A Voyage Round the World

FERNANDES TO THE TAKING THE TOWN OF PAITA

Although the Centurion, with her prize, the Carmelo, weighed from the bay of Juan Fernandes on the 19th of September, leaving the Gloucester at anchor behind her, yet, by the irregularity and fluctuation of the winds in the offing, it was the 22d of the same month, in the evening, before we lost sight of the island: after which we continued our course to the eastward, in order to reach our station, and to join the Tryal off Valparaiso. The next night the weather proved squally, and we split our main top-sail, which we handed for the present, but got it repaired, and set it again the next morning. In the evening, a little before sunset, we saw two sail to the eastward; on which our prize stood directly from us, to avoid giving any suspicion of our being cruisers, whilst we, in the meantime, made ourselves ready for an engagement, and steered with all our canvas towards the two ships we had discovered. We soon perceived that one of these, which had the appearance of being a very stout ship, made directly for us, whilst the other kept at a great distance. By seven o'clock we were within pistol-shot of the nearest, and had a broadside ready to pour into her, the gunners having their matches in their hands, and only waiting for orders to fire; but, as we knew it was now impossible for her to escape us, Mr. Anson, before he permitted us to fire, ordered the master to hale the ship in Spanish; on which the commanding officer on board her, who proved to be Mr. Hughes, lieutenant of the Tryal, answered us in English, and informed us that she was a prize taken by the Tryal a few days before, and that the other sail at a distance was the Tryal herself disabled in her masts. We were soon after joined by the Tryal, and Captain Saunders, her commander, came on board the Centurion. He acquainted the commodore that he had taken this ship the 18th instant; that she was a prime sailor, and had cost him thirty-six hours' chace before he could come up with her; that for some time he gained so little upon her that he began to despair of taking her; and the Spaniards, though alarmed at first with seeing nothing but a cloud of sail in pursuit of them, the Tryal's hull being so low in the water that no part of it appeared, yet knowing the goodness of their ship, and finding how little the Tryal neared them, they at length laid aside their fears, and recommending themselves to the blessed Virgin for protection, began to think themselves secure. Indeed their success was very near doing honour to their Ave Marias, for, altering their course in the night, and shutting up their windows to prevent any of their lights from being seen, they had some chance of escaping; but a small crevice in one of the shutters rendered all their invocations ineffectual, for through this crevice the people on board the Tryal perceived a light, which they chased till they arrived within gunshot, and then Captain Saunders alarmed them unexpectedly with a broadside, when they flattered themselves they were got out of his reach. However, for some time after they still kept the same sail abroad, and it was not observed that this first salute had made any impression on them; but, just as the Tryal was preparing to repeat her broadside, the Spaniards crept from their holes, lowered their sails, and submitted without any opposition. She was one of the largest merchantmen employed in those seas, being about six hundred tuns burthen, and was called the Arranzazu. She was bound from Callao to Valparaiso, and had much the same cargo with the Carmelo we had taken before, except that her silver amounted only to about £5000 sterling.

But to balance this success, we had the misfortune to find that the Tryal had sprung her main-mast, and that her main top-mast had come by the board; and as we were all of us standing to the eastward the next morning, with a fresh gale at south, she had the additional ill-luck to spring her fore-mast: so that now she had not a mast left on which she could carry sail. These unhappy incidents were still aggravated by the impossibility we were just then under of assisting her; for the wind blew so hard, and raised such a hollow sea, that we could not venture to hoist out our boat, and consequently could have no communication with her; so that we were obliged to lie to for the greatest part of forty-eight hours to attend her, as we could have no thought of leaving her to herself in her present unhappy situation. It was no small accumulation to these misfortunes that we were all the while driving to the leeward of our station, at the very time too, when, by our intelligence, we had reason to expect several of the enemy's ships would appear upon the coast, who would now gain the port of Valparaiso without obstruction. And I am verily persuaded that the embarrassment we received from the dismasting of the Tryal, and our absence from our intended station, occasioned thereby, deprived us of some very considerable captures.

The weather proving somewhat more moderate on the 27th, we sent our boat for the captain of the Tryal, who, when he came on board us, produced an instrument, signed by himself and all his officers, representing that the sloop, besides being dismasted, was so very leaky in her hull that even in moderate weather it was necessary to ply the pumps constantly, and that they were then scarcely sufficient to keep her free; so that in the late gale, though they had all been engaged at the pumps by turns, yet the water had increased upon them; and, upon the whole, they apprehended her at present to be so very defective, that if they met with much bad weather they must all inevitably perish; and therefore they petitioned the commodore to take some measures for their future safety. But the refitting of the Tryal, and the repairing of her defects, was an undertaking that in the present conjuncture greatly exceeded our power; for we had no masts to spare her, we had no stores to complete her rigging, nor had we any port where she might be hove down and her bottom examined: besides, had a port and proper requisites for this purpose been in our possession, yet it would have been extreme imprudence, in so critical a conjuncture, to have loitered away so much time as would have been necessary for these operations. The commodore therefore had no choice left him, but was under a necessity of taking out her people and destroying her. However, as he conceived it expedient to keep up the appearance of our force, he appointed the Tryal's prize (which had been often employed by the Viceroy of Peru as a man-of-war) to be a frigate in his Majesty's service, manning her with the Tryal's crew, and giving commissions to the captain and all the inferior officers accordingly. This new frigate, when in the Spanish service, had mounted thirty-two guns; but she was now to have only twenty, which were the twelve that were on board the Tryal, and eight that had belonged to the Anna pink. When this affair was thus resolved on, Mr. Anson gave orders to Captain Saunders to put it in execution, directing him to take out of the sloop the arms, stores, ammunition, and everything that could be of any use to the other ships, and then to scuttle her and sink her. After Captain Saunders had seen her destroyed, he was to proceed with his new frigate (to be called the Tryal's prize) and to cruise off the highland of Valparaiso, keeping it from him N.N.W. at the distance of twelve or fourteen leagues: for as all ships bound from Valparaiso to the northward steer that course, Mr. Anson proposed by this means to stop any intelligence that might be dispatched to Callao of two of their ships being missing, which might give them apprehensions of the English squadron being in their neighbourhood. The Tryal's prize was to continue on this station twenty-four days, and, if not joined by the commodore at the expiration of that term, she was then to proceed down the coast to Pisco or Nasca, where she would be certain to meet with Mr. Anson. The commodore likewise ordered Lieutenant Saumarez, who commanded the Centurion's prize, to keep company with Captain Saunders, both to assist him in unloading the sloop, and also that by spreading in their cruise there might be less danger of any of the enemy's ships slipping by unobserved. These orders being dispatched, the Centurion parted from the other vessels at eleven in the evening, on the 27th of September, directing her course to the southward, with a view of cruising for some days to the windward of Valparaiso.

And now by this distribution of our ships we flattered ourselves that we had taken all the advantages of the enemy that we possibly could with our small force, since our disposition was doubtless the most prudent that could be projected. For, as we might suppose the Gloucester by this time to be drawing near the highland of Paita, we were enabled, by our separate stations, to intercept all vessels employed either betwixt Peru and Chili to the southward, or betwixt Panama and Peru to the northward: since the principal trade from Peru to Chili being carried on to the port of Valparaiso, the Centurion cruising to the windward of Valparaiso would, in all probability, meet with them, as it is the constant practice of those ships to fall in with the coast to the windward of that port. The Gloucester would, in like manner, be in the way of the trade bound from Panama or to the northward, to any part of Peru, since the highland off which she was stationed is constantly made by every ship in that voyage. And whilst the Centurion and Gloucester were thus situated for interrupting the enemy's trade, the Tryal's prize and Centurion's prize were as conveniently posted for preventing all intelligence, by intercepting all ships bound from Valparaiso to the northward; for it was on board these vessels that it was to be feared some account of us might possibly be sent to Peru.

