A voyage round the world in the years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV

by Baron George Anson Anson

FROM QUIBO TO THE COAST OF MEXICO

On the 12th of December we stood from Quibo to the westward, and the same day the commodore delivered fresh instructions to the captains of the men-of-war, and the commanders of our prizes, appointing them the rendezvouses they were to make and the courses they were to steer in case of a separation. And first, they were directed to use all possible dispatch in getting to the northward of the harbour of Acapulco, where they were to endeavour to fall in with the land between the latitudes of 18 and 19 degrees; from thence they were to beat up the coast at eight or ten leagues distance from the shore, till they came abreast of Cape Corientes, in the latitude of 20° 20'. After they arrived there, they were to continue cruising on that station till the 14th of February, when they were to depart for the middle island of the Tres Marias, in the latitude of 21° 25', bearing from Cape Corientes N.W. by N., twenty-five leagues distant. And if at this island they did not meet the commodore, they were there to recruit their wood and water, and then immediately to proceed for the island of Macao, on the coast of China. These orders being distributed to all the ships, we had little doubt of arriving soon upon our intended station, as we expected upon the increasing our offing from Quibo to fall in with the regular trade-wind. But, to our extreme vexation, we were baffled for near a month, either by tempestuous weather from the western quarter, or by dead calms and heavy rains, attended with a sultry air; so that it was the 25th of December before we saw the island of Cocos, which according to our reckoning was only a hundred leagues from the continent; and even then we had the mortification to make so little way that we did not lose sight of it again in five days.

This island we found to be in the latitude of 5° 20' N. It has a high hummock towards the western part, which descends gradually, and at last terminates in a low point to the eastward. From the island of Cocos we stood W. by N., and were till the 9th of January in running an hundred leagues more. We had at first flattered ourselves that the uncertain weather and western gales we met with were owing to the neighbourhood of the continent, from which, as we got more distant, we expected every day to be relieved, by falling in with the eastern trade-wind. But as our hopes were so long baffled, and our patience quite exhausted, we began at length to despair of succeeding in the great purpose we had in view, that of intercepting the Manila galeon. This produced a general dejection amongst 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 at last somewhat alleviated by a favourable change of the wind; for on the 9th of January a gale sprung up the first time from the N.E., and on this we took the Carmelo in tow, as the Gloucester did the Carmin, making all the sail we could to improve the advantage, because we still suspected that it was only a temporary gale which would not last long, though the next day we had the satisfaction to find that the wind did not only continue in the same quarter, but blew with so much briskness and steadiness that we no longer doubted of its being the true trade-wind. As we now advanced apace towards our station, our hopes began again to revive, and our former despair by degrees gave place to more sanguine prejudices; insomuch that though the customary season of the arrival of the galeon at Acapulco was already elapsed, yet we were by this time unreasonable enough to flatter ourselves that some accidental delay might, for our advantage, lengthen out her passage beyond its usual limits.

When we got into the trade-wind, we found no alteration in it till the 17th of January, when we were advanced to the latitude of 12° 50', but on that day it shifted to the westward of the north. This change we imputed to our having haled up too soon, though we then esteemed ourselves full seventy leagues from the coast; whence, and by our former experience, we were fully satisfied that the trade-wind doth not take place, but at a considerable distance from the continent. After this the wind was not so favourable to us as it had been. However, we still continued to advance, and, on the 26th of January, being then to the northward of Acapulco, we tacked and stood to the eastward, with a view of making the land.

In the preceding fortnight we caught some turtle on the surface of the water, and several dolphins, bonitoes, and albicores. One day, as one of the sailmaker's mates was fishing from the end of the gib-boom, he lost his hold and dropped into the sea, and the ship, which was then going at the rate of six or seven knots, went directly over him; but as we had the Carmelo in tow, we instantly called out to the people on board her, who threw him over several ends of ropes, one of which he fortunately caught hold of, and twisting it round his arm, he was thereby haled into the ship without having received any other injury than a wrench in the arm, of which he soon recovered.

