): nor could any more provisions be got at, than five casks of flour (three of which were spoiled by the salt-water), a small quantity of brandy, and some living stock. Even this little business was so languishingly performed, that two days were wasted in the execution, during which time three or four of the sick perished on being moved.

As the weather was now calm, and we were uncertain how far distant we might be from Guam, a settlement in possession of the enemy, to whom the wreck of such a ship with guns and ammunition on board would have been a very valuable acquisition, the Commodore judged the most effectual way to prevent her from falling into their hands was to set on fire: and accordingly, as soon as the Captain and his Officers had quitted her, the combustibles placed for that purpose were lighted, and she continued burning the whole night, and at six the next morning she blew up. Thus perished his Majesty’s ship the Gloucester; and now, it might have been expected, that, being freed from the embarrassment in which her frequent disasters had involved us, we should have proceeded on our way much brisker than we had hitherto done. However, we were soon taught, that our anxieties were not yet to be relieved.

We were at this time in the utmost distress; the ship considerably lumbered with prize-goods, and the small room we had left thronged with the sick, whose numbers were now very much increased with those from the Gloucester; the dirt, nauseousness, and stench, almost every where intolerable; more people daily disabled with the disease; no sign of land, nor but very little wind, and that not fair but variable; very bad provisions and water, and the ship very leaky; and, though we discovered the leak to be in her bows on each side the stern, it lay in such a manner that we could not stop it, nay the attempting it rather made it worse. In this distress we made the best of every little spurt of wind.

Nothing farther remarkable happened till Sunday the 22d, when, about eight in the evening, we discovered two islands, one bearing W. half S. and the other S. W. by W. at the distance of about 10 leagues. We were overjoyed at this sight, and stood toward them with all our sail; but, there being little wind, we did not get near them till the next day about noon, when being about three miles off the largest and most promising of them, which appeared very hilly and full of trees, we sent on shore one of our Lieutenants in the cutter to make discoveries, who returned at nine in the evening, and gave us but a very indifferent account of the shore. The trees were mostly cocoa-nut-trees, of which there were prodigious quantities; about 60 cocoa-nuts they brought on board with them, but they could find no water, nor any good place to anchor in: on this account it was thought fit to stand further to the southward, for some more proper place. This was a severe disappointment to most of the sick, who, on the sight of land, (or hearing that we were so near it) had begun sensibly to revive: but as persons in such circumstances are soon driven to despond, when an aid they had depended upon deserts them, so this disappointment destroyed our hopes, and increased our dejection. We feared, that, if we met with more islands in the same run, they might be either as bad, worse, or inhabited by our enemies the Spaniards, who, in our weak condition, might easily be able to hinder us from proper refreshments: add to this, how near many of us were to death, and how little we could expect to survive any time in searching for other islands. I know not whether these were the general thoughts of the sick, but I must own they were mine, and made our situation at that time appear ten times worse to me than at any other in the whole course of our voyage. I was indeed very ill, and my illness might possibly occasion every thing to appear in its worst light, yet I never was one of those who were frightened at the apprehension, or even the visible approach of death; it had no unreasonable terrors in any of its prospects to me; and I always could, and I hope always shall be ready to meet it with calmness and perfect resignation: but I believe the healthiest and stoutest at that time had probably the greatest apprehensions; and I have since heard it from many of those, that they expected all to have perished, had we been so little as three weeks longer at sea; and I much question whether they were not right in that imagination.

On the 26th, at five in the morning, we saw three other islands, bearing from S. E. by S. to N. E. the middlemost of the three, which was the largest, due E.

The 27th, at three in the afternoon, being got pretty near the shore of the middlemost island, we sent our cutter and pinnace in-shore for discovery. At four the pinnace came off, and brought with her an Indian paroo, with a Spaniard and four Indians, whom they took in her. They likewise told us, that they had in-shore a small bark of about 16 tons, and between 20 and 30 more people on the island, all of whom had been sent there from Guam to kill cattle and hogs, and make jerked beef, and cacao-nut-oil, &c. for the Spanish garrison there; and that there are constantly people sent on that account, who, after some months stay at that place, are relieved by fresh parties for the same purpose. We secured both bark and paroo, together with all the Indians who fell into our hands, to hinder their carrying intelligence of us to the Spaniards at Guam. One of those Indians was a carpenter by trade, and his father was one of the principal builders at Manilla. This young man, having been ill used by the Governor at Guam, voluntarily entered with us, and became one of our carpenter’s crew, and proved a very useful handy fellow.