But the most prudent dispositions carry with them only a probability of success, and can never ensure its certainty, since those chances which it was reasonable to overlook in deliberation are sometimes of most powerful influence in execution. Thus in the present case, the distress of the Tryal, and our quitting our station to assist her (events which no degree of prudence could either foresee or obviate), gave an opportunity to all the ships bound to Valparaiso to reach that port without molestation during this unlucky interval. So that though, after leaving Captain Saunders, we were very expeditious in regaining our station, where we got the 29th at noon, yet in plying on and off till the 6th of October we had not the good fortune to discover a sail of any sort: and then having lost all hopes of meeting with better fortune by a longer stay, we made sail to the leeward of the port, in order to join our prizes; but when we arrived off the highland where they were directed to cruise, we did not find them, though we continued there four or five days. We supposed that some chace had occasioned their leaving their station, and therefore we proceeded down the coast to the highland of Nasca, which was the second rendezvous, where Captain Saunders was directed to join us. Here we got on the 21st, and were in great expectation of falling in with some of the enemy's vessels, as both the accounts of former voyages and the information of our prisoners assured us that all ships bound to Callao constantly make this land, to prevent the danger of running to the leeward of the port. But notwithstanding the advantages of this station, we saw no sail till the 2d of November, when two ships appeared in sight together; we immediately gave them chace, and soon perceived that they were the Tryal's and Centurion's prizes. As they had the wind of us, we brought to and waited their coming up, when Captain Saunders came on board us, and acquainted the commodore that he had cleared the Tryal pursuant to his orders, and having scuttled her, he remained by her till she sunk, but that it was the 4th of October before this was effected; for there ran so large and hollow a sea, that the sloop, having neither masts nor sails to steady her, rolled and pitched so violently, that it was impossible for a boat to lay alongside of her for the greatest part of the time: and during this attendance on the sloop, they were all driven so far to the north-west that they were afterwards obliged to stretch a long way to the westward to regain the ground they had lost; which was the reason that we had not met with them on their station, as we expected. We found they had not been more fortunate in their cruise than we were, for they had seen no vessel since they separated from us. The little success we all had, and our certainty that had any ships been stirring in these seas for some time past we must have met with them, made us believe that the enemy at Valparaiso, on the missing of the two ships we had taken, had suspected us to be in the neighbourhood, and had consequently laid an embargo on all the trade in the southern parts. We likewise apprehended that they might by this time be fitting out the men-of-war at Callao, as we knew that it was no uncommon thing for an express from Valparaiso to reach Lima in twenty-nine or thirty days, and it was now more than fifty since we had taken our first prize. These apprehensions of an embargo along the coast, and of the equipment of the Spanish squadron at Callao, determined the commodore to hasten down to the leeward of Callao, and to join Captain Michel (who was stationed off Paita) as soon as possible, that our strength being united we might be prepared to give the ships from Callao a warm reception, if they dared to put to sea. With this view we bore away the same afternoon, taking particular care to keep at such a distance from the shore that there might be no danger of our being discovered from thence; for we knew that all the country ships were commanded, under the severest penalty, not to sail by the port of Callao without stopping; and as this order was constantly complied with, we should undoubtedly be known for enemies if we were seen to act contrary to it. In this new navigation, not being certain whether we might not meet the Spanish squadron in our route, the commodore took on board the Centurion part of his crew with which he had formerly manned the Carmelo. And now standing to the northward, we, before night came on, had a view of the small island called St. Gallen, which bore from us N.N.E.½E., about seven leagues distant. This island lies in the latitude of about fourteen degrees south, and about five miles to the northward of a highland called Morro Veijo, or the old man's head. I mention this island and the highland near it more particularly because between them is the most eligible station on that coast for cruising upon the enemy, as hereabouts all ships bound to Callao, whether from the northward or the southward, run well in with the land. By the 5th of November, at three in the afternoon, we were advanced within view of the highland of Barranca, lying in the latitude of 10° 36' south, bearing from us N.E. by E., distant eight or nine leagues; and an hour and an half afterwards we had the satisfaction so long wished for, of seeing a sail. She first appeared to leeward, and we all immediately gave her chace; but the Centurion so much outsailed the two prizes, that we soon ran them out of sight, and gained considerably on the chace. However, night coming on before we came up with her, we, about seven o'clock, lost sight of her, and were in some perplexity what course to steer; but at last Mr. Anson resolved, as we were then before the wind, to keep all his sails set, and not to change his course: for though we had no doubt but the chace would alter her course in the night, yet, as it was uncertain what tack she would go upon, it was thought prudent to keep on our course, as we must by this means unavoidably come near her, rather than to change it on conjecture, when, if we should mistake, we must infallibly lose her. Thus then we continued the chace about an hour and an half in the dark, some one or other on board us constantly imagining they discerned her sails right ahead of us; but at length Mr. Brett, our second lieutenant, did really discover her about four points on the larboard-bow, steering off to the seaward. We immediately clapped the helm a-weather, and stood for her, and in less than an hour came up with her, and having fired fourteen shot at her, she struck. Our third lieutenant, Mr. Dennis, was sent in the boat with sixteen men to take possession of the prize, and to return the prisoners to our ship. This vessel was named the Santa Teresa de Jesus, built at Guaiaquil, of about three hundred tuns burthen, and was commanded by Bartolome Urrunaga, a Biscayer. She was bound from Guaiaquil to Callao; her loading consisted of timber, cocao, coconuts, tobacco, hides, Pito thread (which is very strong, and is made of a species of grass), Quito cloth, wax, etc. The specie on board her was inconsiderable, being principally small silver money, and not amounting to more than £170 sterling. It is true her cargoe was of great value, could we have disposed of it: but the Spaniards having strict orders never to ransom their ships, all the goods that we took in these seas, except what little we had occasion for ourselves, were of no advantage to us. Indeed, though we could make no profit thereby ourselves, it was some satisfaction to us to consider that it was so much really lost to the enemy, and that the despoiling them was no contemptible branch of that service in which we were now employed by our country.

Besides our prize's crew, which amounted to forty-five hands, there were on board her ten passengers, consisting of four men and three women, who were natives of the country, born of Spanish parents, together with three black slaves that attended them. The women were a mother and her two daughters, the eldest about twenty-one, and the youngest about fourteen. It is not to be wondered at that women of these years should be excessively alarmed at the falling into the hands of an enemy, whom, from the former outrages of the buccaneers, and by the artful insinuations of their priests, they had been taught to consider as the most terrible and brutal of all mankind. These apprehensions too were in the present instance exaggerated by the singular beauty of the youngest of the women, and the riotous disposition which they might well expect to find in a set of sailors who had not seen a woman for near a twelvemonth. Full of these terrors, the women all hid themselves upon our officer's coming on board, and when they were found out, it was with great difficulty that he could persuade them to approach the light. However, he soon satisfied them, by the humanity of his conduct, and by his assurances of their future security and honourable treatment, that they had nothing to fear. Nor were these assurances of the officer invalidated in the sequel: for the commodore being informed of the matter, sent directions that they should be continued on board their own ship, with the use of the same apartments, and with all the other conveniencies they had enjoyed before, giving strict orders that they should receive no kind of inquietude or molestation whatever: and that they might be the more certain of having these orders complied with, or have the means of complaining, if they were not, the commodore permitted the pilot, who in Spanish ships is generally the second person on board, to stay with them, as their guardian and protector. The pilot was particularly chosen for this purpose by Mr. Anson, as he seemed to be extremely interested in all that concerned the women, and had at first declared that he was married to the youngest of them, though it afterwards appeared, both from the information of the rest of the prisoners, and other circumstances, that he asserted this with a view the better to secure them from the insults they expected on their first falling into our hands. By this compassionate and indulgent behaviour of the commodore, the consternation of our female prisoners entirely subsided, and they continued easy and cheerful during the whole time they were with us, as I shall have occasion to mention more particularly hereafter.

I have before observed, that at the beginning of this chace the Centurion ran her two consorts out of sight, on which account we lay by all the night, after we had taken the prize, for Captain Saunders and Lieutenant Saumarez to join us, firing guns and making false fires every half-hour, to prevent their passing by us unobserved; but they were so far astern that they neither heard nor saw any of our signals, and were not able to come up with us till broad daylight. When they had joined us, we proceeded together to the northward, being now four sail in company. We here found the sea, for many miles round us, of a beautiful red colour. This, upon examination, we imputed to an immense quantity of spawn spread upon its surface; for, taking up some of the water in a wine glass, it soon changed from a dirty aspect to a clear crystal, with only some red globules of a slimy nature floating on the top. At present having a supply of timber on board our new prize, the commodore ordered our boats to be repaired, and a swivel gun-stock to be fixed in the bow both of the barge and pinnace, in order to encrease their force, in case we should be obliged to have recourse to them for boarding ships, or for any attempts on shore.