When, on the 26th of January, we stood to the eastward, we expected, by our reckonings, to have fallen in with the land on the 28th, yet though the weather was perfectly clear, we had no sight of it at sunset, and therefore we continued our course, not doubting but we should see it by the next morning. About ten at night we discovered a light on the larboard bow, bearing from us N.N.E. The Tryal's prize, too, who was about a mile ahead of us, made a signal at the same time for seeing a sail. As we had none of us any doubt but what we saw was a ship's light, we were all extremely animated with a firm persuasion that it was the Manila galeon, which had been so long the object of our wishes. And what added to our alacrity was our expectation of meeting with two of them instead of one, for we took it for granted that the light in view was carried in the top of one ship for a direction to her consort. 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; for some on board us positively averred that besides the light they could plainly discern her sails. The commodore himself was so fully persuaded that we should be soon alongside of her that he sent for his first lieutenant, who commanded between decks, and directed him to see all the great guns loaded with two round shot for the first broadside, and after that with one round shot and one grape, strictly charging him, at the same time, not to suffer a gun to be fired till he, the commodore, should give orders, which, he informed the lieutenant, would not be till we arrived within pistol-shot of the enemy. In this constant and eager attention we continued all night, always presuming that another quarter of an hour would bring us up with this Manila ship, whose wealth, and that of her supposed consort, we now estimated by round millions. But when the morning broke, and daylight came on, we were most strangely and vexatiously disappointed, by finding that the light which had occasioned all this bustle and expectancy, was only a fire on the shore. It must be owned, the circumstances of this deception were so extraordinary as to be scarcely credible, for, by our run during the night, and the distance of the land in the morning, there was no doubt to be made but this fire, when we first discovered it, was above twenty-five leagues from us; and yet, I believe, there was no person on board who doubted of its being a ship's light, or of its being near at hand. It was indeed upon a very high mountain, and continued burning for several days afterwards; however, it was not a vulcano, but rather, as I suppose, a tract of stubble or heath, set on fire for some purpose of agriculture.

At sun-rising, after this mortifying delusion, we found ourselves about nine leagues off the land, which extended from the N.W. to E.½N. On this land we observed two remarkable hummocks, such as are usually called paps, which bore north from us: these a Spanish pilot and two Indians, who were the only persons amongst us that pretended to have traded in this part of the world, affirmed to be over the harbour of Acapulco. Indeed, we very much doubted their knowledge of the coast, for we found these paps to be in the latitude of 17° 56', whereas those over Acapulco are said to be 17 degrees only; and we afterwards found our suspicions of their skill to be well grounded. However, they were very confident, and assured us that the height of the mountains was itself an infallible mark of the harbour, the coast, as they pretended, though falsly, being generally low to the eastward and westward of it.