The Spaniard being examined as to the state of the island we were now approaching, the account he gave surprized even our most sanguine hopes; and, tho’ uninhabited, he said, it wanted none of those accommodations with which the best cultivated countries are furnished. On mustering up our whole force, as we drew near, all the hands we could collect capable of any kind of duty, even on the most pressing occasions, amounted to no more than 71 men, officers included. This number, inconsiderable as it may seem, were all of the united crews of the Centurion, Gloucester, and Trial, that could move without being assisted, notwithstanding that, when we left England, they consisted of near 1000 men.

When we had entered the road, our first business, after furling the sails and securing the ship, was to provide an hospital on shore for the sick; but the officer and seamen who were sent upon this service, returned joyfully, and acquainted us, that the Indians on shore had saved them that trouble, and had provided for us better than we could have done for ourselves; for, having erected a number of little cabbins for their accommodation during their residence on the island, and one in particular, which they made use of by way of storehouse to stow their provisions in, there could be nothing more suitably adapted for the reception both of the sick and the healthy than these erections. Accordingly, we instantly began sending ashore as many of the sick as could possibly be conveyed, among which number I myself was one; I say, as many as could possibly be conveyed; for we were all so extremely feeble and helpless, that we were no otherwise to be landed than by being carried in our hammocks, both in and out of the boats, on mens shoulders, in which service both the Commodore himself and his officers very humanely assisted; and, indeed, they were almost the only persons on board capable of performing it; the healthiest seamen being so much enfeebled, that they had but just strength enough left to help themselves.

The next day, being the 29th, the remainder of the sick were brought on shore, of whom 21 soon died; but the greatest part of the rest recovered surprizingly. As soon as I was capable of stirring about, I found the island to lie in lat. 14 deg. 58 min. N. [Walters says 15 deg. 8 min.] and in long. 223 deg. 35 min. W. from London, being, according to my reckoning, 117 deg. 7 min. W. from Acapulco. [Walters says 114 deg. 50 min.] And here it is observable, how writers of the first characters for veracity differ in their accounts of the same places, by writing them at different periods. The description of this island of Tinian by Commodore Byron, who lately visited it in his voyage round the world, bears no similitude to that we are now about to recite; nor can any one conceive how an interval of only 30 years could occasion so remarkable an alteration. But to proceed:

The soil, upon examination, we found to be every where dry and healthy; and being withal somewhat sandy, it was thereby the less disposed to a rank and over-luxuriant vegetation: and hence the meadows and woods were neater and smoother than is usual in hot climates. The vallies and hills were most beautifully diversified by the mutual encroachments of woods and lawns, which skirted each other, and traversed the island in large tracts. The woods consisted of tall and well-spread trees, some celebrated for their beauty, and some for their fruit; whilst the lawns were generally crouded with herds of cattle, of which it was not uncommon to see thousands feeding in a herd, and, being all milk-white, it is no wonder that such an appearance excited our longings, and increased our impatience, to kill and eat. Add to these, the innumerable swarms of poultry that crouded the woods, and, by their frequent crowings, gave us in idea the pleasing apprehension of being in the neighbourhood of farms and villages; and we even fancied, that in the covert of the woods we should find such concealed. The cattle we had sight of were computed at 10,000; and, besides these and the poultry, we likewise found abundance of wild hogs, which were excellent food, but fierce, and not easily mastered. At first we killed them by shooting; but, our ammunition failing, owing to an incident, we at last hunted them down with dogs, several of which joined us on the island, and, being trained to the sport by the Indians, readily enough followed us, and afforded us good diversion. In their conflicts with the bears, some indeed were killed; but those that came off victorious, were still more eager to engage in every new pursuit.