As we stood from hence to the northward, nothing remarkable occurred for two or three days, though we spread our ships in such a manner that it was not probable any vessel of the enemy could escape us. In our run along this coast we generally observed that there was a current which set us to the northward at the rate of ten or twelve miles each day. And now, being in about eight degrees of south latitude, we began to be attended with vast numbers of flying fish and bonitos, which were the first we saw after our departure from the coast of Brazil. But it is remarkable that on the east side of South America they extended to a much higher latitude than they do on the west side, for we did not lose them on the coast of Brazil till we approached the southern tropic. The reason for this diversity is doubtless the different degrees of heat obtaining in the same latitude on different sides of that continent. And on this occasion, I must beg leave to make a short digression on the heat and cold of different climates, and on the varieties which occur in the same place in different parts of the year, and in different places in the same degree of latitude.

The ancients conceived that of the five zones into which they divided the surface of the globe, two only were habitable, supposing that the heat between the tropics, and the cold within the polar circles, were too intense to be supported by mankind. The falsehood of this reasoning has been long evinced; but the particular comparisons of the heat and cold of these various climates has as yet been very imperfectly considered. However, enough is known safely to determine this position, that all places between the tropics are far from being the hottest on the globe, as many of those within the polar circles are far from enduring that extreme degree of cold to which their situation should seem to subject them: that is to say, that the temperature of a place depends much more upon other circumstances than upon its distance from the pole, or its proximity to the equinoctial.

This proposition relates to the general temperature of places, taking the whole year round; and in this sense it cannot be denied that the city of London, for instance, enjoys much warmer seasons than the bottom of Hudson's Bay, which is nearly in the same latitude with it, but where the severity of the winter is so great that it will scarcely permit the hardiest of our garden plants to live. And if the comparison be made between the coast of Brazil and the western shore of South America, as, for example, betwixt Bahia and Lima, the difference will be still more considerable; for though the coast of Brazil is extremely sultry, yet the coast of the South Seas in the same latitude is perhaps as temperate and tolerable as any part of the globe, since in ranging along it we did not once meet with so warm weather as is frequent in a summer's day in England: which was still the more remarkable as there never fell any rains to refresh and cool the air.

The causes of this temperature in the South Seas are not difficult to be assigned, and shall be hereafter mentioned. I am now only solicitous to establish the truth of this assertion, that the latitude of a place alone is no rule whereby to judge of the degree of heat and cold which obtains there. Perhaps this position might be more briefly confirmed by observing, that on the tops of the Andes, though under the equinoctial, the snow never melts the whole year round: a criterion of cold stronger than what is known to take place in many parts far removed within the polar circle.

I have hitherto considered the temperature of the air all the year through, and the gross estimations of heat and cold which every one makes from his own sensation. If this matter be examined by means of thermometers, which in respect to the absolute degree of heat and cold are doubtless the most unerring evidences – if this be done, the result will be indeed most wonderful, since it will hence appear that the heat in very high latitudes, as at Petersburgh, for instance, is at particular times much greater than any that has been hitherto observed between the tropics; and that even at London, in the year 1746, there was the part of one day considerably hotter than what was at any time felt by a ship of Mr. Anson's squadron in running from hence to Cape Horn and back again, and passing twice under the sun; for in the summer of that year, the thermometer in London (being one of those graduated according to the method of Farenheit) stood once at 78°; and the greatest height at which a thermometer of the same kind stood in the foregoing ship I find to be 76°: this was at St. Catherine's, in the latter end of December, when the sun was within about three degrees of the vertex. And as to Petersburgh, I find, by the acts of the academy established there, that in the year 1734, on the 20th and 25th of July, the thermometer rose to 98° in the shade, that is, it was twenty-two divisions higher than it was found to be at St. Catherine's; which is a degree of heat that, were it not authorised by the regularity and circumspection with which the observations seem to have been made, would appear altogether incredible.

If it should be asked how it comes to pass, then, that the heat in many places between the tropics is esteemed so violent and insufferable, when it appears, by these instances, that it is sometimes rivalled or exceeded in very high latitudes not far from the polar circle? I should answer that the estimation of heat in any particular place ought not to be founded upon that degree of heat which may now and then obtain there, but is rather to be deduced from the medium observed in a whole season, or perhaps in a whole year; and in this light it will easily appear how much more intense the same degree of heat may prove by being long continued without remarkable variation. For instance, in comparing together St. Catherine's and Petersburgh, we will suppose the summer heat at St. Catherine's to be 76°, and the winter heat to be twenty divisions short of it. I do not make use of this last conjecture upon sufficient observation, but I am apt to suspect that the allowance is full large. Upon this supposition, then, the medium heat all the year round will be 66°, and this perhaps by night as well as day, with no great variation. Now those who have attended to thermometers will readily own that a continuation of this degree of heat for a length of time would, by the generality of mankind, be stiled violent and suffocating; but at Petersburgh, though a few times in the year the heat by the thermometer may be considerably greater than at St. Catherine's, yet, as at other times the cold is immensely sharper, the medium for a year, or even for one season only, would be far short of 66°. For I find that the thermometer at Petersburgh is at least five times greater, from its highest to its lowest point, than what I have supposed to take place at St. Catherine's.

Besides this estimation of the heat of a place, by taking the medium for a considerable time together, there is another circumstance which will still augment the apparent heat of the warmer climates, and diminish that of the colder, though I do not remember to have seen it remarked in any author. To explain myself more distinctly upon this head, I must observe that the measure of absolute heat marked by the thermometer is not the certain criterion of the sensation of heat with which human bodies are affected: for as the presence and perpetual succession of fresh air is necessary to our respiration, so there is a species of tainted or stagnated air often produced by the continuance of great heats, which, being less proper for respiration, never fails to excite in us an idea of sultriness and suffocating warmth much beyond what the heat of the air alone, supposing it pure and agitated, would occasion. Hence it follows, that the mere inspection of the thermometer will never determine the heat which the human body feels from this cause; and hence it follows, too, that the heat in most places between the tropics must be much more troublesome and uneasy than the same degree of absolute heat in a high latitude: for the equability and duration of the tropical heat contribute to impregnate the air with a multitude of steams and vapours from the soil and water, and these being, many of them, of an impure and noxious kind, and being not easily removed, by reason of the regularity of the winds in those parts, which only shift the exhalations from place to place without dispersing them, the atmosphere is by this means rendered less capable of supporting the animal functions, and mankind are consequently affected with what they stile a most intense and stifling heat: whereas in the higher latitudes these vapours are probably raised in smaller quantities, and the irregularity and violence of the winds frequently disperse them, so that, the air being in general pure and less stagnant, the same degree of absolute heat is not attended with that uneasy and suffocating sensation. This may suffice in general with respect to the present speculation; but I cannot help wishing, as it is a subject in which mankind, especially travellers of all sorts, are very much interested, that it were more thoroughly and accurately examined, and that all ships bound to the warmer climates would furnish themselves with thermometers of a known fabric, and would observe them daily, and register their observations; for considering the turn to philosophical inquiries which has obtained in Europe for the last fourscore years, it is incredible how very rarely anything of this kind hath been attended to. As to my own part, I do not recollect that I have ever seen any observations of the heat and cold, either in the East or West Indies, which were made by mariners or officers of vessels, except those made by Mr. Anson's order on board the Centurion, and by Captain Legg on board the Severn, which was another ship of our squadron.

This digression I have been in some measure drawn into by the consideration of the fine weather we met with on the coast of Peru, even under the equinoctial itself, but the particularities of this weather I have not yet described: I shall now therefore add, that in this climate every circumstance concurred that could make the open air and the daylight desirable. For in other countries the scorching heat of the sun in summer renders the greater part of the day unapt either for labour or amusement; and the frequent rains are not less troublesome in the more temperate parts of the year. But in this happy climate the sun rarely appears. Not that the heavens have at any time a dark and gloomy look; for there is constantly a chearful grey sky, just sufficient to screen the sun, and to mitigate the violence of its perpendicular rays, without obscuring the air, or tinging the daylight with an unpleasant or melancholy hue. By this means all parts of the day are proper for labour or exercise abroad, nor is there wanting that refreshment and pleasing refrigeration of the air which is sometimes produced in other climates by rains; for here the same effect is brought about by the fresh breezes from the cooler regions to the southward. It is reasonable to suppose that this fortunate complexion of the heavens is principally owing to the neighbourhood of those vast hills called the Andes, which, running nearly parallel to the shore, and at a small distance from it, and extending themselves immensely higher than any other mountains upon the globe, form upon their sides and declivities a prodigious tract of country, where, according to the different approaches to the summit, all kinds of climates may at all seasons of the year be found. These mountains, by intercepting great part of the eastern winds which generally blow over the continent of South America, and by cooling that part of the air which forces its way over their tops, and by keeping besides a large portion of the atmosphere perpetually cool, from its contiguity to the snows with which they are covered – these hills, thus spreading the influence of their frozen crests to the neighbouring coasts and seas of Peru, are doubtless the cause of the temperature and equability which constantly prevail there. For when we were advanced beyond the equinoctial, where these mountains left us, and had nothing to screen us to the eastward but the highlands on the isthmus of Panama, which are but mole-hills to the Andes, we then soon found that in a short run we had totally changed our climate, passing in two or three days from the temperate air of Peru to the sultry burning atmosphere of the West Indies. But it is time to return to our narration.