Being now in the track of the Manila galeon, it was a great 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 that 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 longer out than ordinary. On this reasoning of our prisoners, strengthened by our propensity to believe them in a matter which so pleasingly flattered our wishes, we resolved to cruise for her some days, and we accordingly spread our ships at the distance of twelve leagues from the coast in such a manner that it was impossible she should pass us unobserved. However, not seeing her soon, we were at intervals inclined to suspect that she had gained her port already, and as we now began to want a harbour to refresh our people, the uncertainty of our present situation gave us great uneasiness, and we were very solicitous to get some positive intelligence, which might either set us at liberty to consult our necessities, if the galeon was arrived, or might animate us to continue our present cruise with chearfulness, if she was not. With this view, the commodore, after examining our prisoners very particularly, resolved to send a boat, under colour of the night, into the harbour of Acapulco, to see if the Manila ship was there or not, one of the Indians being very positive that this might be done without the boat itself being discovered. To execute this enterprize, the barge was dispatched the 6th of February, carrying a sufficient crew and two officers, as also a Spanish pilot, with the Indian who had insisted on the facility of this project, and had undertaken to conduct it. Our barge did not return to us again till the 11th, when the officers acquainted Mr. Anson that, agreeable to our suspicions, there was nothing like a harbour in the place where the Spanish pilots had at first asserted Acapulco to lie; that after they had satisfied themselves in this particular, they steered to the eastward, in hopes of discovering it, and had coasted along shore thirty-two leagues; that in this whole range they met chiefly with sandy beaches of a great length, over which the sea broke with so much violence that it was impossible for a boat to land; that at the end of their run they could just discover two paps at a very great distance to the eastward, which from their appearance and their latitude they concluded to be those in the neighbourhood of Acapulco; but that not having a sufficient quantity of fresh water and provision for their passage thither and back again, they were obliged to return to the commodore, to acquaint him with their disappointment. On this intelligence we all made sail to the eastward, in order to get into the neighbourhood of that port, the commodore being determined to send the barge a second time upon the same enterprize, when we were arrived within a moderate distance. Accordingly, the next day, which was the 12th of February, we being by that time considerably advanced, the barge was again dispatched, and particular instructions given to the officers to preserve themselves from being seen from the shore. On the 13th we espied a high land to the eastward, which was first imagined to be that over the harbour of Acapulco; but we afterwards found that it was the high land of Seguateneio, where there is a small harbour, of which we shall have occasion to make more ample mention hereafter. We waited six days, from the departure of our barge, without any news of her, so that we began to be uneasy for her safety; but on the 7th day, that is, on the 19th of February, she returned: when the officers informed the commodore that they had discovered the harbour of Acapulco, which they esteemed to bear from us E.S.E. at least fifty leagues distant; that on the 17th, about two in the morning, they were got within the island that lies at the mouth of the harbour, and yet neither the Spanish pilot, nor the Indian, could give them any information where they then were; but that while they were lying upon their oars in suspence what to do, being ignorant that they were then at the very place they sought for, they discerned a small light near the surface of the water, on which they instantly plied their paddles, and moving as silently as possible towards it, they found it to be in a fishing canoe, which they surprized, with three negroes that belonged to it. It seems the negroes at first attempted to jump overboard, and being so near the shore they would easily have swam to land, but they were prevented by presenting a piece at them, on which they readily submitted, and were taken into the barge. The officers further added that they had immediately turned the canoe adrift against the face of a rock, where it would inevitably be dashed to pieces by the fury of the sea. This they did to deceive those who perhaps might be sent from the town to search after the canoe, for upon seeing several remains of a wreck, they would immediately conclude that the people on board her had been drowned, and would have no suspicion of their having fallen into our hands. When the crew of the barge had taken this precaution, they exerted their utmost strength in pulling out to sea, and by dawn of the day had gained such an offing as rendered it impossible for them to be seen from the coast.

Having now gotten the three negroes in our possession, who were not ignorant of the transactions at Acapulco, we were soon satisfied about the most material points which had long kept us in suspence. On examining them we found that we were indeed disappointed in our expectation of intercepting the galeon before her arrival at Acapulco; but we learnt other circumstances which still revived our hopes, and which, we then conceived, would more than balance the opportunity we had already lost, for though our negroe prisoners informed us that the galeon arrived at Acapulco on our 9th of January, which was about twenty days before we fell in with this coast, yet they at the same time told us that the galeon had delivered her cargo, and 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, N.S. This last news was most joyfully received by us, since we had no doubt but she must certainly 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 cargoe, and which she would now have on board, would be prodigiously more to be esteemed by us than the cargoe itself; great part of which would have perished on our hands, and none of it could have been disposed of by us at so advantageous a mart as Acapulco.

Thus we were a second time engaged in an eager expectation of meeting with this Manila ship, which, by the fame of its wealth, we had been taught to consider as the most desirable capture that was to be made on any part of the ocean. But since all our future projects will be in some sort regulated with a view to the possession of this celebrated galeon, and since the commerce which is carried on by means of these vessels between the city of Manila and the port of Acapulco is perhaps the most valuable, in proportion to its quantity, of any in the known world, I shall endeavour, in the ensuing chapter, to give as circumstantial an account as I can of all the particulars relating thereto, both as it is a matter in which I conceive the public to be in some degree interested, and as I flatter myself, that from the materials which have fallen into my hands, I am enabled to describe it with more distinctness than has hitherto been done, at least in our language.