On the 10th of November we were three leagues south of the southermost island of Lobos, lying in the latitude of 6° 27' south. There are two islands of this name: this called Lobos de la Mar, and another, which is situated to the northward of it, very much resembling it in shape and appearance, and often mistaken for it, called Lobos de Tierra. We were now drawing near to the station appointed to the Gloucester, for which reason, fearing to miss her, we made an easy sail all night. The next morning, at daybreak, we saw a ship in shore, and to windward, plying up the coast. She had passed by us with the favour of the night, and we soon perceiving her not to be the Gloucester, got our tacks on board and gave her chace; but it proving very little wind, so that neither of us could make much way, the commodore ordered the barge, his pinnace, and the Tryal's pinnace to be manned and armed, and to pursue the chace and board her. Lieutenant Brett, who commanded the barge, came up with her first, about nine o'clock, and running alongside of her, he fired a volley of small shot between the masts, just over the heads of the people on board, and then instantly entered with the greatest part of his men; but the enemy made no resistance, being sufficiently frighted by the dazzling of the cutlasses, and the volley they had just received. Lieutenant Brett ordered the sails to be trimmed, and bore down to the commodore, taking up in his way the two pinnaces. When he was got within about four miles of us, he put off in the barge, bringing with him a number of the prisoners, who had given him some material intelligence, which he was desirous the commodore should be acquainted with as soon as possible. On his arrival we learnt that the prize was called Nuestra Senora del Carmin, of about two hundred and seventy tuns burthen; she was commanded by Marcos Morena, a native of Venice, and had on board forty-three mariners. She was deep laden with steel, iron, wax, pepper, cedar, plank, snuff, rosarios, European bale goods, powder-blue, cinnamon, Romish indulgencies, and other species of merchandize; and though this cargo, in our present circumstances, was but of little value to us, yet with respect to the Spaniards it was the most considerable capture we made in this part of the world, for it amounted to upwards of 400,000 dollars prime cost at Panama. This ship was bound to Callao, and had stopped at Paita in her passage, to take in a recruit of water and provisions, having left that place not above twenty-four hours before she fell into our hands.

I have mentioned that Mr. Brett had received some important intelligence, which he endeavoured to let the commodore know immediately. The first person he learnt it from (though upon further examination it was confirmed by the other prisoners) was one John Williams, an Irishman, whom he found on board the Spanish vessel. Williams was a Papist, who worked his passage from Cadiz, and had travelled over all the kingdom of Mexico as a pedlar. He pretended that by this business he had once got 4000 or 5000 dollars, but that he was embarrassed by the priests, who knew he had money, and was at last stript of everything he had. He was indeed at present all in rags, being but just got out of Paita gaol, where he had been confined for some misdemeanor; he expressed great joy upon seeing his countrymen, and immediately told them that, a few days before, a vessel came into Paita, where the master of her informed the governor that he had been chased in the offing by a very large ship, which, from her size and the colour of her sails, he was persuaded must be one of the English squadron. This we then conjectured to have been the Gloucester, as we afterwards found it was. The governor, upon examining the master, was fully satisfied of his relation, and immediately sent away an express to Lima to acquaint the viceroy therewith; and the royal officer residing at Paita, apprehensive of a visit from the English, had, from his first hearing of this news, been busily employed in removing the king's treasure and his own to Piura, a town within land about fourteen leagues distant. We further learnt from our prisoners that there was a very considerable sum of money belonging to some merchants of Lima that was now lodged in the custom-house at Paita, and that this was intended to be shipped on board a vessel, which was then in the port of Paita, and was preparing to sail with the utmost expedition, being bound for the bay of Sonsonnate, on the coast of Mexico, in order to purchase a part of the cargo of the Manila ship. As the vessel on which the money was to be shipped was esteemed a prime sailor, and had just received a new coat of tallow on her bottom, and might, in the opinion of the prisoners, be able to sail the succeeding morning, the character they gave of her left us little reason to believe that our ship, which had been in the water near two years, could have any chance of coming up with her if we once suffered her to escape out of the port. Therefore, as we were now discovered, and the coast would be soon alarmed, and as our cruising in these parts any longer would answer no purpose, the commodore resolved to endeavour to surprize the place, having first minutely informed himself of its strength and condition, and being fully satisfied that there was little danger of losing many of our men in the attempt. This attack on Paita, besides the treasure it promised us, and its being the only enterprize it was in our power to undertake, had these other advantages attending it, that we should in all probability supply ourselves with great quantities of live provision, of which we were at this time in want: and that we should likewise have an opportunity of setting our prisoners on shore, who were now very numerous, and made a greater consumption of our food than our stock that remained was capable of furnishing long. In all these lights the attempt was a most eligible one, and what our necessities, our situation, and every prudential consideration prompted us to. How it succeeded, and how far it answered our expectations, shall be the subject of the following chapter.

CHAPTER VI

THE TAKING OF PAITA, AND OUR PROCEEDINGS THERE

The town of Paita is situated in the latitude of 5° 12' south, on a most barren soil, composed only of sand and slate. The extent of it is but small, containing in all less than two hundred families. The houses are only ground floors, the walls built of split cane and mud, and the roofs thatched with leaves. These edifices, though extremely slight, are abundantly sufficient for a climate where rain is considered as a prodigy, and is not seen in many years: so that it is said a small quantity of rain falling in this country in the year 1728 ruined a great number of buildings, which mouldered away, and as it were melted before it. The inhabitants of Paita are principally Indians and black slaves, or at least a mixed breed, the whites being very few. The port of Paita, though in reality little more than a bay, is esteemed the best on that part of the coast, and is indeed a very secure and commodious anchorage. It is greatly frequented by all vessels coming from the north, since here only the ships from Acapulco, Sonsonnate, Realeijo, and Panama can touch and refresh in their passage to Callao: and the length of these voyages (the wind for the greatest part of the year being full against them) renders it impossible to perform them without calling upon the coast for a recruit of fresh water. It is true Paita is situated on so parched a spot that it does not itself furnish a drop of fresh water, or any kind of greens or provisions, except fish and a few goats; but there is an Indian town called Colan, about two or three leagues distant to the northward, from whence water, maize, greens, fowls, etc., are conveyed to Paita on balsas or floats, for the conveniency of the ships that touch here; and cattle are sometimes brought from Piura, a town which lies about fourteen leagues up in the country. The water fetched from Colan is whitish, and of a disagreeable appearance, but is said to be very wholesome, for it is pretended by the inhabitants that it runs through large woods of sarsaparilla, and is sensibly impregnated therewith. This port of Paita, besides furnishing the northern trade bound to Callao with water and necessaries, is the usual place where passengers from Acapulco or Panama, bound to Lima, disembark; for, as it was two hundred leagues from hence to Callao, the port of Lima, and as the wind is generally contrary, the passage by sea is very tedious and fatiguing, but by land there is a tolerable good road parallel to the coast, with many stations and villages for the accommodation of travellers.

It appears that the town of Paita is itself an open place, so that its sole protection and defence is a fort. It was of consequence to us to be well informed of the fabrick and strength of this fort; and from the examination of our prisoners we found that there were eight pieces of cannon mounted in it, but that it had neither ditch nor outwork, being surrounded by a plain brick wall; and that the garrison consisted of only one weak company, though the town itself might possibly arm three hundred men more.

Mr. Anson having informed himself of the strength of the place, resolved (as hath been said in the preceding chapter) to attempt it that very night. We were then about twelve leagues distant from the shore, far enough to prevent our being discovered, yet not so far but that by making all the sail we could, we might arrive in the bay with our ships long before daybreak. However, the commodore prudently considered that this would be an improper method of proceeding, as our ships, being such large bodies, might be easily seen at a distance even in the night, and might thereby alarm the inhabitants, and give them an opportunity of removing their valuable effects. He therefore, as the strength of the place did not require our whole force, resolved to attempt it with our boats only, ordering the eighteen-oared barge and our own and the Tryal's pinnaces on that service; and having picked out fifty-eight men to mann them, well furnished with arms and ammunition, he entrusted the command of the expedition to Lieutenant Brett, and gave him his necessary orders. And the better to prevent the disappointment and confusion which might arise from the darkness of the night, and from the ignorance of the streets and passages of the place, two of the Spanish pilots were ordered to attend the lieutenant, who were to conduct him to the most convenient landing-place, and were afterwards to be his guides on shore; and that we might have the greater security for their behaviour on this occasion, the commodore took care to assure our prisoners that they should all of them be released and set on shore at this place, provided the pilots acted faithfully; but in case of any misconduct or treachery, he threatened that the pilots should be instantly shot, and that he would carry the rest of the Spaniards who were on board him prisoners to England. So that the prisoners themselves were interested in our success, and therefore we had no reason to suspect our conductors either of negligence or perfidy.

On this occasion I cannot but remark a singular circumstance of one of the pilots employed by us in this business. It seems (as we afterwards learnt) he had been taken by Captain Clipperton above twenty years before, and had been obliged to lead Clipperton and his people to the surprize of Truxillo, a town within land to the southward of Paita, where, however, he contrived to alarm his countrymen and to save them, though the place was carried and pillaged. Now that the only two attempts on shore, which were made at so long an interval from each other, should be guided by the same person, and he too a prisoner both times, and forced upon the employ contrary to his inclination, is an incident so very extraordinary that I could not help mentioning it. But to return to the matter in hand.

During our preparations, the ships themselves stood towards the port with all the sail they could make, being secure that we were yet at too great a distance to be seen. But about ten o'clock at night, the ships being then within five leagues of the place, Lieutenant Brett, with the boats under his command, put off, and arrived at the mouth of the bay without being discovered, though no sooner had he entered it than some of the people on board a vessel riding at anchor there perceived him, who instantly getting into their boat, rowed towards the fort, shouting and crying, "The English, the English dogs," etc., by which the whole town was suddenly alarmed, and our people soon observed several lights hurrying backwards and forwards in the fort, and other marks of the inhabitants being in great motion. Lieutenant Brett, on this, encouraged his men to pull briskly up, that they might give the enemy as little time as possible to prepare for their defence. However, before our boats could reach the shore, the people in the fort had got ready some of their cannon, and pointed them towards the landing-place; and though in the darkness of the night it might be well supposed that chance had a greater share than skill in their direction, yet the first shot passed extremely near one of the boats, whistling just over the heads of the crew. This made our people redouble their efforts, so that they had reached the shore and were in part disembarked by the time the second gun fired. As soon as our men landed, they were conducted by one of the Spanish pilots to the entrance of a narrow street, not above fifty yards distant from the beach, where they were covered from the fire of the fort; and being formed in the best manner the shortness of the time would allow, they immediately marched for the parade, which was a large square at the end of this street, the fort being one side of the square, and the governor's house another. In this march (though performed with tolerable regularity) the shouts and clamours of threescore sailors, who had been confined so long on shipboard, and were now for the first time on shore in an enemy's country, joyous as they always are when they land, and animated besides in the present case with the hopes of an immense pillage – the huzzas, I say, of this spirited detachment, joined with the noise of their drums, and favoured by the night, had augmented their numbers, in the opinion of the enemy, to at least three hundred, by which persuasion the inhabitants were so greatly intimidated that they were much more solicitous about the means of flight than of resistance: so that though upon entering the parade our people received a volley from the merchants who owned the treasure then in the town, and who, with a few others, had ranged themselves in a gallery that ran round the governor's house, yet that post was immediately abandoned upon the first fire made by our people, who were thereby left in quiet possession of the parade.

On this success Lieutenant Brett divided his men into two parties, ordering one of them to surround the governor's house, and, if possible, to secure the governor, whilst he himself at the head of the other marched to the fort, with an intent to force it. But, contrary to his expectation, he entered it without opposition; for the enemy, on his approach, abandoned it, and made their escape over the walls. By this means the whole place was mastered in less than a quarter of an hour's time from the first landing, and with no other loss than that of one man killed on the spot, and two wounded, one of which was the Spanish pilot of the Teresa, who received a slight bruise by a ball which grazed on his wrist. Indeed another of the company, the Honourable Mr. Kepple, son to the Earl of Albemarle, had a very narrow escape; for having on a jockey cap, one side of the peak was shaved off close to his temple by a ball, which, however, did him no other injury.

Lieutenant Brett, when he had thus far happily succeeded, placed a guard at the fort, and another at the governor's house, and appointed centinels at all the avenues of the town, both to prevent any surprize from the enemy, and to secure the effects in the place from being embezzled. This being done, his next care was to seize on the custom-house, where the treasure lay, and to examine if any of the inhabitants remained in the town, that he might know what further precautions it was necessary to take; but he soon found that the numbers left behind were no ways formidable, for the greatest part of them (being in bed when the place was surprized) had run away with so much precipitation that they had not given themselves time to put on their cloaths. In this general rout the governor was not the last to secure himself, for he fled betimes half naked, leaving his wife, a young lady of about seventeen years of age, to whom he had been married but three or four days, behind him, though she too was afterwards carried off in her shift by a couple of centinels, just as the detachment ordered to invest the house arrived before it. This escape of the governor was an unpleasing circumstance, as Mr. Anson had particularly recommended it to Lieutenant Brett to secure his person if possible, in hopes that by that means we might be able to treat for the ransom of the place: but it seems his alertness rendered the execution of these orders impracticable. The few inhabitants who remained were confined in one of the churches under a guard, except some stout negroes which were found in the town; these, instead of being shut up, were employed the remaining part of the night to assist in carrying the treasure from the custom-house and other places to the fort; however, there was care taken that they should be always attended by a file of musqueteers.

The transporting the treasure from the custom-house to the fort was the principal occupation of Mr. Brett's people after he had got possession of the place. But the sailors, while they were thus busied, could not be prevented from entering the houses which lay near them in search of private pillage: where the first things which occurred to them being the cloaths that the Spaniards in their flight had left behind them, and which, according to the custom of the country, were most of them either embroidered or laced, our people eagerly seized these glittering habits, and put them on over their own dirty trowsers and jackets, not forgetting, at the same time, the tye or bag-wig and laced hat which were generally found with the cloaths; and when this practice was once begun, there was no preventing the whole detachment from imitating it: but those who came latest into the fashion not finding men's cloaths sufficient to equip themselves, were obliged to take up with women's gowns and petticoats, which (provided there was finery enough) they made no scruple of putting on and blending with their own greasy dress. So that when a party of them thus ridiculously metamorphosed first appeared before Mr. Brett, he was extremely surprized at the grotesque sight, and could not immediately be satisfied they were his own people.

These were the transactions of our detachment on shore at Paita the first night: but to return to what was done on board the Centurion in that interval. I must observe that after the boats were gone off, we lay by till one o'clock in the morning, and then supposing our detachment to be near landing, we made an easy sail for the bay. About seven in the morning we began to open the bay, and soon after had a view of the town; and though we had no reason to doubt of the success of the enterprize, yet it was with great joy that we first discovered an infallible signal of the certainty of our hopes; this was by means of our perspectives, for through them we saw an English flag hoisted on the flagstaff of the fort, which to us was an incontestable proof that our people were in possession of the place. We plied into the bay with as much expedition as the wind, which then blew off shore, would permit us: and at eleven the Tryal's boat came on board us, loaden with dollars and church-plate, when the officer who commanded her informed us of the preceding night's transactions, such as we have already related them. About two in the afternoon we anchored in ten fathom and a half, at a mile and a half distance from the town, and were consequently near enough to have a more immediate intercourse with those on shore. And now we found that Mr. Brett had hitherto gone on in collecting and removing the treasure without interruption; but that the enemy had rendezvouzed from all parts of the country on a hill, at the back of the town, where they made no inconsiderable appearance: for amongst the rest of their force there were two hundred horse, seemingly very well armed and mounted, and, as we conceived, properly trained and regimented, being furnished with trumpets, drums, and standards. These troops paraded about the hill with great ostentation, sounding their military musick, and practising every art to intimidate us (as our numbers on shore were by this time not unknown to them), in hopes that we might be induced by our fears to abandon the place before the pillage was compleated. But we were not so ignorant as to believe that this body of horse, which seemed to be what the enemy principally depended on, would dare to venture in streets and amongst houses, even had their numbers been three times as large; and, therefore, notwithstanding their menaces, we went on calmly as long as the daylight lasted, in sending off the treasure, and in employing the boats to carry on board the refreshments, such as hogs, fowls, etc., which we found here in great abundance. However, at night, to prevent any surprize, the commodore sent on shore a reinforcement, who posted themselves in all the passages leading to the parade, and, for their further security, traversed the streets with barricadoes six feet high, but the enemy continuing quiet all night, we, at daybreak, returned again to our labour of loading the boats, and sending them off.

By this time we were convinced of what consequence it would have been to us had fortune seconded the prudent views of the commodore, by permitting us to have secured the governor. For as we found in the place many storehouses full of valuable effects, which were useless to us at present, and such as we could not find room for on board, had the governor been in our power, he would in all probability have treated for the ransom of this merchandise, which would have been extremely advantageous both to him and us; whereas, he being now at liberty, and having collected all the force of the country for many leagues round, and having even got a body of militia from Piura, which was fourteen leagues distant, he was so elated with his numbers, and so fond of his new military command, that he seemed not to trouble himself about the fate of his government. So that though Mr. Anson sent several messages to him by some of the inhabitants whom he had taken prisoners, offering to enter into a treaty for the ransom of the town and goods, giving him, at the same time, an intimation that we should be far from insisting on a rigorous equivalent, but perhaps might be satisfied with some live cattle, and a few necessaries for the use of the squadron, threatening, too, that if he would not condescend at least to treat, we would set fire to the town and all the warehouses. Yet the governor was so imprudent and arrogant that he despised all these reiterated overtures, and did not deign even to return the least answer to them.

On the second day of our being in possession of the place, several negro slaves deserted from the enemy on the hill, and coming into the town, voluntarily engaged in our service. One of these was well known to a gentleman on board who remembered him formerly at Panama. We now learnt that the Spaniards without the town were in extreme want of water, for many of their slaves crept into the place by stealth, and carried away several jars of water to their masters on the hill; and though some of them were seized by our men in the attempt, yet the thirst among the enemy was so pressing that they continued this practice till we left the place. On this second day we were assured, both by the deserters and by these prisoners we took, that the Spaniards on the hill, who were by this time encreased to a formidable number, had resolved to storm the town and fort the succeeding night; and that one Gordon, a Scots papist, and captain of a ship in those seas, was to have the command of this enterprize. However, we, notwithstanding, continued sending off our boats, and prosecuted our work without the least hurry or precipitation till the evening; when a reinforcement was again sent on shore by the commodore, and Lieutenant Brett doubled his guards at each of the barricadoes; and our posts being connected by the means of centinels placed within call of each other, and the whole being visited by frequent rounds, attended with a drum, these marks of our vigilance, which the enemy could not be ignorant of, as they could doubtless hear the drum, if not the calls of the centinels; these marks, I say, of our vigilance, and of our readiness to receive them, cooled their resolution, and made them forget the vaunts of the preceding day, so that we passed this second night with as little molestation as we had done the first.

We had finished sending the treasure on board the Centurion the evening before, so that the third morning, being the 15th of November, the boats were employed in carrying off the most valuable part of the effects that remained in the town. And the commodore intending to sail in the afternoon, he, about ten o'clock, pursuant to his promise, sent all his prisoners, amounting to eighty-eight, on shore, giving orders to Lieutenant Brett to secure them in one of the churches under a strict guard till the men were ready to be embarked. Mr. Brett was at the same time ordered to burn the whole town, except the two churches (which by good fortune stood at some distance from the houses), and then he was to abandon the place, and to return on board. These orders were punctually complied with, for Mr. Brett immediately set his men to work to distribute pitch, tar, and other combustibles (of which great quantities were found here) into houses situated in different streets of the town, so that the place being fired in many quarters at the same time, the destruction might be more violent and sudden, and the enemy, after our departure, might not be able to extinguish it. When these preparations were made, he, in the next place, commanded the cannon, which he found in the fort, to be nailed up; and then setting fire to those houses which were most to the windward, he collected his men and marched towards the beach, where the boats waited to carry them off. As that part of the beach whence he intended to embark was an open place without the town, the Spaniards on the hill perceiving he was retreating, resolved to try if they could not precipitate his departure, and thereby lay some foundation for their future boasting. To this end a small squadron of their horse, consisting of about sixty, picked out, as I suppose, for this service, marched down the hill with much seeming resolution, so that had we not entertained an adequate opinion of their prowess, we might have imagined that now we were on the open beach with no advantage of situation, they would certainly have charged us, but we presumed (and we were not mistaken) that this was mere ostentation. For, notwithstanding the pomp and parade they at first came on with, Mr. Brett had no sooner ordered his men to halt and face about, than the enemy stopped their career, and never dared to advance a step further.

When our people were arrived at their boats, and were ready to go on board, they were for some time retarded by missing one of their number; and being unable, on their mutual enquiries amongst each other, to inform themselves where he was left, or by what accident he was detained, they, after a considerable delay, resolved to get into their boats, and to depart without him. But when the last man was actually embarked, and the boats were just putting off, they heard him calling to them to take him in. The place was by this time so thoroughly on fire, and the smoke covered the beach so effectually, that they could scarcely discern him, though they heard his voice. However, the lieutenant instantly ordered one of the boats to his relief, who found him up to the chin in water, for he had waded as far as he durst, being extremely frightened with the apprehensions of falling into the hands of an enemy, enraged, as they doubtless were, at the pillage and destruction of their town. On enquiring into the cause of his staying behind, it was found that he had taken that morning too large a dose of brandy, which had thrown him into so sound a sleep that he did not awake till the fire came near enough to scorch him. He was strangely amazed at first opening his eyes to see the houses all in a blaze on one side, and several Spaniards and Indians not far from him on the other. The greatness and suddenness of his fright instantly reduced him to a state of sobriety, and gave him sufficient presence of mind to push through the thickest of the smoke, as the likeliest means to escape the enemy, and making the best of his way to the beach, he ran as far into the water as he durst (for he could not swim) before he ventured to look back.

I cannot but observe here, to the honour of our people, that though there were great quantities of wine and spirituous liquors found in the place, yet this man was the only one who was known to have so far neglected his duty as to get drunk. Indeed, their whole behaviour while they were ashore was much more regular than could well have been expected from sailors who had been so long confined to a ship, and though part of this prudent demeanour must doubtless be imputed to the diligence of their officers, and to the excellent discipline to which they had been constantly inured on board by the commodore, yet it was doubtless no small reputation to the men, that they should generally refrain from indulging themselves in those intoxicating liquors which they found ready to their hands at almost every warehouse.

Having mentioned this single instance of drunkenness, I cannot pass by another oversight, which was likewise the only one of its kind, and which was attended with very particular circumstances. There was an Englishman, who had formerly wrought as a ship-carpenter in the yard at Portsmouth, but leaving his country, had afterwards entered into the Spanish service, and was employed by them at the port of Guaiaquil; and it being well known to his friends in England that he was then in that part of the world, they put letters on board the Centurion, directed to him. This man being then by accident amongst the Spaniards, who were retired to the hill at Paita, he was ambitious (as it should seem) of acquiring some reputation amongst his new masters. With this view he came down unarmed to a centinel of ours, placed at some distance from the fort towards the enemy, to whom he pretended that he was desirous of surrendering himself, and of entering into our service. Our centinel had a cocked pistol in his hand, but being deceived by the other's fair speeches, he was so imprudent as to let him approach much nearer than he ought, so that the shipwright, watching his opportunity, rushed on the centinel, and seizing his pistol, wrenched it out of his hand, and instantly ran away with it up the hill. By this time two of our people, who, seeing the fellow advance, had suspected his intention, were making towards him, and were thereby prepared to pursue him, but he got to the top of the hill before they could reach him, and then turning about, fired the pistol, whereupon his pursuers immediately returned the fire, and though he was at a great distance, and the crest of the hill hid him as soon as they had fired, so that they took it for granted they had missed him, yet we afterwards learnt that he was shot through the body, and had fallen down dead the very next step he took after he was out of sight. The centinel, too, who had been thus grossly imposed upon, did not escape unpunished, since he was ordered to be severely whipt for being thus shamefully surprized upon his post, and having thereby given an example of carelessness which, if followed in other instances, might prove fatal to us all. But to return.

By the time our people had helped their comrade out of the water, and were making the best of their way to the squadron, the flames had taken possession of every part of the town, and had got such hold, both by means of the combustibles that had been distributed for that purpose, and by the slightness of the materials of which the houses were composed, and their aptitude to take fire, that it was sufficiently apparent no efforts of the enemy (though they flocked down in great numbers) could possibly put a stop to it, or prevent the entire destruction of the place and all the merchandize contained therein. A whole town on fire at once, especially where the buildings burnt with such facility and violence, being a very singular spectacle, Mr. Brett had the curiosity to delineate its appearance, together with that of the ships in the harbour.

Our detachment under Lieutenant Brett having safely joined the squadron, the commodore prepared to leave the place the same evening. He found when he first came into the bay, six vessels of the enemy at anchor; one whereof was the ship, which, according to our intelligence, was to have sailed with the treasure to the coast of Mexico, and which, as we were persuaded she was a good sailor, we resolved to take with us. The others were two snows, a bark, and two row gallies of thirty-six oars a-piece. These last, as we were afterwards informed, with many others of the same kind built at divers ports, were intended to prevent our landing in the neighbourhood of Callao, for the Spaniards, on the first intelligence of our squadron and its force, expected that we would attempt the city of Lima. The commodore, having no occasion for these other vessels, had ordered the masts of all five of them to be cut away at his first arrival, and on his leaving the place they were towed out of the harbour and scuttled and sunk; and the command of the remaining ship, called the Solidad, being given to Mr. Hughes, the lieutenant of the Tryal, who had with him a crew of ten men to navigate her, the squadron, towards midnight, weighed anchor and sailed out of the bay, being at present augmented to six sail, that is, the Centurion, and the Tryal's prize, together with the Carmelo, the Teresa, the Carmin, and our last acquired vessel the Solidad.

And now, before I entirely quit the account of our transactions at this place, it may not perhaps be improper to give a succinct relation of the booty we got here, and of the loss the Spaniards sustained. I have before observed that there were great quantities of valuable effects in the town, but as most of them were what we could neither dispose of nor carry away, the total amount of this merchandize can only be rudely guessed at. The Spaniards, in their representations sent to the Court of Madrid (as we were afterwards assured) estimated their whole loss at a million and a half of dollars, and when it is considered that no small part of the goods we burnt there were of the richest and most expensive species, as broad cloths, silks, cambricks, velvets, etc., I cannot but think their valuation sufficiently moderate. As to ourselves, the acquisition we made, though inconsiderable in comparison of what we destroyed, was yet far from despicable, for the wrought plate, dollars, and other coin which fell into our hands, amounted to upwards of £30,000 sterling, besides several rings, bracelets, and jewels, whose intrinsic value we could not then determine; and over and above all this, the plunder which became the property of the immediate captors was very great, so that upon the whole it was by much the most important booty we met with upon that coast.

There remains still another matter to be related, which on account of the signal honour which our national character in those parts has thence received, and the reputation which our commodore in particular has thereby acquired, merits a distinct and circumstantial discussion. It has been already observed that all the prisoners taken by us in our preceding prizes were here put on shore and discharged, amongst whom there were some persons of considerable distinction, especially a youth of about seventeen years of age, son of the vice-president of the Council of Chili. As the barbarity of the buccaneers, and the artful use the ecclesiasticks had made of it, had filled the natives of those countries with the most terrible ideas of the English cruelty, we always found our prisoners, at their first coming on board us, to be extremely dejected, and under great horror and anxiety. Particularly this youth whom I last mentioned, having never been from home before, lamented his captivity in the most moving manner, regretting, in very plaintive terms, his parents, his brothers, his sisters, and his native country, of all which he was fully persuaded he had taken his last farewel, believing that he was now devoted for the remaining part of his life to an abject and cruel servitude. Indeed his companions on board, and all the Spaniards that came into our power, had the same desponding opinion of their situation. Mr. Anson constantly exerted his utmost endeavours to efface these terrifying impressions they had received of us, always taking care that as many of the principal people among them as there was room for should dine at his table by turns, and giving the strictest orders, too, that they should at all times, and in every circumstance, be treated with the utmost decency and humanity. But notwithstanding this precaution, it was generally observed that the first day or two they did not quit their fear, suspecting the gentleness of their usage to be only preparatory to some unthought-of calamity. However, being at length convinced of our sincerity, they grew perfectly easy in their situation, and remarkably chearful, so that it was often disputable whether or no they considered their being detained by us as a misfortune. For the youth I have above mentioned, who was near two months on board us, had at last so far conquered his melancholy surmises, and had taken such an affection to Mr. Anson, and seemed so much pleased with the manner of life, totally different from all he had ever seen before, that it is doubtful to me whether, if his own opinion had been asked, he would not have preferred a voyage to England in the Centurion to the being set on shore at Paita, where he was at liberty to return to his country and friends.

This conduct of the commodore to his prisoners, which was continued without interruption or deviation, gave them all the highest idea of his humanity and benevolence, and induced them likewise (as mankind are fond of forming general opinions) to entertain very favourable thoughts of the whole English nation. But whatever they might be disposed to think of Mr. Anson before the capture of the Teresa, their veneration for him was prodigiously increased by his conduct towards those women whom (as I have already mentioned) he took in that vessel: for the leaving them in the possession of their apartments, the strict orders given to prevent all his people on board from approaching them, and the permitting the pilot to stay with them as their guardian, were measures that seemed so different from what might be expected from an enemy and an heretick, that the Spaniards on board, though they had themselves experienced his beneficence, were surprized at this new instance of it, and the more so as all this was done without his ever seeing the women, though the two daughters were both esteemed handsome, and the youngest was celebrated for her uncommon beauty. The women themselves, too, were so sensible of the obligations they owed him for the care and attention with which he had protected them, that they absolutely refused to go on shore at Paita till they had been permitted to wait on him on board the Centurion, to return him thanks in person. Indeed, all the prisoners left us with the strongest assurances of their grateful remembrance of his uncommon treatment. A Jesuit in particular, whom the commodore had taken, and who was an ecclesiastick of some distinction, could not help expressing himself with great thankfulness for the civilities he and his countrymen had found on board, declaring that he should consider it as his duty to do Mr. Anson justice at all times; adding that his usage of the men prisoners was such as could never be forgot, and such as he could never fail to acknowledge and recite upon all occasions: but that his behaviour to the women was so extraordinary, and so extremely honourable, that he doubted all the regard due to his own ecclesiastical character would be scarcely sufficient to render it credible. Indeed we were afterwards informed that he and the rest of our prisoners had not been silent on this head, but had, both at Lima and at other places, given the greatest encomiums to our commodore; the Jesuit in particular, as we were told, having on his account interpreted in a lax and hypothetical sense that article of his church which asserts the impossibility of hereticks being saved.

Nor let it be imagined that the impressions which the Spaniards hence received to our advantage is a matter of small import; for, not to mention several of our countrymen who have already felt the good effects of these prepossessions, the Spaniards are a nation whose good opinion of us is doubtless of more consequence than that of all the world besides, not only as the commerce we had formerly carried on with them, and perhaps may again hereafter, is so extremely valuable, but also as the transacting it does so immediately depend on the honour and good faith of those who are intrusted with its management. However, had no national conveniences attended it, the commodore's equity and good temper would not less have deterred him from all tyranny and cruelty to those whom the fortune of war had put into his hands. I shall only add, that by his constant attachment to these humane and prudent maxims he has acquired a distinguished reputation amongst the Creolian Spaniards, which is not confined merely to the coast of the South Seas, but is extended through all the Spanish settlements in America; so that his name is frequently to be met with in the mouths of most of the Spanish inhabitants of that prodigious empire.

CHAPTER VII

FROM OUR DEPARTURE FROM PAITA TO OUR ARRIVAL

AT QUIBO

When we got under sail from the coast of Paita (which, as I have already observed, was about midnight on the 16th of November) we stood to the westward, and in the morning the commodore gave orders that the whole squadron should spread themselves to look out for the Gloucester. For we then drew near the station where Captain Mitchel had been directed to cruise, and we hourly expected to get sight of him; but the whole day passed without seeing him.

And now a jealousy, which had taken its rise at Paita, between those who had been commanded on shore for the attack, and those who had continued on board, grew to such a height that the commodore, being made acquainted with it, thought it necessary to interpose his authority to appease it. The ground of this animosity was the plunder gotten at Paita, which those who had acted on shore had appropriated to themselves, considering it as a reward for the risques they had run, and the resolution they had shown in that service. But those who had remained on board looked on this as a very partial and unjust procedure, urging that had it been left to their choice, they should have preferred the action on shore to the continuing on board; that their duty, while their comrades were on shore, was extremely fatiguing; for besides the labour of the day, they were constantly under arms all night to secure the prisoners, whose numbers exceeded their own, and of whom it was then necessary to be extremely watchful, to prevent any attempts they might have formed in that critical conjuncture: that upon the whole it could not be denied but that the presence of a sufficient force on board was as necessary to the success of the enterprize as the action of the others on shore, and therefore those who had continued on board maintained that they could not be deprived of their share of the plunder without manifest injustice. These were the contests amongst our men, which were carried on with great heat on both sides: and though the plunder in question was a very trifle in comparison of the treasure taken in the place (in which there was no doubt but those on board had an equal right), yet as the obstinacy of sailors is not always regulated by the importance of the matter in dispute, the commodore thought it necessary to put a stop to this ferment betimes. Accordingly, the morning after our leaving Paita, he ordered all hands upon the quarter-deck, where, addressing himself to those who had been detached on shore, he commended their behaviour, and thanked them for their services on that occasion: but then representing to them the reasons urged by those who had continued on board, for an equal distribution of the plunder, he told them that he thought these reasons very conclusive, and that the expectations of their comrades were justly founded; and therefore he insisted, that not only the men, but all the officers likewise, who had been employed in taking the place, should produce the whole of their plunder immediately upon the quarter-deck, and that it should be impartially divided among the whole crew, in proportion to each man's rank and commission: and to prevent those who had been in possession of the plunder from murmuring at this diminution of their share, the commodore added, that as an encouragement to others who might be hereafter employed on like services, he would give his entire share to be distributed amongst those who had been detached for the attack of the place. Thus this troublesome affair, which, if permitted to have gone on, might perhaps have been attended with mischievous consequences, was by the commodore's prudence soon appeased, to the general satisfaction of the ship's company: not but there were some few whose selfish dispositions were uninfluenced by the justice of this procedure, and who were incapable of discerning the force of equity, however glaring, when it tended to deprive them of any part of what they had once got into their hands.

This important business employed the best part of the day after we came from Paita. And now, at night, having no sight of the Gloucester, the commodore ordered the squadron to bring to, that we might not pass her in the dark. The next morning we again looked out for her, and at ten we saw a sail, to which we gave chace; and at two in the afternoon we came near enough to discover her to be the Gloucester, with a small vessel in tow. About an hour after we were joined by them; and then we learnt that Captain Mitchel, in the whole time of his cruise, had only taken two prizes; one of them being a small snow, whose cargoe consisted chiefly of wine, brandy, and olives in jars, with about £7000 in specie; and the other a large boat or launch, which the Gloucester's barge came up with near the shore. The prisoners on board this last vessel alledged that they were very poor, and that their loading consisted only of cotton, though the circumstances in which the barge surprized them seemed to insinuate that they were more opulent than they pretended to be, for the Gloucester's people found them at dinner upon pigeon-pye, served up in silver dishes. However, the officer who commanded the barge having opened several of the jars on board, to satisfy his curiosity, and finding nothing in them but cotton, he was inclined to believe the account the prisoners gave him: but the cargoe being taken into the Gloucester, and there examined more strictly, they were agreeably surprized to find that the whole was a very extraordinary piece of false package, and that there was concealed among the cotton, in every jar, a considerable quantity of double doubloons and dollars, to the amount on the whole of near £12,000. This treasure was going to Paita, and belonged to the same merchants who were the proprietors of the greatest part of the money we had taken there; so that had this boat escaped the Gloucester, it is probable her cargoe would have fallen into our hands. Besides these two prizes which we have mentioned, the Gloucester's people told us that they had been in sight of two or three other ships of the enemy, which had escaped them; and one of them we had reason to believe, from some of our intelligence, was of immense value.

Being now joined by the Gloucester and her prize, it was resolved that we should stand to the northward, and make the best of our way either to Cape St. Lucas on California, or to Cape Corientes on the coast of Mexico. Indeed the commodore, when at Juan Fernandes, had determined with himself to touch in the neighbourhood of Panama, and to endeavour to get some correspondence overland with the fleet under the command of Admiral Vernon. For when we departed from England, we left a large force at Portsmouth which was intended to be sent to the West Indies, there to be employed in an expedition against some of the Spanish settlements. And Mr. Anson taking it for granted that this enterprize had succeeded, and that Porto Bello perhaps might be then garrisoned by British troops, he hoped that on his arrival at the isthmus he should easily procure an intercourse with our countrymen on the other side, either by the Indians, who were greatly disposed in our favour, or even by the Spaniards themselves, some of whom, for proper rewards, might be induced to carry on this intelligence, which, after it was once begun, might be continued with very little difficulty; so that Mr. Anson flattered himself that he might by this means have received a reinforcement of men from the other side, and that by settling a prudent plan of operations with our commanders in the West Indies, he might have taken even Panama itself, which would have given to the British nation the possession of that isthmus, whereby we should have been in effect masters of all the treasures of Peru, and should have had in our hands an equivalent for any demands, however extraordinary, which we might have been induced to have made on either of the branches of the House of Bourbon.

Such were the projects which the commodore revolved in his thoughts at the island of Juan Fernandes, notwithstanding the feeble condition to which he was then reduced. And indeed, had the success of our force in the West Indies been answerable to the general expectation, it cannot be denied but these views would have been the most prudent that could have been thought of. But in examining the papers which were found on board the Carmelo, the first prize we took, we learnt (though I then omitted to mention it) that our attempt against Carthagena had failed, and that there was no probability that our fleet in that part of the world would engage in any new enterprize that would at all facilitate this plan. Mr. Anson therefore gave over all hopes of being reinforced across the isthmus, and consequently had no inducement at present to proceed to Panama, as he was incapable of attacking the place; and there was great reason to believe that by this time there was a general embargo on all the coast.

The only feasible measure then which was left us was to steer as soon as possible to the southern parts of California, or to the adjacent coast of Mexico, there to cruise for the Manila galeon, which we knew was now at sea, bound to the port of Acapulco. And we doubted not to get on that station time enough to intercept her; for this ship does not usually arrive at Acapulco till towards the middle of January, and we were now but in the middle of November, and did not conceive that our passage thither would cost us above a month or five weeks; so that we imagined we had near twice as much time as was necessary for our purpose. Indeed there was a business which we foresaw would occasion some delay, but we flattered ourselves that it would be dispatched in four or five days, and therefore could not interrupt our project. This was the recruiting of our water; for the number of prisoners we had entertained on board since our leaving the island of Fernandes had so far exhausted our stock, that it was impossible to think of venturing upon this passage to the coast of Mexico till we had procured a fresh supply, especially as at Paita, where we had some hopes of getting a quantity, we did not find enough for our consumption during our stay there. It was for some time a matter of deliberation where we should take in this necessary article; but by consulting the accounts of former navigators, and examining our prisoners, we at last resolved for the island of Quibo, situated at the mouth of the bay of Panama: nor was it but on good grounds that the commodore conceived this to be the properest place for watering the squadron. Indeed, there was a small island called Cocos, which was less out of our way than Quibo, where some of the buccaneers have pretended they found water: but none of our prisoners knew anything of it, and it was thought too dangerous to risque the safety of the squadron, by exposing ourselves to the hazard of not meeting with water when we came there, on the mere authority of these legendary writers, of whose misrepresentations and falsities we had almost daily experience. Besides, by going to Quibo we were not without hopes that some of the enemies ships bound to or from Panama might fall into our hands, particularly such of them as were put to sea before they had any intelligence of our squadron.